Thursday, December 16, 2010

Continued Musings

Lately I have been in a quandary about the goings on in Downingtown.  For a few weeks now I have been considerably concerned about the budget proposal for 2011 and how it started out with a $230,000+ shortfall yet budget proposals for many things were thousands of dollars more than they had been or even what had been actually used in the past year.  I do have to say that in the Borough Council meeting last night I felt a bit better when Council President Jamie Bruton stated that he, Councilwoman Ann Feldman and Director of Finance Judith Walters had been scrutinizing the budget and had found $53,000 dollars that could be additionally cut from the budget.  In many ways that does not seem like much, but when a resident is faced with a 10% increase in taxes as opposed to maybe 8% it's a lot of money.  I felt more confident that with the push from Mr. Bruton there will be a continued effort to look into more cuts if possible.

The large debt load that Downingtown does have was brought up and it was brought up by Ms. Feldman, which I thought was a bit ironic when she has the borough caught up in a court battle that would lessen the debt load if she would back down and let the development of Kardon Park go through.  After the meeting Ms. Feldman came up to me and spoke to how she felt that she did not know how it had gotten personal in my ire towards the FOKP and her, but that the photos that I have taken for my business and specifically of Kardon Park were pretty.  I tried to answer her as honestly as I possibly could.  In my professional life and private life I have a few pet peeves and it really doesn't matter who gets on the bad side of them, they tend to really irk me to no end.  One of them is when in a business or professional setting one must conduct themselves in a manner that cannot be misconstrued as whining or a stuttering oratory.  The other really big peeve is being at least on time to a commitment and fulfilling the commitment regardless of other interests.  Almost three years ago I committed myself to a group and while other things are pulling in my life I WILL finish out the commitment until 2011 and I will not schedule meetings, doctor appointments, family outings and other such things when I know I must be in attendance.  My only recourse is that I DO have an alternate to attend the  functions if necessary, but if I did not I would make sure that unless something dire was occurring I would be there.

There have been times when I have agreed with Ms. Feldman, but the ire that has been produced by the lawsuits tends to color not only my vision, but I am quite sure those of the others on Council who are on the opposite side of the aisle, but also citizens who feel that FOKP are helping Downingtown to die a slow death.  While I am not a fan of how Ms. Feldman has been spoken to nor treated at times, I can understand why....I won't excuse the behavior though, because no matter personal thoughts, it is business.

With that said, I was looking on various sights to see what other municipalities were up to AND also to read more about passive parks and open space.  I was perusing the FOKP site when I came across the "dedication picture" of Kardon Park in 1978.  I could not tell exactly what part of the area it was taken but when I read the caption it said that it was 12 acres of park.  What made me sit up and take a good look was that the FOKP are saying that with that dedication ALL of the "park" had been dedicated.  How can that be when it is a parcel of land over 40 acres?  I truly do understand that some people feel that developing the area that is contaminated will alter the experience or some other reason, but I ask this.....What good is an overgrown, contaminated parcel of land that is not that pleasing to the eye to a dying town?  Can you really and truly say leaving it as is benefits each and every resident and business in Downingtown?  You might want to think about that.

39 comments:

  1. As pointed out in a previous post, Kardon park was so-named because the final two parcels of it were acquired in a lawsuit settlement from the Kardon group of Companies (ATE-KAYS, a partership of "8" "K"ardon family members, a play on words,and Windsor Crossing Inc., a development company formed to develop the 12 acres pictures in the dedication photo into a townhouse development, about 1974. The Borough condemned the land to stop that development, and a settlement was reached, culminating in a park named after Morris Kardon. Actually the first lake parcel was also acquired from the Kardons at the same time, but evidently originally was not to be included in "Kardon Park. The total acquired from the Kardons was 16.9 acres.

