Southern York County Life

http://www.stewartstownreform.com

PURE HOGWASH!!!

CONCERNED CITIZENS SHOULD ATTEND THIS MEETING...BECAUSE YOU KNOW THE NUTS WILL COME TO DISRUPT IT

From the ‘manifesto’:

Why shouldn’t the Township residents have a say?  The township has a population advantage of 2.5 times that of the borough. With residents of the township having to drive through the borough I am sure the vast majority of citations are generated with area residents outside of the borough. Chief Cunningham has projected citation revenue already in 2011 budget. So no one can argue that the police do not have a quota system. What we really have here is taxation without representation. Simply put the township residents and other area residents are helping pay for the borough police force.

Had to throw in those “sacred words”.  Someone has been watching too much Fox news.  What nonsense. Here’s a flash - IF YOU DON’T LIVE IN A MUNICIPALITY YOU CANNOT VOTE IN THAT MUNICIPALITIES ELECTIONS.  As someone who got nailed by the Stewartstown police more than once, may I suggest avoiding Stewartstown as much as possible and driving the speed limit.  When you do go through Stewartstown don’t spend any money there if you have problems with the way they treat outsiders.

What is it about this area that even self proclaimed “conservatives” think they deserve something from the government even when they did something wrong?  Got news for you, when you break the law you pay a fine or worse no matter where you are.  You don’t get to deduct it from your income taxes!  If you want a police department, you have to pay for it.  If you want a VFC, you have to pay for it.  if you want decent schools, you have to pay for it.  Municipalities and join together to come up with regional services; that’s why we have school districts.  For the most part in PA these services are and IMO should be paid for locally.  This guy references and Nancy Pelosi in a derogatory way in one of his articles.  What a hypocrite.

Where is the white charger? It has been AWOL since September 27, 2011. Has anyone seen it?? Does the council know what happen?? was it fixed by a professional??

To answer this from the Stewartstown Reform article..............just seen the white charger today headed south on Main street.  So do us a favor and keep your shirt on!

Just a few notes on the Stewartstownreform website that seems to always get deleted by them(Hmmm wonder why???) For that matter wonder why didn’t they try to post the information on here...............

The officers wear paramilitary uniforms, instead of recognizable police uniforms.

I don’t understand this off of the other site either....... as long as its a uniform, I mean it’s not like they are carrying around assualt riffles or a machine gun I’m pretty sure we know they are cops and not military. 

Why shouldn’t the Township residents have a say?

This sounds like my children....Why can’t I do whatever I want!!

You shouldn’t have any say in what the borough does, because you don’t live in the borough period.  We are a commonwealth with boroughs and townships because that’s what PA wants.  I’m sure if the borough wanted to have a say in how you do things in the township you would take offense to that, right?? The old saying “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander” comes to mind.

Where is the white charger? It has been AWOL since September 27, 2011. Has anyone seen it?? Does the council know what happen?? was it fixed by a professional??

Sarcasm alert!!!  Nah, they had it fixed by a non-professional.  Since you videoed it being towed by a professional towing company I’m sure they took it to a non mechanical place and had Larry, Moe or Curly fix it!!!

Who is in control??  There is little evidence by the borough council minutes that the council is in control. Who has review of Stewartstown Borough Police Department policy? Who has oversight of the police department’s budgeting??

Directly copied from the borough website:
Mayor
The mayor is an elected official for a term of four years. There are no term limits for the office of Mayor. The mayor is in charge of the Police Department and does not vote, except to break a tie vote on council matters.
Borough Council Special Committees:
The following special committees meet once a month to work on specific departments like streets and roads or police & public safety. These meetings are advertised and open to the public. Specific dates/times are also listed on the website calendar and on the borough newsletter.

seems like this is in black and white already nuff said.

A police department that refuses to use local business, but instead takes their dollars out of Stewartstown and Southeastern School District. Even though they receive contract money from Southeastern School District and tax dollars from Stewartstown Borough.

Now I am not entirely sure but I believe that it would be a conflict of interest if the SPD used Gordon’s for towing or repairing of the police cars, because one of the owners is on the borough council.  And since you are calling out one of the other member’s for voting on personnel issues because her daughter works for the borough then I believe this would be the “pot calling the kettle black” IMHO

And I can’t quote anything else that is on the other website because most of it is slander or defamation of character that if they tried to post on SYCLIFE.COM one of our very nice and talented moderator’s would take down quicker that quick.  Politics can be tough subject to discuss with out someone taking offense, but when people use politics for their own personal vendetta then things can get downright ugly quick. (And this thing got ugly quick!)

I cannot vote tomorrow because I don’t live in the borough but I would like to thank all of the people...the ones on the borough counsel now and the ones that will be after Tues. for all the hard work that they have done or will do.  Theirs is a thankless job that not many people want to do.  And you can’t please everyone all the time.  But we have a nice little town that has very little crime and for that I am thankful.  My children have friends that live here in Stewartstown and when they have sleepovers I have no second thoughts about their safety in this town.  My children are not allowed to go to sleepovers in other close towns which I will not name, because I do not feel comfortable letting them in an environment that is not as safe.  You state that the police have no support, but I beg to differ.  Many people do support the police and Chief Cunningham is a very dedicated man who is working in a job that can be very difficult when living in a small town.  If you follow the rules you won’t have a problem with them at all.

