Here's a letter to the editor from today's BCCT. In a small town like Morrisville, this is easier said than done. It seems like we each have direct lines of immediate access to someone else and before you know it, the entire town knows. Rumors, innuendo, and outright falsehoods are a standard tactic right here in little Morrisville. Until we start electing leaders who can lead without using these tactics, it's only going to be more of the same.
Rumor mill hurts hard-working volunteers
At the July 21st Morrisville Borough Council meeting, Barbara Runner appeared before council and read into the minutes a letter requesting council to remove me and Steve Amend from the Morrisville Planning Commission. I was not shocked by her request.
For the past several months another borough resident had been at the meetings stating that we were in conflict of interest since we both sit on the Economic Development Corp. and the Morrisville Planning Commission. Maybe council’s silence fueled this speculation.
However, I am extremely disturbed that people do not research the issues before making slanderous statements toward volunteers. Runner states, “Actually I can’t state that they are or are not doing a good job in their positions as I haven’t followed them.” If Runner had any questions, she should have attended a planning commission meeting or an EDC meeting.
The duties and responsibilities of the planning commission are in the Municipal Planning Code (MPC) available online or in Borough Hall. Runner felt that since, as members of the EDC, we actively solicit businesses and we would be inclined as planning commission members to vote in favor of the plans we initiated.
Once again, if she had done her homework she would have known that the planning commission is only a recommending panel to borough council and we cannot vote our personal preference on a particular project. We are bound to recommend approval if a project meets the zoning and land development ordinances. In the occurrence that we vote not to recommend a plan, we must state the ordinance(s) that it does not meet.
Unfortunately, people will not remember what the borough solicitor told Runner; they will only remember that Amend and I were accused of a conflict of interest.
If every resident would first find out the facts and stop the rumor mill, this town just might move forward.
Don M. Diretto Morrisville Planning Commission; Morrisville Economic Development Corp.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
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7 comments:
Accusations, accusations, accusations! I wonder who that other borough resident is?
Hard to say who's more lame, the other borough resident who cooked up the accusations in the first place, or the proxy who blindly repeated them.
Hopefully, the proxy will think (I was going to say "twice", but I guess I have to revise that to "at least once") next time.
Why does no one notice this behavior until they are on the short end of it? It seems that we live in a town populated by Gladys Kravitz clones. Now, everyone who knows who that is just realized how old we are.
It's positively bewitching. Why, it reminds me of the time the PDE pulled a knife on me.
OK, so now we all know Jon is old. I wonder, did you ever tie an onion to your belt? Have you ever yelled at kids to get off your lawn?
No, I'm looking forward to it, but I don't want to wish the time away.
Should Don resign from the planning commission? I don't know that there would be a planning commission if Don did. Keep up the good work Don and God bless because we need you. Thanks Don!!!
This kind of crap, that seems to permeate Morrisville, is exactly why good capable people refuse to get involved, and why the idiots seem to hold sway.
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