Just can’t be honest!

I have received a large postcard from Milou Mackenzie, who is running for State Representative in area 131, touting the taxing records of both herself and her opponents.  Immediately underneath her name is headlined has “Never Raised Taxes”  which is true. But she fails to mention she never raised taxes in her 70 years on this earth, because as I understand, she has never held a political office. This sure isn’t going to be the person I’m voting for being so dishonest with her campaign material. I just wonder, since she is in the same age range as myself, is she just looking for a nice pension in her old age???

ASKING THE WRONG PERSON

I would never ever imaged dealing with such a catastrophic time as that
in which we are currently involved. I was made aware that Luanne
Stauffer, who it seems has been director for a hundred years of the local Chamber of Commerce, was mentioned in an article concerning the Coronavirus situation. I gathered from the article she was asked about her thoughts and
involvement with the life threatening pandemic. I found that
frightening, to say the least.

In circumstances like this history is so important. Two major happenings
in the recent history of the Valley were the expensive, tax-raising new
middle school and Wayfinding signs project which used up well over
$500,000.00 of tax money. As you might remember, I pointed out in past
blogs the disaster that was, and is, the Wayfinding sign project. Most
of us remember Luanne Stauffer was the head cheerleader and promotor of
those Wayfinding signs now spread all over the community. Let’s not
forget to give credit to others very involved with this Wayfinding sign
debacle. At the top of the list would be our illustrious State Senator
Bob Mensch and, locally, Pennsburg Mayor Vickie Lightcap and former
Mayor of East Greenville Ryan Sloyer among others.

I feel it is extremely important to point out Vickie Lightcap is now
running for the office of State Representative for this area.   The last
thing the citizens of this community need is Ms. Lightcap representing
us in Harrisburg. These people, Luanne Stauffer, Bob Mensch, Vickie
Lightcap, Ryan Sloyer, led the effort to squander at least $500,000.00
of our tax money on the Wayfinding signs! The truly sad part of this
story is I feel the majority of taxpayers in this community did not want
any part of these signs and spending over $500,000.00 tax dollars on them.

A group of citizens were so enraged that they started a petition to stop
this foolishness. I was one of the people involved in circulating the
petition. The next thing that happened was a letter to the editor in the
local newspaper by John Mansfield of Pennsburg criticizing my
involvement with the petition and slandering me a number of times with
total factual lies. I initiated legal action against him and during the legal
process Mansfield admitted he received the lies from his son-in-law
former Mayor of East Greenville Ryan Sloyer. Needless to say, I won the
case and all I can say is East Greenville citizens certainly did the
right thing in voting Slayer out of office at the last mayoral election.
I wonder if Mr. Sloyer provided part of the legal expenses incurred by
his father-in-law considering he provided lies his father-in-law
used in his slanderous letter.

Another issue regarding the Wayfinding signs history was the dedication
ceremony for the signs. I believe many Valley residents were not aware
the dedication ceremony even took place for the reason that it was
accomplished in the same way as the new middle school ground breaking
ceremony.  Luanne Stauffer followed the same procedure as the middle
school ground breaking ceremony. She made it by-invitation-only, once
again insulting the tax paying citizens of this community by excluding
from invitation taxpayers who paid the bill for the signs. I
attended the dedication ceremony and was asked by one of Ms. Stauffer’s
lieutenants whether I had an invitation. I stated, yes, I contended that
my tax dollars that paid for the signs gave me the invitation to the
event. It was obvious this answer was not well received. Then she asked
who I was and I told her that she should ask Luanne Stauffer. That ended
the conversation and she went fidgeting away. I did feel I wasn’t
welcome at this event for which I and the rest of the Valley paid.

While I watched the dedication proceedings, a person came up to me. This
person remarked how he didn’t like the comments I had made in the past
about his wife, Luanne Stauffer. He stated how altruistic and
considerate he and his wife are to the community. I stated to him I felt
she was attempting to control and manipulate this community to her
whims. I feel she uses the directorship of the local Chamber of Commerce
as her platform for influence.

What I think impressive is individuals who contribute greatly to this
community anonymously, people who don’t need to be the center of
attention, sincere and truly caring people who don’t need to be on stage
as the focal point of attention, these are the people I admire.
Hopefully before too many years Ms. Stauffer will no longer be involved
with the Chamber, allowing the Chamber a fresh start with a new
director and a more effective board of directors to point the Chamber in
an inclusive, community-wide direction. Then and only then will I feel
the director of the Chamber might have some valuable input for dealing
with such a crisis as we now face.

One last item I would like to address concerns a Chamber board member,
Ed Buchinski, owner of the local theater. I am the person who retired the
train display at B &H Home Market this past year. I made the decision to
end the display because of old age and the lack of volunteers. I realize
the train display, running for the past 13 years, had become a local
institution. My good friend Bob Esposito who set up the trains the last
few years and good friend Brian Bitting who owns B & H were willing to
continue the train display. The problem was that the display became far
too much of a burden for Bob to continue to setup and take down and I
realized how unfair it was to him, so that is the reason it was retired.

Unfortunately, I was informed that it was circulating around the
community that the reason the display ended was that Brian Bitting and I
had a falling out. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Brian and I
remain good friends and he mentions to me when I stop in on how the
trains are missed, but he totally understands why I did it. The rumor
that Brian and I had a falling out was ludicrous. I was able to trace
the rumor back to Ed Bushinski, board member of the Chamber of Commerce
and owner of the local theater. It was certainly disappointing to find a
director of the Chamber of Commerce could stoop to this level.

This is just one example of rumors I have heard in the past that have no
basis in truth. But it seems certain individuals have little else to do
so they create these untruths. Shame on them.

The Stigma.

