Prepare To Reap The Whirlwind

Congratulations to governor-elect Chris Christie in New Jersey, as well as all of the other Bucks County Republicans who won: David Heckler for DA, Dan McLaughlin for Lower Makefield Supervisor, Mike Burns for District Judge, and – ugh! – Simon Campbell and Kathleen Zawacki for the Pennsbury School Board (the school budget will be slashed, class sizes will go up, and there will be a strike within a year, all in an effort to drive PA State Rep Steve Santarsiero out of office while using our kids as pawns…take it to the bank).

In the meantime, I’ll await the numbers on the percentage of Bucks Countians who actually voted in this off-year election; I’m sure it won’t be pretty.

As for the winners, this song goes out to all of their supporters.

Update: And by the way, there is no excuse whatsoever for this…

A Bucks Countian’s Response To Dave Sanko’s Sendoff

Now-departing Bucks County Chief Operating Officer David Sanko wrote the following Guest Opinion in the Courier Times yesterday…

For the last five years, it has been my privilege to serve the residents of Bucks County as chief operating officer. During that time, your county government has made tremendous strides – fiscally, physically and in the constantly evolving realm of service provision. At a time when governments around our nation are seeing budgets stretched thin or turned to ribbons of red ink, Bucks County is uniquely positioned to handle the current economic climate. The reason for this is two words: fiscal responsibility.

For three years in a row, the board of commissioners held the line on county property taxes – the first time since 1994-96!

I’m not sure why Sanko is praising the commissioners here, but it should be noted that (according to here), property taxes in Bucks have gone up 46 percent since 2001, so I think the whole “three-year” thing should be taken with a grain of salt, to say the least.

Back to Sanko…

Further, under the expert guidance of Finance Director Brian Hessenthaler, the last five years have produced a steady growth in the county’s general fund, also known as the “rainy day” fund. From a 2005 total of $9 million, we increased that rainy day fund to the current figure of $73 million. This allowed us to earn a record setting high S&P bond rating, and saves us money as we borrow in the future for open space and the new Justice Center.

In response, I’d like to point out (from here) that every time our august Bucks County Commissioners want to designate property for open space, they issue a bond as opposed to drawing up a regional plan in coordination with other Bucks municipalities, which is bound to be cheaper; as former commissioner candidate (and now PA House Rep for District 31) Steve Santarsiero noted, “the county doesn’t have enough money to (issue a bond) for every piece of property that needs (an open space) designation.”

Back to Sanko…

How has this growth been achieved? In addition to prudent spending, we’ve refinanced multiple bond issues, hired a county grants coordinator (producing more than $2 million in grant awards), convened a BEST (Bucks Employees Saving Taxes) Committee that replicates sound business practices, asked our management team to make difficult but wise choices regarding their departmental budgets, and improved efficiencies by hiring an asset manager.

Oh, and speaking of hiring employees, it should be noted that Sanko, along with Bucks County commissioners Jim Cawley and Charley “I Have A Semi-Open Mind” Martin, “(hired) two employees without publicly advertising those open positions or interviewing anyone other than those who got the nod for the jobs,” as the Courier Times tells us here (one position was a $30,992-a-year job as an administrative assistant for the public information office, and the other was a $19-an-hour position for a legal secretary – the whole matter was aptly summed up by the other commissioner, Dem Diane Marseglia, as “policy as usual”).

And speaking of cronyism in hiring, Martin said here that he wanted to replace Sanko with “a political operative” (the beat goes on).

Also, I would like to enter the following “into the record,” as it were, as long as Sanko is telling us how wonderful he is:

Sanko dismissed Patrick Murphy’s call here for a paper ballot backup to a vote as an “unfunded mandate” (makes too much sense, I guess).

He had the lock changed on the County Commissioner’s office because Diane Marseglia gave a reporter the combination to the office suite, as noted here (drat that “good government” impulse!).

Cawley said Diane owed Sanko an apology because Sanko had failed to provide information Diane had requested, namely, the written justifications by county employees for vehicles on our dime (here – typical).

County Board of Elections Director Deena Dean accused Sanko of “two years of harassment” here.

Sanko participated in a GOP fundraiser here, which he considered “no big deal,” even though he did so as a government employee (typical for a Bucks County Repug).

