Bucks
Open Space and Ed Howard’s Class at Del Val College
Dear Friends,
Good morning. A photo in last week’s Herald reminded me to jog your memory about the Open Space referendum appearing on the Bucks County November 6 ballot. It showed the incumbent Republican County Commissioners standing with their campaign chairman on a Bedminster Township farm.
I was not surprised to see GOP Commissioners Jim Cawley and Charlie Martin using the Ken Bupp farm as a backdrop to tout the Open Space referendum. As you know, in 1997, voters approved spending $59 million to deny farmland to developers. In the ten intervening years, 15,000 acres have been protected. Those funds have been exhausted.
What surprised me was that former Congressman Jim Greenwood appeared with Cawley and Martin. Greenwood has agreed to be the chairman of the reelection committee for Cawley and Martin. At first blush, that’s not earth shattering. After all, Greenwood was a Republican state and national legislator for 24 years.
But Greenwood is no longer a political operative. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Bio, the national trade organization for biotechnology corporations and associations. His assignment is to win friends and influence people for the biotechnology industry. The people and organizations with whom Greenwood rubs shoulders every day are not just Republicans. Will die hard, fat cat Democrats understand? Is Greenwood taking a big chance?
And
speaking of open space, a 21-member task force has formed to promote a “Yes”
vote on the November 6 referendum. I joined that group which has been meeting
weekly. Its official name is the Bucks County Open Space Task Force Education
Committee and is co-chaired by
Fitzpatrick is a former congressman and Bucks County Commissioner. He hasn’t decided whether he’ll try to unseat Congressman Patrick Murphy next year. Rufe is a former Judge in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas. And Warren is a former Bucks County Commissioner and former Penn Dot executive.
The open space task force is urging a “Yes” vote on November 6 so the Bucks County government can spend $87 million in new funds. Here’s the plan: $26 million for municipal open space; farmland preservation, $25 million; county parkland, $19 million; natural areas, $11 million; and a new program designated as Delaware Riverfront enhancement, $7 million.
Friends, Bucks County has 60 miles of Delaware River frontage!
You can expect all 54 municipalities in Bucks to support a “Yes” vote. East Rockhill, Plumstead, and Upper Makefield Townships have already passed resolutions in favor of the bond issue. Bensalem and Doylestown Townships will undoubtedly follow suit. So should the 13 school districts and 49 remaining municipalities.
Protecting open space delays building schools, new roads plus water and sewer lines. Forty years ago, Bucks County Commissioner Joe Canby told me that cows, horses, sheep, and farmland don’t need schools and municipal services. It was great advice and made a lasting impression on me.
On my open space agenda last week was a visit to former state Senator Ed Howard’s classroom at Delaware Valley College. Whenever he’s desperate, he has me appear for a session on local government, history or the media. The value of my appearance equals my compensation…zero!
Ed has more than 30 students, most of them retired, most of them Bucks County residents, and all of them well informed. But the high Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah caused a postponement.
I had plenty of local and national questions for them. How do they see the County Commissioner election, or the open space bond issue? I was going to ask them for whom they’d vote for president if the election were held today? I wonder if they think that an independent presidential candidate could gain traction…someone like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg? How do they view the Iraq dilemma? How would they prioritize national issues like immigration, education, health care and social security reform?
Will they return Patrick Murphy to the congress?
Do they favor one of my favorite causes…national service for two years for every high school graduate, female and male, no exception…where each could choose non-military or military service. Personally, I believe that young adults, with two years of national service behind them, would make better college students, better citizens and be more inclined to volunteer for community service.
As the November election approaches, I’ll give you my spin on things. And we’ll just have to wait for Ed Howard’s class to reconvene. As you can see, I have lots to talk about.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith