Welsh won’t seek sixth term
WEST CHESTER >> Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh, Chester County’s first female elected sheriff and among the county’s longest serving public official, has announced that she will not seek re-election to a sixth term in 2019.
Republican Welsh announced her retirement in a press release at a time when the county’s election demographics are changing against her and when her office is under a cloud involving the financial operations of its vaunted K-9 Unit.
In her statement, Welsh, who has served in the office since 2000 and seen its profile gain national stature, said she plans to pursue one of several opportunities that have surfaced, although the statement did not specify what those options and will not disclose her decision until it has been finalized. She added that she was announcing her intention to change course now to give qualified candidates an opportunity to step forward and be considered.
“I care deeply about this office,” she said. “Leading it has been one of the greatest honors. I am thankful to the citizens who continued to give me their trust and confidence.”
Welsh’s announcement did not create shock waves among county political insiders, who have been discussing the possibility that she would not seek re-election for months.
“It didn’t come as a surprise to most of the county’s senior (Republican) party leadership,” said a GOP official who asked to remain anonymous because they had not been cleared to discuss the think-
ing of leaders in the county’s Republican Committee. “They decided it was probably in the best interests of everyone.
“Sheriff Welsh has done a lot of positive things while she has been in office, but
with everything that has been going on it was probably better to turn a page and have a fresh start,” the person said on Friday.
The official pointed specifically to the investigation into alleged financial improprieties with how contributions to the sheriff’s K-9 Unit were spent over the past several years, as well as Welsh’s prominent
role as one of President Donald Trump’s earliest and most vocal supporters in the county. She championed his candidacy even before he won the Republican Party’s nomination in 2016, bucking some party leaders who denigrated him, and appearing alongside him at photo opportunities in the white house.
Trump won Pennsylvania during the presidential election in 2016, but failed to capture the county’ vote itself, losing to Democrat Hillary Clinton by more than 9 percentage points. Likewise, the county’s Democrats have shown growing electoral strength in subsequent elections, sweeping county Row Office races in 2017 and handing eight incumbent Republican members of the county’s delegation in the state’s General Assembly stinging defeats.
It was feared that Welsh, as one of the most recognizable figures in county politics, would put a drag on the coming county elections in 2019, the insider said.
“She would be the most popular politician if she was Lancaster County sheriff,” the person said. “But Chester County? Not so much.”
Welsh had also drawn fire in the past four years for her office’s decision to auction off a automatic AR-15 rifle, the type used in many mass shootings in the nation, to raise money for the Chester County Sheriff’s Association. She was also criticized
for supporting a controversial right wing author in the wake of violent rallies in Charlottesville, Va. There were several calls for her to resign, all of which she rejected as “nothing new.”
But it was the revelation that the county Controller’s Office had called into question the financial practices associated with the K-9 Unit that put the decision to press Welsh to consider not seeking re-election “over the top,” the one official stated.
In mid-2018, the controller began looking into how money for the support of the canines in the unit — which are not included in the sheriff’s county budget — were raised and spent. After failing to get sufficient cooperation with Welsh’s office, county Controller Margaret Reif issued a subpoena for the K-9 Unit’s records.
Her auditors raised a number of questions in their review of the funds. Among other expenses, paid for with checks and credit cards, the Controller’s Office said that it could not ascertain how certain individual payments related to the services K-9 Unit was formed to provide to law enforcement agencies and others in and out of the county.
The 23 instances of questionable actions by the K-9 Unit that a summary report of the controller’s audit cited — including failure to register as a charitable organization, file for tax-exempt
status, and establish an overall “formal or informal structure” for receipts and disbursements — led the office to the rare step of bringing the matter to the attention of other elected officials in the county, including the county commissioners and District Attorney Tom Hogan.
“Based on our evaluation of the limited documentation we received, it did not appear that the majority of the generous donations received from well-meaning donors and sponsors (of the K-9 Unit) were being used for their intended purpose,” Reif said at the time.
Hogan, after an initial review of the controller’s finding, decided that his office had a conflict of interest in the matter and referred Reif’s report to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia and the state Attorney General. In October, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General, Carolyn Simpson, issued a statement, saying that the office, “had received the requested referral and will conduct a thorough and complete review.”
Val DiGiorgio, chairman of the county GOP, issued a statement on Welsh’s retirement on the committee’s Facebook page.
“Sheriff Welsh … is one of only a few dozen female sheriffs serving nationwide and has been a trailblazer in law enforcement,” it read. “Under Sheriff Welsh’s leadership, the Chester County Sheriff’s Department has earned countless awards and recognition for professionalism and service.
“Bunny’s distinguished career includes a multitude of accomplishments and awards too long to list. Her commitment to good government and the community she serves is without parallel. I am proud to have worked alongside Bunny for so many years. It is a testament to her personality and work ethic that Sheriff Welsh is beloved by so many in Chester County,” DiGiorgio stated. “I wish Bunny all the best in her future endeavors and thank her for her years of admirable service to Chester County.
Welsh, a resident of Pennsbury, has amassed a significant number of achievements and awards during her tenure as county sheriff. The first woman to be elected president of a graduating class at the National Sheriffs Institute, Welsh also became the first female president of the Pennsylvania Sheriffs’ Association in 2009.
She was elected in 2011 to the board of the National Sheriffs Association, which oversees more than 3,000 sheriffs across the nation. She currently serves on the NSA’s executive committee as third vice president, the first woman ever to hold that post. She is cochair of the National Coalition on Violence Against Animals (NCOVAA) and a board member of the National Flag Foundation.
Locally, Welsh is a member of the Rotary Club of West Chester and serves as vice president of the Chester County Hero Fund. She sits on the board of the Chester County Family Academy and the Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School.
Welsh acknowledged that handing over the Sheriff’s Office to her successor will be bittersweet. “I hope that he or she will share both my pride and my passion for this wonderful job,” she said. “I also hope they will recognize what an honor it is to work with these extraordinary men and women who serve the courts and the citizens with professionalism and dignity.”