Haverford Township 2008 Budget

The 2008 Haverford Township budget was passed on December 10, 2008 at the regular monthly meeting. Here is a copy of the budget that was approved (which was version 2.)

There were only a few printed copies available at that meeting. The documents below are scanned in to PDF format from the paper copy that I picked up at the meeting.

Cover and summary page (2 pages total)
Fund 1 (General Fund) Revenues (4 pages total)
Fund 2 (Sewer Fund) Revenues and Expenses (3 pages total)
Fund 1 (General Fund) Expenses (24 pages total)

Available from the Haverford Township website is the slide presentation that was given at the meeting. It's on this page: http://www.haverfordtownship.com/budget, or download directly from http://www.haverfordtownship.com/files/HavTwpBudget-2008.ppt.

The day after - No regrets, many supporters

Of course I’m disappointed that I didn’t win this election. But I have absolutely no regrets. I ran a hard hitting campaign, we got the message out and raised enough money to do everything we wanted to do and then some. I’m proud of the campaign that was devised and well executed by a great team with many volunteers and contributors. Dozens and dozens of people helped on this campaign and that by itself is encouraging and inspiring.

It was clear going into this campaign that going up against a 16 year incumbent with a 28% registration advantage would be difficult.

I proposed drastic changes in what a commissioner should do and not do, how our Township would be run and what our Township might become. This message of progress and reform did not win the day in yesterday’s election. Unofficial approximate vote count was 889 to 1269 with a turnout of about 58% of the registered voters.

I’m only sorry that I won’t have the opportunity to serve the community in this capacity.

The choices were clear. In the end, the voters said they wanted more of the same instead of change.

Many thanks to my volunteers, contributors, supporters, and those who voted for me!

McGarrity tries to rebut the facts I've presented

Jim McGarrity has recently sent out a letter attempting to characterize the facts I've documented and presented as false allegations.


First, this letter proves one of my allegations, that he uses the same phone number for his campaign and for commissioner business. Here's the top of the latest letter:

And here's the top of a recent 7th Ward newsletter, paid for by the Township:

Obviously, the campaign phone number and the commissioner line are the same phone number. On my website's Voter Info page I have posted McGarrity's Commissioner expense reports from February to July 2007 showing phone bills ranging from $167.33 to $193.47 per month. These bills are outrageous!


Debate
His letter states that I said he would not debate me. I had challenged McGarrity to a 7th Ward-only debate, and 11 days later he declined to participate. Yes, he did decline to debate me in an in-depth session in the 7th Ward. He participated in the LWV candidates forum where there were 10 candidates and 2 hours.


Cronyism
McGarrity disputes the cronyism regarding the Recycling Coordinator and Highway Inspector jobs. I stand by my comments that both of these employees are friends of McGarrity, that one at least of them has been a paid campaign worker for him, and that McGarrity was involved in both of these personnel decisions.

On the Highway Inspector job, there is a pending federal discrimination lawsuit that the Township is now defending itself against at great expense because of this hiring. This is a fact.

The Recycling Coordinator was an unbudgeted position. It was not in the 2006 budget passed in December 2006, and the job was created in January 2007. This is a fact.


Farmers Market
McGarrity denies that he is against the Oakmont Farmers Market (started by my wife Janet) and says that he "is working with School Board Director Joe Martin, to investigate the possibility of using the rear of Oakmont School for next year." This is not true. And he has not spoken with any of the Farmers Market organizers about any of this. So he isn't "working" on anything here. Previously McGarrity stated that the farmers market should get a storefront. And his comments at various Commissioners meetings have been very antagonistic. He has repeatedly demonstrated that he just doesn't understand the whole thing.

What McGarrity is trying to do is save his political skin and undo the anti-Farmers Market comments he has previously made because he sees that the Farmers Market is so popular.

He appears to be trying to coopt the popularity of the market and control the same farmers market that he has been hostile to. Anyone who has heard him at the Commissioners meetings know this is a complete flip-flop.


Campaign Finance Ethics
Finally, McGarrity fails to adequately address a major issue that I have documented, that he has taken significant contributions from people who do business with the Township. (I have posted the proof on the Voter Info page of my website.) His letter says, "I am not beholding [sic] to ANYONE." The facts are that people who have contributed to McGarrity's campaign have gotten business and contracts with the Township.

As I continue to say, I am the ONLY candidate the does not take contributions from people who do business with the Township, and I never will. The residents of the 7th Ward have heard this message loud and clear, and it's up to them to decide.