I will acknowledge Sanko’s successes in his position, which he notes in his farewell. While he deserves credit, I would be happy if his replacement achieved a similar measure of success without the execrable wreak of political partisanship that Sanko managed to turn into a job requirement.

Tuesday Mashup Part 1 (7/21/09)

I guess I shouldn’t when all is said and done, but I feel sorry for PA Governor Ed Rendell.

As noted in this Wikipedia article, Pennsylvania’s minority and women owned business participation rate quadrupled under his administration. He also managed to save $180 million by fixing PA’s antiquated procurement system (“antiquated” is an apt term for much of our state government, by the way). Also under his watch, gaming legislation was passed in an effort to reduce property tax revenue, which, despite some of my reservations, is a good thing on balance. Also, as noted here from a year ago, he presciently called for the development of an infrastructure bank, and as noted here, he has been a steadfast force in the Herculean effort of trying to enact common sense gun legislation in this state (though he was a bit too kind to the life forms who wanted to hang Philadelphia state rep Angel Cruz here).

However, Rendell now holds a 39 percent approval rating largely due to the budget wrangling going on in Harrisburg, as noted here (hey, it could be worse – we could be “Gullyvornia” here, people), and he is now reduced to the role of running interference for fellow “Democrat” Arlen Specter as the latter tries desperately to hang onto his Senate seat in the face of a challenge from Joe Sestak, among others, as noted here.

All of this leads me to believe that there will be a backlash of sorts next year when the Dems have to play defense in the 2010 elections, including in the Pennsylvania state house. And though I’m not sure what else Rendell could have done to avoid it, I have this unpleasant suspicion that he will end up marking off his remaining days while the Repug faithful await the gubernatorial coronation of Tom Corbett next year (please let me be wrong…).

And speaking of Corbett, it seems that Bucks County’s own commissioner Jim Cawley is making noises as if he wants to be Lieutenant Governor in a Corbett administration, according to this story in the Bucks County Courier Times, which has gone “the full wingnut” lately, with stories such as “Conservative Activism On The Rise” and “Conservatives Decry Obama Policies” by Gary Weckselblatt as well as a spread devoted to a Pat Toomey/Simon Campbell/Kathleen Zawacki fundraiser at Shady Brook Farm.

(Yes, I understand these are coverage-worthy topics, but I don’t recall so much column space EVER devoted to Democratic/progressive causes or meetings leading up to the 2006 or 2008 presidential or congressional elections.)

Well, as it turns out, Cawley and his fellow commissioner playmate, Charley “I Have A Semi-Open Mind” Martin, worked in concert with fellow poobah (and county operations officer) Dave Sanko to “(hire) two employees without publicly advertising those open positions or interviewing anyone other than those who got the nod for the jobs,” as the Courier Times tells us here (one position was a $30,992-a-year job as an administrative assistant for the public information office, and the other was a $19-an-hour position for a legal secretary – the whole matter was aptly summed up by the other commissioner, Dem Diane Marseglia, as “policy as usual”).

By the way, the same “Thumbs Down” editorial criticizing Cawley and Martin also criticizes Rendell for saying that “one year” of incarceration for disgraced PA Dem Senator Vince Fumo would have been enough (he ended up with a 55-month sentence). I didn’t like Fumo’s creation of phantom jobs and other acts of taxpayer malfeasance, as well as hiring someone to spy for him on our dime (I should object to his shaking down of Exelon Energy also, though it’s hard to work up sympathy for them as well). However, I thought reporter Dave Davies of the Philadelphia Daily News made the following good points in a July 15th story (link expired on me – another genius Tierney move to combat those dastardly search sites stealing his precious circulation, or so he believes)…

We should remember that Fumo isn’t getting away clean. He’s lost his office, his reputation and his law license, and will be ravaged by multimillion-dollar legal fees and restitution payments.

Indeed, the sight of Fumo in court yesterday was pitiful. He sat between his fiancée and daughter, often clutching the hands of both. His expression was vacant, and a facial tremor became more acute as the day wore on. His lawyers say he’s now dependent on tranquilizers.

When he rose to speak with Buckwalter, his voice was soft and he began to weep almost immediately. For those who remember Fumo in his blustering and confident prime, it was shocking to behold.

