County government has deteriorated so much that Jim Scahill could win a write-in campaign if another election was held today.
The bright future outlook of last November has denigrated into a cesspool of cynical frustration. Not only have the three county commissioners failed to find common ground, they are running from each other.
Commissioner Bob Bower still maintains his Coroner’s hat as the public shakes their head and loses faith in his campaign promises.
Commissioner Battaglia perhaps has turned out to be the saddest case of them all. Embroiled in not only a cloud of low public opinion due to personnel issues that raised eyebrows within the first 30 days of his tenure, he now has even closest supporters distancing themselves as he turns even a simple campaign report into a political hot potato. Instead of leadership, we have received yet another layer of isolation as he hides behind out-of-county lawyers.
While Commissioner Fink started out on the bottom (in terms of votes), he has proven to be the only man left standing in the room of rumors and court proceedings.
Will Dave be able to hide the identity of the $7,800 donors? Does Bob want to run county government or run on coroner calls? Can Rich continue to insulate himself from the mess? Tune in to this continuing saga for the next 1,364 days of their term to find out. Yes, unfortunately, some are counting.
As my dad would say, “Son, we need to have a talk!”
Ladies are gossiping under the hair dryers at the beauty salon. The men are scratching their head and grunting between themselves. The blogs are aflame over Manor Township’s 2011 budget.
The disparity between salaries of the police officers and township road workers may have grandpa adjusting his bifocals to read our articles, but it is the taxpayers who really got hosed this year!
In 2009, the December meeting was filled with fire department volunteers upset because the supervisors were shearing $15,000 from their allotment of the taxes. Manor Township was $108,000 in a hole that had to be plugged, so they took it from everybody. Supervisors McGinnis and Jack plugged it by reaching in your pocket and taking another mill of taxes. (The late Lud Miller knew it needed to be done but voted against the budget – a good move by a great politician!)
Then comes 2010. The water company pays back a loan of $122,000 (more than the deficit that was considered the need for a millage increase). The new LST tax brought $35 a head from each person working in the township. The hole was not only plugged but the ship was back on course.
Now comes 2011. With health restored, it was time for supervisors to give the 1 mill back to the taxpayers! Nada! Instead, it was proverbial drinks for everyone around the table to the tune of .50 per hour… and a whopping $3,600 for Assistant Secretary/Supervisor Jill Davis. To make matters worse, Davis – while a replacement for Miller – did not have his political savvy to vote against it to position herself for her upcoming election bid in May. Instead, she voted with her colleagues, forgetting how it would look to the taxpayers.
Meanwhile, those taxpayers… some holding down two jobs to make ends meet… stood afar off in the distance and never saw the train coming down the track.
When the supervisors stood up to take their bow in their performance before the auditors, they forgot to thank the little people that made it all possible… the taxpayers. They had the ability to make a real difference in local politics… only to show us there is little difference between Washington, D.C. and Manor Township politicians.
That’s my opinion! Feel free to post your comments below:
CROYLE: I Just Have to Say It | David Croyle April 5, 2012 | 
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