Daily Local Dan

This blog has moved

2010-03-25T14:48:00.001-07:00

This blog is now located at http://dailylocaldan.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://dailylocaldan.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

The West Chester "alcohol plan"

2010-03-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

Right now, the so-called West Chester "alcohol plan" (alcohol mitigation plan? alcohol enforcement and mitigation plan? get the drunks off my street plan? tax the bars plan? quixotic quest to teach WCU kids to enjoy the alcohol-free life plan? I don't know what the hell to call it) is in that amorphous, still-being-drafted phase.

The plan I'm talking about is the same, and different, than the "pour tax" plan I wrote about in February. But the "pour tax" may be losing viability, leaving the plan pour-tax-less.

The plan is supposed to involve police enforcement, codes enforcement, alternative sentencing for alcohol offenders, litter cleanup, weekend night bus transit, alcohol abuse education, and more! And it's got to be paid for somehow - either by a tax on the drinks local restaurants and bars serve (the "pour tax"), or by a combination of a "special assessment district" tax on liquor licensees, new Saturday night parking fees, funding from the university, and funding from the state.

"Multifaceted" would be a kind way to describe the plan. That multifacetedness was on display during the alcohol plan meeting State Sen. Andy Dinniman held in the borough on Tuesday night. The meeting wasn't open to the general public, but I was one of the invitees. Also at the meeting were borough council members, borough administrators, WCU representatives, and local restaurant owners. What I observed was an overflow of ideas, some of which sounded good, and some of which sounded silly.

For example:

- Local Realtor Stan Zukin (landlord of many a borough drinking establishment) suggested that the borough regulate the price of alcohol. Specifically, Zukin suggested that borough set the minimum price of a beer at $3. Borough Manager Ernie McNeely responded, "We can't do that, Stan." Zukin also suggested that bar owners get together to agree on a minimum beer price. "I'm not talking about collusion," Zukin added.

- District Justice Gwenn Knapp talked about Young Adult Community Conferencing, a restorative justice program she started three years ago. This program is available to 18 to 24 year olds busted for alcohol-related crimes. Instead of paying some of the standard fines, those who opt to participate in this program are put in contact with their victims. Working with a mediatior, the "perps" and victims figure out a way for the perps to make amends. Knapp said that young people who go through this program are far less likely than those who go through normal sentencing to be arrested for a second alcohol-related crime. Family services, the agency that runs the program, is seeking more funding YACC, so that it can be made available to more people.

- Several borough restaurant owners said they would like the alcohol program to be funded, in part, by new Saturday night parking garage fees. At the moment, it costs nothing to park in borough garages on Saturday nights. The restaurant owners said that while a pour tax might chase customers away, parking fees will not. To which I humbly respond: people don't know when they're being charged a pour tax. But they sure as hell know when they are being charged to park.

It goes on and on.

Why I wrote the sex shop article

2010-03-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

A few readers wondered why I wrote last week about West Chester entrepreneur Jill McDevitt's unsuccessful attempt to expand her store, Feminique Boutique, into the King of Prussia Mall.

No, I didn't write the story just so I could throw around a few "naughty" words. I wrote the story because McDevitt is a controversial figure in West Chester. She has been making headlines since 2008, when she opened Feminique Boutique, a "female owned and operated upscale, shame-free, sex-positive sex shop," on North Church Street. (The quoted text is from the FB website.)

In 2008, shortly after the West Chester codes department gave McDevitt permission to open her store, the borough Planning Commission began to discuss whether the borough's zoning code should be amended to prevent another Feminique Boutique type store from opening in the downtown WC. It didn't take long for West Chester area residents to bring their opinions of the store before West Chester's planning commission. Then, the St. Agnes Catholic Church, located around the corner from Feminique Boutique, tried briefly to shut the store down. West Chester ended up changing its zoning ordinance so that another Feminique Boutique style store could not open in downtown WC. The pre-Feminique Boutique zoning ordinance only kept out porn shops, strip clubs and "massage parlors." (These types of businesses, however, were and are allowed in certain commercial districts in the borough's eastern and western sections.)

So, yes. What McDevitt does has been and, I would think, continues to be of interest.

Some readers may have noticed that the Daily Local has given McDevitt a "Blogtown" blog. Readers may also have noticed that my story recapitulates the story she told in her March 11 post.

Well, a lead is a lead.

For those interested, here's a rundown of the coverage we've given the Fem Boutique controversy:

- April 2008: Just after McDevitt got permission to open her store, the West Chester Planning Commission began to debate whether to create a zoning provision that would prevent similar stores from opening up in downtown West Chester.