Good posting Teresa!

good post, teresa!

The whole “Why can’t the township residents have a say....” didn’t make any sense.  We, as PA residents, don’t get to vote in Maryland elections.  They don’t pay taxes in the borough nor does the Township pay for police coverage.  It would’ve been a slightly more sensible conversation to ask why the residents in the boroughs that do have SPD coverage don’t get to vote. Still not going to happen, but at least it would’ve been a little closer to making some sense.

The uniforms ARE a little over the top for a small town organization.  They’re uniforms, but they look a little ridiculous for running speed traps. The ‘S’ in SPD stands for Stewartstown, not SWAT.

SPD, like every police organization, is not exempt from corruption. I don’t necessarily like some of the things that have happened, or go on, but you have that in any city, especially small towns.  Having said that, I am NOT in favor of disbanding the SPD ‘just to prove a point’. The point would be that all hell would break loose.  I would entertain other options, but a new option would have to be in place before it would make sense to even consider getting rid of the SPD.  Not that they might not need to clean house, basement to attic, but I don’t think tearing the house down is necessary.

It did kind of make me chuckle being reminded that the Mayor is in charge of the SPD.

There was a crowd at the meeting last night.  Apparently everything is really alright in town, because with one exception, there were no complaints, grievences and just a few comments made during the meeting.

I live in the borough and I feel a little safer knowing that we have the SPD.  If I call 911 I don’t want to wait 30-60 minutes for the state police to show up.  If I call 911 then its an emergency and I expect someone to come ASAP.  I’ve only had to call the police for help once, but I have to say they were here fast and they did a great job.  As for the tickets.  If you don’t want one then don’t speed thru the borough or go thru the stop signs.  Follow the rules and you’ll be fine. 

Oh and the people in the township that think they should have a vote.  Well then move to the borough.  The SPD is not your police department.  They are here for to keep Stewartstown Borough safe.

Police uniforms are very expensive and the more formal the less durable.  What is worn is less expensive and much more durable, just a guess on my part.

just read the election results.  No incumbents remain.  I hope we are ready for change.

COUNCIL 4YR - STEWARTSTOWN
1/1 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
Rep - Polly KREISS 287 17.32%
Rep - Jerry WRITER 295 17.80%
Rep - Theresa M. GEROUX 198 11.95%
Rep - Roy BURKINS 245 14.79%
Dem - Marsha K. ENGLAND 132 7.97%
Dem - Mildred M. POMRANING 146 8.81%
Dem - Frank H. PAULES 147 8.87%
Dem - Michael ELLINGER 201 12.13%
Write-In 6 0.36%
Total 1,657 100.00%

I would not say that this result supports the negative attitude of stewartstownreform.com, but I would say that this means there are plenty of people who aren’t happy with the status quo.  I for one do not want SPD gone, but I think it needs new leadership, and to have its scope re-evaluated.  I do not accept the notion that we need a PD this size just because we have it now.  I don’t remember this being a hotbed of crime 10 years ago when the PD was much smaller.  I will support SPD, but not unconditionally and without question.  Writing off everyone who had legitimate concerns with the PD as just cop-haters or jaded lawbreakers was a big mistake.  I’m not so sure the new council is going to be able to make many changes, but I sure hope they will try to do what’s right and reasonable… and address the concerns of people on both sides of the issue.

To the new council members - you need to do a better job of getting your viewpoints and goals out there in a clear and professional manner.  It was very disappointing that the YDR election article really didn’t have anything to publish for their survey.  I have to give the incumbents who responded credit for making the effort to do so.  Remember, you got voted in, you can get voted right back out.

I voted for the orange fence across from Summer’s for council.

With only 1600 voters turning out I would be curious to see how many registered voters there are in Stown. My guess is that the turnout was low as usual. The only people who showed up sadly are the ones who have the chip on their shoulder. Even then, the results are not runaway wins. Voting one issue candidates in is a scary proposition. The real sad thing is we have no idea where they stand on most other issues.

Invisible User - 09 November 2011 06:13 AM

With only 1600 voters turning out I would be curious to see how many registered voters there are in Stown. My guess is that the turnout was low as usual. The only people who showed up sadly are the ones who have the chip on their shoulder. Even then, the results are not runaway wins. Voting one issue candidates in is a scary proposition. The real sad thing is we have no idea where they stand on most other issues.

If everyone voted for 4 candidates then actually there were only 400-some people voting.  :/

Again, dismissing anyone who has problems with the way things are by assuming they obviously just have a big chip on their shoulder is part of what got the incumbents in trouble.  I agree with you that one-issue candidates are not what you really want.  I’m certainly concerned about it.  IMHO, the biggest chip on the shoulder of average voters isn’t the SPD or a personal vendetta against the chief, it’s being ignored and denigrated by the town leadership and their supporters.  I’m sure there were people voting who fit the bill of “axe to grind” but I am willing to bet it’s not the majority.