HIS MAJESTY AND COUNCIL EXPOSED

I GOT A MAJOR TREAT THIS MORNING ON MY DOORSTEP, AND AFTER CAREFUL READING, I HAD TO SHARE WITH ALL OF YOU. APPARENTLY THERE ARE MANY CONCERNED CITIZENS LIKE MYSELF, WHO HAVE HAD IT WITH THE LIES OF THE MAYOR'S RECENT PROPAGANDA LETTER, AND WANT IT KNOWN. GANG THIS IS SOMETHING YOU NOT ONLY DO NOT WANT TO IGNORE, BUT PASS ON TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE BEFORE ELECTION DAY!!

 As a group of concerned emergency services personnel, we met today for our regular breakfast.  Several of the members of our group brought along a letter they recently received from Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo. We have one thought after reading it….DOES HE THINK WE ARE ALL AS STUPID AS HIS CRONIES?

       His first paragraph talks about our trust in him as our leader.  He has lied to the six volunteer fire companies regarding cuts to our funding.  He told us that would never happen.  Four years ago he came to the fire companies and requested our support for his election. He claimed he would not be seeking an additional term after that one.  He gave us his word.  Here he is running again. He has benefited greatly personally from his position as Mayor.  Try digging through the phantom corporations to see how much he has gained in real estate holdings since he became Mayor.  Start with the area of the Texas Roadhouse and go from there.

      His family and connected friends have benefited greatly from his position as Mayor. Has anyone else had a family member on probation for a felony, arrested for another felony while on probation and NEVER serve time in jail?  Oh, did we forget to mention that in addition to committing another felony while on probation, he violated that probation on several occasions and STILL did not serve a day in jail? How about all the school district employees that were arrested for decades of stealing from the school district?  Two people who were not close associates of the Mayor received jail time.  The rest, ARD and probation!  Are you kidding?  Not to mention a certain elected official who was arrested for DUI, given a breath test which he failed and then NEVER charged. Maybe your definition of trust is different from ours.

     The next paragraph is hysterical if it was not so sad.  He begins with “I have always believed that teams win!”  His definition of teamwork must be completely different from the rest of the world.  EVERYTIME there is a major issue that we attempted to address with the council members, their response was; “They don’t tell us anything”.  When we asked them who “they” were, the council members would respond; “the Mayor and his administration”.  Seriously, that is team work? They don’t know what is going on and are too afraid to ask.

     Here are a few examples of areas we approached the all-male, all white council on and received the “they don’t tell us anything” response:

 

·         The paid fire department that was formed in violation of township ordinance number 6.

·         The paid fire department members who are also volunteer firefighters in our township which is a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (CFR 29 553.100 through 553.106)

·         The refusal to allow the fire service and the community to see the SAFER grant application. Even Council members claim they are not permitted to see it.

·         The failure to build a fire training center that was capable of live fire training.  This was brought to their attention BEFORE they spent over 5.3 million dollars on the training center.  This despite the Mayors claims in his letter is NOT a STATE OF THE ART training facility.  It is known throughout the State of Pennsylvania as the “Great White Elephant”.  Because of the money we spent and the lack of its capabilities. We also told the Mayor that they were building a real state of the art training center in Bristol that would cost us nothing.  He refused to listen.   

·         The Mayor and council gave us their word that no funds would be taken from the volunteer fire companies to support the paid fire department.

·         The paid fire department has failed to live up to the requirements of arriving on scene within five minutes AND be capable of initiating fire suppression.  No action has been taken by any council members to investigate this ongoing problem.

·         The paid fire department leaving the township to fight fires in other townships which is the exact opposite of their intended purpose. That purpose is to provide fire suppression personnel to the community when volunteers are not available during the day. If what little volunteer staff we have leaves the township to fight a fire through mutual aid, it is extremely important for the paid staff to remain in Bensalem to protect the citizens paying for their service.

·         The creation of a fireboard to control funds allocated to the six volunteer fire companies.  When asked about the makeup of the board the Mayor refused to discuss it and the council members told us they were not told anything.  When it was learned that half the board members had a direct connection to the Nottingham Fire Company we contacted the Mayor and the Council.  They said they would change that.  We have heard nothing since we approached them.  That was over six months ago!  It is important to explain the connection to the Nottingham Fire Company as four of the people that would serve on the board in various positions (Police, fire service and medical service are members of the Nottingham Fire Company and all but one are paid township employees).  This same fire company is also consistently in financial trouble.

·         An elected official of the Nottingham Fire Company was caught stealing funds from their Easter Flower sales.  Instead of shutting down the fire company as they did with the Union Fire Company, nothing was done and the person was permitted to serve out his term in office.

·         The shutdown of the Union Fire Company for issues that were never explained to the fire service or the Union Fire Company membership was never addressed.  The council members once again claimed they were not told anything EVEN when one of the council members sat on a board at a public meetings (two meetings) and supported the shutdown.   Yet he knows nothing.

 

    

       The Mayor states that he cannot and I do not do it alone.  Well, who are you working with?  The council members have no clue every time they are approached with an issue. If the Mayor and the council are cornered on a position their standard response is; “we believe there may be litigation in this area, so we cannot comment”.  Really?  We must be getting sued a hell of a lot because they never can address issues!