    As Mr. Greenleaf, former Borough manager testified, the intent was to combine the newly acquired parkland along Pennsylvania Ave., with the Meisel (2nd lake) parcel (1962), and the two Project 70 parcels acquired for open space/recreation in 1968. As we also know, at some point the 7 acre composting/maintenance parcel was included in various descriptions descriptions of Kardon Park, including the Resolution to rename it the Ponds, as well as the OSRER Plan, the Comprehensive Plan, the Recreation and Open Space Plan of East Caln, and other official documents. The Resolution did not include the first lake parcel.

    The dedication photo was taken after the settlement was reached, and apparently the newspaper's description of a 12 acre park, was based on the recent acquisition of those 12 acres. Officially Kardon Park, as named in Resolution 2001-03 is approximately 47.3 acres. Golder Associates rounded the number off to 50. If first lake is included, (now signed as part of the Ponds), it is 52+/-. The acreage subject to litigation was 40.5, which excluded the 7 acre parcel.

    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  2. Here is a capture of a Borough web page from 1999, describing Downingtown parks. Kardon Park is shown as 50 acres (Golder's number):

    http://replay.waybackmachine.org/19991003063801/http:/www.downingtown.org/parks.htm

    ReplyDelete
  3. While I have no idea how the budget is put together, I remember a statement at one of the meetings that, because of the excess in snow last winter, the Public Works Dept did go over its budget, which is understandable.

    I think we're all painfully aware that the anticipated interest on our savings accounts are a few percentage points less than what they were 3 years ago. Perhaps the borough had not taken that into consideration when 'guestimating' what the revenue would be. I know that the borough was sure they would win the Orphans' Court case and perhaps they had added 'anticipated revenue' from the building and sales of the units.

    What I don't understand is this 'debt load.' Is this the Bond Issue that most municipalities deal with?
    I went back to see when it was talked about: January 27; March 17; and April 21 where the solicitor O'Donnell said the Borough has a double A rating and 'no extra insurance was necessary.'
    So, if each year balances and there's alway some 'general fund' surplus, be it $685,000 or $248,000, is there a real debt somewhere?

    There is one thing that seems to really REALLY bug you: Ms Feldman was late for a council meeting.
    I was there. Mr Sullins explained that Ms Feldman had called and explained that her Dr's appointment was taking longer than she thought it would. This is all Mr Sullins said. I don't think you should continue to blame Ms. Feldman for a situation she had no control over. Do you really think she'd schedule a Dr's appt late in the day knowing there's a council meeting at 7 that night?

    I schedule my dentist and doctor appts early in the morning well before work. Even when I'm assured I'd be 'out of there' with plenty of time to get to work, I rarely am.

    I was going to mention the Kardon's 12 acres, but it seems anonymous Chris beat me to it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LOL I did not even mention the council meeting that Ms. Feldman was late to in this post...YOU did. I was there also and I heard Mr. Sullins too AND I spoke with Ms. Feldman about this last night, she even said to me that she is late to a lot of things and I told her I was chronically early and it bugged me about late people. Thing is I did not single Ms. Feldman out I even said that it didn't matter who you were it bothers me to no end no matter what. It would bother me if Bob Smith came late or Mark Benner or anyone else and it does when some have. I also have committments and meeting I HAVE to attend and I don't schedule anything that would possibly cut it close to those things and I don't care if Ms. Feldman did it or if Jamie Bruton had especially on a night when a significant piece of the borough's functioning is going to be discussed.

    As for the budget the original shortfall DID NOT come just from snow removal and was even stated last night that the borough got a windfall of sorts. If you had looked at the first published budget there was a lot of pork in it....no matter how many times Chip Gazzerro voices that he does not see where we can cut anymore. Also there is no such thing as "guesstimating" you either estimate or you know. However, even with not having an accounting degree I know I do not budget $12,000 more in a certain area for a new year when the original budget estimation was not met for this year in my own household.

    The debt load is not the bond issue it is true debt that the borough has accumulated. Now the statement has been made that the borough does not have any other expenses other than operating expenses and that may certainly be true, but even some of the thoughts and costs that have been brought up make me skeptical that it's not JUST operating expenses.

    Either way the you are the ones that made this personal for Ms. Feldman, not I.