It seems the new middle school building has already acquired in its short existence, a severe undesirable stigma, the symbol of all that’s wrong with this community and what I consider, one man’s Hitler mentality – former Chairman of the School Board John Farris. Remember how this school was conceived in a manner with the vast majority of taxpayers in this district unaware of the plan for the building of the new middle school.  This new building symbolizes the manner of how underhanded, selfish, mean spirited, and unethical this project was accomplished. This building is a perfect example to the students of this district of how, if you have ethics and principles, you would never deal in this manner with your fellow citizens.

I was astounded to be informed by citizens of the community, that John Farris would willingly inform taxpayers they should have saved though their lifetime of working, to ensure they have the money for such things as this new school building. How arrogant to make a statement to hardworking people who are just trying to make it week to week to support their families.

If you remember the ground breaking for the new building (you were allowed to attend only if you received an invitation) they made it appear that they did not want the people who were paying for the new middle school to attend the event.

During this time, in my opinion, you had several individuals jumping on Facebook providing inaccurate and misguided opinions: Hope Manion and La Brea Huff.  I was shown posts made by these two individuals, concerning the building of the new middle school. La Brea Huff apparently had a video of an Upper Hanover Township meeting concerning the school. At this meeting Planning Commission member Stefan Laessig made a statement. La Brea Huff posted a version of his comment on Facebook that had no similarity to what he actually stated.

It apparently had been heavily edited to change the whole implication. I know Stefan well and without question he is one of the most upstanding people of this Valley.

After reading their texts, I more than ever realize why I would never be using Facebook as a viable means of communication. I came away feeling you can post comments with bias and little if any validity. After reading the texts I feel Facebook can be used by self-serving bullies, and malicious, venomous individuals. I will not be part of Facebook as I feel it is a form which provides so much misinformation by many of those on the site.

If you remember a construction worker was killed on the construction site while the building was being built. What a horrible thing to happen. I understand his wife has since died as well, I certainly hope it had nothing to do with his death.

Then we had the unbelievable suicide of a member of the school board.  He was the member who changed his vote, outraging the majority of taxpayers, allowing the building to continue to be raised. His questionable voting, will burden us for years to come, causing some of us to be unable to continue to live in this district.

In spite of that, I would hope the citizens of the community would treat his family with no animosity and allow them to live their lives in a normal manner in this community.

Remember, during the construction of this building we had a major fire in the High School.  This fire caused major consequences at the time for all involved and cost a considerable amount of money. As if that wasn’t enough, the school district developed a significant problem with mold, again this happening during the construction of the New Middle School and once again costing taxpayers a phenomenal amount of money.

With the issues mentioned in this article and the poor behavior shown by various individuals in the Valley, you can understand why this new building has anything but a good aura about it.

On the flip side, I’m extremely pleased with several new members of the school board. They have had to deal with several people in the district which could be considered perfect examples of bulling and childlike behavior. In spite of this the Facilities Committee, headed by Melanie Cunningham, has done an excellent job with this negative situation dumped in their laps.

Remember the thirty thousand dollar imported Italian benches with dramatic LED lighting, John Farris and his cronies allowed this to happen. I look forward to see how these benches will be improving the grades of the students. I understand this whole pathetic needless undertaking at least came in under budget, I believe in large part, thanks to Melanie Cunningham and her associates on the Facilities Committee. Thanks to Melanie Cunningham, Raeann Hofkin, Kerry Drake, and Steve Cunningham for you doing your best with an immoral situation.

My parting comment concerns a letter to the editor addressing the controversy involving the plaque for the new school building. I believe many of us totally agree with Mr. Snip Russo when he stated the plaque should list all the taxpaying citizens opposed to the new building.

Lastly, some food for thought,

“The problem with socialism is that you eventually RUN OUT of other PEOPLES MONEY”

Margaret Thatcher

Former Prime Minister of Great Britain

WHERE’S THE SIGN FOR THE LINCOLN TUNNEL

About five years ago I wrote a letter to the editor of the local
newspaper about blanketing the community with the wayfinding signs which are now everywhere visually vandalizing the community. In that letter I set forth the many negative facets of this hideous endeavor, including the proposed $50,000.00 for a consultant and no hint as to the final cost of this repugnant and repulsive endeavor. I questioned whether the cost might be $100,000.00, $200,000.00, or even the outrageous and ridiculous cost of $300,000.00.

If you remember, quickly after my letter was published two front page
articles appeared relating how wonderful these signs would be for the
community. The front page articles went on to say how the signs would
bring together the citizens of the community, which was a fine
objective but a questionable outcome as recently witnessed with the
police issue. Would another municipality want to be part of such a
disaster? I don’t find it effective for us to form a circle around a
campfire, hold hands, and sing Kum Ba Yah in order to raise community
morale. Another supposed benefit was to bring tourism into the valley.
Just what we need – more traffic in the community. With our hundreds of tourist attractions, I guess we are in competition with Washington D.C., New York, San Diego, and many other cities.

The roads have trouble handling the current traffic. One thing interesting for valley residents: you can tell the tourists as their heads will be tilted 90 degrees trying to read the signs because they were so poorly designed. To me, these two front page articles seemed powered by Director of the Chamber of Commerce Luanne Stauffer.

At the time, local Chamber of Commerce head Luanne Stauffer, who seems to be the force behind this ill-conceived project, didn’t come forth with a cost for these signs. I think all of us with any deductive
ability now realize why she didn’t come forward with a cost. Was I ever
mistaken in my letter to the editor questioning whether the cost might
come to the ridiculous amount of $300,000.00? Shockingly, Luanne Stauffer, as promoter of this project, was able to bring the cost in at over one-half million dollars ($500,000.00), with 95% or more being our tax money. It won’t surprise me if the final cost ends up even higher. On second thought, they may not spend more because I understand they ran out of money. I understand there are issues which still need to be addressed, including the questionable placement of signs and the need to move some of them. It has widely been noted that some Wayfinding Signs are blocked from view and some Wayfinding Signs block the view of vehicle drivers. You just have to take a look at how some of these signs are mounted; it’s not hard to see there’s a law suit waiting to happen. Who will be responsible for these law suits, the taxpayers or Luanne Stauffer?