Haverford LWV debate, Wed Oct 24, 2007 - Recap and Comments

I watched a replay of the debate recently. It was kind of weird watching myself on TV like that.

I wanted to make sure I had captured some of the things that Jim McGarrity said correctly before commenting.

McGarrity stated at the debate that he had created additional parking at the library. He's also been quoted in the paper in a candidate's statement saying the same thing. I'd really like to know where that extra parking is! Last time I check there were still 17 parking places there.

On the issue of the pension fund, the Dem team worked very well together to explain the situation and describe the steps in figuring out the problem and coming up with a solution. I had the first comment and described the situation with the huge deficit last year with the resulting 4% tax increase, and the anticipated deficit this year. We all commented on the various aspects of the fudiciary oversight duties that had been neglected.

Mr. McGarrity laid the blame squarely on 8th Ward Commissioner Tom Broido. He said, "We put Tom Broido in charge of that, and Broido happens to be a Democrat. ... And if there's a problem I guess we have to talk to Mr. Broido about the problem, because he hasn't talked to us about it." Larry Abel rebutted this McGarrity later, saying, "Broido uncovered the problem and reported it to the Board of Commissioners. ... I don't know what Mr. McGarrity is talking about when he says the commissioners don't know about it.

Also, Mr. McGarrity took a shot at our State Representative in an off-topic response. The question was on the taking of the health benefits, and the commissioner salary of $3000 per year. Most people said they did not need and would not take the benefit. McGarrity said he would take it as he has been doing. McGarrity said, "There's 9 of us here, $3000 a piece, that's $27,000. That's only 1/3 of what Vitali makes. I think if we eliminate Vitali and his salary, that will save the Township a lot of money."

There are so many things wrong with this comment, I'll just let it stand as it is and say I completely disagree.

LWV debate on Wed Nov 24, 2007

Many thanks to the League of Women Voters for organizing and hosting the debate this past Wednesday and for publishing their Voters Guide. Each requires a considerable amount of effort and they do a great job. Pure democracy in action!

I believe the debate showed the clear contrast between me and Jim McGarrity, and between the cohesive Democratic team and the Republican candidates. The choice is now up to the voters.

The replay of this debate has been showing on the local cable channel 10 for the past few days. There are 3 replays remaining to show: Today (Sunday 10/28) at 6 PM, and Monday 10/29 at 6 PM and 8 PM.

Below are my opening and closing remarks (as written). Each was limited to 1 minute.

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Opening remarks
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There are about 1750 homes in the 7th ward, and in a few days I will complete my 2nd visit to each of them, knocking on 3500 doors in the process

The comment I hear most often from the residents is “It’s time for a change.”

Jim McGarrity represents “business as usual”. I’m the choice for change.

What kind of changes?

1 - Better Planning
There has not been a comprehensive master plan for our township in 20 years!

2 - Better Fiscal Oversight
I have a proven track record of keeping our library on budget. Meanwhile, McGarrity has repeatedly added his friends to the bloated township payroll while deficits from our pension funds skyrocket.

3 - Cleaning up how we do business in our township.
Finally, I am the ONLY candidate in this 7th ward race who does NOT take money from people who do business with the township, and I never will.

Only the Democrats have a clear plan of action to move our township forward and prevent future abuses.

Yes, it IS time for change!

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Closing remarks
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Many people ask me why I want to be the 7th Ward Commissioner.

There are two reasons.

The first is that I believe I should to use the talents I’ve been blessed with to serve the community.

I have a proven track record of doing that as a library trustee. Working with that team, the library has prospered, we stayed on budget, and we are now implementing our plan.

The second is that I’m sick and tired of watching our hard-earned tax money wasted on patronage jobs, favoritism, cronyism and pay-to-play. I've documented these problems. Meanwhile, the critical big picture items like planning and fiscal oversight are left undone.

I bring new ideas, new skills, and new leadership.

I’ll help create a good master plan and make it happen.

I’ll watch our tax money better.

As the 7th Ward residents have been telling me, it’s time for a change.

The Indirect Contributions and Business with the Township

In previous posts I've documented the direct contributions to Jim McGarrity's campaign and those contributors who got Township business.

With the INdirect contributions, it's a little harder to track. You cannot draw a straight line between the contributor and the business. But the connection is there. And I suggest that the influence is just as strong. And the amounts are bigger too.