    ReplyDelete
  5. you are right, of course, about my taking one of your pet peeves as a direct 'hit' at Ms. Feldman. Because your peeves were part of the same paragraph that mentions Ms. Feldman approaching you after the meeting. I surmised your peeves were directed at her. you WERE very careful to avoid finger-pointing. After re-reading the paragraph, I saw I was wrong.

    Since you mentioned Chip and his statement about not seeing how anything could be cut, I recall hearing him at a meeting complaining about 'miscellaneous' items. He didn't want ANY Misc. charges anywhere! What ARE they? Why do they look like secret payments?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't know about that statement by Chip, but I do know that if Mr. Bruton could find $53,000 dollars to cut then Chip was wrong when the first publicaton of the budget came out that there was nothing else that could be cut. I know he did make a statement this past meeting about he didn't want to lose the momentum on the streets.......I persoanlly feel that there is not the kind of momentum he is speaking about since many of the streets need quite a bit of repair. I believe that Chip may have been on council a bit too long.

    I am glad that you saw I was not taking a direct hit at Ms. Feldman. I will admit that I have taken direct aim at her, however she is the sole respondent in the lawsuit regarding Kardon Park, so to be honest she opened herself up to taking it on the chin. I don't feel that ANYONE who is a respondent in a lawsuit that involves the Borough itself should be sitting on council and it wouldn't matter if it was Ms. Feldman or not. In my eyes it's a conflict of interest.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You know...8% is not that bad, I do agree it's high for the economy we are in and I really don't want to have higher local taxes but it could be a lot worse like West Chester Borough with 20%!!! But with decreasing revenue and fixed costs, it's inevitable.

    Cutting the 53k was awesome! I wasn't pleased when Ann (not sure if it was jokingly) pleaded at the end of the meeting for the increase for the Historical Commission...While I wholeheartedly applaud what they do...I don't think, in this economy, increases in budget for commissions is necessary. Operating costs should be taken care of...but increased, no. Have a few more fundraisers maybe, I dunno.

    Infrastructure improvements are necessary and should be a priority. I'll agree with you Elaine that I'm not quite sure of the "momentum" Chip speaks of but there are a bunch of roads in need of repair.

    As far as the nitty gritty details I can't really comment because I have not reviewed the revised budget but...I'll congratulate Jamie and others for cutting unnecessary dollars to lessen the burden for the residents of Downingtown.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am by no means defending Ann, but a good portion of the pork was trimmed from the Historical and Parks part of the budget, so I think that was what she was referring to, but as I suggested to one member of that Committee that some fund raisers such as the craft fair that they did during the Fall Fest might be a good idea to offset the money lost in the cuts.

    No 8% is nothing compared to 20% in WC which my parents are gong to feel and they are senior citizens. I was reading the copy of the budget that I had while Jamie was discussing the cuts and the ones he suggested were exactly the ones that I was baffled at why they were so high.

    You are exactly right there are a lot of roads that are need of repair and some that were supposed to have been repaired that in my opinion were not done that well.

    I was jumping up and down inside when Jamie cut even the $53,000 from the budget and I am hoping that they keep at it for the next week because every little bit helps.

    ReplyDelete
  9. (4th attempt, guess the email notification is not working)

    Well this certainly reads as a direct personal attack on Ms. Feldman over relatively minor concerns. Evidently she showed up late for a Council meeting, after calling and saying had been delayed, and would be late. Or she sounds 'whiney or stuttery'. Is this damning evidence that someone should not be on Council?

    Really...

    This is, of course, consistent with this site's administrator. Little else to do I suppose, but bash Ms. Feldman, her organization, and of course, the fight to preserve a popular public park.

    Since we are talking about pet peeves, one of my biggest is people who insist on being heard even when they have no idea what they are talking about, because they have not done the most basic of homework on the issue.

    Clearly Ms. Feldman was correct on the legality issues of selling a public park, the dedication of the park, the environmental evaluation issues in the park, etc. She has taken other very commonsense stands in the interests of the Borough residents, after examining the proposals.

    There is a small group of people dedicated to presenting misinformation over and over again to justify their "opinion" about the park, but clearly their opinion is not consistent with the law or the facts, or the reality of the situation.

    This does not bother them one iota. (You know who you are).

    Ms. Feldman runs a small business, home-schools her kids, started a non-profit corporation and serves as president of it, representing the interests of a significant percentage of the public of Downingtown, and the ownership interests of all residents of Downingtown, has run for office and defeated the sitting Council President, and has taken a popular stand against "city hall", and in being successful, has enabled other like-minded citizens across the state to protect their parkland as well.

    Sounds pretty impressive to me.

    Certainly more impressive than putting up a silly blog dedicated to misinformation and personal attacks.

    As far as the budget is concerned, how long do these people think it will take the developers to turn on the Borough, if the decision on the sale of Kardon Park is not overturned. My prediction is that they will sue the Borough for all of the money they have invested, which by then may well be in the area of a million dollars. They would have every right, since the Borough enticed them into an illegal sale of public parkland.

    I assume if and when that happens, the venom will be turned on those council members who have put the Borough in legal jeopardy.....repeatedly.

    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  10. Chris do you know how much a of a pain you truly are? You constantly have to bring the conversation back to what you want to talk about. Heavens I am so sick of your constant whinning that your posts wind up in the spam filter. You would think that if the site doesn't like your posts no one else is going to either. One more time you accuse me of something that is unfounded and I WILL see if I can ban you.

    You want my pedigree fine....I am a stay at home mother to twins sons that are 15 and have Asperger's Syndrome whom attned the public schools, hence the SAHM part of motherhood. I have a BSEd from WCU with which I taught for a few years before getting married and having children. I am involved in the Johnsontown Community Group and have attended IDEAL meetings. I attend a non-demoninational church in Chester Springs and am becoming active there. I also attend a program that prefers anonymity of which I am a Group Representative and am serving out my last year. I also have a small business that is starting to take off. I have lived in Downingtown for 17 years and in Chester County for over 25. I lived in Colorado for 5 years and before that grew up in Jeffersonville.

    Now get off my back and the collective backs of those who don't agree with you. The whole issue of Kardon Park in the very beginning should have stayed a legislative issue but just like everyone else in this misguided society that is litigious minded first and foremost it was taken to court. If you do not wnat D'town to thrive and prosper I suggest you move elsewhere.... maybe you can find some utopia that does not need an influx of business, residents and money to help make it solvent.

    I meant what I said....you keep up the crud and I will find a way to ban you...censorship it may be but it also is a way to keep egomaniacal people from cluttering up discussions that could possibly benefit the borough. Get over yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  11. BTW Chris..... I DID NOT state in that paragraph that Ms. Feldman was whiny or stuttering, nor did I say that she was the only one late..........YOU DID!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. ~John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859


    Censorship is the child of totalitarianism, and has no place in a democracy.

    ReplyDelete
  13. ***Check the nasty "spam" filters again.

    If you look at my posts on this thread, they are completely relevant to the opening commentary. You addressed the 12 acre question in the dedication photo, and I responded with a factual and complete response to that. I then posted a web capture from the parks page of the Borough website in 1999.

    Again, YOU brought the subject up, in an attempt to misrepresent what Kardon Park is, and what the dedication applies to. Please refer to Judge Platt's decision and the Kim Mfg. brief for more specifics.

    Much of the remainder of your commentary is deveoted to indicting Ms. Feldman for filing a lawsuit to protecting a public park (supported by state law, obviously), and the implications that YOU believe this will have on budgetary concerns.

    Again YOU brought this up, not me.

    Apparently you not only do not comprehend what I write, but don't even understand what YOU write.

    And YOU are the making moronic commentary about people who do not show up on time for meetings (my understanding is that Ms. Feldman was late for one, and called to report her delay), as a backhanded way of suggesting that Ms. Feldman is not qualified to sit on Council. As if punctuality were the only qualification for sitting on a decision making body. I know of plenty of nincompoops who sit on boards, who may well show up on time, but that is less important to most people than if they are making sound decisions when they are seated.

