What brings more value ALL of Jenkintown? A well-built pedestrian infrastructure for all the Borough or a pocket park on Cedar?

Like it or not, I probably know more about sidewalks and pedestrian policy than at least 95% of the population. That and a couple of bucks will get me a cup of coffee at Velvet Sky, I know. Yet, we continue exploring this issue because we believe in its importance and the value it can provide for our community. We want walkable communities not just because we here in Jenkintown think they look nice, but because they help foster a better, more sustainable lifestyle.

The arguments so far presented to counter the idea that community assets require community responsibility include cost, liability, snow removal, and aesthetic preferences.

Liability: Most communities impose rules upon homeowners for keeping their sidewalks cleared, including ours. That doesn’t need to change. In my hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts, the city will issue citations to homeowners and businesses that do not properly clear their publicly owned sidewalks. Your homeowners will cover you either way unless a citation was issued. Yes, in theory, the city would be held liable for damages that occurred on damaged sidewalks, but as homeowner, we would pay either way — either through our insurance or through Borough insurance via our taxes. As a single-payer insurance plan, it would come at a much lower cost.

Snow removal: Similarly, the Borough would not necessarily be required to clear the snow like they do the road, although some cities in more northern latitudes do. On the other hand, Jenkintown will clear the leaves from your yard, so I don’t know how they could object to clearing the snow from their sidewalks. What’s the difference?

Aesthetics: A uniform block-long sidewalk would just look better and last longer. Any claims, as some have made, that individual homeowners would want to apply their own preferences to their frontage seems specious to us. However, we can imagine a system where that the Borough might allow for that after assessing a special fee.

But how do we pay for it? As it happens, this particular cat could be skinned in a number of ways.

1. Direct tax: We’ve estimated that incorporating this responsibility into the Borough’s budget might add, at most, five percent to the budget assuming it changes nothing else. We have argued that perhaps the Borough reassess some of its priorities in light of this. What is more important to you, for instance? Subsidies to local businesses or a better high-quality pedestrian infrasture? A $250,000 pocket park, or the sidewalks of an entire block? The Borough already outlays several hundred thousands of dollars per year supporting its parking fund, which amounts to a gift to downtown retail, while at the same time it levies taxes and fees.
2. Transfer fee: Assuming that the average cost to rebuild the curb and sidewalk per property amounts to about $8,000, why not roll that into the mortgage? The money goes into a pedestrian infrastructure fund that at least eliminates the sudden nature of the Borough’s sidewalk inspection and insulates homeowners from any hardship that repairs might incur.
3. Yearly assessment, or what we’ll call the Ithaca plan: In Ithaca, New York, homeowners receive a sidewalk bill of about $45 per year, less than what we pay for trash pickup. The money goes into a fund dedicated to sidewalk repair, so again, no sudden hardships.
4. The private solution: Over the past several months, we’ve explored the idea of incorporating a company that would insure your sidewalk — much in the same way Aqua provides insurance to repair the water line that runs under your property. How much would you pay? Would you be interested?

We understand that the Borough’s paving program instigated a relatively rare mass-inspection of the walks and curbs, but that also spotlighted the fatal flaws in our current system.

The idea of having a multitude of itinerant contractors suddenly invade our community to service homeowners facing serious deadlines, applying patchwork fixes to our otherwise charming streetscape at wildly divergent prices benefits no one, least of all the hapless homeowner who planned instead to spend that $5,000 on a new furnace or some other much-needed home improvement. This past experience just showed how onerous and harmful the current sidewalk ordinance is.

Can we please find a better way?

Our last “unexpected expense” was a requirement by the Borough to spend $3000 to fix their sidewalk.

“Fifty-seven percent of Americans don’t have enough cash to cover a $500 unexpected expense, according to a new survey from Bankrate, which interviewed 1,003 adults earlier this month.”

https://apple.news/AFjZswNehT-KbMuUJc-VSww

I took up the gauntlet.

Since starting this campaign almost two years ago, more than a few people have asked why I don’t just run for Borough Council. A few, such as our neighbor Daniel Gans, have all-but-dared me to do it. I never had any political ambitions and had no desire to run for office at any level. We all know people who we’d describe as natural politicians. I’m not one of those.

However, the call to fill two open seats on the Council in my ward with the resignations of Justin Mixon and Laurie Durkin proved too tempting to resist. Last Friday, I sat before a select group of Councilors that included Jay Conners, Deborra Sines-Pancoe, Michael Golden, Chuck Whitney, and Rick Bunker to express my reasons for consideration.

For the most part, I faced what seemed like a welcoming group, and the questions focused on my reasons for applying. The members also seemed concerned about what they saw as my contentious nature. For the record, I explained, I came before the council in 2015 expressing to them that not only did we believe the sidewalk ordinance produced awful sidewalks, even if they didn’t, it presents financial hardship for us and many of our neighbors. We came before council all-but-pleading for help. Council’s answer was to remove what we saw as our last resort — a lien against our house to pay for the work.

We would discover while at a court hearing from Borough Manager George Locke last spring that Council had in fact struck that option a few months before. So now, for those of us facing hardship, it’s pay up or go to jail and likely lose your house in the process.

I became contentious, I explained, because the Borough had backed us into a corner on that one single issue. I challenge anyone faced with the same threat not to react similarly.

On other issues, I have certainly voiced my opinions, but my personal history is one of collaboration, which my record backs up. I have a long history of involvement in small-town preservation and revival and associations with some leading figures in the field.

Rick Bunker, however, went on the offensive, asking me why I saw myself as a “threat” to Council. I don’t know, Rick. You tell me. I present what I believe is a well-researched, reasonable proposal to the Borough, and Rick Bunker won’t even discuss it. What seems like an otherwise intelligent guy goes all Trumpian on the subject of sidewalks.

Of course, we have already disproven every single assertion of Rick’s opposition to our proposals — every one — so one might think that maybe he has something to conceal, a relationship to hide, a deal to protect. Maybe not, but when you meet up with that kind of bellicosity, what else does one assume?

Most telling was this: When I ended an answer to a question with, “…should I be lucky enough to serve on this board,” Rick responded audibly, “That’s unlikely.” Ms. Sines-Pancoe then cut off further questioning.

No matter. Politics, as I understand it, is a rough-and-tumble occupation, and those with skins too thin to take a whack or two have no business in that arena. From where I stand, my little experiment exposing the subtle hostilities of Jenkintonian civics has proven a rousing success.

Aside from all that, this was also a Machiavellian blunder for Council. Isn’t it best to bring your enemies under your tent to keep an eye on them? For me, the exercise was a win-win. I tried. I got rejected. I get a good story to tell.

I sincerely wish the new Council members the best of luck, and I will welcome any opportunity to work with them on any issue confronting our community.

Rick Bunker will surely claim I am unqualified for the position. If the primary qualification of a representative is to listen to, engage with, and help the voter, then Rick Bunker has failed us every in every regard.