Free Press –
Chris Barnes tribute, Dave Woglom, Scott McElree, Merge Quakertown/Richland Township/Richlandtown Municipalities
Dear Friends,
Good morning. Before I get to the three local stories which give the Quakertown area a remarkable opportunity, let me take a moment to praise Editor Chris Barnes who leaves his post tomorrow. Chris worked very hard to create a lively local newspaper with a tiny staff.
The Free Press prints 13,000 copies each week and the vast majority of papers are gone by week’s end. That’s because Chris and reporter Toni Becker…soon to become Editor, I hope…labor like beavers. Think about how much better the Free Press would be if the owners increased the staff.
I do have a suggestion however.
With opinion pieces, I think that the Free Press would become even livelier if a citizen with an opposing point of view appeared on the same page with the regular columnist. USA Today uses that technique on its editorial page every day. For example, wouldn’t Richard Woldow’s [and yours truly] columns be more interesting if someone from the community challenged his [or my] opinions?
We’ll miss Chris who begins his student teaching assignments at the Parkland and East Penn schools. Fortunately, he’ll still write a weekly column, but he turns the helm of his small ship from the fourth estate to a successor tomorrow.
And now to the
three stories.
First story. Last Friday was Quakertown Borough Manager Dave Woglom’s last day. That’s too bad. I think Dave was a very good manager and was hounded out of office. True, there were situations, which he might have handled better. But on balance, I think that Dave loves the borough and did his best for it.
Unfortunately, he left his $90,000 post with only a few days notice even though the council thought that his last official day would be April 30. Council probably assumed that Dave would stay on until that date. My guess is that an excellent opportunity forced him to leave much earlier.
Story
number two followed.
Quakertown council wisely appointed its police chief as the interim replacement for Woglom. Scott McElree is an excellent choice. He’s well known, plus the town’s residents and employees respect him. Scott is even handed, but firm. He’ll do just fine.
Which takes me to story number three.
“A
Skippack-based company is challenging essentially every ordinance regarding
zoning, subdivision and land development ever adopted in
“And the company, Haines and Kibblehouse Family of Companies (H&K Group) has done so in at least 30 other municipalities within the state,” Becker continued. H&K has proposed a similar challenge in West Rockhill Township. H&K has 62 operations in 52 locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Michigan are the only states that have this crazy patchwork of municipal governments. Believe it or not, Pennsylvania has 2,600 municipalities ranging in population size, from Philadelphia to Haycock Township.
Municipalities in Pennsylvania are sitting ducks for development. Because local governments are known for their fierce independence and their reluctance to work together, developers have a field day in forcing unwise zoning changes.
Woglom’s absence, McElree’s reluctance to assume two jobs permanently, and Richland being the target for development pressure create an ideal setting for either a perfect storm…or a perfect solution.
So, why not have Quakertown, Richlandtown, and Richland Township become one municipality instead of three?
The Pennsylvania legislature got it half right in the early 1950’s when it consolidated over 2,600 school boards [one per municipality] into 501. Where six school boards once existed in the Quakertown area [Quakertown, Richlandtown, and Trumbauersville boroughs, plus the townships of Haycock, Milford and Richland], only one school board exists today.
Unfortunately, the legislature failed to consolidate the 2,600 municipalities at the same time. Does Bucks County really need 54 municipalities when history has shown that 13 school districts operate quite well instead? Hardly. Wouldn’t 13 municipalities instead of 54 be more efficient? Of course.
I talked with Robert Leight and Paul (Moose) Barndt about the school district’s history. Leight is a long time member of the Quakertown school board. Barndt was a former Assistant Superintendent and revered athletic coach. Leight remembers when the school district was formed…all the directors from the six former school districts served on one, larger board.
Barndt told me that there were 36 school directors on the original, consolidated school board. Each month, the directors from the six school boards met separately to discuss issues, which were peculiar to their individual school boards. Then the 36 directors gathered together to govern the consolidated school. It was cumbersome at first but history proves that it worked. In 1963, some ten years later, the school board reduced its number to nine and has remained that way ever since.
For a moment, let’s look at the three municipal governments of Quakertown, Richlandtown, and Richland Township. Quakertown has seven councilmen; Richlandtown has eight (a Mayor and seven councilmen); And Richland Township has three supervisors…18 in all.
How would a board of 18 work? The same way that the original consolidated school board did…only easier because it’s half as many. I’d suggest that Milford Township and Trumbauersville Borough do likewise.
Stephen Sechriest is Richland Township’s Manager. He appears to be a calm, intelligent fellow who gets along well with Richland’s supervisors and residents, as well as officials from neighboring Quakertown and Richlandtown. Those two boroughs are surrounded by Richland. Why not have Sechriest manage all three?
I had a chat with Stanley Weikel, a Richlandtown councilman and asked him for his thoughts. “It wouldn’t hurt to look at the possibility,” he replied, reflecting upon a consolidation. Weikel noted that neither Quakertown nor Richlandtown has any open space available so development pressure is not a factor. But he was quick to point out that both boroughs face similar problems to Richland’s…police, water and sewer, pollution, and road maintenance.
Would one municipality, where three once stood, provide much more political clout? It would be easier to keep developers at bay. Do we need multiple police departments, planning commissions, zoning boards, solicitors and engineers?
No!
Wouldn’t it be fascinating to place this question on the ballot so that residents could chime in with their preference? As Weikel observed, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith