Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Supervisor vote in West Whiteland expected
Township moving quickly to fill vacancy on board
WEST WHITELAND » What is the rush?
That’s the question that several residents are asking of their board of supervisors.
With a little more than a day’s public notice and legal advertisement, the township has scheduled a special board of supervisors meeting for Friday, Dec. 22 at 10 a.m. The board is expected to accept the surprise resignation of Supervisor Joe Denham and appoint a new supervisor to fill his seat.
Supervisor Bud Turner and Michele Moll, who was appointed and then sworn in on Dec. 13, after taking Steve Soles’ seat when he resigned, will possibly vote on who will fill the vacancy on the three member board.
Several residents want the board to wait until Theresa Santalucia is sworn in as super on Jan. 2. She defeated Turner in the November election.
Santalucia said she was disappointed that she wouldn’t be serving with Denham on what would have been the township’s first Democratic-controlled board.
“I’ll serve in a bipartisan fashion for the benefit of the community and not a political party,” she said. “I’m committed to working for the people.”
“I don’t know why they can’t wait until January when the new
board can choose a candidate,” resident Virginia Kerslake said.
If a new supervisor is chosen on Friday, the township will not be following the process that was used to appoint Moll.
Eleven candidates were then interviewed in a public meeting attended by about two dozen residents.
Township Manager Mimi Gleason said that while the board will have the ability to vote on a new supervisor, she does not know if the board will be ready to do so at Friday’s meeting.
Neither Turner nor Moll responded to requests for comment Thursday.
Tensions ran high on Thursday.
“I find this very offensive because, if the vote occurs tomorrow, our next supervisor will be appointed by one supervisor who the voters
recently denied a second term and another supervisor who wasn’t even elected and has been serving for less than two weeks,” said resident Catherine P. Horvath Thursday. “This simply does not reflect the democratic character of our great township.”
West Whiteland resident David Mano wonders why the process is seemingly being pushed so quickly.
“It’s a farce,” Mano said. “Turner got voted out, the public spoke and he’s trying to find a way to keep his foot in the door of the township and preserve his kingdom.”
Resident Jeff McFall would likely agree.
“I am concerned that this will undermine the democratic process in that a supervisor voters just rejected will potentially be involved in appointing a replacement,” he said.
Resident Todd Peterson responded via email: “We have a lame duck supervisor whom the people
just voted out of office, and an appointed replacement supervisor of two weeks whom no one elected, both of whom will apparently appoint another Republican (also unelected) as supervisor to run West Whiteland Township for at least the next two years. We would end up with two Republican supervisors, neither of them elected by the people of the township, in a majority situation over the one lone Democrat supervisor who WAS just elected resoundingly by the people.”
State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19, voiced an opinion.
“I think the process needs to be transparent and the people need to be involved in who is selected as their next supervisor,” Dinniman said. “There’s no need to rush to appoint someone to fill this position.”
When Denham heard that he might be replaced so quickly after his resignation
was tendered Dec. 19, and which he made effective on Dec. 20, he said he was “concerned.”
Denham resigned due to increased work commitments.
“I was expecting that the whole process would take place starting in the new year with the new supervisor and the person appointed,” Denham said.
Denham said that when the board replaced Soles, he advocated for a transparent transition and meeting.
“It’s all about doing the right thing for the residents,” he said.
During the annual reorganization meeting convened in municipalities statewide during the first week in January, new supervisors and committee
members are sworn in.
Sherry McVickar, a township resident and owner of McVickar’s West Whiteland Inn, said Thursday that until Friday’s meeting was scheduled, the reorganization meeting was nothing more than a “formality.”
“West Whiteland Township is jeopardizing the board of supervisors commission appointments that were agreed on by the township supervisors,” McVickar said. “However, with a shakeup of the supervisor board like this, those appointments – which likely would have seen Democrats (and exceptional, qualified individuals as well) appointed to the planning commission, historical commission, Friends of the Park Committee, and Vacancy
Board – are certainly not guaranteed.
Some complained that the meeting was advertised just a day in advance. A classified ad was posted in the Thursday Daily Local News.
As part of an email, McVickar wrote that “undemocratic activities” include:
“1. Giving us – the residents of West Whiteland Township – only 24 hours’ notice (which is the statutory minimum for a special meeting of the board of supervisors) BUT!! the search to replace Steve Soles was given THREE WEEKS! with open citizen meetings, ect.
2. The meeting is being held on the last business day prior to the Christmas Holiday. This is not right.”