 Isn’t also amazing that Councilman Mathieu is “suddenly” qualified to be the facilities manager for the school district?  How did that happen?  Oh, that’s right; he was handpicked by the Mayor for his non-advertised position at the school district.  He was also present when the thefts were taken place yet failed to notice anything wrong! Gee, that’s the guy we would like to see move up.  I’m sure it would not happen again under his eagle eye watch.  We also found it funny that he was never questioned even though he was right there while the thefts were taking place. Let’s vote him back in as a councilman, he can perform the same quality service at the township building as he has done at the school district.  And because it would cause such a stir, the school district has put off appointing him to the position until AFTER the election.  Yet the campaign literature circulated by the Mayor indicates he ALREADY has the position. Explain that!

     The Mayor claims he has done many wonderful things without raising taxes.  Let’s look at that.  There was another tax increase to fund the rescue squad even though they charge for their services and collected over 1.5 million dollars (not including the steady flow of cash from the race track) in fees and receive tax money.  That is a tax increase.

     When the Mayor was instrumental (before he took office) in the sale of the water and sewer department there has been a steady increase in our rates for service.  That is a tax increase.

       When the Mayor failed to include trash pickup service in our township services, the result is higher costs to the taxpayer as compared to surrounding communities that include it in their township tax.  That is a neglected service that should be provided by the township resulting in higher costs for the tax payer.

       The Mayor donated funds we received from the state to build a community center for ALL the citizens of our township to the school district to build a gymnasium.  To date, there is no plan for the community to use this facility.  And there is NO community center for the community to use for programs other than a gym workout.

      The $100.00 Homeowners Assistant Grant payment this year is $100.00, down from the original $300.00.  Despite the Mayors claims THAT IS A $200.00 TAX INCREASE.

        Look to communities like Tullytown to see how they allow the citizens to truly benefit from something that adds a burden to their community.  Tullytown citizens receive more than $5,000.00 from their borough and DO NOT pay local taxes.

        The people trying to deliberately mislead the citizens of our community are the Mayor and the Council!  Ask them about the upcoming tax increase and they refuse to answer.  Ask them how they intend to pay for the paid fire department and they refuse to answer.  Ask them why the call volume has not changed in 40 years yet the police department has doubled in size with no significant improvement of the service provided and there is no answer. The police department budget has more than doubled in 10 years with a majority of the police officers being paid OVER $100,000.00 a year.  When asked to explain this, there is no response.

       Instead of looking to improve the financial situation for the citizens of our community, the Mayor and Council have chosen to grow the size of our government without improving it.  All you have to do is turn on the comedy channel, also known as the local government channel and watch the Mayors show to see what they are spending money on.

 

 

      Larger government, no improvement of service, reduction in funding to our dedicated volunteer fire companies and a reduction in communication to our dedicated volunteers, doesn't sound like any type of trusted, dependable government to us.  They (the fire service) have been summoned to mysterious meetings with the Mayor and Director of Public Safety.  When asked what the meetings are for, they are told they will find out when they get there.   When they get to the meetings they are told their funding will be reduced despite being told that would not happen.  The township intends to take additional funds away from the volunteer fire companies starting in January 2014.  They will now have to pay their own vehicle liability insurance and Workman’s Compensation insurance. All with reduced funding. Oh, the Mayor didn’t mention that in his letter? How odd.

     AFTER the election they will begin the propaganda campaign announcing a tax increase.  They will claim that they have not raised taxes in years, which as we have stated IS NOT TRUE.  They have continually raised taxes while claiming they were not! That Mr. Mayor is misleading.  You have gained personally in your position as Mayor.  Your family and close associates have benefited from very favorable treatment by law enforcement while you maintained your position as Mayor.  

      The Mayors letter gets even funnier.  He wants us to elect an all Republican School Board.  This is the same school board that failed to detect decades of thefts from our school district.  An all Republican School Board that attempted to block the Superintendent’s investigation into theft of time by several employees.  An all Republican School Board that has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to an outside auditor to conduct audits that failed to discover over one million dollars in thefts.  The Mayor claims he wants diversity on the School Board.  Are you kidding us?  The current school board has intimidated the public, failed to properly govern funds entrusted to them, failed to take corrective action, failed to initiate investigations or seek a police investigation when advised of thefts of time and on numerous occasions blocked the Superintendent when he tried to hire an investigator to look into the thefts and even threatened to cut after school programs to scare the public into yet another tax increase.  SHAME ON ALL OF YOU!!!  And this, Mr. Mayor is what you want us to vote for?

     The Mayor states that he has spoken to many residents who are frustrated with Washington D.C. He is glad that problem is not here.  Really?  Mr. Mayor, you conduct business in this township the same way the President Conducts business in Washington D.C. You refuse to address any issues and it’s either your way or no way.  The reality is Mr. Mayor you and the President have a lot in common.  You both have controlled the way the media presents information, you have the same attitude the president has regarding programs you want despite obvious failures (example: paid fire department and the “state of the art” training center).  And like the President, you really only care about your power and yourself.  Our township is operated the same way Washington D.C. operates, the titles are just different.  OH…AND YOUR RECORDS AND HIS ARE SEALED.   

 

 

 

GEE.... CONCERNED CITIZENS OF THIS TOWN, WHO SEE THROUGH THE MAYOR AND HIS PUPPET COURT COUNCIL. WHAT A SURPRISE!! NOW YOU ALL KNOW THAT THIS ISN'T JUST ME, BUT MANY OTHERS!!! IT'S DEFINITELY PROOF THAT THEY'RE ON TO YOU "YOUR MAJESTY" AND SEE RIGHT THROUGH ALL YOUR LIES!!!