Why do you want to be a supervisor?

The most common question I am asked when people find out I am running for the Middletown Township Board of Supervisors is “why do you want to be a supervisor?” I begin answering the question by saying that it is a very personal reason and it has to do with family and role models.

I am a lifelong resident of Middletown Township. I grew up in the Highland Park section of Levittown before moving to Langhorne when I was fourteen years old. My grandfather was very community-minded – he served as President of the United Way in Bucks County for ten years, was a charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Lincoln Highway, donated space to the Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad when they first organized, and supported virtually every local cause that he came across. He came to Bucks County from Iowa at a young age, borrowed money to buy Greenwood Dairies with only his 4H ribbons as collateral, and spent the next fifty years building it into a highly successful restaurant that many people in this area have a fond memory of. This was a family business so I spent a lot of time there growing up, learning how to manage a business, effectively manage people, and handle adversity. One of the best lessons I learned was how to treat everyone – no matter what their position – with respect. I also learned that people will allow you to lead them when they trust that you are willing to work alongside them to get the job done. Not when you speak loudly, speak just to hear yourself speak, issue orders, or belittle their efforts but when they trust that you are willing to work alongside them to get the job done. It’s been over twenty years since Greenwood Dairies closed, but all of the lessons learned there are life-long.

After college, I chose to return to Middletown Township and after getting married, my husband and I chose to call Middletown Township home. We have lived here for thirteen years and have been Middletown homeowners for eleven years. When our first child was born last year, I began thinking about all of the lessons learned from my parents and grandparents, and I saw them from a very different perspective – that of a parent. The questions I ask myself every day are “what example am I setting for my child today” and “what lessons am I helping her learn today.” When the opportunity to run for Supervisor presented itself earlier this year, I realized that not only could I set a good example and provide an opportunity for her to learn important lessons, I could also work to have a direct impact in the community that I love and in which I have chosen to raise my daughter. I grew up in this wonderful community, getting to know great people, participating in community celebrations, and feeling tremendous pride in where I lived; this is what I want for my daughter and I will do my part to ensure that Middletown Township affords her the same experiences it has given me.

I am running for Supervisor to maintain the positive quality of life that I love about Middletown Township and I am willing to work alongside every resident to do the right things for our community.

Revisiting the "Outpost of Freedom"

You gotta love the internet. Kids off to college can instantly communicate with their mothers and fathers – and, of course, boy friends and girl friends. Facebook keeps us current on the activities of friends and relatives. And even Twitter has some advantages, although I am not totally sure what they are.

I just discovered that I can even rekindle relationships I developed during my tour of duty in Berlin 40 years ago. I was a member of the Army Security Agency, which was under the jurisdiction of the National Security Agency rather than the Pentagon. In Berlin, I was a voice intercept operator, listening in on the conversations of East Germans in the Central Committee, the ruling agency in East Germany.

Since we weren’t supposed to discuss our activities with anyone and since we spent all our duty time cooped up in a small room with banks of tape recorders, we necessarily became close friends.

I’ve often mentioned to my wife, Chris, that I wonder what became of my best friend over there, Brock Garland. The other day when I mentioned it again, she said why not try to find him on Facebook or by searching on the internet. I wasn’t able to find him on Facebook, but searching on the internet I did find – and joined – a Yahoo Group for Field Station Berlin veterans. In the introduction, the moderator points out that “We Field Station Berlin veterans have lots to discuss that we were not allowed to talk about back then.”

I’ve already begun reminiscing with some of the guys who were there during my time but in different units. So who knows, I may ultimately find Brock or another friend and character, Gene “P. Rap” Brown (he was in charge of packing and wrapping material we sent back to NSA and not really related to the infamous H. Rap Brown). And maybe someday I will finally write that book about our experiences in the “Outpost of Freedom.”

The Loaded Question

A common practice in politics is the use of the loaded question; that is, a question with a false or questionable presupposition designed to mislead the reader or listener. A typical example of this often used in logics classes is the question “Have you stopped beating your wife.” It presupposes that you have beaten your wife in the past. No matter how one answers a question like this, the listener will often have doubts about the veracity of the answer.

The Republicans are masters at the use of the loaded question. Take for example, the inclusion in one of the health care bills of a provision giving the option for an elderly person to discuss end-of-life issues with his or her doctor. End-of-life issues could be anything from the discussion of hospice care for a chronically ill person through living wills and directives to funeral planning. These are issues that are commonly discussed today – and should be – but are often not covered by one’s medical insurance.

All it took was for Sarah Palin to make the charge that the government health reformers were creating death panels whose task it would be to decide who would live and who would die. Of course that is a charge based on a totally false presupposition, but it was enough to blow this much needed provision right out of the water.

Members of the Middletown Republican Club – I always try to distinguish them from the good, decent registered Republican voters who are my friends and neighbors and whom I have met in my travels throughout Middletown Township – have been perfecting the art of the loaded question for years.

In a recent mailer to residents of the Village of Flowers Mill, they basically ask why I would refuse to engage the voters in a debate. They took a statement I made out of context – that I would be reluctant to accept an invitation to debate at the Village of Flowers Mill – and exclaimed with great flourish that “We find it outrageous that any sitting elected official would refuse to engage the citizens of our community so voters could better understand the positions of every candidate for office.” (Not that anyone could understand their positions on the issues that face Middletown Township from their literature, but more on that tomorrow.)

