A Culture of Entitlement Redux

It is obvious from the shock some people expressed at Monday’s meeting of the Middletown Township Board of Supervisors that not enough of our residents are paying attention.

Paying attention to what, you ask? The culture of entitlement that became entrenched in the Middletown Township Police Department during the 25-year career of the last chief of police.

“Shocking” item no. 1: Twenty-one of the past 23 retirees have gone out on disability retirements. As I explained in a previous blog, retirement pensions and permanent disability pensions are addressed in the PBA contract. If an officer has served enough time to retire, he or she will receive a pension equal to 55 percent of wages earned, averaged over the last three years of service.

If, on the other hand, an officer is retired on permanent disability, this pension goes up to 75 percent of the three-year average, which the retiree receives for life – tax free. A prime example of this is Supervisor George Leonhauser, who receives about $80,000 a year on a disability pension – and has for the past 16 years. The disability-pensioner is free to secure other employment; Leonhauser, for example, has a full-time position with the Bucks County Tech School. He also receives a $4,000 per year stipend for being on the board of supervisors.

The last two disability retirements discussed at Monday’s meeting were for two officers, ages 38 and 40, who had torn rotator cuffs. Rotator-cuff surgery has become quite common place and allows a person to attain full function and rotation of the affected shoulder. However, these officers are allowed to refuse surgery – so you and I will be paying them 75 percent of the last three-year average of their salary, tax-free for the rest of their lives, which could be for 40 years or more.

“Shocking” item no. 2: The contract requires anyone who retires on a disability pension to undergo an annual physical from an independent physician chosen by the Township. This way if a disability has been corrected – say, for example, a person with a torn rotator cuff has it repaired – the retiree can be ordered back to work or forfeit his or her pension.

To date, confirmed at Monday’s meeting, none have undergone this annual physical. I know that when Township Manager Raymond Stepnoski attempted to implement this requirement, he ran up against opposition from the Policeman’s Benevolent Association. Perhaps with the backing of the new Republican-controlled Board he will get better results.

These are your leaders

Hmmmm

Can't add a thing to this.... this Wizard of Id cartoon says it all!

This cartoon and the comments above it were e-mailed by Middletown Township Supervisor Drew Kreiling to a number of other Republicans, including Supervisors Pat Mallon, George Leonhauser and Tom Gallagher.

It is repugnant on a number of levels.

Democratic residents should be outraged to learn that this is what their leaders on the Board of Supervisors think of them. Keep that in mind the next time you have to address the Board on an important issue.

What is really outrageous is this seeming endorsement of an intelligence test for voters. Maybe if Kreiling, Mallon, Leonhauser and Gallagher had any understanding of the history of civil rights, they would have been less likely to find any humor in this cartoon.

In case you have any difficulty reading the text:

Panel 1, left balloon: Shouldn't voters have to pass an intelligence test?

right balloon: You don't have to be intelligent to vote.

Panel 2: What if there are more stupid people than intelligent people.

Panel 3: Then the Democrat wins.

What an Outrage

Well, it sure didn’t take the Republican hypocrites on the Middletown Township Board of Supervisors long to toss the Sunshine Law out with their promise to conduct a thorough and fair search for a new chief of police.

In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, Supervisor Patrick Mallon proposed a police chief review committee comprised of citizens who would be nominated to review all applications, conduct interviews, and make a non-binding recommendation of the top 5 candidates to the board.

For those of you who don’t know, “other business” comes after regular agenda items. Unless there is an emergency, I have never seen it used to push through important business that should require a period for public input – and there are very few decisions as important as empowering a select few to determine who the next police chief will be.

Why do I say a select few? Because not only did Mallon propose this police review committee, but he already had a list of those whom the Republicans decided should serve on the board.

Now, if this wasn’t discussed among the four Republicans on the Board outside of a public meeting and in clear violation of the Sunshine Law, how was it that they not only had the list of those who will serve on the committee ready to introduce, but all four voted to approve the appointments with only a few words of background on each person and virtually no discussion among themselves?

In the words of a friend of mine who has been around long enough to know, “I do not recall Middletown ever appointing a committee without taking applications. Last night they appointed one of the most important committees in this township (a chief of police search) and took not one application.”