- May 2008: Residents, along with the pastor of St. Agnes's, came to a planning commission meeting to protest the borough's decision to allow Feminique Boutique to open.

- June 2008: St Agnes's appealed the borough's decision to grant McDevitt permission to open her store.

- June 2008: The church dropped its appeal and decided instead to lobby borough council to change the zoning ordinance so that no other Feminique Boutique-style shops could open in West Chester.

- June 2008: The planning commission discussed whether to amend the zoning ordinance to clarify what counts as a "sexually-oriented business" and to specify where such businesses should be allowed to open.

- November 2008: The planning commission completed a draft zoning amendment that would prevent another Feminique Boutique-style shop from opening in downtown West Chester. Such businesses would be limited to the borough's industrially-zoned areas.

- February 2009: Borough council tweaked the zoning amendment the planning commission developed.

- March 2009: Borough council passed the zoning amendment, effectively giving McDevitt a monopoly. No other businesses like hers may open in downtown West Chester.

- March 2010: The King of Prussia Mall denied McDevitt a lease to open a second FB.

The hazards of man on the street interviews

2010-03-03T11:03:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, there's footage that doesn't make it into the official cut.

For example:

Paranoia

2010-03-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

Reading the online comments people leave under our articles makes me sad about life.

Give people anonymity, a keyboard, and a place to post comments, and they turn into middle school students. And/or, they become really paranoid.

Take, for example, the 94 comments that, as of Monday at 3:30 p.m., had been left under my Feb. 25 article on local tea party activists.

The commenters start off discussing the article, sort of. Soon, they're attacking each other, with no regard for the article. Then, they start attacking one commentor for comments [she?] left under a Feb. 9 article on the Downingtown West janitor who allegedly sexually assaulted a 15-year-old student.

Now, I wrote that 94 comments had been left under the tea party article. That doesn't mean 94 people commented: The comments were left by only 27 commenters. "Dobbydo" left a whopping 26 comments.

In six of these comments, Dobbydo claims that several of the other commenters are really one person, and that that person's motive is to spread filth about the Tea Party Movement:

"Ummm, okay but if you are going to keep changing your name, in a vain attempt to disguise your tinfoil hat and anti CIA Antenna, wouldn't it be more effective if you learned to spell your favorite word correctly?"

"Shear insanity from people from one person with several different names. Get some sleep dude."

"I love all the names and how you mirror each other Doyle, Aristotle....Also nice how you choose to be filthy in your comments about the Tea Party folks. Keep talking amongst yourself."

"No, we really are not on the same side. You are just one of several screen names used by one obviously troubled person. I have expressed no opinion, I would rather see the uncivil filth being posted stops. It is too bad the DLN allows their site to be used this way."

"LOL, see I knew you could not resist, good thing you have all those different names to rely on. No one gets it is really you...Shhhhhh, I won't tell."

Whew.

How much should public school teachers earn?

2010-02-25T10:04:00.000-08:00

My Feb. 24 article on the West Chester Area School Board's recent reaction to the PSERS crisis led a number of online commentors to debate how much public school teachers ought to be paid. This is not surprising - the teacher pay debate arises nearly every time we write an article that touches on school district budgets.

Since the article appeared, I've also gotten a number emails about teachers pay - one person, who was unhappy with how high teachers' pensions are, told me: "I hope that you live and own in one of the districts that your property and earned income taxes make you realize that owners are now renters."

I, too, wish I earned enough to be able to buy a house.

Anyway, there is a vocal collection of commentors who think public school teachers should be earning far less than they are now earning. And the tenor of their comments hints that that they don't think teaching public school is a very respectable profession.

So, how much should public school teachers earn? And, is teaching public school a respectable profession? These are not rhetorical questions. I invite you to answer them by leaving comments under this blog post.

Below is a sampling of the teacher pay related comments that my Feb. 24 article generated.

wcnative wrote on Feb 24, 2010 11:09 AM: "Pay for public employees whose jobs are rarely at risk for layoffs used to be somewhat lower than equivalent private-sector jobs, because of that job security. That is no longer true for many, many public employees, especially teachers, who enjoy great pay, great benefits, and generous paid time off. Teachers should think how this looks to continue to demand pay and benefits that are out of line with those of the taxpayers."

realnews wrote on Feb 24, 2010 2:31 PM: "wcnative: What teacher gets generous paid time off? As I know it teachers are contracted to work a set number of days. You might be confused of their time off when they are not under contract and are not being paid. The only reason many teachers receive pay checks in the summer is because they have allowed the districts to withhold money during the year instead of receiving their fully earned compensation."

