David Landau Advances “Case Against The Courthouse”

George,

Has Mr. Landau turned his investigative eye towards Newtown Square Township? If he hasn't, he should, for a real treat. The press release talks about "Bush-style" government full of greed, nepotism, jingoism, and pathological liars; I could have sworn the release was referring to Newtown Square officials, aka "The gang that couldn't shoot straight". One need look no further than the Board of Supervisors, the Township Solicitor, and the Township Manager to see a governing body riddled with incompetent crooks who are emptying out the tills, treating our taxes as their money, and doing a lousy job protecting and conserving the community. There is blatant bias and preferential treatment: ordinances are not uniformly enforced and violators are not fined or cited if they have deep GOP pockets. Changes made in residential zoning have been detrimental to the Delaware Watershed and to the Wetlands, and only cater to the developers and to, once again, those who contribute monetarily to the "right people". This is "pay to play politics" in its best, unadulterated form.

The weak and the elderly, whom they view as powerless, are bullied and harassed if they complain to the township about legitimate concerns. For example, our 68 year-old conservationist neighbor has had part of her property illegally used as a dumping ground by her other neighbor while she was out of the country for several months. Whole trees, mountains of backfill, boulders, truck parts, construction materials all dumped on her land, and she has been fighting with the township to get involved; apparently, the violator has far-reaching tentacles in the municipality. His violations affect all of us who share a stream and the same water table. His property is not zoned for commercial use, and yet right under the noses of the township (the municipal building is literally up the street from this guy) he has recently started an illegal construction vehicles and equipment cleaning/repairing business on site. This involves corrosives, solvents, toxins... all being washed into the stream and absorbed by the ground, but the township won't do anything. We're being poisoned, and the crook flips everyone the proverbial bird. My neighbor eventually approached me to help write a letter to the township with the hope that with another voice, she had more support. What she got, instead, were harassing visits by the Code Enforcement Officer to her property to "check" for violations. It came as little surprise to her when she was found out that the Code Enforcement Officer is a personal friend of the violator. She has been living in Newtown Square for 40 years, is civic-minded, but has to be subjected to this Fascist behavior. Those who unashamedly claim to be "in" with the township feel they can do anything without reproach. There are many, many examples of similar abuses of office; one just has to look.

Monetary abuses constructed by lawyers to protect and advance themselves and their cronies, very much include the overly generous benefits package the township officials award to themselves. For example, easily exceeding most of the benefits received by the average resident of Newtown Square, the Board of Supervisors each receive from the township full and comprehensive medical and dental coverage. Almost everyone of them is either a lawyer, doctor, or business executive. It's all "legal", but who said so, and why should it be? Where are the checks and balances? A good number of us have wells, septic systems, and privatized trash removal, so we aren't even tapping into the municipal services we are supposedly paying for. Property taxes get hiked because these fools have taken and wasted our money, time and time again.

So what's my point here, other than identifying a speck of the bigger picture? Just this: we can all follow the money trail right back to the Republican Party, whose members dominate the Municipality. This is a township of "pay to play" politics; non-Republican residents have stood up during town meetings and have been ignored, and even retaliated against. There are documented cases of lawyers hired to force the township to open that blind eye reserved for one of their own. The time is long overdue for a cage-rattling in Newtown Square.

The press release notes that within the areas of "Voter Registration, Election Bureau, and Voting Machines", of "31 staffers listed, all are registered Republicans". I'd like to recount a surreal anecdote of Newtown Square showing its true Republican colors. We moved to Newtown Square from Philadelphia about three years ago, and we are registered Democrats with the county. During the first summer in our new home, an out-of-town friend, my partner, and I were sitting poolside, enjoying the peace and quiet of a weekday. Our pool is situated behind the house, and to get to it, one must walk through a private walkway. In other words, it is not visible, nor is it easily accessible from the front of the house. It takes some doing to get to the back. Our peace was interrupted when we saw a strange man walking across our patio, heading for the stairs that lead down to the pool area. The three of us immediately called out stop! which he didn't, and yelled for him to identify himself, which he didn't do, either. As our friend was dialing '911', I intercepted him when he was almost down the stairs. Nonchalantly, he identified himself as the Township Treasurer. I asked him what he thought he was doing by trespassing and not stopping when told to. He mumbled something about having a piece of mail for us, wanting to go for a drive, and figuring on hand-delivering it. He said he saw a few cars in the driveway, and figured someone was home, so he just started exploring the grounds. Trying very hard to contain my anger, I asked him if he knew what a mailbox or doorbell was for. He just shrugged. When I opened up the piece of mail he was so compelled to hand-deliver and read the contents, it was easy to tell there was absolutely no urgency to deliver it, and I told him so. He finally stated his "real" reason for his visit was to recruit for the Republican Party, and he wanted me to change my political affiliation. Utter disbelief set in. He kept trying to hand me a pamphlet to review, and was pushing the issue. I told him he was not allowed to do what he was doing on government time, and certainly not as an uninvited, intrusive stranger. This man was so completely unconcerned about what he was doing, that from then on, I have had serious concerns about this township taking on the traits of a police state. What this man did was not only unethical, but against the law in terms of trespassing, and refusing to leave. The audacity and nerve displayed by this township employee is fully representative of the corruption and complete breakdown in local government. It doesn't take a rabbi to know when things aren't Kosher...

I would welcome any and all feedback from you, and perhaps Mr. Landau will take a hard look at what's going on around these parts if he hasn't already. Is there anyone else who should know what I've outlined above?

Sincerely,

Amy