The article in question was about a resolution passed by the Board of Supervisors allowing Township Hall to be used for a political debate, which would be televised so every resident in the Township would have the opportunity to view it. Given that premise, I said I would be reluctant to hold a debate in the Village of Flowers Mill since the audience would be restricted to members of this community when we now have the means to reach all residents of the Township. A fact our Republican opponents neglected to mention is that the president of the Village of Flowers Mill’s Board agreed that a debate in Township Hall would be preferable.

Also left out was the fact that one of their candidates was quoted in that same article saying that they were contacting the League of Women Voters to set up a debate. This, of course, never happened.

I am sure a lot worse is coming. When candidates don’t have any issues to run on, they attack, distort and obfuscate to try to cover their own inadequacies. Now there – inadequacies – is something they have in abundance.

Shredder Truck in Middletown - Saturday, 9/26

If you type “identity theft statistics” in Google, you will end up with a few million results. If you visit even just a few of the links, you will find alarming statistics:

1. The number of identity theft cases continues to increase each year – one study reported a 22% increase from 2007 to 2008.
2. One third of identity theft victims spend 4-6 months trying to recover and repair the damage caused.
3. Low-tech methods, like stealing a wallet or going through trash to find sensitive information, is the most common for stealing your identity.

There are many ways to help prevent identify theft, and one of them is to shred sensitive documents (including your credit card receipts) instead of just discarding them. If you don’t have a shredder or if you have years of documents to be shredded, mark your calendar for Saturday, September 26th. There will be a shredder truck available from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm in the parking lot of the old Levitz Store in Levittown (1661 E. Lincoln Highway). This event is sponsored by the Democratic Party of Middletown Township, and is free for all Middletown residents.

Family Caregiers: You Are Not Alone

On October 10, I will be attending the reunion of the Neshaminy High School Class of '64. I am also a member of the organizational committee. One rule we have for our meetings is that no one is allowed to talk about their aches and pains or other maladies.

However, something often discussed during my past 10 years working with this group is the difficulties some of us have had in caring for aging parents. It is the reason I returned some 12 years ago to the home I grew up in.

Family caregiving is virtually exploding in the U.S. Studies have estimated that approximately 26 million adults in the U.S. provide unpaid assistance to adult family members who have a disability or chronic illness. And, according to the National Family Caregiver Support Program, the stress associated with performing family caregiving tasks can result in an increased risk of infectious disease, depressive symptoms, and chronic illness such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Shortly after moving back here to help in the care of my ailing father, I joined Children of Aging Parents (CAPS), a national organization founded right here in the Levittown portion of Middletown Township by Mirca Liberti some 32 years ago. CAPS provides information and support to caregivers, and the assurance that they are not alone. Shortly after that, I was encouraged to join the Board of Directors and served as president for a year before it was decided to merge with Contact Greater Philadelphia about six years ago.

While CAPS has a number of caregiver support groups in 15 states, I realized some time ago that we could never adequately serve the needs of all the caregivers who desperately need help, information and encouragement. As a result, I started and still maintain an online caregivers support group. This group currently has more than 900 members who share stories, discuss resources and vent frustrations.

If you are the caregiver of an elderly parent, relative or friend, and the stress seems to be unbearable, remember that you are not alone. Visit the CAPS Web site to see if there is a support group near you. If not, look in the right-hand column of the home page for the box to join our free online support group. You will be welcomed the moment you send your first post.

What's the hurry?

At least once every day this week, I have heard someone express serious concerns about children walking longer distances and more dangerous routes to bus stops. Parents have explained that children need to cross streets in neighborhoods where there are no stop signs at the intersection, or that they need to cross streets where the average speed on the road is 40 mph (even though the speed limit is 25 mph!). Not only have I heard what these residents are saying, I have observed the speed at which some people travel on their neighborhood streets. Speeding is a problem everywhere, and Middletown Township is no exception. It is a problem on most every road in this Township, but with school starting next week, it is especially a problem within our neighborhoods.

How do we bring attention to this problem now, and encourage people to slow down, especially on residential streets? One child hurt by a speeding car is one too many so how can we fix this problem now? We’d love to hear your ideas – leave a comment here or drop me an email with your suggestions.

Kudos to Nancy Blank

It was a pleasure last night to represent the full Board of Supervisors in honoring Nancy Blank with a proclamation for her 40 years of service to Middletown Township.

I presented Nancy with a pin for her 40 years of service on Wednesday, June 24 at an employee appreciation breakfast. I noted then that the Township is “exceedingly fortunate to have some of the most dedicated employees I have ever met.” Nancy stands out as a role model.

Her service started on April 24, 1969 in the records department of the Middletown Township Police Department as a student intern while attending Neshaminy High School. On October 1, 1984 she was promoted to the position of secretary to the Detective Division.

As the proclamation states, “throughout the years, Nancy has worked diligently to learn the criminal justice system and the Bucks County Court System … [and] with professionalism and confidentiality Nancy has insured criminal complaints and case files are complete and ready for prosecution.”

In addition to her duties with the Police Department, Nancy also serves our community by volunteering her free time to the Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad.

With people like Nancy serving the community, we can be sure that Middletown Township will continue to earn its reputation as a desirable place to live.