    If you were not making stupid commentary, there would be no need for me to address it.

    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  14. First off "John" The USA is not a democracy it is a republic.

    Chris you need to see someone for your self centeredness. Yes in the BEGINNING I asked soem questions and we had moved on and were discussing the budget, but you keep harping. If you had bothered to read and further than your own nose you would have seen that I ALSO said it would bother me if Bob Smith came in late or Mark Benner and it has when others HAVE come in late. For pity's sake get off of it. Are you not able to have a discussion about anything else in the borough unless it is about Kardon Park? Because if not you will be sorely surprised when I move on to other subjects.

    You are the only one looking moronic and stupid. You don't read what others write in completely because you are too busy typing to the only portion that you know even a smidgen about. Now enough is enough. If you don't like the dang blog LEAVE......no one really cares if you are here or not other than like a fly that needs to be swatted which you are dangerously close to have happen.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Generally speaking posters on blogs respond either to the lead commentary or, if they prefer, to preceding comments. There is no right or wrong. I have responded initially to your lead commentary, and in turn to your followup commentary.

    Look Elaine, it is quite obvious to anybody reading this blog what you are attempting to do, and it should be painfully apparent even to you by now that you are not getting away with it.

    As long as you post whatever you post, and nobody responds, it has some potential of impacting someone's thinking. But when people are rebutting what you write with facts and reason, your attempts are thwarted.

    Maybe you can't see that, and clearly you can't...but it is obvious to anyone else reading your blog.

    This blog or my posts have absolutely nothing to do with me, it is all about you, and your opinions, and your misinformation, and your attempts to make yourself seem more qualified to speak on issues than Ms. Feldman (who has surely researched all of this far more than you), your attempts to dismiss the law, and the scientific studies, and the history of the issue, and put your personal spin on well, everything. You should call this blog Elaine's Alternate Reality Universe.

    And I am self-centered? I have not mentioned anything about myself anywhere on this blog. I am only responding to what YOU write. (Go back and check)

    And check the spam filter while you're at it.

    Chris.

    BTW the US is a representative democracy (in the form of a Republic at the federal level) as are most modern democracies of the world. There is no such thing as a true democracy among nations or states, since that would require a vote from every citizen on every issue, and would be quite impractical. But the common understanding of democracy is representative democracy in which the representatives are elected by majorities. The key to an informed electorate is freedom of the press.
    All state representatives, senators and governors, as well as elective offices of political subdivisions are by simple majority vote. Only the President can be elected without a popular vote majority, as I understand it, due to the electoral college (undemocratic)

    Perhaps you would prefer the Republic of Iran, the Republic of North Korea, the People's Republic of China, or other repressive environments, but me, I prefer the democratic approach with protections on speech and press.

    Also, in getting back to the point in your leading commentary about the 12 acres....you will note that in recent years the Borough has called Kardon Park a 12 acre park, but those 12 acres, which include the lakes are not the twelve acres dedicated after the Kardon acquisition. And the Borough has claimed the Kardon parcels were never dedicated, which we know is simply not true. It is a pattern of deception.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Chris I am done playing your games. You have no idea what you are speaking of. Just because I do not agree with your side of the aisle does not mean that I have not done my homework nor have I not researched anything. I am a bit sick and tired of you sneering at my opinion yet yours is to be taken at face value. You claim no one reads this blog yet here you are and I really don't know what I did to offend God that much that He brought you here. I meant what I said, you are on the verge of getting deleted and it has nothing to do with your opinion of the Kardon Park issue it has to do with how you speak to me and others who don't share your lofty misguided opinion.


    This is taken directly from ThisNation.com

    The United States is, indeed, a republic, not a democracy. Accurately defined, a democracy is a form of government in which the people decide policy matters directly--through town hall meetings or by voting on ballot initiatives and referendums. A republic, on the other hand, is a system in which the people choose representatives who, in turn, make policy decisions on their behalf. The Framers of the Constitution were altogether fearful of pure democracy. Everything they read and studied taught them that pure democracies "have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths"

    Iran is an Islamic Republic, The PEOPLE'S Republic of China is so named because it is run mostly by Communists (the state and the PLA are the other reiging entities) and North Korea is actually the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea. Now who doesn't do their research? Hmmm might it be YOU?!?

