Radnor BOC President Phil Ahr skips Monday meeting
RADNOR » An early morning raid last week by the Delaware County detectives on the home of Phil Ahr, the president of the Board of Commissioners, has Radnor Township abuzz - and at least one commissioner calling for Ahr to step down.
Ahr, a Democrat, was not present at Monday’s board of commissioners meeting. He has not commented on word that he is being investigated by the county District Attorney’s Office.
Emily Harris, a spokeswoman for the district attorney, said that she could confirm that there is an ongoing investigation but said the affidavit is sealed. Ahr has not been charged with a crime.
Ahr’s home was searched by Delaware County CID detectives last week.
No reason for the has been released.
Radnor Township Saturday probe issued a one-sentence statement confirming the investigation.
“The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office has confirmed there is an investigation regarding Township Commissioner Philip Ahr,” the statement reads. “This investigation is being conducted by the County’s Criminal Investigations Division and does not involve the participation of the Radnor police or any other Radnor Township staff or officials. We respectfully ask that all inquiries be directed to the appropriate county officials.”
Radnor Township employees were apparently informed of the investigation during a meeting Friday.
Ahr, who represents Ward 7, was elected president of the board in July, after Elaine Schaefer said that a heavy workload required that she step down as president. Schaefer and Ahr, who had been vice president, traded places.
At the beginning of the meeting Schaefer, also a Democrat, read a brief statement acknowledging the ongoing investigation and saying the township would have no further statement on the matter at this time.
Earlier in the day, via email, Commissioner Luke Clark, a Republican, said, “My understanding is the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division raided his house last week with a search warrant. The Delaware County CID and District Attorney’s office are running the investigation so I will let them answer any questions with regard to what the warrant was for, what they found, whether he will be charged with any criminal offenses and what the next step is. (The) CID obtaining a search warrant and raiding a home are very serious actions and I presume that Commissioner Ahr, recognizing the severity of these allegations, would do what is best for the township and resign both as president and commissioner. Regardless, we should immediately vote to elect a new president of the Board of Commissioners given these circumstances.
“It is imperative that every ward is adequately represented on our board,” said Clark. “If Commissioner Ahr does in fact resign as commissioner, it is our responsibility to move quickly to appoint a replacement interim commissioner until a special election in order to minimize the amount of time Ward 7 is not represented on the board. These allegations do not reflect the values of Radnor Township or those of our board.”
Commissioner John Nagle, a Democrat said, also via email, “I am disappointed that Delaware County has not been more forthcoming. There are rumors galore. Also, I am disappointed that folks are forgetting that this is an investigation at this point.”
Daniel Sherry Jr., a noted that Ahr resident, was the board’s representative to the township Ethics Board that is investigating Schaefer. He asked the BOC to comment on the reason for the investigation and received no answer. He urged the board to “deal with” the situation with Ahr quickly and added that two candidates for commissioner, Lisa Borowski and Mollie Plotkin, had removed Ahr’s pictures from their campaign Facebook pages.
Another resident said that he was concerned that Ward 7 was not being represented during discussions.
Ahr, who did not reply to requests for comment, has lived in Radnor about 24 years and he and his wife, Dawn, have two grown sons. Ahr holds a degree in marketing management from Notre Dame University and served in the U.S. Navy as a hospital corpsman. He is marketing director for a specialized information company in Malvern. Over the years, Ahr served on the Garrett Hill Coalition, the Rosemont 4th of July Parade Committee, the Garrett Hill Steering Committee and worked on the Garrett Hill Master Plan and the Garrett Hill Zoning Overlay. He also pushed for the renovations at the newly reopened Clem Macrone Park.