MisterWoo wrote on Feb 24, 2010 3:30 PM: "Withhold salary or not, the fact remains that the typical middle/high school teacher in PA is grossly overpaid. If the system were fair, they'd all be required to start paying money back to the state upon retirement."

nomorecville wrote on Feb 25, 2010 12:28 PM: "right out of college and you can make $40K per year, who is complaining that that is not enough money for a 22 year old."

[Side note: If public schools were funded solely by a personal income tax, much of this bitterness might go away. Even better - for the purposes of my argument - if local school districts lost the power to tax. If the state collected school taxes at an even rate from all Pennsylvania residents, and then gave local districts a flat amount of money for each pupil they taught, the debate over school taxes would change completely. No one would complain about being "taxed out" of expensive districts, public schools in Philadelphia and Lower Merion would have the same amount of money to spend per pupil, and all Pennsylvanians would be in this together. That would be my comment, if I left comments.]

Pour tax

2010-02-24T11:02:00.000-08:00

First, I apologize for neglecting this blog for the last few weeks. Also, I apologize for going a week without approving comments. I've been busy playing around with the new flip cams JRC gave us. And, I've been even busier trying to figure out how to edit the videos we shoot with the cams.

Anyway, the hot issue in West Chester this past week has been the so-called "pour tax." Borough council has asked State Sen. Andy Dinniman to craft legislation that would allow the borough to assess a 5 percent tax on all alcoholic drinks sold in the borough. The tax would raise revenue to help fight alcohol-related crimes and nuisances.

As expected, residents like this idea, and restaurants don't.

The question is, will the pour tax chase away drinkers and restaurant owners? (Borough council has recommended a tax of 5 percent, or a quarter on a $5 beer.)

Some argue that West Chester is a "destination town." People come to West Chester to dine and drink because it has a unique atmosphere - going out in West Chester is different from going out in, say, West Whiteland Township.

Others argue that diners, drinkers and restaurant owners care about price, not location. If the the beer is cheaper on Route 100, that's where the customers will go. West Chester is not enough of a "destination town" to trump price.

Now, only restaurant owners, and a certain prominent landlord, have said that WC is not enough a destination town to overcome a slight increase in drink prices. And I'm not sure they're being sincere. I have no convictions regarding the "pour tax," but I know I'd rather drink a beer in West Chester than in West Whiteland.

Here's the video I did on the pour tax. As you can see, the going is still a little rough. The day I edited this video, I couldn't figure out how to put transitions between the cuts.

Oh, no! My streets are covered in ice!

2010-02-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

For the last week, all I've heard is West Chester borough residents kvetching about the icy, snowy matter that still covers some of their streets.

I sympathize, to an extent.

But what bothers me is this - it seems that some readers believe it is my job to assure the entire West Chester Public Works department gets fired.

These readers believe the following: West Chester's roads should be completely clear; there should be no snow in site; residual snow is evidence of the public works department's absolute incompetence.

Meanwhile borough officials tell me that, in West Chester, there is nowhere to plow snow to. Unless you haul it out of the borough, it remains on the side of - or in the middle of - the road, they tell me.

Philadelphia has these nifty "melt trucks." The trucks lift snow into a boiler, which is on the back of the truck. The boiler melts the snow. Problem solved, or greatly reduced.

Except that boiler trucks are really expensive. Philadelphia only uses them on Center City's most vital roads, I believe.

Do West Chester residents want to pay for a bunch of melt trucks?

[OK, OK, I know, y'all feel like you're paying so much in taxes that the borough should already have used your money to buy, like, ten of them. Whatever. It's not my job to make sure your public works officials get fired.]

Short Form Video

2010-02-05T15:45:00.000-08:00

Our parent company's new initiative is to provide you, the readers, with loads of short videos about what is going on in your communities.

To make this happen, they've given all the reporters tiny digital video cameras.

I think this is a great idea. We sorely need a way to get new - and younger - readers. Multimedia journalism is the future, and unlike the typewriter-pecking, whiskey-slugging fogies of newsroom days of yore, I embrace this future.

There are more ways to tell a story than "WEST CHESTER -- Borough council voted yesterday to..."

The video work is rough right now - we're still learning how to use these tiny little cameras. Here's today's attempt by yours truly (in it, West Chester Borough administrators talk about the coming snow):

Note - these cameras don't come with tripods. I'm working on a way to cut down on the shaking.

If you're curious, here's yesterday's ultra classy effort (again by yours truly ... things can only get better from here. I'm composing the voiceover on the spot, as I'm holding the camera. The voiceover microphones have not yet come in):

Oh, Chester County ACTION!

