Effort to save Crebilly gets huge boost with election of Pomerantz
WESTTOWN >> Self-described independent thinker Dick Pomerantz will serve as the township’s newest supervisor.
Pomerantz ousted incumbent Michael Di Domenico. Pomerantz has been a member of the planning commission for 10 years and chaired the seven member body for six consecutive years.
Open space preservation, particularly of Crebilly Farm, has sparked much interest in the township, with hundreds attending meetings.
“Preserving land and open space helps change dynamics, and does a lot of good things,” he said. “You have to recognize that the landowner has property rights.
“It’s hard not to be in favor of open space in principle.”
When he was asked about Crebilly, he started each meeting telling the public, “I wish we weren’t here and we wouldn’t need to be here had the board of supervisors dealt with Crebilly proactively.”
Pomerantz wants to get residents more involved by creating citizen’s task forces such as for transportation, pipelines, safety and security, and holding a town hall every six months.
“It was clear that there was a gap between the board of supervisors and residents,” he said. “There is an untapped potential of intellectual capital.”
As chair of the planning commission Pomerantz said he helped change the culture of the whole body’s approach.
“I wanted the township to be respected by developers,” he said. “The planning commission had become passive.”
Now, the plans from developers come in per the township’s schedule or the planning commission won’t
meet with an applicant.
“We’re doing our homework,” he said. “If you don’t ask the right questions, you don’t get the right answers.
“We’re as focused and prepared as the developers.”
The new super said that a builder told him that he admiringly doesn’t recognize the township anymore.
“You are holding us accountable,” said the applicant to Pomerantz.
Pomerantz said the three-person board of supervisors is antiquated, with supers unable to talk to each other in private due to the Sunshine Laws.
“There is no galvanizing thought process unless it’s in public with a quorum,” he said. “It makes no sense.
“A five-member board would do that more effectively.”
The life-long Independent ran on the Democratic ticket. He said the voter edge in the township goes to Republicans, but he received much of the crossover vote.
“I’m non-dogmatic and look at things from a pragmatic point of view,” he said. “I look with an appropriate balanced perspective.”
When asked what the message was he received from the public, Pomerantz
said they want to be respected, they want to be involved and they want responsive leadership.
His campaign literature reads that he wants to enhance the “vision, culture, governance, operations, fiscal and financial management.”