    As for the dang 12 acres......don't even bring up deception when the FOKP have built their group on nothing but deception and lies. Go away fly you bother me.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You will note that I said the US is (at the Federal level) a Republic.

    See, we can agree on something.

    A republic is, of course, a form of representative democracy, in which the people choose their representatives in general elections decided by majority vote. It is not direct democracy, or pure democracy, because citizens are not making laws themselves or voting on every line item in a budget. That would be virtually impossible to implement, particularly with a country of 350 million.

    Now there is no requirement in either a republic or direct democracy for protection of basic rights...speech, press, assembly. Fortunately we have those rights defined in the constitution of our constitutional republic.

    But we are talking about Downingtown, and in the matter of censorship, your tortured little domain.

    The relevant question is: does this blog respect differences of opinion, or is it a totalitarian dictatorship which openly practices censorship?

    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  18. Here is an article on Jeffersonian democracy. You may recall the name Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, and probably knew a little more about the subject than you.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffersonian_democracy

    ReplyDelete
  19. First of all Wikipedia as a source......really? Besides that if you really think that a Jeffersonian Democracy exists today then you need to do some more research on other sites than Wikipedia. Jefferson was for a small federal government and for the local governments to have the power and that means that the power would reside with the people. That ain't happening today no matter where you look.

    Chris like I said I am really tired of your whining about censorship. You don't like how run the blog? LEAVE! I don't have to explain myself and I don't have to justify myself especially to you. Who are you? Really who are you? To me you are nothing but a speck on the timeline of my life and I am tired of trying listening to you complain. Do you not have anything else to do other than to troll blogs and the DLN and find places where people do not agree with your opinion?

    It would be fine if you just disagreed with an opinion, but you have to try and denigrate anyone who deos not see it your way. NO matter how many times you post what is in the Golder Report or Judge Platt's decision or anything else I serioulsy doubt it will change my opinion or my reading of it. It is called interpretation....you see it one way and I and others see it another. And before you are off to the races on interpretation your esteemed Judge Platt did just that and so do many other judges day to day. You want an empty unused overgrown piece of land to stay that way....fine. I would like to see D'town get an influx of cash, some new residents who could possibly help the businesses in town grow and for a contaminated piece of land to be capped without the borough having to pay for it. Now enough is enough.

    ReplyDelete
  20. VERY WELL put Elaine !! Chris give it a rest ... you can spout all of the opinion you want .... just please only do it once. You were successful in one thing. After reading your long winded posts here and at the DLN site I would not want to be associated with people who have such an attacking mean spirit. I have yet to see you post something positive nice or even non-condecending, heck i would settle for something not sarcastic. You were given enough rope and took the expected action. I hope Elaine bans you.

    DOWNINGTOWN RESIDENT

    ReplyDelete
  21. Interestingly and quite ironically, while on the subject of 'republican' government, it should be noted that one of the points of law made in the Friends of Kardon Park lawsuit was that by signing an agreement with a developer, and therefore being legally committed to fulfilling it on behalf of the developer, the Borough Council of Downingtown had in doing so, deprived the citizens of Downingtown of their constitutionally guaranteed republican form of government. Because they were legally bound to represent the developer's interests, they could no longer represent the citizens' (voter's, owners, and taxpayers) interests.

    If the wikipedia article is not to your liking, you may prefer to read the Federalist Papers, particlularly #10 by James Madison who argued against direct democracy in favor of representative democracy...in the form of a republic, writings which led to the drafting of the US Constitution.

