To The Editor,
Election Day is fast approaching on Tuesday November 7th, and we would encourage you all to exercise your constitutional right to vote! This is an important election within the Borough of Kennett Square as four of the seven seats on Borough Council will be decided. Quite frankly we think it is safe to say that the future direction of the Borough is at stake with this election. We are the three members of Borough Council who aren’t directly involved in this next election, (three of our colleagues are up for re-election and our other colleague is the local committee chair for one of the parties backing one of the slate of candidates). Our interest in the election is only to ensure the best outcome for the Borough of Kennett Square. The three of us come from very diverse backgrounds, have differing views of the world, and are from two different political parties. We agree however on the best candidates for the Borough Council election. All three of us are supporting Danilo Maffei, Peter Waterkotte, Gregory Deveney, and Lori Caldwell for Borough Council.
Dan Maffei is running for his 3rd term as councilman and has been president of Borough Council the past two years. He is our leader, has experience, and a proven track record of putting Kennett Square first. In addition to serving as President the past two years, Dan has served on the Borough’s Finance Committee, Historical Commission, and has played a vital role in improving Kennett Square’s walkability.
Under the helm of Dan’s leadership, the finances of the Borough have improved tremendously (reducing its overall debt by almost half). Lots of the success that you currently see in Kennett Square can be directly tied to the effort of Dan Maffei. His continued leadership and wisdom is paramount to Kennett Square’s success going forward!
Peter Waterkotte is strong candidate for Borough Council. He is a veteran of our military and along with his wife Joelle, has owned and operated a family business for the past 20 years. Peter’s diverse life experiences allow him to relate to many folks who live in the Borough. His passion and energy for Kennett Square is unmatched, he will be a tremendous asset to Borough Council if elected.
Greg Deveney brings a strong financial background as part of his resume. Those skills would come in handy while helping to navigate future financial decisions impacting the Borough. His commitment to public service was evident with over 10 years as a high school math teacher. This included a student teaching stint at KHS where Greg & his wife got to see the wonderful town that we have.
Lori Caldwell has lived in the Kennett Square area her entire life and is a KHS grad. She has served her community in a variety of leadership roles over the years including the first PTO president at Bancroft Elementary a few years ago as well as serving on the Kennett Education Foundation Board. Lori currently works in the non-profit world providing community outreach. Her drive and commitment to Kennett Square has been evident her entire life.
A couple other factors need to be considered in this election. First, two of the other candidates running for reelection have voted the same on practically EVERY single vote over the last two years. Our Council of seven members typically only has six points of view, not seven. Second, we have also seen that some members of the current council want to micromanage our talented, dedicated, and hardworking Borough Staff and have created processes and additional workload that burdens the Staff. Council’s job is set a vision and make sure those expectations are met by the staff. Council isn’t supposed to involve
themselves with the day to day workings of the Borough. Kennett Square is better than all of those things, there is no place for that here!
The Borough is a wonderful, diverse, thriving, community. The town has
- become financially sound,
- is incredibly safe thanks to the great work by our Police and Fire Departments,
- has a plan in place for maintaining and improving our infrastructure and roads,
- a new library is on its way, and
- housing prices have steadily climbed.
All of this while having the lowest tax rate of any town in Chester County that provides a 24-7 police department. In short, this town is moving in a great direction for all of its citizens. At a time when small towns throughout the county are “dying on the vine”, Kennett Square has become one of the classic, signature small towns in the country. Because of you, tremendous pride exists within the
community….spirit that you don’t see in many places. Our borough council should have no other agenda than a desire to move Kennett in a positive direction. If you want Kennett Square to be the best it can be, vote Maffei, Waterkotte, Deveney, and Caldwell on November 7th!!!
Borough Council Members of Kennett Square:
Geoff Bosley, Doug Doerfler & Jamie Mallon
