Pipe Dreaming
POTTSTOWN, PA – David Forrest, Norristown’s Borough Manager for the past five years, is moving onto the green pastures of Canandaigua, NY at the end of February.
As some of you may recall, Forrest served as the Assistant Borough Manager of Pottstown from 1995 to 2002. Forrest wrote many, many successful grants for Pottstown and was instrumental in securing funds for the park in front of borough hall, the park at the corner of Chestnut and Washington Streets, renovation of the former PECO building along the Schuylkill River (now housing the Schuylkill River Heritage Area offices), and the restoration and relocation of the Grand Army of the Republic statue on High Street.
Forrest is a hard working guy and gave his 110% while in Pottstown. We still miss his dedication and excellent finance and grant writing skills.
During his five year stint in Norristown, Forrest accomplished something that Pottstown just can’t seem to wrap its collective head around. He cleaned up their Codes Department (without spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on an outside firm to do so).
“Reorganizing the code enforcement department was something that I feel pretty good about. We have a qualified department head, a clear chain of command, a third-party inspection team with the required certifications and we have people who know what their jobs are. That is in contrast to what we had here five years ago.” ~ David Forest
Wow! Could you imagine if that happened in Pottstown? A Codes Department run by a “qualified” department head. A clear chain of command. A third-party inspection team with the required certifications. People who know what their jobs are.
Simply mind boggling.
Could that happen in Pottstown? We’d like to think so. But with a 33 year Pottstown career civil servant now running the show…who has zero government management experience…and who has passively allowed crime to further escalate above the national averages in Pottstown during his twelve year tenure as police chief…the odds of a successfully reorganized Pottstown Codes Department in the near future are nothing but a pipe dream.