This brings up the topic of the sloppy, disgraceful, and brainless
manner of how this undertaking was implemented, including the clueless lack of knowledge of the total cost. Then you find Luanne Stauffer attempting damage control by suggesting in an article that they use the Tech School as one source for the signs. What smoke and mirrors this statement provides, but I always felt that Luanne Stauffer thinks she is good at pulling the wool over people’s eyes. Then came the questioned approvals of many sign details. My understanding is things were considered being done before the necessary approval was acquired. I was informed the original bases for the signs would not support the now oversized signs and had to be redesigned. Plus, it was stated to me that one or all of the municipalities in the valley would erect the signs. My understanding is none of the municipalities had the appropriate equipment to do this task.

Fortunately, we have Luanne Stauffer to solve the problem. As many of
you in the valley observed, Luanne Stauffer was able to hire a company from New Jersey to erect the signs. I find this disgraceful; the company is not even from Pennsylvania let alone the area. These signs are certainly the talk of the community. The hard truth is the great majority of citizens of this valley have an unbelievable abhorrence for them, with one valley official stating the “G—D— signs
are ridiculous”.

It is truly unfortunate for this community that a few people in this
valley feel they are the authorities on the needs of this area. Is it
ego, or their thinking they have superior thinking ability, or in their
minds they are doing wonderful things for the area, or love of control?
l think one of the worst offenders is the President of the Chamber of
Commerce Luanne Stauffer. I think this disaster of the signs for which
the community has such a strong loathing is a perfect example. I believe it is way past time Luanne Stauffer needs to be replaced as head of the local Chamber. If such a thing happened in the corporate world, wasting over $500,000.00, the individual would be shown the door. I believe it would be a positive factor if the Chamber Board were replaced as well, considering they allowed this to happen. The recent letter in the newspaper taking Luanne Stauffer’s Chamber of Commerce to task was right on. I got the feeling the letter writer thinks much the same as most of us: the Chamber is being used as a power base for incompetent and financially unsound meddling in areas where it does not belong.

The blame is equally shared by the individuals holding office on the
boards of the boroughs and townships in the valley. They each had to
approve this project in order for it to happen. It is truly a shame
these individuals did not have the ability to understand they were
approving an unpopular, excessively costly, and visually-a-joke fiasco.

I live in Upper Hanover Township and remember when Mr. Gene Fried,
running for re-election for the Upper Hanover Township Board of
Supervisors, was questioned about the signs and the cost. He was not
honest with his answers to the citizens. He would state that it only
cost the township $13,000.00 in tax money. He managed to avoid revealing that he and other members of the township board had to approve this project or it would not have happened. So, when you look at your local boards, unless the individuals were recently elected, there is an excellent chance they voted for this $500,000.00 + catastrophe.

Lastly, I want to mention that the Regional Planning Board, which
encompasses members from each municipality. One member of the board is a regional manager for the Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation. I wonder what his involvement might be, considering his being on the Regional Planning Board, employed by Penn DOT, and I would not be surprised to find out is either a friend or friendly to Luanne Stauffer. I currently would be interested in the conversations they might have had on the subject of the signs. I would hope all possible conflicts of interest would have been adhered to and no issues would ever be found, but it certainly allows for concern. I find it so hard to believe that a disaster like this could happen in this community. There is little question that measures need to be taken to ensure this never ever happens again.

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO FARRISITES

The invasion of the Farrisites has created a most unfortunate atmosphere.
It’s all about responsibility.  ‘Responsibility’ it’s the issue this
day and age. No one wants to take it. The courts are overloaded with
cases because individuals want to blame others for the issues that
should be their own. Remember the woman who sued Mc Donald’s because the
coffee was too hot. That so speaks of today’s environment – trying to
put the responsibility on the other person, not willing to take
responsibility for themselves.

The world of today is not the world of yesteryear.  A major problem is
the total breakdown of the family unit. In today’s atmosphere many
parents don’t take responsibility for raising their children. Today it
seems the school system has that responsibility. Divorce has to be at
its highest level ever. The values of today’s society are such that
living together is the new norm. These same couples have children, break
up, and become involved with a similar individual with children. Which
in turn many times, breaks down the family unit and feeds family dysfunction. You now see many families in total distress with no control of their
offspring or, worse yet, the kids control the parents, to the point that
many kids feel, their life is all about entitlements.

With this environment over the years we expanded the use of illegal
drugs and are currently dealing with the serious problem of the opioid
epidemic. Years ago, there was no need for on the job drug testing,
today it’s common practice. Now we have kids’ attachment-to-the-hip of
video games with no shortage of extreme violence. A side effect of this sedimentary behavior is overweight and unhealthy kids. Plus, the never-ending violence in the theater and on TV (thank you Hollywood).

Could this be the reason shootings and murder seems to mean so little today?
Then we have the catastrophic shootings and murdering of students in
schools throughout the country – regularly and recently. If you remember
the Upper Perkiomen School District may very well have been the first
school district to have a student murdered in a classroom by another
student.

In recent days we witnessed the most horrible murdering of seventeen students and adults in the Florida school shooting. This just never happened years ago. What is wrong with this country? Senator Bob Casey recently tweeted “it cannot be denied that something dangerous and unhealthy is happening in our country”.

We are being infected by the outside influences of the world around us.
With so many people not taking responsibility for raising their kids,
these kids are not being provided with ethics, principles, values or
standards.  In today’s world, the kids of today are surrounded by so
many negative influences. Generations of the recent past have been
exposed to these negative influences as well and raised in the same manner.
A perfect example in this community is the issue of the new middle
school. The manner in which many of the adults behaved in support of the
new building is unconscionable.