And Fumo will serve four years in prison, a significant term for a 66-year-old man in poor health.

Just sayin’, that’s all…

And finally, I should note that while I was away, Repug U.S. House Rep of PA-16 Joe Pitts actually showed a pulse and did something besides vote No; he concocted this screed full of “values voter” red meat about how the coming health care legislation from Obama and the congressional Dems is going to (wait for it…) MANDATE ABORTION ON DEMAND!! OMIGOD!!!

Well, for the reality-based point of view, here is the following from Judy Berman of Salon.com…

In the depressingly titled piece “Could Abortion Coverage Sink Health-Care Reform?” Time’s Karen Tumulty reminds us that, since 1976, The Hyde Amendment has prohibited Medicaid from using federal funding for abortion. But now that massive healthcare reform is on the agenda once again, lawmakers will have a chance to tackle the issue anew.

…

What’s truly chilling about Tumulty’s piece is its warning about the widespread effects of banning federal funding for abortion under Obama’s healthcare plan. While The Hyde Amendment was only concerned with Medicaid, the new legislation may also affect women who use government subsidies to buy private health plans. “[I]f the antiabortion legislators get their way, those subsidies would have a big string attached; they could not be used to purchase a policy that has abortion coverage,” Tumulty writes. “For many women, that would mean giving up a benefit they now have under their private insurance policies. And it would raise all sorts of other questions if insurers were allowed to discriminate among their customers based on whether or not they are using federal dollars to pay for their policies.”

And as Berman notes, any legislation banning federal funding for abortion will impact poor women significantly more than women who already have this benefit from private coverage.

So, as usual, Pitts, being the dutiful Repug cipher that he is, claims oppression while he and his brethren maneuver out of the spotlight to actually expand Hyde and take away a right already guaranteed to women with coverage they already have.

All of which is part and parcel of following the marching orders noted here.

Monday Mashup (7/13/09)

Just trying to take care of some stuff before I get out of here for a few days…

The Bucks County, PA Courier Times ran a letter yesterday from local Repug Party chairman Harry Fawkes criticizing Patrick Murphy over alleged improprieties with defense contractor Kuchera Systems and co-owner Bill Kuchera; the firm was barred from doing business with the Navy in May.

For the record, Courier Times reporter Gary Weckselblatt told us the following in this story…

Kuchera Defense Systems Inc., a family-run business from western Pennsylvania, supported Murphy with $9,200 in donations to his campaign.

…

On March 6, 2008, both men gave $2,300 each to Murphy. Lisa Kuchera and Lena C. Kuchera also gave Murphy $2,300 each on the same day, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a government watchdog group that tracks campaign donations.

Murphy did not respond to several requests for comment Friday.

Murphy, who received $28,750 from PMA’s lobbyists and their spouses, previously said he donated that money to charity after the revelations of an FBI probe.

He has obtained at least $5.6 million in congressionally directed funds known as “earmarks” for PMA clients, including one that partnered with Kuchera.

Someone please explain to me how Murphy has personally benefitted from this relationship (of course, I can expect evenhanded impartiality from Fawkes the same day Sarah Palin is elected president – maybe I’d better not joke too much about that, though, since stranger things have happened…and by the way, kudos to Patrick once more for taking the lead on trying to repeal DADT).

(Oh, and one more thing – it’s particularly hilarious for Fawkes to compare Murphy to former congressman Mikey Fitzpatrick, given that Patrick returned the $28K in PMA money, whereas Mikey…well, check this out.)

I also found this item from phillyburbs last Friday…

(Thumbs Up) To state Rep. Steve Santarsiero, D-Bucks, and three of his colleagues for a package of reform bills that would make state government more “open, honest, transparent and responsible with tax dollars.”

So says state Rep. Richard Mirabito, D-Lycoming, who introduced bills that would establish a searchable Web site to track state expenses over $1,000, and restrict the awarding of contracts that would yield a financial payoff for public officials or their families.

Santarsiero, a former Lower Makefield supervisor who represents the 31st Legislative District, introduced a bill jointly with State Rep. Paul Drucker, D-Chester/Montgomery, that would require lawmakers to contribute 1 percent of their salary toward the cost of taxpayer-funded health benefits.

“I think our colleagues understand that it’s only fair that we contribute toward health-care costs, particularly in these tough economic times,” Santarsiero said.