2010-02-03T09:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I visited the Chester County ACTION website. I hadn't been to it in a while, and I noticed some pretty significant changes. Gone is all of the we're fighting to bring God back into government rhetoric. But there's a new quotes section.

Here's who's quoted:

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Locke, William Penn, John Jay, Edmund Burke, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Dr. D. James Kennedy, and Ronald Regan.

Huh?

I suppose Rush Limbaugh is kind of like a modern day founding father?

I wonder how many members of Chester County Action have read Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. It's a much more difficult read, of course, than Beck's Arguing with Idiots.

But here's what really gets me: guess which Sean Hannity quote Chester County ACTION included on its quotes page?

"It doesn't say anywhere in the Constitution this idea of the separation of church and state.”

Whew! That's a relief. And all this time, liberals and those insidious RINOs have been telling us that we need to have separation of church and state!

Hannity is correct, if you want to consider the Constitution and the Bill of Rights two separate documents. But, you know, they're not, and Hannity is an idiot.

Let's remember what ACTION stands for: "Americans for Christian Traditions in Our Nation."

Why this rant? Why now?

A) I, for countless reasons, value the First Amendment. Without it, I'd likely be in a different line of work.

B) Gwenne Alexander, the president of Chester County ACTION, plans to run for the 156th District State House seat.

You can read a draft of her letter of interest (which is now circulating on the internet - this draft might not be the final one) here.

Note this sentence: "I have served as the CFO for a large non-profit Foundation in Chester County."

Oh? Which one is that?

All mention of Alexander has disappeared from ACTION's homepage. (OK, not entirely true. All of the pictures in the photo gallery were posted by "Gwenne." Click on the "Gwenne" link and you get a stub of Gwenne Alexander's Facebook Page.) ....

CORRECTION - On the contact page, she is listed as the president of Chester County Action. When writing this post yesterday, I didn't see the tiny red text in which her name is listed.

Redistricting‽

2010-01-30T06:55:00.000-08:00

Why do we conduct a census? Because the constitution tells us to, in this unassuming language:

"The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct" (Article I, Section II).

(Interestingly, the sentence right before that one is the infamous Three-fifths Clause.)

One of the purposes of the census is to figure out how many congressmen each state gets. However, the Constitution says nothing about how legislative districts should be drawn. Pennsylvania's Constitution does, but it does not, apparently, say enough.

Which has led to blatant gerrymandering. For a close-to-home example, check out the Sixth Congressional District:

They drew it in 2001 for Jim Gerlach.

And, based on the 2010 census results, the partisan line drawers in Harrisburg are likely to come up with even more abstract shapes.

To prevent such abuses, a few state legislators have introduced bills that would seek to limit gerrymandering. The goal is congressional districts, state senate districts and state house districts that do not unnecessarily split up geographic regions, neighborhoods, municipalities, school districts, etc.

State Rep. Paul Drucker, D-157th of Tredyffrin, is one of the legislators who has introduced such a bill. He held a hearing on Thursday at which he sought feedback on his bill and on a similar bill by State Rep. Babette Josephs, D-182 of Philadelphia.

Drucker sought testimony from the League of Women Voters and Common Cause for Pennsylvania. Spokeswomen from both of those agencies testified that Drucker's and Josephs' bills were a good start, but were highly flawed.

The problem, the spokeswomen said, was that both Drucker's bill and Josephs' bill call for the creation of bi-partisan redistricting committees. The League and Common Cause would prefer if these committees were non-partisan.

The committees that Drucker and Josephs call for would be composed of the house and senate majority and minority leaders. Drucker's bill would add on the majority and minority whips. Both bills call for the committee to be chaired by a non-legislator appointee.

The League and Common Cause wonder, "Why the hell would you want to leave legislators in charge of redrawing legislative districts."

You can read Drucker's bill here. You can read Josephs' bill here.

You can read the League of Women Voters' response here. You can read Common Cause for Pennsylvania's response here.

(There are other redistricting reform bills. I've concentrated on these because they were the subject of yesterday's hearing, which I covered.)

Lights at Rustin

2010-01-29T07:35:00.000-08:00

I have, in the past, written a post that makes it sound like I support the installation of lights at Bayard Rustin High School's football field.

In fact, I don't care whether lights end up on the field. At the time I wrote the post, I was in a literary mood. What I wished to express was this: Westtown Township is part of the Philly suburbs. It is not "the country." It will not be "the country" until 95 percent of its residents voluntarily demolish their houses and move out and the remaining 5 percent quit their jobs and take up farming.

In short: light pollution is part of suburban life. Deal with it.

