{"id":1389,"date":"2011-10-04T10:42:26","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T14:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=1389"},"modified":"2011-10-04T16:26:57","modified_gmt":"2011-10-04T20:26:57","slug":"stevens-%e2%80%98the-system-is-not-working%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=1389","title":{"rendered":"Stevens: \u2018the system is not working\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Supervisor candidate alleges lack of transparency in Kennett operation
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[EDITOR’S NOTE:]<\/strong> This is the first of a series of stories about local candidates running for election this November. Stevens’ opponent, Allan Falcoff, will be featured tomorrow.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By P.J. D\u2019Annunzio<\/strong>, Staff Writer, KennettTimes.com<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Scudder Stevens<\/p><\/div>\n

KENNETT \u2014 The issues facing the township are as vast as they are numerous. Some, such as Scudder Stevens, say they feel that in a time when rampant commercial and residential development is the order of the day, open space preservation is more pertinent than ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been living in the township for over 30 years,” Stevens said. “When I moved here it was a rural area where foxes and pheasants ran free. And now it\u2019s a suburban area with McMansions sprouting up and Wal-Mart shopping centers. Things have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens, a Democrat, is a candidate for Township Supervisor, facing incumbent Allan Falcoff, a Republican, in this November’s election. Falcoff is current the chairman of the township Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n

But the preservation of the township\u2019s rural heritage is not the only concern on Stevens\u2019 plate; forcing honesty in local government takes precedence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sentiment that I\u2019ve noticed, in the broadest sense, from talking with people throughout the township is that there\u2019s a real concern about openness in the township government,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about what\u2019s going on with financial management, questions like \u2018why are we paying the highest taxes in the area?\u2019 and \u2018why is there no accounting for operating funds?\u2019 are being asked. There are just a host of concerns that need to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens earned his Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University School of Law and began a long law career that he continues to practice to this day in Kennett Square. His legal career has included commercial, corporate, estate planning and administration, litigation, real estate, financial planning and domestic relation matters. In 2008 he obtained his Master of Laws in Health Law from Widener University School of Law. Currently, he is the legal counsel for the Chester County Department of Aging Services.<\/p>\n

Stevens makes his drive for openness in government apparent, elaborating on his first act, should he be elected to the township Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first issue I would tackle is to find out what\u2019s really going on and push for documentation to be made available to the public\u2026there doesn\u2019t have to be this expense and bother to the township to keep you from seeing public records. I think that they should be available just as it is in the surrounding townships on their websites\u2014it should be done that way here. And what it takes to do that is what I would be concerned with pressing to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens refers to the recent audit produced by the township\u2019s BOS regarding the nature of their expenditures and how tax money was being spent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the last Board of Supervisors I produced a CD that contained the audits that were presented to me through the \u2018Right to Know\u2019 claim for 2009-2010. I put both of them on the CD and I gave them to Lisa [Moore] and urged her to put it on the township website so that everybody would have a chance to see what I produced after a great deal of expense and bother to both sides,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The audit can be viewed at the township building for a fee\u00a0but has yet to be posted on the website.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was trying to help them to be able to provide governmental transparency to the community,” he said, \u201cI would continue to do that. I would move the work sessions from early afternoon when people work and cannot show up into an evening setting so that residents can be a part of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is not be contentious,\u201d Stevens continued, \u201cI have tried not to attack the individuals that are on the Board of Supervisors. I\u2019m concerned about the issues. I would continue to be concerned about the issues and I would do my best to try to open up lines of communication so that we\u2014whether it\u2019s community members, supervisors, or a combination\u2014could sit and talk through the issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

To that end, Stevens offered his perspective on his opponent, Allan Falcoff, and any good that he perceives Falcoff has done in his duty at the helm of KennettTownship.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has taken part in the decisions that needed to be made. Somebody needed to do that,\u201d Stevens said, \u201cMy sense is that he has become more of his own man over the last year or two, and if that\u2019s correct than that\u2019s been great for the township\u2014but I can\u2019t say that for sure because I still see every decision that is made in the township is passed by a three to nothing vote with no discussion taking place at the public meetings\u2026I hope I am correct in assuming that he has matured in his role. My concern, however, is that he has become part of the system; and the system is not working.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Supervisor candidate alleges lack of transparency in Kennett operation [EDITOR’S NOTE:] This is the first of a series of stories about local candidates running for election this November. Stevens’ opponent, Allan Falcoff, will be featured tomorrow. By P.J. D\u2019Annunzio, Staff Writer, KennettTimes.com KENNETT \u2014 The issues facing the township are as vast as they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[38,55,257],"class_list":["post-1389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-election-2011","tag-kennett","tag-supervisor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}