The Courier Times also notes that 1 percent is a pretty low number, which is true. However, cleaning out the Harrisburg patronage trough is something that, if it is to be accomplished at all, will have to be done in incremental steps like this one.

And in a wholly other vein, I came across this from conservative celebrity Ben Stein in the New York Times yesterday (his main talking point here is that President Obama is trying to accomplish too much on the economy, health care, energy, and the wars – as if Obama actually has a choice, I say to myself)…

I don’t believe we need to do something radical about energy, but even assuming that we do, why do it right now? Do we need to take one of the few sectors that is working like clockwork through the recession — oil refining — and wring its neck by making it pay for pollution “cap and trade” credits? Why attack a healthy industry when so many other sectors are ill? What is all of this anger at Big Oil, which has not done anything blameworthy, all about? Why endlessly beat up the companies that keep the country going?

Apologizing for energy interests in this country (ExxonMobil in particular, noted here, in which the former “Ferris Bueller” star claimed that the mega-energy giant “needs a hug”) is familiar territory for Stein; also noted in the prior post from March of last year are remarks from Robert A.G. Monks, the longtime shareholder activist who holds 100,000 XOM shares through a family trust, who said ExxonMobil is “unwilling to acknowledge that they live in a world where they are accountable.”

More to the point, though, Paul Krugman tells us the following from here today about the economic and climate crises; in the latter case, you can consider this as more or less in response to Stein’s claim that a policy of “cap and trade” credits would “wring the neck” of Big Oil…

At this point, the central forecast of leading climate models — not the worst-case scenario but the most likely outcome — is utter catastrophe, a rise in temperatures that will totally disrupt life as we know it, if we continue along our present path. How to head off that catastrophe should be the dominant policy issue of our time.

But it isn’t, because climate change is a creeping threat rather than an attention-grabbing crisis. The full dimensions of the catastrophe won’t be apparent for decades, perhaps generations. In fact, it will probably be many years before the upward trend in temperatures is so obvious to casual observers that it silences the skeptics. Unfortunately, if we wait to act until the climate crisis is that obvious, catastrophe will already have become inevitable.

This Wikipedia article on Stein tells us, among other things, that he basically “blew off” the warning signs concerning the economic calamity we current face when those signs appeared in 2007. Unlike our economy, though, there is no chance of a “do over” when Stein is proven wrong once more concerning the gradual melting of our planet.

(And with that, I now take my leave – I’ll plan to reappear once more in about a week.)

Update 7/17/09: And speaking of Stein, this positively screams for a blogger ethics panel (h/t Atrios).

Update 8/8/09: Awww, what a shame – not! (here).

Steve S. Watches Out For Our Communities

The following comes from the office of PA State Rep Steve Santarsiero (for District 31 – a local Bucks County, PA thing here)…

LOWER MAKEFIELD, June 18 – State Rep. Steven J. Santarsiero, D-Bucks, announced at a news conference today that he has introduced legislation that would ensure community interests and resources are protected when developers challenge decisions made by zoning boards or other local government agencies.

“Too often, communities are burdened by development that overwhelms their ability to provide services and facilities for residents,” Santarsiero said. “My bill seeks to ensure that when a planning ordinance decision is challenged, the challenger provides a report guaranteeing the project would not harm local infrastructure or recreation.”

Santarsiero’s legislation would amend current law to extend to municipalities further authority over local land use by allowing them to reject development proposals that lack a review of potential impacts to infrastructure such as roads, storm water controls, schools, emergency services and recreation. It would also require that challenges to local zoning decisions identify the need for additional housing types if proposed, and prove that a project can be completed while maintaining natural resource protections.

The bill would maintain protections for landowners, including allowing landowners challenging an ordinance or zoning decision to propose a curative amendment. Santarsiero said some maps and ordinances can be decades old, and the curative amendment process gives landowners a significant say in the future use of their land.

Santarsiero’s main constituent service office is located at 277 N. Sycamore St. in Newtown. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the phone number is 215-968-3975. Additionally, staff is available in the Lower Makefield Township Building, located at 1100 Edgewood Road. Office hours there are noon to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays.

The 31st Legislative District includes Newtown Township, Newtown Borough, Lower Makefield Township, Yardley Borough and part of Upper Makefield Township.