The West Chester Area School Board on Monday voted to hold off on installing lights at Rustin's field. I wrote pretty extensively about the decision here and here. Cost, not light pollution, was the reason for the school board's opposition.

What is interesting, however, is the voting pattern that has emerged: Terri Clark, Sean Carpenter, John Wingerter, Heidi Adsett and Maria Armandi Pimley (all but Clark are new to the board) vote together. They have, it appears, formed a 5 to 4 majority.

An example of Democrats' frustration with Obama

2010-01-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

Skip Carroll, a West Chester Area Democratic committeeman, forwarded this message to me. Its intended recipient is Obama fundraiser David Plouffe, and Carroll wrote it in response to one of that publicist's many pleas for donations. It is an example, I think, of the intense irritation Democrats feel now that the Tea Partiers (with the help of the dutifully bored press) are stealing the national spotlight.

David Pouffle.

You guys just don't get it.

Obama has, with a lot of advisory help, surrounded himself with the sorriest lot I can believe. Rahm Emanuel. Despised by most in Congress, many in the White House, the majority of party faithfuls and half of Illinois.

Larry Summers. He may be the poorest financial manager/adviser living. He screwed up Lithuania, Russia Harvard and the US!

Tim Geitner. A toady to Wall Street in his whole career.

Ben Bernanke, who should be fired for every decision he has made counter to advice from Paul Volcker.

And many, many more.

In addition to this he has made back-door deals on Healthcare Reform with many of the people criminally responsible for the crisis, To Whit: The HMOs and Insurers, Big Pharma, The Doctors (read AMA) and Hospitals and the Ben Nelson types in congress.

And, you have the insensitivity to include a red "DONATE" button on your propaganda messages as though we should feel obliged to donate to an already elected president!

No wonder you lost Massachusetts and are on a course to lose the whole country.

Nice work Brownie.

Skip Carroll

Question Answered

2010-01-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

But if I were any of those five Republicans, I would be soooooooo mad!

Gerlach Will Continue Fighting for Families, Taxpayers and Seniors of the 6th District

Announces he will seek re-election to Congress this year

(Glenmoore, PA) - Republican Jim Gerlach, who has had the honor of serving as "Our Congressman" since 2002, renewed his commitment to the families, taxpayers and seniors of the 6th District, announcing that he will run for re-election this year. He issued the following statement explaining his decision:

"Less than 24 hours ago, I announced that I was ending my campaign to become Pennsylvania 's next governor and would continue working hard each day serving the public. Almost immediately, hundreds of concerned constituents and long-time supporters made phone calls and sent e-mails urging me to consider running for Congress again and offering to help in any way they could to keep me in this seat. I am extremely humbled by the response and grateful for the outpouring of kindness and encouragement. The overwhelming response let me know that the best way to continue serving the public is by protecting taxpayers and fighting for our families. And it has reinforced the decision I have made - after exhaustive deliberation with my extremely supportive wife, Karen and our children -- to seek another term representing the great people of the 6th Congressional District.

"Seeking re-election to the 6th Congressional District rather than running for governor will change my position on the ballot. However, my principles remain the same. I am committed to helping families keep more of their hard-earned paychecks, giving small businesses the freedom they need to create jobs and remain competitive and making sure the government lives within its means and works for the people.

"These are the same principles that guided me as a state lawmaker working with Gov. Tom Ridge to trim waste from the Pennsylvania budget and to pass historic Welfare reform legislation, which empowered millions of Pennsylvanians to cash paychecks rather than collect welfare checks. These are the same principles that guided me as a member of Congress to support tax cuts that have saved the average Pennsylvania family more than $2,000 per year and helped make prescription drugs more affordable for our seniors. And these are the same principles that guided me in 2009 when I stood up to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and voted against the largest spending increase in our history, a misguided cap-and-trade bill that jeopardizes thousands of Pennsylvania manufacturing jobs and a health care scheme that would give the federal government unprecedented control over the daily lives of consumers, doctors and employers. I am energized, and will continue to be the best public servant I can be.

"I truly believe that I represent the best chance for Republicans to not only hold this seat, but play a major role in regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives. I have held this seat in the face of fiercely competitive elections in which opponents and liberal interest groups have spent millions against me in the worst political environments for Republicans in a generation. This year, taxpayers certainly have a lot on the line if Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are allowed to pursue their agenda of higher taxes and infinitely expanding government and wasteful spending. I am determined to make sure that does not happen and look forward to the campaign ahead and continued support of the voters."

# # #

The Gerlach Tennyson Mashup!