    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  22. Well Downingtown Resident, you could start by looking at the first two posts on this thread. Both of which are completely devoid of opinion or sarcasm on my part. They are strictly informational. I only responded negatively to Elaine's claim that she was not referring to Ms. Feldman, in her commentary as "whiney or stuttery" or not punctual. Clearly Ms. Feldman was the target of that, since no one has asserted that any of the other Council members were not punctual, and Elaine has complained about Ms. Feldman's delivery on other threads on this blog. (a review of historic Borough minutes would, however, indicate that on occasion, certain Council members have not attended meetings, as is typical of all municipalities and governments). Why someone would bring this up is beyond me, since there are far more troubling issues about the Borough's Council that are being ignored here.

    I find it troubling that you are apparently in favor of Elaine's mean spirited attacks towards Ann Feldman and FOKP, (as well as the misinformation), but are offended when anyone responds and defends them.

    And evidently you are also in favor of censorship, which is even more troubling. If this is the mindset that is politically active in Downingtown, this does not bode well for the community. It is bad enough that the same group wants to sell off public parks for development in violation of state law, but to try to influence public sentiment via misinformation and censorship in the process is a path toward something very different than the founders of the country had in mind.


    As I have pointed out in two of my 'missing' posts, you can't cry foul if you are the one doing the instigating. And you certainly cannot complain that people are bothered by censorship if you are practicing or advocating it.

    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  23. What does not bode well for the community is keeping a crap plot of land that is over grown and toxic that could be capped and developed to provide the town with much needed revenue. Call it whatever you want it is not a park when signs have to be posted to warn people of the risks. A park should be something to play in for kids to take pets for walks to have picnics and cookouts in etc .... Great thanks to FOKP I can look forward to higher tax rates and watch as a town I care about shuts down slowly and collapses. We have several very nice parks already. I just do not get the thinking involved that it will do us all good to keep that nasty patch of land what it is now. Please do not try to convince me otherwise Chris ........ you can't.

    Tony

    ReplyDelete
  24. As far as the censorship thing ... I have watched as Elaine has posted up all of your posts when she gets to it. she has a lot on her plate ... She checks the spam folder when she can. often finding multiple copies of the same thing from you sent in. I am no expert but from what i see with my own eyes is that you submit something and do not wait for it to take and you keep on resubmitting it over and over so the system sets it up as a spam attack. This is only a guess. The posts that I saw Elaine remove was nothing more then people discussing wearing hats and total garbage comments. So get off the censorship crap.

    Tony

    ReplyDelete
  25. Downingtown is 150 years old and growing, Tony. Elaines says it is "dying", and you say it is "shutting down and collapsing". Since I have had a Downingtown address all my life, I think I am qualified to say that Downingtown is not "dying" or "shutting down". The population grew by nearly 1000 people in the last ten years or so, and the school district is one of the most desired in the County. Does it have fiscal problems? Yes (what town does not, in this recession?). Does it have bad leadership? No comment. Did Downingtown have financial problems in the Great Depression? Likely. How about all of the recessions and depressions in 150 years? Almost certainly. We had a rather severe recession in 1980-82, and nobody proposed selling parks. We had a recession about a decade later, and nobody was talking about selling parks to developers.

    I suspect most long-time Downingtown residents would find your assessment of the town's future downright ridiculous.

    Everyone is well aware that the signs went up after the Judge ruled the park could not be sold, not for the 33 years prior, counting the ten years since the environmental assessments, and the period in the 1990's when one resident was asking for signs, because the Borough was well aware of the conclusions of the Golder Fianl Report on the environmental issues. ("no unacceptable risk to human health has been identified").

    Since I have posted several times, (indicated as "published") and those posts have never been put up, it seems there is at least a 'willful neglect', if you prefer, about posting some comments. Clearly I know how to post.

    Elaine keeps threatening to delete or ban posts, so it is not such a stretch to think it is happening. If they are in fact just trapped in a spam filter, it would be a small matter to post them. One this thread alone Elaine has threatened several times (with the sincere support of Downingtown Resident) of banning or deleting posts. What would you call that, if not censorship?

    Of course, the simplest way to get rid of me is to stop posting misleading commentary about Kardon Park, and to stop taking potshots at Ann Feldman or FOKP. If it were not for that, I would not be here. It does seem Elaine is incapable of refraining from that.

    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  26. We'll see, Tony...there are several missing posts, all of which had been "published".

    ReplyDelete
  27. whatever ... not like your posts are the most important thing for me to worry about ... I think it is comical that you hold this blog in such high esteem ... or as a threat to make such a big deal about a few missing posts ... or your ego is so large you like to read yourself in print on the internet ... again i am done and could care less, and probably should.

    Tony

    ReplyDelete
  28. Just so that you know Elaine is terrebly sick in bed under her Dr.'s supervision and will most likely not be on today ... thought i would point that out before you throw up some crap about it not getting posted fast enough.

    Tony

    ReplyDelete
  29. Get off of the dang censorship thing will you. I will no longer go hunting for the posts that get kicked into the spam filter. I did not pull anything off of here other than the ones that I publicly announced that I did.

    As for Ann Feldman do I like what she is doing on council? No not at all. Do I think she should be on council when she is the sole litigant named in a lawsuit that involves the borough? Not in the slightest. But if you will look back further there is a direct post to the local elected officials about growing some cojones if he/she are going to serve the public and it wasn't about Ann. I don't particularly like Chip either, but he has not done anything other than be completely naive when it comes to cutting the budget, so far. And it does bother me when other council members talk down to those they don't like. Yes it did set off my pet peeve meter when Ann was late to a specifically stated BUDGET council meeting and then was lost the next meeting when budget issues came up. If you have something pressing that you cannot be at a meeting and then choose not get yourself up to speed for the next one don't mention anything in an open forum PERIOD! I don't care if Ann did it or if Jamie Bruton had made the same faux pas.

    Now STOP COMPLAINING! I am tired of it and I am ill today and if you dont quit you are going bye bye just cause I feel cruddy.

    BTW Tony thank you. THis is the first I have been able to sit up for any length of time today.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Nothing like a little illness to make a person come clean. So you are aware of the posts, but have not posted them. As I suspected...

    Thank you, and I hope you feel better.

    ReplyDelete
  31. you Chris are lower then whale crap on the bottom of the ocean ... Tony

    ReplyDelete
  32. My understanding is that whale crap actually floats until it is consumed by other aquatic organisms, thus perpetuating the aquatic ecosystem.

    But I could be wrong about that.

    ReplyDelete
  33. BTW, it did not escape my notice that Elaine was "sick in bed", "under doctors supervision", and "not likely to be on" at 3:35 PM, but had typed a response and posted it (luckily avoiding the spam filter in the process) by 3:39 PM

    ReplyDelete
  34. Can whale poop save the planet?

    http://marinelife.about.com/b/2010/04/25/can-whale-poop-save-the-planet.htm

    ReplyDelete
  35. And about the "crap" that comes out the other end of the whale....

    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-whale-waste-is-valuable

    ReplyDelete
  36. I had no idea that Tony had posted till I saw it and one can be on the computer from bed if one has a laptop or haven't you figured that out yet? As for knowing the posts are there....no, I just said that I wasn't going to go look. If they are there they stay there.

    I am beginning to seriously feel sorry for the people in your life if they have to put up with the same stuff you leave here Chris.

    There is another council meeting tonight and it's up in the air whether I will attend even though JCG is on the agenda, since I have contracted tonsilitis. So you may have to wait a few days to be denigrating Chris.....I hope you don't explode, oh wait I forgot you do that on the DLN site too....nevermind.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Will the Johnsontown group have hats? I collect hats.

    Bucky

    ReplyDelete
  38. Oh good gravy you HAVE to be kidding to think that I am Tony too. If you need confirmation of who I am I made it to the council meeting this evening and Nick Winkler did a fabulous job updating Council on some of what we have accomplished and what we still hope to do. We both spoke about the skunk issue that had been adressed with Bob Smith.

    As for the hats go collect them elsewhere the comment is neither necessary nor funny and if it continues I will delete them.

    ReplyDelete