For more info, click here.

Tuesday PA Political Potpourri

The following is from the office of Steve Santarsiero, PA’s State House Rep for District 31…

HARRISBURG, March 30 – State Rep. Steven J. Santarsiero, D-Bucks, today announced plans to introduce legislation that would give counties such as Bucks the ability to streamline local offices for greater transparency and taxpayer savings.

Santarsiero’s legislation would allow second-class counties to abolish the office of Jury Commissioner and consolidate the offices of Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts by way of county ordinance or ballot referendum.

Further, the legislation would regulate the payment of benefits to county solicitors, assistant solicitors and row office solicitors by prohibiting such benefits for solicitors working fewer than 35 hours per week. Santarsiero said the bill also would make the process of retaining outside counsel more transparent.

“These are tough times, with homeowners struggling to make ends meet,” Santarsiero said. “My bill would help counties such as Bucks save tens of thousands of dollars, directly benefiting taxpayers. I hope that there will be broad support for this measure in the state legislature and at home in Bucks County.”

Santarsiero authored the bill in response to recent news that Bucks county solicitors received full benefits packages despite working far fewer hours than full-time employees. He currently is seeking co-sponsors for the bill in the House.

Santarsiero’s main constituent service office is located at 2 N. State St. in Newtown. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the phone number is 215-968-3975. Additionally, staff is available in the Lower Makefield Township Building, located at 1100 Edgewood Road. Office hours there are noon to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays, and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. the first Saturday of every month.

The 31st Legislative District includes Newtown Township, Newtown Borough, Lower Makefield Township, Yardley Borough and part of Upper Makefield Township.

I wonder how long it will take Bucks County Commissioners Jim Cawley and Charley Martin to start howling over this one? Good for Steve (to contact him, click here).

Also, this comes from Michael Morrill at Keystone Progress; he put together a document listing the impact of the Obama stimulus plan on Pennsylvania…

163
Companies in Pennsylvania poised to create jobs in clean energy industries if a cap is instituted on carbon emissions.

$1.3 billion taxpayer dollars
What Pennsylvania is now spending to subsidize multi-billion dollar oil and gas companies. The Obama budget ends these wasteful subsidies.

Between $2.1 billion and $12.9 billion
Could flow into Pennsylvania coffers if emissions permits were capped and auctioned.

510
Number of Pennsylvanians who are losing their health insurance every day who could be covered if President Obama’s request to put aside money in the budget for health care reform is granted.

820
Pennsylvanians are becoming unemployed every day because of the troubled economy left behind by the Bush Administration.

4.7 million
Pennsylvanians would see their taxes lowered permanently if Obama’s Make Work Pay Tax credit was made permanent.

$23,613
Average debt load for Pennsylvania college students, which would be lowered substantially by President Obama’s proposal to reform and expand Pell Grants and simplify federal student loan programs.

$466
What the typical Pennsylvania family will save if the tax proposals in President Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget are enacted.

0.6 %
Percentage of the Pennsylvanians who owed estate tax in 2007(President Obama has proposed keeping the estate tax from expiring in 2010).

This was prepared by Keystone Progress and Renew and Rebuild America, based on research done by Environmental Defense, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Project on Student Debt, and Citizens for Tax Justice.

Finally, here is something of interest concerning PA’s Republican U.S. Senator (you knew there had to be some bad news in here somewhere, didn’t you?)…

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) has spent a career crafting an image of independence and integrity. On March 24 he sacrificed both when he turned his back on the working people in his state. Specter announced that he would not vote to allow the Employee Free Choice Act to receive an up or down vote on the Senate floor; a move that some consider fatal to the legislation. In a statement on the Senate floor he waxed eloquent about his belief that a difficult economic climate is no time for workers to receive a living wage.

Specter received $235,350 in 2008 from Blank Rome LLP a self described “union avoidance” law firm.

Read the whole article here:

A hat tip goes out from Michael Morrill to Alan Hart from UE News for pointing us to this article.

Cawley’s “Can’t Do” Spirit On The Stimulus

I want to thank Bucks County Courier Times letter writer Paul Lang, Jr. this morning for jogging my memory a bit on a recent quote from one of our illustrious county commissioners (sarcasm intended) – here is his letter…

Regarding county Commissioner Jim Cawley’s quote, “I am far from somebody who is rooting for the (Democratic) economic stimulus package”: This comment is un-American and outrageous. I am an American first and want only the best for this country regardless of political party affiliation.