2010-01-08T05:40:00.000-08:00

(Or, this is what you get for being so freakin' vague)

U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-6th of West Pikeland, announced yesterday that he has ended his bid for governor. But he was vague about his plans for the future - he said last summer that, in order to concentrate on his gubernatorial campaign, he wouldn't seek another term in the U.S. House.

HOWEVER, yesterday's withdrawal announcement included some language that leaves open the possibility he will run for reelection to Congress. I can think of five Republicans who will be extremely annoyed. (For those of you not following the 6th district race, five Republicans have announced their interest in Gerlach's seat.)

I would bet my 1863 penny (Civil War soldiers could have used it!) that Gerlach won't run for reelection to Congress. The only way he would run is if the national Republicans, believing him still to be the most viable 6th District candidate, convinced him to do so. His staffers, anyway, have said that Gerlach will, within the next few days, give us a more concrete idea of his future plans.

But I'm interested in something else -- as a close observer of language, I'm interested in the wording of Gerlach's super strange withdrawal announcement. Not only is it shamelessly vague (as in: I'll do something noble yet, but I'm not sure what! Could be anything, or nothing!) -- it bears a no doubt unintended resemblance to Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "Ulysses." In this poem, Tennyson imagines an elderly Odysseus leaving Ithaca and sailing for uncertain new adventures. The poem is a so-called "dramatic monologue" - it is entirely in Odysseus' voice. Odysseus never tells us what adventures he has in mind. In fact, we get the impression that Odysseus has no idea what adventures he has in mind. So, in this way he sounds like the Gerlach of yesterday's announcement.

To demonstrate this (as well as to demonstrate some loose structural parallels between the poem and the announcement), I've constructed a "mashup" of the last stanza of Tennyson's poem and the last two paragraphs of Gerlach's announcement:

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:

There gloom the dark broad seas.

While we have successfully raised

Over $1 million,

Traveled thousands of miles

All across this Commonwealth,

And signed up more than 19,000 supporters

Eager to help us win,

Today's media-driven campaigns

Require four times that amount

To wage a successful primary.

That left me with two choices:

Either spend all of my time raising money,

With little time left for meeting with voters;

Or withdraw my candidacy

And work even harder to serve the public.

I am choosing to serve the public –

Many of whom have graciously rewarded me

With their support for nearly two decades.

I want to express my tremendous appreciation to

And affection for

Our many contributors, supporters,

Volunteers, staff, and well-wishers:

My mariners, souls that have toil’d, and wrought,

And thought with me –

That ever with a frolic welcome took

The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed

Free hearts, free foreheads – you and I are old;

Old age hath yet his honor and his toil --

You have been nothing short of awesome.

And it is because of your support and encouragement

That I will continue to travel the Commonwealth

Advocating commonsense ideas to create jobs,

Reduce taxes and cut runaway spending,

And make government work for all of our families:

Some work of noble note, may yet be done,

Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.

I want to be clear about one thing:

This campaign for governor has stoked my passion

For honest, effective, and efficient government --

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep

Moans round with many voices.

And I intend to continue to raise my voice,

And work hard in the months and years ahead.

Come, my friends,

‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

Push off, and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the western stars, until I die.

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,

And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.

Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

More meanness re: first baby of the year

2010-01-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

While I'm on the subject of spelling errors:

Someone sent us this letter regarding my story on the first baby born in Chester County this year.

Please proofread your press releases.

2010-01-06T09:14:00.000-08:00

Here's the headline of a poor press release that arrived in my inbox today:

Pennsylvania Business Owners have a Strong
New Allie in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Commercial Action Network Launch
Announcement

The rest of the release is as poor as the headline. Here's an irresistible excerpt:

PaCAN multiplies the effectiveness of business owners in the public policy arena by organizing them into apotent coalition.

Yes, quite apotent.

Carolyn Comitta officially mayor

2010-01-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

Former councilwoman Carolyn Comitta was sworn in as mayor of West Chester today. Click here to read a PDF of her inauguration speech.

Valley Forge TEA Partiers to protest Islam classes

2010-01-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

[UPDATE - I've been told that the formal protest has been canceled. There may still be a less formal protest, or at the very least an attempt to disrupt the class.]

A group called the "Valley Forge Patriots - Tea Party '09" plans to protest a course on Islam that will begin later this week at the Downingtown Friends Meeting Schoolhouse.

The Valley Forge Patriots appear to be upset that the class is being led by Iftekhar Hussain, who is on the board of CAIR Philadelphia.

CAIR (The Council for American Islamic Relations) is an advocacy group that certain conservatives are convinced gets money from Middle Eastern terrorist groups. On websites frequented by the fringe right, theories about CAIR's funding abound.