It is clear if this had been done by the previous Board, Mike Fitzpatrick would have rounded up a few shills to file one of his famous lawsuits for violating the Sunshine Law – and for once he might have prevailed.

Who are these shining examples of public service? Believe me, if you are not a supporter of Lieutenant Kane for the chief’s position, you probably wouldn’t recognize them. Four Republicans, David Zellis, Michael Lentine, Sharolyn Hessenthaler and Michael Jones. Democrat David Kemmerer has already privately indicated his support for Kane and Martin Duffy, the other Democrat, publicly indicated his support for Kane on at least two occasions that I am familiar with. And Todd Buch, the seventh member, is not even registered in Middletown Township. Furthermore, there is an extreme lack of geographic representation on this committee. Given the diversity in Middletown Township, this committee should be comprised of a representative sample of citizens from across the township. This is difficult to achieve, though, when in fact three of the seven appointees come from Mr. Mallon’s district (Upper 6).

Why wasn’t there some consideration for balance on this committee? There are a number of those who have been involved in public service that could have been considered. There are talented recruiters and public business managers who could have been asked. Furthermore, rather than naming partisan appointees for this important committee, perhaps a better approach may have been to identify the qualifications desired on this committee and then recruit people that meet those qualifications. Examples may have been:

1. An experienced Human Resources executive.
2. Representatives from large township business that rely heavily on the Middletown Township Police Department like Oxford Valley Mall or Sesame Place.
3. A representative from St. Mary’s Medical Center, the largest employer in Bucks County.
4. A fire chief or volunteer fireman, given how closely our police and volunteer firefighters work together.
5. Retired Pennsylvania State troopers or FBI agents living in the township.
6. A representative from Neshaminy School District.
7. A block captain from a township Neighborhood Watch Group.

Coincidentally, there you have seven examples of the profiles that could have been represented on this committee. Instead, what Mr. Mallon wants to be a bi-partisan effort, is really just more of the same partisan politics.

The only conclusion I can come to is that Kane was promised the job by the Republicans running for office and now they are delivering on their promise. All Middletown Township residents should be outraged. This “search” is nothing but a sham.

A great deal for Middletown Township

For the past two weeks, I have been immersed in painting the downstairs of my home. So, I have been a little distracted – although not enough not to notice that President Obama has produced a great win for the American people who truly care about improving the health care delivery system in the U.S. Maybe a decade from now we won’t have the 37th place ranking among the world’s nations – right below Costa Rica and only two places above Cuba.

I received an interesting phone call earlier this week from a friend whose property was needed for a cell tower. He called to see what I knew about the deal Middletown Township was getting for the two towers currently going up here. I explained that basically the Township receives $10,000 yearly per carrier on the towers and there are currently two carriers on each.

It is very likely that the number of carriers will rise to at least five of the six carriers that cover this area, so we could be earning about $50,000 from each tower, with regular increases included in the lease agreement.

In his case, the company negotiating the lease for his property – which is not Tower One, the company working for Middletown – offered monthly payments that added up to just under $20,000 for two carriers that would be included with the initial erection of the tower. However, they were offering him a one-time payment of $2,500 for any carriers that were added after the tower went up.

Obviously, when he heard of the agreement Middletown reached with Tower One, he is going to take a tougher stand with the company that wants to lease his land.

To me, this highlights two important points – thanks to the research of Supervisor Robert McMonagle, Middletown Township is getting a great deal that will help hold the line on taxes, and there is a lot of demand for tower sites to help fill in the gaps created by the explosion in cell phone use. So get ready to see one of these near you.

Incredible Short-Sightedness

With all the howling and gnashing of teeth over cell towers at the past few Middletown Township Board of Supervisor meetings – particularly on the March 1 day-after-a-full-moon meeting – protestors are missing the point. Their irrational behavior is exemplified by their anger over a simple question put to them by Supervisor Robert McMonagle: “Do you own a cell phone?”

According to U.S. Mobile Markets: Analysis & Forecasts, the latest report from consumer technology think-tank, The Diffusion Group, by the end of this year, mobile phone subscribers will climb to 75% of the US population or approximately 236 million users. There is a growing consensus that cell phones are no longer a luxury but a necessity.

