I just spent an hour up at Borough Hall reviewing the copies of all the sidewalk permit applications between April 2015 and September 26, 2016. Rick Ware, our Right-to-Know officer was most accommodating, particularly when I showed him the ruling that does allow me to photograph the records, despite his original assertions to the contrary.

One other point: Yesterday, Rick Bunker accused me of “wasting taxpayer dollars” on my “quixotic” efforts. I wonder then why this or any municipality charges permit fees, if not to cover the cost of their maintenance and public review? Why would a democratically elected official want to deny a citizen their right to this information or worse, to shame them for requesting it?

When did Council vote to make Rick Bunker the Borough Bully Boy?

After just a cursory glance, the permits do reveal some interesting information. The biggest thing that sticks out is the fact that some residents really got fleeced by certain contractors, especially compared to their neighbors. That in and of itself is reason enough to end this madness.

More to come.

Jenkintown’s 12-member Council works for nothing. What’s that cost us?

It always raises eyebrows when I mention to outsiders that Jenkintown’s Borough Council has 12 members representing a mere 4400 people. Each of the four wards has three members, and no, none of them receive a salary. While some might consider this public service a measure of valiance, I’m left to wonder about the actual incentive to spend time on this Board. I’ve served on boards before, and no one does this out of pure altruism.

In our attempts to engage the council on the issue of the sidewalk ordinance and to perhaps seek a better solution, I’ve repeatedly reached out to all three of my representatives, Laurie Durkin, Justin Mixon, and Jay Conners. I have literally pleaded with them for help.

I may be among the last of a generation schooled in civics, but early on we learned that, other than a bribe, a letter will get the most attention. You can call, and today, you can even email, but to make the best impression, send an actual letter. It shows that you took substantial time out of your day to write, edit, prepare, and physically mail.

My first attempt at this last year went nowhere. Not having my reps’ actual home addresses, I sent letters in their names to Borough Hall. Two weeks passed before I received any reply — a phone call from Jay Conners. He had no idea my mail awaited him there. The other two councilors never responded. In fact, Justin Mixon would later say in Borough Council that he was too busy to respond.

Laurie Durkin lives a mere half block away. Ms. Durkin sought reelection last November, and not once did she knock on the door asking for my vote. Neither did my other reps. In fact, if you passed through the borough last year, you saw no evidence of a local election. No one campaigned for their seats. The last election turned out barely 40% of registered voters, which in a borough of our size means that probably less than 1000 people voted. (And Rick Bunker denies the election was a farce.)

Pass an ordinance, CYA

What prompts these observations? Minutes from last July’s Borough Council and Public Works committee meeting revealed that next year, PECO, our electric and gas utility, will replace gas mains under streets that the Borough just paved last year and planned to pave this year. This put 2016’s paving schedule on hold and means that residents on Rodman (which include Mr. Conners) didn’t need to worry about deadlines and citations after all.

Jay Conners, who chairs the Public Works committee, responded to this latest development by drafting an ordinance that would require, “…all parties who perform a road opening of a road that has been paved/repaved within the last five (5) years and/or the street is disturbed for more than twenty-five (25) feet to restore the street. Restoration will include base repair, surface milling and overlay according to Borough specifications to the extent of the entire block, not to be less than 100 feet in length and full width of cartway to full council.”

Mr. Conners promised a public hearing on this topic, but we see no such announcement on the borough’s website. I hope residents understand that whatever this costs, it ultimately comes out of our pockets either via the utility bill or the tax bill.

We simply want to know why George Locke or anyone at the Borough failed to consult with PECO about their timetable for replacing gas mains before embarking on this paving program, which the Borough steamrolled over us with almost no real public notice. Did the Borough forget about what lies under all that asphalt? Why all this effusive praise for George Locke?

Already, the Borough has performed temporary work on Rodman to patch the gaps at the new ADA ramps. How much did that cost?

Surely, PECO had planned this project well in advance of the paving program. Companies with infrastructure as vital as PECO’s spend considerable effort assessing its lifespan — especially gas mains. No doubt PECO already knows the loopholes around Mr. Conners’s all-too-late attempt to cover for his own negligence.

Where’s the outreach?