Here's the text of the protest ad (It comes from meetup.com. I'm quoting it here in case it manages to disappear from the site):

Protest in Downingtown on January 7th

SOMETHING WE ALL GOTTA DO! - RSVP directly to Paula Stiles

January 7th, CAIR in Downingtown at 6:30 PM“The Downingtown Friends is going to be holding a 10-week session on the Muslim religion and culture. The speaker, Iftekhar Hussain, is on the Board of Directors of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations). CAIR, has been linked to terrorist groups by many different sources.

“We need as many people there as possible. Some to stand outside with signs and others to go in and ask questions. Please let me know if you are interested, then I will be able to coordinate how many people are in and how many people are out. I would like to get about 100 people there if possible. The media will probably be there. If not, we plan to call them. Thanks.”

New Years Pessimism!

2010-01-04T12:07:00.000-08:00

Turns out the charming folks who comment on our website didn't much care for this year's "first baby of the year" story.

They seem to believe that A) We shouldn't report interesting stories; and B) If you have a child out of wedlock, you and your baby are doomed.

I find line of thinking B deeply unfair. We have absolutely no way of knowing how things for this new family are going to turn out. Why say, right from the getgo, that they're not going to make it? Must we insist that they conform to the "unwed mother pattern"? If so, then we allow them no individuality. Do the commentors mean to say that people are merely patterns?

What's going on in the lives of Daniel, Amanda-Rose, and their son James Paul appears to some commentors to be immoral. The behavior of Daniel and Amanda-Rose doesn't conform to their dumb, unnuanced moral orthodoxy. For this reason, the commentors I'm talking about, it appears, would, to remain secure in their own worldviews, prefer that this new family fail. (Though if Amanda-Rose were Bristol Palin, she would, I'm sure, be blameless.)

Daniel and Amanda-Rose and James Paul, I wish you the best of luck. Please ignore the folks who commented on your story.

I hate secular Christmas music

2009-12-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

Except for these two songs: Bing Crosby's version of White Christmas and Nat King Cole's version of The Christmas Song.

Today at noon, a bunch of carolers converged on the courthouse lawn to sing ... carols.

Colin Hanna, a conservative activist and former Chester County commissioner, organized this carol fest. In an interview earlier this week, Hanna told me that he distinguishes between Christmas carols and Christmas songs.

Carols, Hanna said, are religious. Songs, he said, are not.

The sing-along, he said, will involve "carols," not "songs."

Which was not entirely true. I went to the carol fest today and heard the carolers sing "Deck the Halls." The lyrics, as far as I can tell, have no religious content. The other ten pieces the carolers sang, however, were religious.

And, yes, I wrote a lengthy article about Hanna's carol fest - an article which will, when it appears tomorrow, give Christmas heartburn to many a Daily Local News reader. (Read it here.)

Anyway, back to the motivating force for this entry: I hate secular Christmas music. I used to like it. But its appeal has totally worn off. Childhood is long gone, and Christmas has revealed itself to me for what it truly is: a consumerist orgy. All season, other drivers, stressed out because our culture requires them to take on massive amounts of credit card debt this time of year so that they can buy their friends and relatives a bunch of crap that will end up in a closet, have been unwittingly trying to do me harm. All season, cheap studio recordings of Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree have been following me from store to store as I grudgingly participate in this stupid, stupid gift purchasing tradition of ours.

If it were up to me, we'd do away once and for all with the corpulent Norwegian who sleds across the sky bringing plastic to all the world's children. He is the root of our Christmas misery. My Jewish friends grew up without him, and they're doing just fine. In fact, at this very moment, all of them are happier than I am.

Yes, Christmas should involve a few overtly parent-given gifts for the kids; a nice family dinner; and attendance of a religious service that features an exceptional choir. (The Protestant revolution, I fear, has taken the virtuosity out of religious music. It's as if, to certain new denominations, getting truly good at an instrument (or at one's own voice) is an affront to God, rather than a means of praise.)

OK. This is too much. It's 6:20 p.m. on Christmas Eve. I'm not done work yet. And a coworker is playing the Chipmunks Christmas Album - the worst thing ever recorded.

How about Luciano Pavarotti singing It Came Upon a Midnight Clear? Why can't I hear that song? Why must it be the Chipmunks?

I'm off next week. See you in the New Year. And,

Merry Christmas!

'Twas Christmas in China

2009-12-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

For those looking for a few Christmas laughs, I offer 'Twas Christmas in China, a long poem my friend Matt wrote two years ago while teaching English just south of Beijing.

