To The Editor,
I’ve been an active Democrat since JFK ran for President. More recently I worked to elect all three Democratic Kennett Township Supervisors, and then helped to implement their agenda by serving for almost five years as the Township’s Director of Sustainable Development.
So why am I now voting for Republican Geoff Gamble rather than sticking with Democrat Whitney Hoffman? To be frank, I’ve not been happy with the way the Township has been run since the $3.2M Lisa Moore fraud occurred. I could say more about that, but the main reason I’m not voting for Hoffman is that she enabled that fraud.
The Township’s own forensic auditors clearly documented that Moore’s ability to defraud the Township was significantly enabled by the Supervisors’ failure to implement or enforce even the most rudimentary fraud prevention procedures. All of them have thus seriously violated the public trust and should be held accountable by the voters, regardless of party affiliation. The longer any of them remain in office, the longer the public trust will suffer.
My decision not to support Hoffman also reflects my assessment of her opponent, Geoffrey Gamble. In the last five Supervisor races, I strongly disagreed with the GOP platform on key local issues – open space, trails, financial responsibility, etc. By contrast, Gamble seems to be an honest, fair and capable candidate with sensible views on such issues. He’s also a 30+ year Kennett Township resident with a wealth of public service. He led the bipartisan Kennett Consolidated School Board for many years, was President of the Delaware Bar, and once served as Kennett Township Auditor – pre-fraud of course!
Gamble posts his personal phone number on his website, so a few weeks ago I called and he immediately invited me to visit him at his historic farm near the Chandler Mill Bridge. He was not at all put off speaking with an active life-long Dem, as he is the epitome of an old-style Chester County Republican who is able to reach across the aisle. As our discussions continued, I became increasingly comfortable with the idea of voting for this particular Republican.
I now feel it is my civic duty to publicly support Geoff’s candidacy, in part by publishing this letter. I am especially reaching out to my fellow Dems, asking them to consider the further damage another 6-year term of the incumbent will do to both Kennett Township and the reputation of the Kennett Democrats. I hope that at least a few will take the opportunity to contact Mr. Gamble themselves and find out why he is the better candidate.
Michael Guttman
Kennett Township