Because of the sky-rocketing demand, cellular service companies are scrambling to erect the towers needed to keep up with the usage. Mr. McMonagle saw an opportunity to bring in new revenue to the Township last year when he suggested the Board look into locating new cell towers on Township-owned property. Tower One was subsequently tapped to locate potential sites and negotiate lease agreements with carriers.

According to Nicholas Pullin, a partner in Tower One, conservatively, if there are just two tenants on each of the two cell towers currently under a lease agreement with the Township – which is what is currently on both the Veterans' Highway and Langhorne-Yardley Road structures – the total aggregate value of those leases would be $7.5 million over a 29-year period.

Also, these two towers could accommodate up to six carriers, so the potential for income for the Township is significant – income that will lessen what is needed to be collected through property taxes.

Opponents fail to recognize the fact that these towers are strategically sited to meet the demands of service. If the Township didn’t lease the property it owns, the companies would find an alternative private site nearby. Ultimately, these protestors would still have a cell tower in their neighborhood with the revenue going to a private individual or corporation.

These people who show up at each meeting to shout, cheer and jeer are incredibly short-sighted. One suspects that if they were around in the 1870s, they would have protested the erection of the first telephone pole.

Speaking of cheers and jeers, Board Chairman Tom Gallagher has a gavel in front of him at each meeting and should learn how and when to use it. While Mr. Gallagher likes to be the hero of the cell tower opposition, he has a responsibility to run these meetings in a professional manner – they are not and should not be pep rallies for his re-election campaign.

Perhaps some people will show up at the next meeting to thank Mr. McMonagle for seeking out ways to raise revenue in an effort to hold the line on property taxes. Now wouldn’t that be refreshing.

Frank Farry: The real reason I haven't done anything in Harrisburg

In a March 5 blog, I chided Frank Farry for the excuses he made in a meeting with the editorial board at the Courier Times. Basically, he complained that he couldn’t get anything done because he was in the minority party.

Today he had a guest opinion in the Courier that is one of the most excuse-ridden, whiney pieces I have ever read. Frankly, I was embarrassed for him.

I was going to write a comment on it until I saw the first blog attached to Farry’s piece. I usually ignore these as they too often appear to be the work of cretins. But in this case, no one could have put it more succinctly. So my hat is off to the blogger who wrote:

“Just what constituents want to hear...a detailed explanation from their representative as to why he has been toothless. Doesn't Mr. Farry know that as soon as a politician starts a sentence with ‘These are not excuses,’ that every voter knows to get ready for the excuses to start flying?

“You know what the ‘reality of some of the things wrong in Harrisburg,’ is? Someone who gets elected, then campaigns on why he wasn't able to get anything done.

“In the ‘Maybe no one will realize I've done nothing’ department, Frank Farry decides that only now that everyone does know he has not been part of the solution, he ‘will voluntarily match the mandatory Senate contribution for his health benefits by sending a personal check to the state monthly.’ Others have been doing it all along. Retroactively sending the money back after you've been exposed only shows just how stupid you think the voter is.

“You might want to consider returning your entire 14 months salary. Maybe the voters won't notice the ‘reality’ of you not doing your job.”

Farry's Excuses Ring Hollow

In the “Thumbs Down” section of the Courier Times criticizes Frank Farry, who by “citing his minority party status over and over again, seems to have thrown in the towel.”

The emphasis is mine since it confirms what many of us already know – Farry is much better at whining than he is at acting. It leads one to wonder if Farry has done anything at all for the residents he is supposed to represent.

The editorial further states: “For example, Farry said he won't initiate a bill calling for state House members to contribute to their health benefits – even though he said he'd be ‘the first one to sign on to it’ – because the bill would be blocked. Glad to hear the representative would sign on. But actions speak louder than words.”

So I have a suggestion: Let’s show Farry what it means to act and send him back to his beloved fire company, where I believe he is still the chief, and send John Toth to Harrisburg who will be a full-time legislator for all the people he represents.

We need someone who acts, not someone who makes excuses.