Friday, September 28, 2007

Howell GUILTY!

So Township Supervisor C. David Howell and his wife Reta admit to putting up illegal signs on Route 611. What consequences will there be? Probably none as this will most likely fall under the "special rules for special fools" unwritten law in Forks Township.

Ironic, when other people put up signs (i.e. Farmland Preservation at the Jackson Farm) the town comes down very heavy-handedly , and heaven forbid you have a small blinking sign on your small business.

Shouldn't there be consequences for an elected official who clearly violated Township rules?

While trees are important, we wonder when the Howell's will start to worry as much about people as they do trees. We won't hold our breath waiting.......

Friday, September 14, 2007

Legal expenses

According to a preliminary review of Township records, Township Solicitor Karl H. Kline was paid $126,000 for legal fees in 2006 and $103,000 thus far (through August) in 2007 for legal services.

As we understand it, and we are still verifying this information, this does not include legal work done, and fees paid to other attorneys (i.e. as Stephen Goodsouzian, Michael Shay, etc.) on behalf of Forks Township.

In looking at a national survey of salaries paid to Lawyers, wouldn’t we be better served by hiring one full-time attorney for Forks Township? Even with benefits, it certainly seems that we would save money, plus, we would have the services of a full-time attorney with a fixed salary.

We are hoping that the Board of Supervisors will take a serious look at this. Perhaps Board member C. David Howell, an Attorney himself, will champion this effort.

Friday, September 07, 2007

John Ackerman

We did not support John Ackerman in his re-election bid. In fact, we can honestly say that we will not miss him serving on the Board of Supervisors.

So with this disclaimer made, in looking at this week's Forks Action Committee survey (see below) , we have to wonder if John Ackerman will seek damages and compensation for Libel and Defamation of Character against the Forks Action Committee as it appears as though these questions (allegations?) are aimed at him personally.

click on above to enlarge

A step back....

So the BoS decided to veto the idea of a cell tower on the grounds of the municipal complex.

We have written about this before, but, for the last time and for the record; as per the American Cancer Society's report, there are no known health ramifications to a cell tower. For better or worse, people rely heavily on their cell phones, especially in emergencies.

Supervisors Nicholas, Howell and Hoff blew this vote, period.

We're glad that Supervisor Howell regards $15,000 a year income as a "pittance". Rest assured, that comment and attitude will surely come up again in the future when other projects are proposed and we hear how desperate the town is for new non residential income.

Cry me a river...literally

We had to read and re-read this article boys and girls. How come Supervisor Howell's voice doesn't shake when our roads flood over and people are stranded, the Delaware takes people's homes away, the traffic backs up for ever on Sullivan Trail and citizens are ignored at BoS's meetings?

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Waste and Fraud

As this question comes up from time to time, and as recently as this weekend, there are resources to report fraud and waste in government, including local government such as Forks Township.

Please bookmark these links-

Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law

Government Accountability Project