The poem is, as far as I can tell, non-fiction. For Matt that year, Christmas appeared at first as if it would be nothing more than a prosaic Tuesday in a polluted Chinese city. The poem relates Matt's ultimately successful search for some sign of Christmas.

You can read the full poem here, but for those with less patience and time, I provide the following excerpts:

“How can there be no Christmas in this land?
Santa visits every child with presents in hand.”
But as the boy continued to think for a minute,
He became cold and bitter, a hardened cynic.

“It's this country, that's why!” he exclaimed with a hiss.
“It's China, it's Mao, it's those damned communists!”
And as he looked out his window again once more,
Twas but signs in Chinese, a Christmas eyesore . . .

* * *

For Christmas in China is no place to be,
With no Santa at all, no wonder they wish to flee.
And out on the street no one seemed to care
That the Christmas spirit was not in the air . . .

* * *

As the people walked by, “Merry Christmas” he cried.
But they just stopped briefly and stared with their eyes.
The traffic went by and their horns loudly beeped.
Taxi drivers swore at him as he blindly crossed the street.

But then up ahead what was this he did see?
A bright smiley yellow face, looking from a building with glee?
Then there was something that the boy did hear -- quietly at first and then with a blare:
“It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas” filled the polluted air.

He rubbed his eyes, and smiled merrily.
A super Wal-Mart, “But it truly can't be!”
And the sign proclaimed on a blue and gray wall,
“Everyday Low Prices, Low Prices For All!” . . .

* * *

Then he filled up his basket with holiday cheer,
As the sounds of the carols still filled his ear.
Merrily he thought, “Christmas in China, it was always here!”
And he took from the shelves several bottles of forty-cent beer.

A green plastic tree he now carried with him.
“No more will my apartment be barren and dim.”
And off to the checkout he merrily skipped
To prove to that Christmas had not been gypped . . .

* * *

And in the doorway there stood a man the boy knew.
“It can't be, it isn't, can it really be you?”
In his plump red suit and his fluffy white beard,
He grinned and winked at a boy's holiday cheer.

From Santa's eyes the boy did glimpse
A sign that even China could not stop Saint Nick.
And as Santa looked at the boy and this magic Christmas night's sight
He said, “Merry Chris-a-mas to all. And to all a good night.”

Fin.

I have doubts, however, that Matt really went to China. I expressed them in this column.

Hotels in West Chester

2009-12-23T10:11:00.000-08:00

The Borough of West Chester currently has no hotels. But developer Brian McFadden last year obtained permission to build one on North High Street, and Stan Zukin is working on obtaining approval to build one at East Gay and North Walnut streets.

To some, this is scary stuff. But Hotels are not new to West Chester. In fact, they have been part of the borough for all but the last 45 or so years of its existence. Councilman Jim Jones, a history professor at West Chester University, just wrote a short article on the history of hotels in West Chester.

It's worth a read. You can access it by clicking here. (To find it, scroll down to the bottom of the page the link leads to).

What's your paranoid fantasy?

2009-12-21T20:32:00.000-08:00

I'm an idealist who wants everybody to get along. So, often, I think about what it is that separates the political right from the political left. This leads me to reflect on the psychological underpinnings of partisanship.

My conclusion:

obsession + instinct to form tribes = political orientation

Left on your own, you will form tribal connections with those who share your obsessions.

If your paranoid fantasies involve an oppressive government slamming through your door and stealing your wife and children, you're a conservative. And you, of course, will bond best with people who also fear this.

If your paranoid fantasies involve a monopolistic business interest enslaving you and your family, you're a liberal. And you, of course, will bond best with people who also fear this.

Overly simplistic, but good enough for tonight.

Good night.

Sensible Garage Naming comes to WC

2009-12-18T10:27:00.000-08:00

The garage that will be built at the corner of North Walnut and East Chestnut streets will not be called the "Joe Norley Garage."

On Wednesday night, borough council was trying to figure out what to name the garage.

Joe Norley, the South Walnut Street resident who goes to almost as many West Chester meetings as I do, and who, at these meetings, talks way more than any other member of the public, made to council this offer:

"I'll give you $500 to name the garage after me."

Councilman Jim Jones responded:

"How about a trash can?"

Ha!

Anyway, for more than a year the borough has been referring to the new garage as "The Mosteller Replacement Garage." The new garage, you see, is replacing the Mosteller Garage, which was just demolished.

Luckily, council members apprehended that appending this appalling appellation to the new garage would be, well, not very apropos.

Borough council on Wednesday decided to call the new garage "The Chestnut Street Garage." If you name it after the street it's on, Councilwoman Holly Brown reasoned, people will have an easier time finding it.

Yes!