Rick Lacey ran for Delaware County Council as a Republican candidate in the May primary. He narrowly missed the November ballot.

But Lacey is a Republican who also knows about the ruthless single-mindedness of the local GOP bosses. Charlie Sexton shamelessly made Lacey’s father’s personal challenges a campaign issue in boosting the party’s own favorites.  Lacey also knows that the Republican’s claims about efficiency and fiscal responsibility aren’t all backed up by fact. (”We haven’t raised taxes in the three years.” “Yeah, but you raised property taxes 17% in the two years before that.”)

Mr. Lacey has asked the 19,000 Republican voters who cast ballots for him in May to throw their support behind Democrat David Landau.

Landau has also picked up the endorsement from the Delaware County Daily Times, as have both of the Democratic candidates for Court of Common Pleas, Frank Daly and Mike Farrell.

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.)

The Republican candidates for County Council have been trying to counter David Landau’s “Campaign Against the Courthouse” by alleging that Landau improperly obtained legal work in Nether Providence in the 1990’s. In case you missed it, former Commissioner and Board President Sara Petrosky had a letter in yesterday’s Daily Times flatly countering those claims.

Here are a few highlights from Sara’s letter:

The courthouse political machine repeatedly attacks David Landau for his role in the Nether Providence Township. As usual they have the facts wrong. [...] Under my direction, the board requested proposals for various professional services such as solicitors and engineers. We interviewed candidates, both Republican and Democrat, and had a competitive process for choosing the candidates.

David was not part of the hiring process and neither he nor his firm was selected for these jobs.

Sara later explains how David came to represent the Township in a legal matter:

The township board later hired David to defend the township against a Republican developer who tried to block the preservation of open space. That was also the result of a competitive process.

David spent countless hours, many of them without pay, to help us achieve our goal. The insurance carrier covered the fees, other than the deductible. Through David’s work, the township won the case at trial and on appeal, and now there are two parcels of open space and a Field of Dreams in Nether Providence.

We residents of the Township are the beneficiaries of the actions taken by that previous Democratic board. Thanks to the Sara’s leadership and David’s fine work, Nether Providence remains a lovely community with green spaces permanently reserved for recreation and enjoyment.

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.

The David Landau for County Council campaign has a new campaign headquarters. A grand opening celebration is planned for Sunday August 12th. Anyone who’s interested in seating Democratic representation on County Council is welcome to come join in the festivities and hear David’s plan. Refreshments will be served.

When: Sunday, August 12th, 3-6 PM.
Where: 400 N. Springfield Rd, Clifton Heights. (Corner of Springfield Rd. and Oak Ave.) [Google map]

David Landau, candidate for Delaware County Council, launched his new campaign web site this week. You can find out more information about David’s positions on the issues, follow campaign news, or get involved in the campaign. Visit often!

Nether Providence’s Democratic Committee proudly notes the success of David Landau’s primary campaign for Delaware County Council. Landau, who is also the chair of the Democratic Party in Nether Providence, was the leading vote-getter in Nether Providence and across the entire county.

State Rep. Bryan Lentz (PA-161) has added his name to the growing list of prominent local officials who are endorsing David Landau for County Council in the May 15 primary. At a press conference in the Nether Providence Township building on Sykes Lane, Lentz asserted that David Landau was the most qualified candidate in the field. He also cited Landau’s role in his own successful campaign in 2006, and the compatible approach the two wished to take on major issues of the day, especially open government initiatives and a strategic, comprehensive approach to transportation issues in the region.