From the BCCT.
No challenges against Morrisville candidates?
Challenges filed against candidates ahead of primary
Bucks County Courier Times
On the final day to object to a candidate on the May 19 primary ballot, a number of challenges were filed in Bucks County court Tuesday.
The filings challenged the candidacy of a number of township and school district office seekers in Lower Bucks.
March 10 was the deadline for filing a petition to run in the primary. The last day to withdraw a nominating petition is March 25.
Board of Elections Director Deena Dean said no hearings on the challenges have been scheduled yet.
council rock
Several Republican Party members and Council Rock residents filed two petitions, asking the court to invalidate the petitions of Marion Leszczynski and John Johnson to run as Republicans for seats on the school board in the primary.
Holland resident Francis W. O'Donnell and Northampton residents Peter and Joan Palestina claim that Leszczynski is a registered Democrat, but circulated a petition to run for school board in Region 4 and executed an Affidavit of Circulator alleging that he's a member of the Republican Party.
For the same reason, Republicans and Northampton residents John and Karen Jim and Bernadette Heenan filed an objection to Johnson's bid to run against incumbent Heenan in Region 3.
Leszczynski responded that he cross-filed, was unaware of the petition and will be consulting an attorney.
"Typical Republican games that they play," he said.
Johnson replied that he needs to talk to the Democratic committee people because he thought he legally filed.
Election code states that a candidate must circulate a petition to run under his or her own party, according to attorney Mike Fitzpatrick, who is representing both sets of petitioners.
"The first test for every candidate for school board + is basic compliance with election code," Fitzpatrick said. "Two Democrat candidates for school board in Council Rock circulated and filed nomination petitions to participate in the Republican primary and they attached false affidavits to those petitions. The court will decide the outcome."
The petitioners are asking a judge to order the Board of Elections to remove the names from the Republican ballot.
Bristol Township
In Bristol Township, Don Mobley asked the court to knock John Monahan off the mayoral ballot for allegedly leaving things off his petition. Two residents filed a similar petition to knock Mobley off the ballot for council.
Mobley, a township councilman, said Monahan failed to list his income as a security guard for the Pennsylvania Legislature in his petition for mayor, calling it a "fatal defect."
All candidates must file a statement of financial interest with their petitions.
Mobley's statement of financial interest also came under scrutiny. In a petition to the court, Bristol Township residents James Sykes and Patricia Koszarek accused Mobley of failing to list his address on a statement of financial interest.
Nominating papers must include a list of people who are members of that candidate's party and who support the petition. Sykes and Koszarek said Mobley's nominating papers didn't specifically list the towns where his supporters live.
Sykes and Koszarek said they believe at least one of those signatures was from a Republican. Mobley is a Democrat.
middletown
Incumbent Republican Charles Benhayon filed a challenge to the nominating petition of Republican constable challenger Todd A. O'Brien. In the petition filed through his attorney, Joseph Cullen, Benhayon claims O'Brien did not file his statement of financial interests with the State Ethics Commission by the March 10 deadline. Benhayon has been a constable for 18 years.
Pennsbury
Lower Makefield resident and registered Democrat Samuel Madeira Jr. filed a challenge to the nominating petition of Democrat Cynthia G. Osofsky, who is running for Pennsbury school board in Region 3.
In the petition filed by attorney Michael Fitzpatrick, Madeira claims that Osofsky, a Lower Makefield resident, filed her statement of financial interest with the school district on March 11, one day past the filing deadline. The statement should have been filed on March 10, the last day for filing a petition to appear on the election ballot, said Fitzpatrick.
"Every candidate has to attach this ethics statement, because you are required to disclose all your direct and indirect sources of income when you run for public office. That deadline is not flexible. We're following the law on this," said Fitzpatrick Tuesday.
Falls
Terry Rooney and Shawn Riley filed a challenge to the nominating petition of Republican constable candidate Jeff Mourey. In the petition, Rooney and Riley claim that Mourey did not file his statement of financial interest with the State Ethics Commission by the deadline.
upper makefield
Thomas Nagle and Karen J. McAllister have challenged the nominating petition of Democratic supervisor candidate Stephen Skip Lane. In the petition, Nagle and McAllister claim Lane was not a registered member of the Democratic Party at the time the petition was signed.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Phila 1% SalesTax Rise
From the Inquirer
Nutter wants to hike sales tax; will save libraries, pools, health centers
By Jennifer Lin, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Posted on Wed, Mar. 18, 2009
In a bad news-good news press conference today, Mayor Nutter said he wants to impose a temporary one-percent sales tax to raise revenue - but added that he would direct some of the money to keep open libraries, pools, homeless shelters and community health centers.
Nutter said a sales tax for only three years could generate $340 million. He added that the measure would have to be approved by lawmakers in Harrisburg.
Standing on the baseball field at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center in South Philadelphia, Nutter said, "No one likes to propose raising taxes. It's not the most comfortable place to find myself, but the alternatives are worse."
The proposed sales tax comes on the heels of an announcement Monday by the mayor that he also wants to increase property taxes.
