More With Diane And Steve

The following two letters appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times today…

The recent letter about increased professional fees in Lower Makefield in 2006 couldn’t have been further off the mark. Those increases in 2006 were a result of new ordinances addressing storm water management, noise restrictions, environment protection and a study of ways to prevent flooding along the Delaware River (Lower Makefield was the only town along the river to undertake such a study to help its residents).

In the previous year – under the GOP majority – attorneys’ fees in Lower Makefield were also over budget. Curiously, (Andy) Raffle, a Republican committeeman who delights in attacking the board’s Democratic majority and whose frustration rises with each new success of that majority, neglected to mention that fact.

But Raffle’s most glaring omission was his failure to acknowledge that the Democrats also held the line on property taxes after two straight years of Republican tax increases.

As a Lower Makefield resident for the past 39 years, I have seen significant positive changes in the township since we have a Democratic majority on the board of supervisors – more citizen participation, more openness in appointments, televising board of supervisor meetings, and a real feeling of community as a result of events such as Community Pride Day and the Veterans Day Parade.

Steve Santarsiero has been a large part of these changes and I am confident he will bring the same innovation and open government when he becomes a Bucks County commissioner.

Doreene Kaplan
Lower Makefield

Also...

It seems many Republicans in Washington, D.C. believe they were elected to represent ONLY those who can afford contributions to the GOP election campaigns. Likewise, Republicans here in Bucks County don’t forget their contributors, as documented by the Democrats’ pay-to-play revelations.

On another issue, plans have already been OK’d in Doylestown for a giant parking garage, even before its attendant new courthouse has been approved. Here in Lower Makefield, such haste smacks of the haughty arrogance of the Republican supervisors who rushed through the golf course, and tried to pull off a big-box development without first consulting with those concerned.

If you would like to save the cost of a new courthouse, and also would like to know how all our tax money is being spent, then vote for Diane Marseglia and Steve Santarsiero for Bucks County Commissioner. They’ve promised, when elected, a full forensic audit of county finances and easy public access to county government.

Andrew Martin
Lower Makefield

The only clarification I can add to Mr. Martin’s letter above, which I agree with wholeheartedly of course, is that there was a period of public comment on what was once known as the Octagon Center in Lower Makefield, but it came and went during the Christmas holidays, as I recall (great time to schedule something like that…duh) and the traffic impact study was conducted over the winter instead of the spring or summer, which would have yielded a more realistic assessment (again…duh).

Also, I don’t know if the Lower Makefield golf course at this point is self-sustaining or if it is still operating at a loss, but Martin is right again; building it was a distinctly unpopular decision at the time for many people.

Martin also notes the plans for a new county courthouse in Doylestown, and in this Doylestown Intelligencer article, reporter Jenna Portnoy notes that Diane Marseglia, the Democratic candidate for county commissioner running with Steve, has said she would “revisit the issue” of the courthouse.

The article basically documents the “controversy” alleged by incumbent Repug commissioners Jim Cawley and Charles (“I Have A Semi-Open Mind”) Martin over project labor agreements (PLAs) advocated by Diane and Steve that were the subject of a YouTube video featuring Bucks County AFL-CIO president Thomas Bates (apparently, Cawley and Martin are all exercised over the supposed “quid pro quo” of apprenticeship programs written into the agreements; I got all into that when refuting the Raffle letter above).

Also, Portnoy’s article notes that the Associated Builders and Contractors have endorsed Cawley and Martin for re-election, which is not surprising, given that, as noted here, ABC is “a virulently anti-union organization of mostly small companies.”

And by the way, Ms. Portnoy, it’s the “Democratic challengers.” Please make a note of that.

And finally, to help Diane and Steve, click here.