The underhanded, manipulative, and unthinkable manner John Farris schemed to have this project done is a perfect example of everything wrong dealing with the honest citizens of this community. You can’t tell me that the unconscionable behavior of a person such as John Farris, former president of the school board is a
positive influence on the valley youth.

Then you have people like Hope Manion and LaBrea Huff as well as other
persons, a lot of whom have moved into the valley in recent years. Many
of these individuals are perfect examples of adults you would not want
influencing the youth of the valley. You just have to see some of the
Facebook articles these people posted. One of these individuals even
suggesting they might run for a school director’s position, can you
imagine how scary that would be? Some of the outrageous comments that I
heard from some of these people are unbelievable.

Such as “the election in November didn’t mean anything because individuals supporting the new middle school couldn’t vote because they had to work” which I understand after all the polling places were only open from 7:00 am until 8:00 pm. I guess we should provide mobile polling places so we can go to their
work place so the younger generation doesn’t have to be inconvenienced
to vote.  Another comment was that the current middle school had too
many corners which I assume was a major problem for the students to
navigate. If this is considered a problem by a resident I guess we need
personal guides for each student, we wouldn’t want these kids having to
use their brains. In my view these people are perfect examples of how
you don’t want your children to grow up. Unfortunately, it seems this
negative influence is found not only at home but is found throughout the
community.

These same Individuals supporting the new building showed their
ignorance by using some of the school children as props at board
meetings. I think these kids knew about as much of the real issues involved in
this matter as Bozo the Clown. I remember one eighth grade student going
before the school board in favor of the school building. I think the
idea was that you were to be impressed with the knowledge he had on the
subject. Unfortunately, whoever coached him did not have the correct
knowledge thus he gave misinformation.

These same individuals neglected to inform the children that the debt
for this new middle school will not be fully paid until 2043. So if
these kids stay in the valley and become mature tax-paying adults, they
will also have the privilege of paying for this new school. Also as
adults they may realize their parents used them in a manner that now
does not please them as adults. They just might realize they were used
by their parents many years ago and would not have wanted to be part of
this fiasco to pursue this new middle school.

There were two other people I recognized, who commented during the
debate of the new school. One was Mary Kirshner, it was shocking to me
to see her at the microphone. This is a person who was appointed to the
Upper Hanover Board of Supervisors to fill her husband’s position.
I attended many of those meetings and whenever she spoke you would just cringe not knowing what insane comment you might hear. Fortunately for Upper
Hanover Township she is no longer on the board.

The second person who surprised me when he spoke in support of the new
school was Dr. George Bonekemper. George Bonekemper and I were
supposedly good friends for many years. To my shock and dismay, I was
informed by a fellow school board member how Dr. Bonekemper spoke
untruthfully about me at a meeting. He stated I was responsible for a
major confrontation at a meeting in the valley, making it appear I
caused an extreme problem. The truth is that I wasn’t even at that meeting.
Once I was informed of this situation, I contacted Dr. Bonekemper and
suggested to him in no uncertain terms to correct his misbehavior.
Otherwise I would take whatever means necessary to address the obvious false
statements he made. My understanding was a meeting was convened for the
purpose of his addressing the members of school board stating he falsely accused
me with his comments. It’s a sad day when these are the type of individuals that support the new middle school.

Then we have the good fortune to have the ultimate individual, a transplant from Philadelphia, James Glackin, or as I hear in the community Two-Faced Glackin or Pariah Glackin and other names as well. He will forever be known as a person who cannot be trusted by voting totally opposite to the platform on which he ran for school board. I remember when he introduced himself to me he stated he was a loud mouth former Philadelphian. I wish he had mentioned that he also is neither truthful nor trustworthy. I understand he is involved with a local scout troop, I guess he missed the scout oath about being trustworthy and loyal. What a person to guide and develop the youth of the valley.

Why did we have a second vote concerning the new school after the previous month a vote by the board stopped the construction? At the next meeting school board member Elliot made the motion to ignore the taxpayers and reverse the vote to stop construction and instead restart the construction. My question is what did Elliot or Glacken know before the meeting that inspired Elliot put forth a new vote? I never expect a truthful answer from them because I would never trust either one!

I couldn’t be happier that Melanie Cunningham is part of this community and on the school board. Kerry Drake and Steve Cunningham continue working to fill their commitments to the voters.  Raeann Hofkin, who was already on the board, totally understands the citizens of the district and what they can afford.  These are people you can truly trust to do what they promised, to continue listening to the residents, and
honorably do the very best for this district. Not like other board members such as Elliott and the Pariah James Glackin who, sadly, seem to lack truth and honesty.

I feel so fortunate to have gotten to know Melanie. She arrived in the valley in 1982. What so impresses me with Melanie is the manner in which she and her family embraced the community. She accepted the valley and all it has to offer not wanting to change it but to enjoy the people and all its beauty. She understands the longtime residents and their needs and wants. She is a person who is financially comfortable but also totally down to earth and totally considerate and kind. We can only hope
to have more Melanie’s in this community.

In the next few weeks look for my blog concerning our magnificent signs throughout the valley. I’m sure we all want to thank Luanne Stauffer, State Senator Bob Mensch and State Rep. Justin Simmons

I’m only a tax-paying citizen of this school district, hoping not to have to support a new middle school. Yes, I can afford the tax increase but, as a lifetime (77 years) Valley resident I understand the hardship this tax would cause many of my friends and fellow citizens.

This is nothing more than John Farris, president of the school board, being an egotistical, selfish, fanatic who has been festering all these years because he lost re-election a number of years ago. The citizens voted him out then because it was proven the new middle school was not needed. Farris, at close to 80 years of age, wants to saddle the taxpayers with the disgraceful cost of a new middle school.