As a registered Democrat, I voted for Barack Obama. If Cawley’s Republican choice, John McCain, had won the presidency, then I would be cheering and praying for McCain to succeed.

Cawley should never be elected to any office anywhere again. He has shown his true un-American colors.

Paul Lang Jr.
Northampton

And of course, that met with the predictable wingnut comment noise online, which Lang should wear as a badge of honor, actually.

I believe the reason why I missed this is because the original quote from Cawley appeared in this column by J.D. Mullane about the current dilapidated state of Washington Crossing Park. And Cawley is entitled to his opinion, I realize, but in his capacity as a commissioner, I think his comments should be neutral at the very least, particularly given the fact that the Repugs are so tolerant of opinions which differ from their own, as we know.

Well, for Cawley’s information, here is a link to an analysis from The Philadelphia Inquirer showing that Bucks County stands to receive millions in school district funding from the stimulus, as well as $600 million from the $48.1 billion in transportation stimulus funds for Greater Philadelphia (affecting many Bucks residents), as well as approximately $318 for highways in southeastern Pennsylvania, $120 million for highways in southern New Jersey, and $193 million for SEPTA (noted here).

And as noted from here, the stimulus provides funding to…

(Protect) 972,000 Pennsylvanians from the Alternative Minimum Tax.

(Match) unemployed individuals to job openings through state employment service agencies and allow Pennsylvania to provide customized reemployment services ($15.4 million).

(Extend) Bonus Depreciation and Small Business Expensing through 2009, allowing businesses that make capital investments to immediately deduct one-half the cost. Small businesses can immediately deduct 100 percent of the cost of these investments.

(Help) law enforcement agencies enhance their investigative response to offenders who use the Internet or other computer technology to sexually exploit children ($1 million).

(Improve) the response to violent crimes against women and to assist victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking ($6.4 million).

But of course, Cawley is “far from somebody who is rooting for the (Democratic) economic stimulus package.”

This is typical for someone who, as noted here, refused to fund an Army Corps of Engineers study of the Delaware River, to the point where Patrick Murphy had to intervene or else Bucks would have lost out on critical federal funds for this project.

And as noted here, Cawley told a group of people gathered in Bristol, Pa. that “county money pegged for a three-hole golf course and driving range can be spent only for recreational purposes” (just what Bucks needs – another golf course), even though the majority of the residents favor a skate park, but with a chunk of the $400,000 going to keep the struggling Bristol Township homeless shelter open (also favored by Bucks commissioner Diane Marseglia, with the third commissioner, Charley Martin, stating that he believes skateboarding is “a fad” – here’s some reading material on this for Mr. “I Have A Semi-Open Mind”).

Finally, this tells us that the Bucks County Coalition for Voting Integrity was denied access to records on the purchase of new county voting machines, as well as the fact that the Bucks County Health Department refused to turn over records of its pool inspections to the Doylestown Intelligencer, which attempted to publish an investigatory report on the safety of Bucks County swimming pools some years ago.

So of course Cawley has to oppose the stimulus because of what it could provide to families and the working middle class of this county; also consider the fact that Cawley’s playmate Charley Martin would never have been returned to office were it not for the intercession of clueless third party candidate Jay Russell working on behalf of the Repugs, as noted here – it’s clear that their grip on county government is slipping anyway.

And if the stimulus succeeds, making it plainly obvious which political party wants to ensure prosperity in Bucks and the rest of this country and which one doesn’t, they’ll lose that grip once and for all.

Bucks County, PA – Watching Our Dollars With No Sense

It’s been a little while since I took a look at my home stomping grounds, but I’m prompted to do so based on this “Thumbs Down” item that appeared in the Courier Times this morning…

To county Commissioners Charley Martin and Jim Cawley for refusing to provide more time for decisions about who gets hired and fired by those doing the hiring and firing. That would be the three county commissioners and the county controller; together, the four comprise the county salary board.

The request came from Commissioner Diane Marseglia. The lone Democrat argued that board members should receive pending changes at least five days before a salary board meeting, as opposed to the current two days, so proposed hirings, firings and salary increases wouldn’t have to be rushed through the approval process.

