Campaign Finance Reports for 7th Ward Commissioner Candidates

I posted to the Voter Info page of my campaign website the campaign finance reports filed by me and by my opponent, incumbent Republican Jim McGarrity, in the last 4-5 years. The reports are all that are available; the Delco Bureau of Elections only keeps the last 5 years of records. I also did public records requests from Haverford Township to confirm that the McGarrity campaign contributors are indeed doing business with the township.

Here is a summary:

Larry Chrzan, 2007
$0 in contributions from vendors, contractors and attorneys who have done business with Haverford Township
$0 in PAC contributions from outside Haverford Township

Jim McGarrity, 2003-2007
$2,710 in contributions from vendors, contractors and attorneys who have done business with Haverford Township
$3,350 in PAC contributions from outside Haverford Township, most of which have come in the last year.

When I began this campaign, I stated on my website's contribution page:

Note on donations to the Chrzan for the 7th Ward campaign
If you are a vendor, contractor, or supplier of goods or services to Haverford Township, or wish to do business with the township, please do not contribute money to my campaign.

As you can see, I am the ONLY candidate for 7th Ward Commissioner that is not NOT indebted to campaign contributors who do business with the township and is NOT beholden to contributors from the Delaware County Republican political machine
I'll add one more thing to my voluntary campaign finance reform pledge.

I NEVER WILL take contributions from people who do business with our Township.

Haverford Township Planning Commission - Report from Commmita

I attended the Planning Commission meeting on Thursday September 27, 2007 at the Quatrani Building. Consultant Thomas Committa (Thomas Committa Associates, Inc.: Town Planners and Landscape Architects) presented the updated and much more detail plans, concepts and benchmarks for the main concept ideas. See list below.

The Eagle Road corridor and Oakmont area business district have been the examined in great detail by the Haverford Civic Council. Committa has presented a lot of options along with the background information and numerous benchmarks in other towns. There is a lot to consider.

At this point we have the choice to continue to let one of the main streets in our town languish, or to proactively change course and decide that we want something better. A new plan could be a cosmetic upgrade or a dramatically different area that would reshape our town.

Take a look as some of the plans and ideas show in Committa's guidelines. Each is a PDF file. I scanned in sections of the documents. Click to open or right-click to save.

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Design Guidelines: Oakmont Village & Eagle Road Corridor
Haverford Township Delaware County, PA

Outline of Contents:
Draft: September 27, 2007
1. Purpose & lntent
2. Streetscape & Street Walls

3. Building Location
4. Infill Buildings
5. Service Lanes & Alleys
6. Off-Street Parking
7. Curbs & Curb Cuts

8. Mixed Use(s)
9. On-Street Parking
10. Sidewalks
11. Crosswalks
12. Pedestrians Promenade

13. Building Size, Height & Design
14. Storefronts & Window Displays
15. Porches, Porticos & Stoops
16. Street Trees

17. Hedges, Fences & Walls
18. Street Lights
19. Street Furniture

20. Traffic Calming
21. Signage
22. Gateways
23. Wayfinding Signage
24. Stormwater Management

Master Planning for Haverford Township

At last week's monthly commissioners meeting, I spoke during the citizens forum about the glaring need for a comprehensive master plan for Haverford Township and about campaign finances for the commissioner races this year. This post is about the master plan part of that. More on campaign finances in the next topic

There are many ways to go about creating or updating a master plan for a township. I've worked on the strategic plan for our Haverford Township Free Library, and I'm currently doing the same for the Delaware County Library System. I described one general approach:

• Start with guiding principles, look at the current state (township buildings, finances, roads, traffic, services offered/needed, township administration structure and function, recreation, library, information systems, sewers, etc.)
• Craft an action plan the describes what we want our township to be five and ten years from now.
• Figure out how to fund that plan.

A business needs a business plan to function. In addition, a business plan indicates to any potential financiers that the business knows what they are doing and how to get there. Who would lend or give money to a business without a plan?

Similarly, our Township needs the comprehensive master plan to go out and get the funding to make it happen. Grants won't just come to us - we need to go out and actively seek them. Demonstrating that we know what were doing will increase our chances of finding funding to assist us and keep the tax burden on the residents lower. Other communities have done so successfully and there is no reason that Haverford Township cannot do the same.

I didn't mention this in the limited time that I had to speak in the forum, but I strongly recommend that we use the services of professional grant writers. (I have spoken about this in previous citizens forums.) We could figure out if this is something that we outsource or need full- or part-time staff to accomplish. But with a plan in place and a good grant writer on board, we could do a lot.

I have attend recent Planning Commission meetings and spoken with members of that board. Their work, combined with the activity of the Haverford Civic Council, has provided a start on revitalizing two pieces of the township: the Eagle Road corridor/Oakmont business district and the Haverford Road corridor. These are good efforts, but they only address 2 geographical areas and they only focus on business revitalization.

In my opinion, we need a comprehensive plan, not a piecemeal plan. As I've said to hundreds of people while campaigning, creating a master plan for our Township is one of my top priorities when I'm elected.

As far as my opponent goes, he has been in office for 16 years, and we haven't had a master plan in almost 2o years. I think that tell the whole story on his take on the importance of a comprehensive plan.

7th Ward Extra for September

The second 7th Ward Extra (September 2007) is now in distribution throughout the 7th Ward. It is also available online in PDF format here or from the campaign website home page.

The lead item describes the two jobs that I would call patronage jobs. But even more important, it tells what I would do differently:

√ Ensure that the Township follows processes to hire and promote the most competent employees, not the most connected candidates
√ Stay out of all personnel decisions that might affect friends or associates
√ Stay out of hiring, promotion, and human resources issues for Township staff
√ Let the Township Manager, Department heads and HR do their jobs without interference
√ Make sure that the Township follows strict hiring and promotion procedures and collective bargaining unit contracts
√ Not allow any Township employee to work on my campaign
√ Avoid all conflicts of interest
√ Stay out of the day-to-day operations of the Public Works Department and other departments

There is only one candidate in this 7th ward election that will do these things, and it's not the incumbent!