I see the “yes for a new middle school” signs mostly at newer homes. It just shows me that these people don’t know the background of John Farris or don’t care about all the citizens who can’t afford the tax increase. These residents only seem to care about themselves, which I understand to a point. “In reality it’s what we can afford.”

I remember when this new middle school was an issue a number of years ago.  At that time at one of the school board meetings Mr. Frank Skepton, who was a major contractor in the area, spoke of the proposed new middle school. Mr. Skepton said he felt there was no need to build a new middle school. He even went so far as to point out that he sent his children to the best private schools which had buildings much older than our current middle school and with these old buildings got the best of educations for his children. Frank Skepton built the Montgomery and Bucks county prisons and more major commercial structures too numerous to list including the Marlborough Elementary school. Mr. Skepton didn’t just run electric wires in buildings for 45 years and became an instant expert as Mr. Gillespie; he actually constructed the buildings.

What happened to the requirement that the superintendent live in the community so they might have the personal interaction with the citizens and understand the community? I don’t think this can happen when you live in an opulent area like the Main Line which doesn’t remotely relate to this community.

Much the same can be said for Business Manager Sandy Kassel who is the second highest paid employee, heading toward $200,000.00 a year and who also I don’t think ever lived in the valley.

Speaking of Sandy Kassel, I’m glad to see that others of the community besides me have come away from school board meetings feeling that she has been anything but open and forthright with information. Respect for some citizens, not respect for all citizens seems the culture of this district. A perfect example is the ground-breaking for the new school. I did not attend, and I would bet 99% of the citizens of this community did not attend either. Why would they not attend? Could it be attendance was by invitation only? Just because you are a taxpayer paying the bill for this new school doesn’t mean you’re invited to the ground- breaking ceremony. Only a select few chosen people got invitations. I understand at the next board meeting superintendent McGloin came along with all sorts of excuses why the citizens paying the bill for the new middle school were not invited to the ground-breaking ceremony. It highlights the arrogant mental orientation toward the citizens of this community.

Then we have John Gehman, our school board member who lost the primary election. The loss shows that people of the school district have come to realize that Gehman is one of the weak links on the school board. I think it is only in his mind that he considers himself a prize; it certainly is not in the minds of the voters of the valley. Mr. Gehman, you have made so many poor decisions while on the board. One decision many people were upset about didn’t even involve the school directly. It was your allowing the beautiful old stone farm house to be torn down and replaced by, of all things, a sign. Then after getting so much flack for your depraved decision you tried to blame the residents for tearing down the irreplaceable house. That’s so typical of you. I have not trusted you for many years and I think you understand why. Another example of your inability was hiring the superintendent before our current leader McGloin, that superintendent came and went so fast I think most of us can’t even remember her name. Another recent example of bad decisions is your flip-flopping on the new middle school. One minute you’re for it, the next minute you’re not. I guess to you it’s not a big deal if it only involves $60,000,000.00. Knowing candidates Pike, Maginnis, and Warren are aligning with you, Mr. Gehman, this tells me I want no part of any of you. I guess, Mr. Gehman, you were part of McGloin and Farris’s secret ruling of who would be invited to the private ground-breaking ceremony. I also believe you have or had a law suit against the school district concerning you’re paying too much school tax. How interesting, but yet you don’t seem to care about the rest of us and how much we pay in taxes. This accurately shows true lack of care and concern for your fellow citizens. You remind us that your ancestors helped build the Mayflower. Well, Mr. Gehman, I’m sure your ancestors if they were still on this earth would be certainly ashamed of what you have become.

Then we hear from the ghost of the former Superintendent Tim Kirby. Now this is someone you want to take stock in his every word. He’s not worth wasting much time on, but here we have someone who certainly during his tenure seems to have led this school district right down the drain. Yet he walked away with what I am sure will amount to millions of dollars of retirement money from this district. Mr. Gehman, you were on the board the whole time he was superintendent, so you had direct input to the amount of money he would receive when he retired. So it’s not hard to understand the flowery letter he would write. I think he owes you many more flowery letters even if there is no substance to them.

Here’s a final little tidbit of which you might not be aware, since in my opinion our current school board and administration are anything but open and above board. There is a state program called ProCon which will provide millions of dollars to school districts for construction. We were supposed to receive millions of dollars from this program. Guess what, the program has NO money, we will never see a dime.

This whole middle school project has been rushed at 90 miles an hour because John Farris had to satisfy his selfish and arrogant ego.

Construction of a New Middle School

This is the whole of the presentation about constructing the New Middle School that I was not able to complete at the Act 34 meeting concerning the building. I think it deals with the true reasons behind the attempt to construct the new middle school.

This is déjà vu.  We have regressed to ten or more years ago, when this same middle school issue was the big item of the day. It seems whenever John Farris is on the school board his main concern is building a new middle school.  I’m aware I was given credit for stopping the school’s being built ten or so years ago.  I am involved now as I was involved then because my whole life has been in the Upper Perkiomen Valley. Unlike John Farris I grew up with the people of the Valley and am well aware of the money people did, and do, not have in this area.  I was mindful these people could not afford the expense of a new middle school.  It seems now, as then, John Farris just doesn’t get it, or just doesn’t care.  There are a vast number of people in this community that are not fortunate like you, John Farris. They can’t afford a home with an in-ground pool and a personal tennis court in their back yard, plus a home in the Carolinas.
Many of the Valley’s everyday working people, or, worse yet, retired individuals with fixed incomes, is not fortunate enough to afford these luxuries let alone a $60,000,000 middle school. I personally know a number of people who will have to sell their homes if a new middle school is built because these citizens cannot afford the tax increase. They don’t have a swimming pool or a tennis court in their back yard, they can’t even imagine a second home in the Carolinas.   I think you will remember the first time you came up with this idea so many years ago; there was a referendum of sorts. The referendum was in the form of an election.  The election at that time overwhelmingly tossed you out of office as well as the other board members supporting the new building.  If you want to be fair to the residents of this district you will provide a referendum on the ballot this spring to learn the true feelings of this school district. Remember you were elected to represent the wishes of all the citizens not just a minority of well heeled individuals in the Valley. If you won’t do a referendum it tells me you are afraid of what the result would be. It is well to remember, you can’t afford a Mercedes if you’re having trouble paying for a Chevy.  It’s time to recognize what we can afford in the Valley.  We are not one of the wealthy districts of this county. John Farris, you made a comment at a recent board meeting and I’m paraphrasing, you stated

“I have one thing to do before I’m satisfied with my efforts in this community, that is building a new middle school”. Again, never mind the extreme burden put on the backs of the citizens of this school district, John, it’s all about your ego. Years ago when you overwhelmingly lost the election for the school board, I knew you were festering from losing the election and facing that your new school building was not going to be built. I remember a letter you wrote to the editor of the local paper aimed at me because you lost the election.  I also was informed at the time, that you had written a second letter, also aimed at me, that was so bitter and an embarrassment to yourself that the paper wouldn’t even print it. I now realize you have been bitter and festering all these years and couldn’t wait to return to the board and continue this ridiculous effort.  I’ve come to realize you are not only short in stature but you are short in mind as well and this community may well suffer from it for years to come. I feel sorry for you; you are such a little man with a little vision which will harm most of the Valley community.

The issue of Wayfinding (signs placed throughout the region at taxpayer’s expense) was brought to the forefront about two years ago. Letters were published in the newspaper pointing out the many short coming of this project.

There were many glaring problems with this project: the vast majority of citizens of this community who were very much opposed to this endeavor, the cost of the project, the reason for this project, the extreme inconvenience this could provide, introducing significantly more traffic congestion, using taxpayer’s money to pay for it and at the time not even knowing the final cost of this endeavor.

After the letters were printed, two front page articles appeared in the local newspaper, very much involving the director of the local Chamber of Commerce, Luanne Stauffer championing this questionable enterprise. Even suggesting the tech school would become involved to cut costs. At that time the concern was hiring a consultant for $50,000.00, this price did not even include one sign! Shockingly in spite of all these concerns the various municipalities approved this project with seemingly no concern of the cost to the taxpayers of the community.

From the time of inception to present day there have been many problems with this project, which if properly executed would have never happened. Unfortunately Luanne Stauffer and her disciples continued to muddle through with this struggle; with local government officials swallowing it hook line and sinker.

Very recently a letter was written in the local newspaper pointing out how ridiculous this project is for the community. Also about the same time a Pennsburg Borough council member, Diane Stevens, at a borough meeting pointed out the many problems of this venture. Showing how she is light years ahead of other members of boards throughout this valley in realizing how foolish this action is for the valley taxpayers.

It’s easy to see Mrs. Stevens’s concerns realizing the cost has escalated to an unbelievable $416,000.00 cost. Yes that’s correct $416,000.00 and growing. That’s not necessarily the final cost because it was originally considered that each municipality was to erect the signs for their own area and be responsible for all upkeep. Well it just so happens the signs are so large that an outside contractor will most likely need to be hired to erect these signs, you see “Size Does Matter”, just one more costly mistake with this endeavor. It appears this project could easily top $500,000.00; yes that’s half a million tax dollars.

I recently came in contact with one of Luanne Stauffer’s supporters; this person couldn’t wait to start conversation on the Wayfinding issue. I stated first and foremost the outrageous cost of the signs, seeming to fast approaching half a million dollars. This person who worked for the chamber of commerce made the asinine statement that you should disregard the cost of the project as if this was irrelevant to the citizens of the valley. This person felt it was ever so important to have these signs as they would give us all warm and fuzzy feelings and we would all join hands around the campfire and sing “Kumbaya”, with all of us becoming one. This individual went on to verbalize that which seemed to be the official script for “Wayfinding”, that I have no doubt had been authored by the Chamber Director Luanne Stauffer. Anyone with half a brain would easily fathom this is so much drivel. If Luanne Stauffer and the chamber would put half the effort bringing new commerce to the valley, as she does wasting time on the ridiculous wayfinding signs, she would finally do something positive for the valley. We could be in serious trouble if a facility such as the former Brown Printing should disappear from the valley. We the citizens will be making up the large amount of taxes lost by this facility leaving. But yet we can afford to waste half a million of our tax dollars on these crazy signs.

Just think what a half million dollars of tax money could do for this community, such as taking better care of the infrastructure of this community. We have bridges that are slowly giving way. Just this past summer several of the bridges had temporary repairs done to them so individuals or vehicles don’t go plummeting through, another concern is the need to address streets, roads and highways to improve the need for them to handle all the increased traffic these roadways are now handling. I know many residents in the community have problems with water runoff, washing out their lawns and driveways disappearing. Tax money wasted on these signs certainly could help these people. Wouldn’t $500,000.00 really help the school district? I think if you would have a room full of citizens of this valley come together, they could come up with a hundred better ideas for this tax money.

Now this is a major improvement that could benefit all taxpayers of this community. At a face to face meeting with County Chairman Josh Shapiro, I brought forth the serious need for a new Post Office. We as a community seem to be the only postal patrons in the area to not have a centralized post office. It seems most all the other postal areas such a Quakertown, Gilbertsville, Harleysville have new buildings with easy and safe access.  The location of both East Greenville and Red Hill’s Post Offices make it a challenge to life and property. Is it going to take someone to be killed before action is taken? $500,000.00 of tax money would go a long way for a new safe and conveniently located post office.

