High Hopes
POTTSTOWN, PA – Yes folks…it’s that time of the year. Time for a clean slate. Time to look back over the past year and make note of what worked…and what didn’t…and readjust accordingly.
We recently read Pottstown Mercury reporter Evan Brandt’s commentary on his Digital Notebook blog regarding revitalization for the borough. If you haven’t already, please take the time to read it here.
We totally agree with Evan. If it works, show us the proof and let’s get it implemented. Don’t waste any more of our taxpayer dollars on ridiculous studies telling us what we already know. In this new year, let’s get things working in Pottstown…and stop doing what’s been done so poorly over and over again with the same terrible results.
Speaking of terrible results…we see that there’s a profile on Borough Manager Mark “I Am Smiling Dammit” Flanders in today’s Mercury. If you want a good chuckle, you can read the article here.
In the article, Flanders looks ahead to what he wants to accomplish in 2013. Curiously, there’s no mention of a much needed overhaul to the Codes Department. We would think that after a county grand jury investigation, an embarrassing state reprimand, and slumlords who are treated like royalty over taxpaying residential property owners, Flanders would have already started to clean house in the Codes Department (without the help of an outside firm that has family ties to members of both the Pottstown School Board and Pottstown Borough Council).
While reading the Happy Happy Joy Joy Flanders piece, we stumbled across an article on PAID’s presentation to borough council which occurred a few days before our Crickets post was published. Of course… The Mercury article notes that the presentation happened in December….which is true. The presentation actually happened during council’s only December meeting on the 10th…three weeks before the article on the event appeared in yesterday’s Mercury. Yup…that’s right…three weeks. While most news media outlets operated on a 24 hour news cycle… The Mercury operates on a three week news cycle. Nice job Nancy March. Keep up the good work.
We wonder if PAID Executive Director Steve Bamford mentioned to council the fact that one third of the townhomes being built in the Hanover Square development will be rental units? It looks like that little itsy-bitsy fact was left out of Bamford’s presentation.
We here at SavePottstown!! have high hopes for 2013 as well. High hopes that elected officials in Pottstown will put on their big girl and boy panties and start making decisions that will move the borough forward and benefit the residential property owners…instead of sitting on their collective derrieres and playing the “what’s in it for me” card.
2013 is the year to toss the dead weight overboard and make real changes that will move Pottstown into the 21st century. Demand it taxpayers! Our elected officials are supposed to be serving us….not themselves.
A small correction:
Mark Flanders did mention re-organization of the codes department in our interview.
It was first referenced, in regards to the letter from Labor and Industry, in this Dec. 20 post:
http://evan-brandt.blogspot.com/2012/12/uncertified-inspections-and-reviews.html
Further, I wrote a separate story regarding the re-organization of the administrative offices which was slated to run as an accompanying story to the profile that ran today. Not sure why it’s not on the web site as I have been off for a few days.
Nevertheless, the content of that story was already posted on my blog at this link:
http://evan-brandt.blogspot.com/2012/12/borough-re-organization-underway.html
So I’m afraid it is inaccurate to say he did not mention codes reorganization during the interview.
He did.
In essence, he said he would be waiting to see what recommendations are made by Remington, Vernick and Beach before taking any action.
Didn’t mean to write a book, SP, but I guess I did!!!!
In his commentary, “Pottstown Codes Dept. gets reprimand by state” Evan wrote:
“Flanders told the Mercury on 12/18 that it is his ‘understanding’ that many of the inspectors cited in the letter have or are close to obtaining many of the certifications that the letter indicated are lacking among the codes staff.” (Sources indicate that is completely not true, not everyone is capable of getting certified).
Flanders reply sounded way too nonplused and laid back, especially when there’s so much b.s. going on in that department and it is, potentially, a very important piece of the “Pay to Play” culture that is becoming part of the county / borough landscape.
For one, as you point out SP, there are RV&B connections to members of council and the school board, the first red flag….and now, consider this theory:
Council gets 100% behind Flanders for boro manager, lining up weeks before the vote, they tossed a political favor in the general direction of the Axis of Evil because, (unbeknownst to the average taxpayer at that time), Bruce Castor is nurturing thoughts of running for governor, as he announced early December-ish.
So, Castor, whips out his legal saber to fend off the adversaries of his most excellent pal, Mark Flanders, touting the long friendship between them and threatening defamation lawsuits to protect his buddy’s smooth, uninhibited access to the borough manager’s position. Flanders relationship with RVB is important to Castor as he lines his ducks up in a row – Remington, Vernick & Beech are BIG political campaign contributors.
The P.town codes department has become a pawn, in a broader political ploy to get Castor elected governor. For that matter, all of P.town could become a pawn. Assisted by his buddy, Flanders, and the P.town boro council, the “Pay to Play” sandbox just got larger and so did the price of admission. It’ll come as no surprise if RV&B become a permanent feature here, at least until they screw up, (hopefully that won’t happen before the governor’s race).
In this scenario, D.A. Ferman, (also a friend of Flanders), is happy to tip toe quietly away from the investigation of the codes dept., it’s too messy and sources say, the D.A. is fully aware of the evidence of corruption. Hmmm and, maybe, Frank McLaughlin will become a campaign contributor too, he sure as hell didn’t have to spend any time in prison for thieving, $$$ gratitude may be expected.
If this scenario is more than an overactive imagination, could we expect to see more of Bruce Castor and Risa Ferman spreading “light and love” in Pottstown? If so then please…
Don’t forget to have a word with MontCo Voucher Housing about how not nice it is to crap all over this community with their unregulated voucher housing schtick while their friends, the investors, get paid handsomely to dump on us too. We’d be appreciative…
In fact, voters in Pottstown might be so thankful they could even be convinced that Bruce Castor would be the BEST choice for governor. If you’re gonna pawn the borough for political gain, do it really, really well ‘cause the thoughtful, taxpaying residents would like to reap some benefit from it too.
How sweet and fluffy “I SAVED POTTSTOWN” would look on Castor’s resume in preparation for a gubernatorial race!!
I sincerely hope that Bruce Castor becomes governor when pigs fly. Pottstown can only grow forward when we rid ourselves of ALL current elected officials in the Boro AND the County.