A few months ago at a commissioner meeting, Pat Larkin from Brokerage Professionals in Media PA said that he was proud to have the Township's insurance business for the last 27 years. I wondered - how does he have such a lock on this business?

Pennsylvania's Campaign Finance Reporting website has rich search functions so that you can look up contributors, committees, etc. (I believe PA Rep. Greg Vitali was the driving force in the establishment of this web resource.)

I checked out contributions from Larkin. I transcribed the contributions from both Pat Larkin and his wife Susan Larkin, who is also listed as being from Brokerage Professionals. (CLICK HERE to download the report in PDF format.)

From 2004 to the latest report in June 2007, the Larkins contributed over $43,000 to various Republican committees and candidates, mostly in Delaware County.

These include the "Delaware Co Rep Finance Com" and the "Upper Darby Rep Campaign Com". Now the Upper Darby Republican Committee, headed up by John McNichol, gave money to Jim McGarrity. I can't track down any contributions from the Delco Republican Committee to "Friends of Andy Reilly" or "Friends of Andy Lewis", who also gave money to McGarrity, because I don't have their reports. They are not required to file them with the state since they are county-level candidates.

So Larkin gives money to the UD Repubs, and they give money to McGarrity.

I suggest that the indirect contribution can carry just as much influence as the direct contribution.

By the way, I spoke about this at the commissioner's meeting on Oct 9, 2007 too and handed out the contribution list from Brokerage Professionals.

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The Township's finances are dramatically affected by the pension fund for the police and non-uniformed employees. Last year, the fund deficit was almost a half million dollars, which led to a tax increase of about 4% all by itself. So without even considering wage/salary increases or the rising costs of goods and services, there was a 4% tax increase just to fund this deficit.

Haverford Township has an interesting situation in that we use two different investment firms to manage the funds, then we hire a consultant to oversee them. This consultant is John Spagnola from PFM Advisors. If I understand things correctly, Spagnola/PFM is paid about $30,000 per year to watch these funds.

Spagnola contributes thousands to a political action committe (PAC) called Pennsylvanians for Higher Standards in Govt. This PAC then contributes to the Delco Republicans among others. (They have not filed a finance report since 2005, so it's hard to tell what they are doing now.)

Again, an indirect contributor gets business with Haverford Township.

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What's the solution?

First, I take no money from any outside PACs for my campaign. As I see it, it's the only way to be impartial in making these decisions and getting the best deal for the taxpayers.

Second, there seems to be no reason to use another consultant to oversee the fund managers. So why not save the $30,000?

Third, we need to get the best deal for the taxpayers on the important contracts for professional services and make sure we are not paying inflated rates for services because the provider is a contributor. $43,000 is a lot of overhead and that has to come from somewhere!

McGarrity's Commissioner Expense Reports, Legal Expenses - Money Well Spent?

I recently used the new process to request public records to obtain my opponent’s comissioner expense reports for the last 6 months. The rest were not available since the Attorney General still has them from the Grand Jury investigation. Click here to open/download these expense reports.

In McGarrity’s reports, there are multiple expense items that are labeled “Contributions”. If I understand this correctly, a commissioner can make a contribution in his or her name and then get reimbursed by the taxpayers? In my first meeting as commissioner I will put a stop to this practice.

Second, Mr. McGarrity reports monthly phone bills average about $174 for the past 6 months. And his total expense average is about $379/month, always close to the maximum $400 limit.

If I remember correctly, at Mr. Moran’s hearing, he was charged with theft by deception because he turned in phone bills that included land lines, cell phones and internet service, and it was approximately the same amount as Mr. McGarrity’s phone bills. And why is Mr. McGarrity’s published commissioner access phone number the same number as his campaign phone number? I’d like to ask our township auditor to look into this. We might also ask why McGarrity uses the same envelopes to hand out flyers for his fundraiser as he uses for official township business. Ah, the benefits of incumbency!

For the phones, I took a fast look online and you can get an individual cell phone plan with 2000 minutes (33 hours or almost 1 ½ days) for $99 per month. I suggest that we look into a comprehensive cell phone plan for all the commissioners (at least) and eliminate this costly individual phone expense entirely.


I also used the information request procedure to get the information that the Township’s legal expenses for the altercation between McGarrity and a former Haverford Township police officer. The Township paid about $22,000 in attorney’s fees in this matter. I have also requested but have not yet received the police report from this incident as well as the total cost to our Township in salary and benefits that was paid to the officer who was on paid leave for about 1 ½ years while this matter was being settled.

Your hard-earned tax money at work! Time for a change!