Just because of some contrived ideas by a few individuals of this community we are to have signs as huge as eighteen feet high, don’t allow this travesty happen. This is such a beautiful area why deface it with huge eighteen foot signs remember “Size Does Matter”.

This election, vote out all members, who voted for this disaster. It’s most important to find out who they might be, I can only speak for the township in which I live, Upper Hanover Township, that person would be Mr. Gene Fried.

It’s hard to believe it’s been six years that we’ve been setting up the Christmas Train Display at B & H Home Market in East Greenville.  It seems like just yesterday that I contacted Brian and Caroline Bitting to ask if they would be willing to have us invade their store with the train display.  The Bittings gave a big YES at the time and have been incredibly supportive ever since, with no thought of any financial gain for them.  And it makes it all the more rewarding knowing the Bitting’s and those setting up and tearing down are doing it purely for the holiday pleasure of the community.

We try to improve the display every year.  This year we added yet another large train bridge to the scene.  We also did something we had never done before – lighting about ninety percent of the buildings in the layout.  Plus we also had numerous animated lighted signs throughout the main street stores and other areas of the platform.

I must admit the first time Brian turned the store lights off after it was dark outside, it brought an amazing panorama, as if you were on a mountain looking down into the valley, seeing a village very much alive and animated after dark. (Just a little tip, this coming season if you want to see this amazing view of the display visit B&H about a half hour before closing and ask Brian if he would turn the lights off.  I think he would love to do this if he isn’t busy.)

Brian mentioned to me a number of times that he felt we had more people than ever visiting the display.  Community members who know I’m connected to the train display have time and time again expressed how much they appreciate that we do the display.  It does seem that the train exhibit has taken on a life of its own and has become ever more popular; we are very delighted this has happened.

The Bittings have enriched the Christmas Spirit by having an absolutely outstanding Santa Clause appear with the trains for the last two years. If you don’t think he’s authentic, just try pulling his beard (gently please!). You will learn he is the real thing.  This year they even arranged a book signing by a local author of a children’s book.  I think the Bitting’s truly have the official Christmas store of the valley and I’m very happy and proud to be a part of it.

I feel it is of up most importance that credit be given to the people without whom this whole Christmas happening would never materialize.  These individuals are the type of folks who don’t need to be front-and-center gathering all the glory they can.  These people are real people, down-to-earth individuals who volunteer for the sake of others in the community without the need for personal recognition.  These are the real community-builders. These are the people I am proud to work with to bring the Christmas Spirit to the valley.

To begin the list we have to start with Bob Esposito.  He is my partner in this endeavor. Without him it would not come into being; he is the creative force, artistic director, and advisor to all that is trains.  He tends to be a quiet person, but under that quietness is a very creative mind which shows in the train display.  Without him it could never happen.

We have several people who have helped for the second year – Barry Troxall, Alan Richard, and Stefan Laessig.  These people made it so much easier on Bob and me as they knew what needed to be done from the previous year.  They have been such a power in setting up and taking down the layout I hope they will continue to help in years to come.

Ron Hunter, Rich Kulp, and Doug Smith joined us for the first time this year.  Rich did much of the prepping of the buildings so they could be lighted. This was an important help in providing the new feature.  Ron and Doug helped Rich and also took responsibility for many other parts of the display.

Joe Rock used his expertise on animating the windmill which is part of the farm setting.  Both Joe and I were quite surprised just how involved it was to add a motor to turn the windmill blades.  I think we may not have tried to do it if we had known how involved it would be.

Joe Krathowill was there once again to support us, though he had to provide mostly moral support since he has a bum leg.  What Joe did provide was one thirteen year old grandson by the name of Jordan Kline.  Jordan was our right hand man; this is his second year of helping us. He was the only person who was able to go into the tunnel and the only person who could go into many of the tight areas of the platform.  Without Jordan it would have been very difficult to do much of the wiring to light many of the buildings.  We hope he doesn’t grow too much this coming year so he will still fit in all the tight spaces!

I don’t want to forget Cathie Verna who did a great job with the ad that appeared in the Shopper’s Guide.  I truly hope I did not forget anyone, if I did I do apologize.

Thank you, thank you, and thank you to all!!!

Many people have asked when my next blog will appear. I have generally posted blogs about every three to four months. I had been running an ad in The Shoppers Guide to let the community know when I posted a new blog.

There is a box on my blog site which you can check and my new blog will automatically post to your computer.  I hope this will help so you can easily keep up with my site.

SUGGESTED: There is a “follow” box (usually in the lower right hand corner) on which you can click to sign up to receive my blog posts in your email box automatically each time a new item posts.

I hope to post another blog within the next month. There is much published lately which does not necessarily represent the real truth.

Blog # 3

This blog would be best titled “How to be taken for a ride” or “The Wayfinding signs pointing to The Emperor with No Clothes”.

But first, I must address an issue that has been brought forth recently.  It seems one individual having a business in the valley doesn’t like to appear in my blog. Apparently, providing awareness of the questionable practices that this person could easily provide in this community was not appreciated.

After my second ad appeared in the local Shopper’s Guide advertising the posting of my new blog, the owner of the Shopper’s Guide informed me he could no longer run my ads. He stated to me he was threatened by this individual that if he didn’t stop running my ads, this person would stop advertising in the Shopper’s Guide.  This is so typical of certain individuals in this valley, they hate to have the truth about them, so their usual bullying tactics kick in to silence the truth any way they can.  Isn’t it great, how underhanded individuals can be?  The worst part is many of these individuals are involved in politics.

When I begin to explain to people outside this community the questionable happening going on in this valley, the typical comment is “Well it’s like that most everywhere”. After I continue to describe more of the underhandedness and questionable practices that happen in this small community, these same people change their comment to “Wow, this community is really a lot worse than most other communities”.  The sad part is many of the people of this community allow this to happen by not being well informed or just not caring.  How disconcerting.

The comments I just made can apply in many ways to the next subject “Wayfinding” or “The Signs”. The signs issue is a perfect example of people not paying attention to what is happening in this valley. I and others went around the community with petitions informing people of the sign issue and the cost involved for this senseless endeavor.  We had a phenomenal response with these petitions, practically everyone signing in response to them being against this poorly conceived project.

This sign endeavor was presented to the public some time ago by this enterprise called “Perk Up”, which I think may very well have been the brainchild of Mr. Bob Mensch. It seems the next maneuver was having Mrs. Luanne Stauffer, Director of the local Chamber of Commerce as the cheerleader for the “Perk Up” enterprise.

Cheerleader and Director of The Chamber of Commerce Luanne Stauffer did her cheerleading to various groups in the valley as to how wonderful these signs would be throughout the valley, including to the local Planning Commission.

As you might remember I pointed out at the time how only one member of the commission Mr. Ben Fiorito saw this for what it was and the unmitigated waste of time and money. Mr. Fiorito was so disheartened with this boondoggle that he resigned from the commission, as he could not be part of this ridiculous undertaking.

I wrote a letter to the editor at the time, with others writing as well, pointing out what a questionable waste of effort this was. In my letter I pointed out the bizarre cost this undertaking could be and what a total waste.  I pointed out how the cost would be approximately $50,000 just for the person to do the study for the signs and how that didn’t even include one sign.  Mr. Ben Fiorito pointed out the actual cost of this project was totally open ended. In my article I questioned the cost, and could it be $100,000.00, $200,000.00 or even $300,000.00?

Shortly after the letters appeared in the newspaper, we found two front page articles glorifying this sign undertaking. We once again had the Cheerleader Director of The Chamber of Commerce Luanne Stauffer and Upper Hanover Township Supervisor Steve Rothenberger, who is a much ingrained Chamber of Commerce member and also a partner in Brode and Brooks Real Estate Agency, touting the wonders of the signs. According to these articles the cost of the signs were going to be a bargain as they made it appear they found all sorts of avenues to substantially lower the cost of this whole debacle.

Cheerleader Luanne Stauffer and her other cheerleaders went about the community, in spite of the vast majority of the citizens totally not wanting this waste of signs, promoting the supposed glories of the signs. It is as if the supporters of this inane idea have no real concern for what the citizens of this community feel is really needed. I get the feeling, it’s more what a couple of individuals feel is best for the area than what the citizens of this community feel we need.

I believe a good idea to promote this community, and to entice business to this area and provide what is really needed for this community would be to form a committee of capable citizens. These individuals should be people without any possible questionable connections within the community. Instead of these silly signs one of the first projects this group could tackle which would truly be meaningful to the local citizens would be a centrally located Post Office.

What a pleasure it would be to not worry about being run over exiting your car to mail a letter or having your mirror damaged when your car is parked while you take care of your postal needs. I also believe none of us would mind if it were far easier to use the outside postal boxes to mail letters. This is just one example. I have no doubt if you got a group of citizens together they would come up with many more good ideas.

Now for the really bad news, and it isn’t the fact that as I understand it the specifications given by experts for installing the signs were an abomination and would not have even held the signs up. The really bad news is I have been given information this sign debacle is projected to cost (are you sitting down) $350,000.00.  If someone should try to convince you that it is not going to cost us $350,000.00 don’t believe them.  They may tell you that they are requesting a grant for a portion of the money, which is true what they probably won’t remind you, is that grant money is our tax money.  I realize it is far more important to put up silly signs than giving this tax money to school districts that desperately need money.  We didn’t receive this money; did you notice the substantial school tax increase we had this past year?

At the time of writing this Cheerleader Luanne Stauffer is circling the municipalities and hoping to land $13,000.00 of tax money out of each municipality. Now with Upper Hanover Township Supervisor Steve Rothenberger on the township board along with Supervisor Dottie Diehl and Supervisor Rich Fain they had no problem giving the $13,000.00.  I give credit to three of the municipalities Green Lane, Pennsburg, and Red Hill Boroughs the $13,000.00 has not come forth from these towns at this point.  A comment was made to me that East Greenville Borough can’t afford to supply funds for uniforms for the police force but they can still secure $13,000.00 for signs.  If in fact this is true, what a sad state of affairs.

In the application for this grant I relished the opening comment, and I quote “This gateway and wayfinding sign project will tie together and brand seven individual municipalities in two counties as one community.” I must admit this is true, as citizens are finding out what this sign dilemma is they are becoming very upset with the whole ignorant idea.  Many of these citizens, I am sure would like to thank both Cheerleader Luanne Stauffer and State Senator Bob Mensch.  Remember the bill that Mensch wrote and sponsored, yet could not remember what was in the bill when questioned?  The bill was so bad that he pulled it and if he had any common sense he would support doing the same for this stupid signage being forced on this community.

Once again I would like to state I think it would be a very good idea to form a committee of respectable citizens to entice business into this valley, realizing if Knolls and/ or the former Brown Printing leave the Valley it will be a major tax loss to the tax base of this area. Let this group do what I feel has not been happening in this valley.  It seems the Chamber of Commerce is capable of providing social events as I have   frequently noticed.  I believe it would serve the community well to have the newly created group of citizens do this critical work and have the Chamber of Commerce support them when it would be necessary for social events, such as luncheons and dinners.  This would possibly provide an outlet for the Chamber of Commerce and Perk Up so we would not have to again face a ridiculous issue such as the signs.

On a slightly different note, I have a whole lot of trouble having any respect for Bob Mensch who is running for re-election for state senate. One of his top Republican supporters, who Mr. Mensch has very involved in his campaign, happens to be an x-convict, it’s no wonder we as citizens are so disgusted with our government and those who run it.