The mayor tempered the news of his proposed sales tax by outlining all the services that the money could save, such as:
Keeping open all libraries;
Maintaining the hours of all recreation centers;
Maintaining all eight community health centers;
Retaining 3,390 slots for after-school programs;
Retaining all services for abused and neglected children;
Maintaining funding for homeless shelters.
Previously, his administration had been examining big cuts in each of those areas.
In addition to asking the General Assembly for approval to impose a three-year sales tax, the city also is asking for relief for how it amortizes the unfunded portion of its pension fund. Under the city's proposal, the timeline for that liablity would be stretched over 40 years instead of 20.
Nutter said if those two measures are not approved, the cuts in essential services would be drastic. "It is absolutely a place where none of us wants to go," Nutter said.
The reaction to the Mayor's announcement was mixed.
A coalition of unions, homeless advocates, churches and anti-poverty groups had mixed reactions to today's announcement.
Many were relieved that there would not be cuts to the city's homeless system or community health centers.
But they saw a sales tax as too punitive to the city's poorest residents.
If the city has to raise revenue via higher taxes, the approach should be more "fair and equitable," said the Rev. Jesse Brown, of the Calvary Lutheran Church in West Philadelphia.
The mayor, Brown said, is not seeking to raise the business or wage taxes. "It should not only be individuals of the city who are responsible for closing the budget with higher taxes, but also businesses."
Nutter wants to hike sales tax; will save libraries, pools, health centers
By Jennifer Lin, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Posted on Wed, Mar. 18, 2009
In a bad news-good news press conference today, Mayor Nutter said he wants to impose a temporary one-percent sales tax to raise revenue - but added that he would direct some of the money to keep open libraries, pools, homeless shelters and community health centers.
Nutter said a sales tax for only three years could generate $340 million. He added that the measure would have to be approved by lawmakers in Harrisburg.
Standing on the baseball field at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center in South Philadelphia, Nutter said, "No one likes to propose raising taxes. It's not the most comfortable place to find myself, but the alternatives are worse."
The proposed sales tax comes on the heels of an announcement Monday by the mayor that he also wants to increase property taxes.
The mayor tempered the news of his proposed sales tax by outlining all the services that the money could save, such as:
Keeping open all libraries;
Maintaining the hours of all recreation centers;
Maintaining all eight community health centers;
Retaining 3,390 slots for after-school programs;
Retaining all services for abused and neglected children;
Maintaining funding for homeless shelters.
Previously, his administration had been examining big cuts in each of those areas.
In addition to asking the General Assembly for approval to impose a three-year sales tax, the city also is asking for relief for how it amortizes the unfunded portion of its pension fund. Under the city's proposal, the timeline for that liablity would be stretched over 40 years instead of 20.
Nutter said if those two measures are not approved, the cuts in essential services would be drastic. "It is absolutely a place where none of us wants to go," Nutter said.
The reaction to the Mayor's announcement was mixed.
A coalition of unions, homeless advocates, churches and anti-poverty groups had mixed reactions to today's announcement.
Many were relieved that there would not be cuts to the city's homeless system or community health centers.
But they saw a sales tax as too punitive to the city's poorest residents.
If the city has to raise revenue via higher taxes, the approach should be more "fair and equitable," said the Rev. Jesse Brown, of the Calvary Lutheran Church in West Philadelphia.
The mayor, Brown said, is not seeking to raise the business or wage taxes. "It should not only be individuals of the city who are responsible for closing the budget with higher taxes, but also businesses."
How About the Coffee?
From the Baltimore Sun
Seniors in Mass. town not happy after official suggests cutting doughnuts from senior center
By Associated Press 2:13 PM EDT, March 18, 2009
ASHBURNHAM, Mass. (AP) — Senior citizens in a Massachusetts community told a town official to keep his hands off their doughnuts. Francis "Bill" Johnson, chairman of Ashburnham's advisory board, said at a Council on Aging meeting this week that spending money on doughnuts and pastries for the Senior Center's morning coffee club encourages unhealthy eating habits in a population that already has health issues.
Council on Aging board member Lorna Fields said Johnson "overstepped his boundaries."
She said many seniors won't eat "carrot sticks and stuff" and that healthier items, including grapes and cheese, are available.
Betty Bushee, 67, a Senior Center regular, told The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester that no one has the right to tell seniors what to eat.
Seniors in Mass. town not happy after official suggests cutting doughnuts from senior center
By Associated Press 2:13 PM EDT, March 18, 2009
ASHBURNHAM, Mass. (AP) — Senior citizens in a Massachusetts community told a town official to keep his hands off their doughnuts. Francis "Bill" Johnson, chairman of Ashburnham's advisory board, said at a Council on Aging meeting this week that spending money on doughnuts and pastries for the Senior Center's morning coffee club encourages unhealthy eating habits in a population that already has health issues.
Council on Aging board member Lorna Fields said Johnson "overstepped his boundaries."
She said many seniors won't eat "carrot sticks and stuff" and that healthier items, including grapes and cheese, are available.
Betty Bushee, 67, a Senior Center regular, told The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester that no one has the right to tell seniors what to eat.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)