In the 2005 local elections, Nether Providence voters turned out in force to send a message: they wanted change from a Republican majority that more concerned with politics than improving the Township.

As a result of that election, a new majority took charge of the Township Board of Commissioners. That majority is delivering on the promises it made to address issues of concern to Township residents. Lin Floyd, Deena Beard, Sallie Anderson, and Frank Noyes tackled problems that had been allowed to develop over the prior years of Republican majority. In less than two years, they have made remarkable progress.

They took action to require responsible development, including:

• Adopting tighter restrictions on flag lot developments and curbing development on steep slopes.
• Increasing the minimum residential lot size for new construction.
• Enacting a height limit for buildings in residential neighborhoods.
• Revising township code to discourage placement of cell towers in residential neighborhoods.

In addition, the Democratic majority of the Board worked on a variety of other important issues:

• They reversed a serious staffing and morale problem by listening to Township employees, and restoring the needed position of Assistant Township Manager.
• The continue to battle the FAA’s plan for increased air traffic in conjunction with county, state, and federal representatives. They also provided testimony in support of a regional airport authority.
• The created a township website on schedule and at no cost to taxpayers.
• The established a volunteer Recycling Task Force to examine our recycling program and suggest ways to bring NPT into compliance with Pennsylvania requirements. The Task Force obtained a state grant to evaluate our current system, surveyed residents to solicit their views and concerns, and presented options for residents to consider. They held a Public Forum in October, inviting an open hearing of the issues involved.
• The enacted a responsible 2007 Township budget that began to address serious infrastructure, maintenance, and staffing issues ignored byt he previous Republican board while controlling taxes.
• They filled long-standing vacancies on Township boards and committees and created several new committees to address needs and concerns in the Township. Never before have so many residents volunteered their talents and energy in such areas as communications, recycling, parks and recreation, safe walkways, historic preservation, energy conservation, and shade tree protection.

On November 6th, Nether Providence voters again have a chance to make a difference!

Four seats on the Board of Commissioners are up for grabs. Democrats must win at least two of these seats to retain control of the Board. If we are successful, we will be in a position to keep local government open and forward-looking. If the Republicans regain control, then we are likely to return to the days of no-bid contracts, cronyism, and undue influence from the County machine.

Democrats are also mounting a serious challenge for County Council for the first time in decades. Nether Providence’s own David Landau is running for one of three open Council seats, along with Ann O’Keefe and John Innelli. They can win!

The Nether Providence Democratic committee also supports a bi-partisan roster of School Director candidates whose focus is on responsibly managed, high-quality education. Incumbent Magisterial District Judge Stephanie Klein won both the Democratic and Republican primaries and will continue her respected service on the bench.

These candidates all need your support. This is an important eleciton. Your vote counts, but only if you cast it.

PA Delco Watch, a Democratic blog covering this year’s big County Council race, has a post with the video and highlights from the final Delaware County Council candidates’ debate from last week. (Video is courtesy the Delco Times.)

At a press conference this week, Democratic challengers David Landau, Ann O’Keefe, and John Innelli took issue with the closed and secretive practices of the Delaware County Council.

They quantified some of the results of one-party government:

Council members have cast 2,012 votes since 2003, agreeing unanimously each time. The Democrats took such unanimity as evidence that one-party government has made impossible the kind of critical approach that will keep contracting costs and other costs low for county taxpayers.

Landau pointed out that the county budget has grown 75 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1979, when the council became all Republican. [Source]

The three Democratic candidates support a platform to increase transparency and greater responsibility in spending:

• new rules for bidding and awarding of contracts
• television broadcasts of council meetings
• advance publication of all ordinances under consideration
• more stringent ethics rules for officials

The Philadelphia Inquirer article today talked about how aggressive opposition from the Democratic ticket, spearheaded by David Landau, has forced the Delco Republican slate onto defense. A few telling points stand out:

• The Democratic agenda has defined the terms of the debate. If you look at the issues section of the Republican web site (delco2007.com), the topics they cover are essentially responses to the platform of the Democratic ticket–open space, transparent government, public health, and economic revitalization.
• The Republicans do not identify themselves as such anywhere on their web site. They know that their party is baggage.
• The GOP is looking for a cheap label that they can throw at Landau, but they’re drawing blanks:

The GOP has invoked the American Civil Liberties Union to claim Landau’s policies are outside the traditionally conservative politics of Delaware County.

“He is an ACLU lawyer,” McGarrigle said in an interview. “Lawyers like that tend to care more about criminals and cop killers than residents of Delaware County.”

When asked, McGarrigle could not cite anything specific in Landau’s background to support the accusation.

While the machine is sure to rally, they’re not used to having to campaign hard.

Ann O’Keefe (Haverford), has launched her campaign website to support her bid for Delaware County Council. The site contains a number of resources for voters researching candidates, including her bio and position statements.

In introducing her campaign, Ann says:

I am running for County Council to bring accountability, responsibility, and transparency back to our county government. I’m deeply committed to the belief that the people of Delaware County deserve good and honest legislative management. I also understand the need to insure that our County is safe, clean and a viable place to raise families, have jobs, and own homes. I am an accomplished leader ready to fight to end the one party patronage machine that has eroded public confidence in our county government as well as in many of our county municipal administrations. I am well aware that this pay to play addiction for political bosses will be hard to stop because of the current political landscape and political power-hold. However, I will demand that best business practices and fiscal responsibility be the standard for the transaction of all county government business.

Ann is running this November for one of the three open seats on the Council, along with running mates David Landau (Nether Providence) and John Inelli (Rose Valley).