The controller agreed.

Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, the Republicans disagreed.

Marseglia made a good point when she called the pair’s opposition “another example of keeping decisions under wraps so that transparency is impossible.”

Gosh, Diane, you are such a great, big silly, aren’t you?

Why, didn’t you get it after Chief Operations Office Dave Sanko locked you out of the commissioners’ offices last year because you gave the combination to reporters (here)? Or when the plans for the new criminal justice center in Doylestown were not made available to you (I should emphasize that that’s my suspicion from this post, but I don’t know that for a fact)?

This is Mayberry Bucks County, remember? Ruled by your fellow commissioners in the Repug majority, Jim Cawley and Charley (“I Have A Semi-Open Mind”) Martin. When have they EVER been interested in full disclosure in these matters?

To be fair, though, the following should be noted from last December (here – registration required)…

For the third straight year, Bucks County residents will not have a property-tax increase.

County commissioners yesterday adopted a $467.6 million budget for 2009 that dips into rainy-day money to hold the line on taxes.

Commendable, to be sure. However, later in the story we learn the following…

Minority Commissioner Diane Marseglia, a Democrat, cast the only vote against adopting the budget. Like Cawley, Marseglia praised the county Finance Department and said it had functioned in spite of “almost no direct conversation with the commissioners, weak cooperation with several departments, and a shortage of public feedback.”

Sorry, but with all due respect to County Finance Director Brian Hessenthaler (he crunched out the final numbers), I’d be a little suspicious about what he came up with given the lack of feedback and input from the other departments.

And finally, we have this story telling us that Election Day voting in Bucks County went smoothly for the most part…

Bucks County on Wednesday trumpeted the results of its inaugural survey analyzing Election Day, but the Democratic commissioner and voting advocates said the process could run more smoothly.

Of the 304 judges of election, 213 returned surveys mailed to them after the Nov. 4 presidential election.

“We had anecdotal evidence that the election went well, but we thought this would be a good way of finding out for sure,” said Planning Director Lynn Bush, who also oversees the elections process.

Another basically positive development, I’ll grant you. However…

Madeline Rawley of the Coalition for Voting Integrity said the county should be careful not to gloss over individual voters’ experiences at the polls.

“There were places where people didn’t vote. They couldn’t vote, they had to leave,” she said, adding later: “I think we very strongly need a good look into this because I’m sure you want to improve the process.”

Commissioner Charley Martin, who was chairman of the board of elections last year, said accommodating every possible glitch during the high turnout presidential elections would not be cost-effective considering low turnout in off years.

“Many, many of these problems will not be the case in 2009,” he said.

I have a feeling Martin is right, unfortunately, though it would be nice to find out more details concerning these “glitches,” wouldn’t it?

And also in the “lack of disclosure” category under Cawley and Martin (not enough time to review documents on hired or fired workers or those who received raises, not enough coordination or review when compiling the budget numbers), we also have this concerning the voting results (going out of my way not to discuss Creekside here, since it’s the subject of at least one post by itself)…

Commissioner Diane Marseglia said she did not see the documents until Wednesday before the 10 a.m. commissioners meeting, which was around the same time Elections Director Deena Dean said she also got a first look at the documents.

Marseglia, the only Democrat on the three-member board, made an unsuccessful pitch to her Republican colleagues to re-write the release.

She objected to the focus solely on questions that yielded positive answers 94 percent of the time or more.

Although she could not point to any specific inaccuracies, she said it was “missing things to make it accurate” and later issued her own written statement.

“We really shouldn’t be press releasing things that public information has had a chance to look at that the commissioners have not,” she said at the meeting.

“That happens all the time,” Martin said.

Yes, it does, doesn’t it, Charley? And it will continue as long as you, Cawley and David Sanko run Bucks like your little playpen, won’t it?

Update 2/8/09: An “Office of Public Information,” huh (here)? Sounds like another Repug “triumph” in the “village” of Bucks County politics (a la “The Prisoner”: “Questions are a burden to others, and answers are a burden to oneself,” as they say – kudos to Diane for calling this what it is).

Update 2/9/09: Kudos again to Diane for continuing to fight the good fight (here).