We can’t emphasize this enough: Jenkintown is a tiny borough! How hard is it to get the word out to residents about issues that will cost them a lot of money or cause major inconveniences? The school district regularly robo-calls us about events. With three councilors per ward, it would take them roughly a weekend to knock on doors to spread the word about these issues.

So, why does anyone volunteer to run for office? What’s in it for them? The goodness of their hearts? We all grew up during Watergate, friends. Anyone who believes that public service equates to sainthood really should share with us the source of their happy pills.

Since we began this campaign to change the sidewalk ordinance, we have been ignored by our reps, targeted by our Borough Manager, trolled online by self-proclaimed “lefty liberal” Rick Bunker, and Facebook-shunned by both Mr. Bunker and Mayor Ed Foley. Standing on the outside, where our government seems intent on keeping us, we see a council performing more like a social club than a serious governing body.

Most residents might not know this, but Jenkintown has a “Right to Know” officer, and his name is Rick Ware. We’ve exchanged several emails with Mr. Ware in the past few weeks, because we want to determine what Jenkintown residents have spent on their sidewalk repairs since the Borough’s paving program began in April, 2015.

Those who have filled out the permit form saw a line item for the estimated cost of the project. Dutifully, we filled it out, only to learn last month that the Borough does not require this information. Yet, nowhere on the form does it say that.

We submitted a Right-to-Know request with the Borough and Mr. Ware, asking for the total estimated amount “in dollars of sidewalk and curb work performed by residents as a result of the Borough’s paving program”. We filed this request on September 9, 2016. Mr. Ware responded with a denial on September 19, 2016. State law requires the office to respond within five days.

The denial cited statute that the Borough does not have to provide information that it does not ordinarily keep. In other words, it claims that it does not compile the estimate numbers despite the fact that it asks for them on the application form. Or does it?

We later went to the Borough website and downloaded the form only to find that line item removed. When the Borough removed it, we don’t know, but we do know that the form was created in January, 2016 according to the form’s metadata, which does not tell when the form was edited.

Asked for an explanation of the discrepancy, Mr. Ware replied sent us this reply on September 21:

I do not fully have all the answers but will reply as best I can and seek further information.  Relative to the change of the form on the site, I do not know but will find out.  My understanding is that sidewalk/curb work required by the borough paving plan uses the same form that is utilized for other work but does not require that amounts be supplied, since the permit fee is a flat amount of $25 and not driven by project value.  Some residents have chosen to fill in that space, but are not required to do so.

As of this writing, Mr. Ware has yet to provide a full explanation.

On September 21, we filed a new Request, asking for “Copies of all sidewalk and curb permits filed between March 1, 2015 and September 21, 2016”.

The next day, we received an email from Mr. Ware asking to set up a phone call between us and George Locke, Borough Manager. Mr. Ware explained that to provide copies, they would have to charge me twenty-five cents per copy, and since there are more than 500 two-sided applications, the Borough would have to charge me $250. (Incidentally, Norristown has an online form for this, and they do state that each copy is twenty-five cents.) Optionally, I could come to the Borough offices and inspect the records. However, because the applications had phone numbers, which state law considers confidential, the Borough would need to redact that information.

We agreed that the best course would be for me to review the redacted documents at Borough Hall, but Mr. Ware also stated that they would need to request an extension of 30 days to comply with the request. We initially concurred and filed a new request.

Curious about the redaction process, on September 26, I asked Mr. Ware via email:

I understand that you will need to redact the telephone numbers. Could you please explain the redaction method you use and whether or not you will apply it to the originals or copies.

After asking a second time on October 3, Mr. Ware replied:

Our originals will need to stay intact, so our plan is to make copies and redact the required information.

In other words, the Borough will be making copies but will not be reimbursed. As taxpayers, our household pays for these copies anyway, so why not just give them to us? What will the Borough otherwise do with the 500 copies? Shred them or find space to file them away? Either way, that will incur further cost to the Borough.

Finally, we so far asked Mr. Ware twice if perhaps we might see the work as it progresses rather than wait for 30 days for it to be completed. Hopefully, the Borough isn’t waiting for the 29th day to do all the work. If so, why? What did they do the previous 28 days? So far Mr. Ware has not responded.

In the meantime, we have provided a PDF with fillable forms of Jenkintown Borough’s Request for Public Information Form. Click here.