{"id":2195,"date":"2012-01-05T09:39:07","date_gmt":"2012-01-05T14:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=2195"},"modified":"2012-01-05T12:41:25","modified_gmt":"2012-01-05T17:41:25","slug":"stevens-sworn-in-as-kennett-township-supervisor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=2195","title":{"rendered":"Stevens sworn in as Kennett Township supervisor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scudder Stevens becomes the first Democrat to earn a seat on the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>

New Kennett Township Supervisor Scudder Stevens takes the oath of office Tuesday night.<\/p><\/div>\n

KENNETT \u2014 In front of a packed crowd including residents, committee heads, police and fire officials, and the township government, newly elected Kennett Township Supervisor Scudder Stevens was inaugurated during Tuesday night\u2019s Organization Meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

The inauguration itself was brief, taking only a few minutes before the meeting got down to business. The annual reports from the various committee heads commenced and congratulations were issued by the Board of Supervisors. But the question on the minds of the township residents who gathered for the meeting\u2014 two thirds of whom voted for Stevens\u2014didn\u2019t center on the formalities taking place that evening; it was a question concerning the future. \u201cWhat next?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe electorate has been very clear,\u201d Stevens said, \u201cTransparent good governance, particularly in the area of finance for the township, is absolutely crucial. I\u2019m going to do everything I can to begin the process of creating that transparency and finding the strategy to encourage financial openness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dating back to the summer of\u00a02011, a mystery has clouded financial operations of the township. Since the release of the 2009-2010 audit many citizens have voiced concerns over its validity \u2014 even its authenticity.<\/span><\/p>\n

A disappearing auditor, lack of proof for transactions, and incomplete documentation have all fostered a spirit of distrust toward the township\u2019s governance, so much so that in the traditionally Republican Kennett Township, the electorate voted overwhelmingly for Stevens, who became the first Democrat to hold office as a supervisor in that township.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite this milestone, residents are more concerned with clearing away the haze that surrounds the issue at hand. Given the contentious nature of the election, many perceive the relationship between the newly elected Stevens\u00a0and the\u00a0standing supervisors\u00a0to be strained at best, however, Stevens is hopeful that his new colleagues will be eager to foster a spirit of cooperation with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had a series of e-mails with Lisa, the township manager, in which she expressed the desire that we can all work together,\u201d he said. \u201cI answered her saying that is absolutely my highest goal: to do what is necessary and appropriate for the best outcome for the township. So that remains my base.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Though optimistic, Stevens is also prepared to what is necessary should he run into opposition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m prepared to do whatever is legal and appropriate if there is a lack of response from the other two supervisors, because it was very clearly the mandate of the township to address this issue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan is contingent upon what the other two supervisors are doing or plan to do,\u201d he continued. \u201cI know the accountants who are currently being hired to serve this year for last year\u2019s accounting. I have the highest regard and respect for them. I\u2019ve worked with them in other circumstances. What I\u2019m concerned about is what the opening numbers for the accounting are; what is the fund balance coming into 2011? It\u2019s all dependent upon what the accountants want and what the other two supervisors are planning to do. I mean, they\u2019ve had the opportunity to put all of this in place before I was sworn in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though he disagrees with the lack of disclosure from the supervisors, Stevens still maintains that he is willing to work with the other supervisors to get to the bottom of the situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am very hopeful that we can work together in addressing this so that it does not need to be contentious, but it is absolutely crucial that the township has a firm and good grasp on the numbers that existed before 2011,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stevens\u2019 former petitions for information were made before he was an elected official, therefore the township claimed to be unable to release the documents in question as they contained sensitive personal information for township employees. <\/span>Now as supervisor, however,\u00a0he is coupling his position with his determination\u00a0to shed light on the situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is my goal that we can do this amicably and with respect\u2026but I intend to keep the heat on in regards to this,\u201d he said.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scudder Stevens becomes the first Democrat to earn a seat on the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors By P.J. D’Annunzio, Staff Writer, KennettTimes.com KENNETT \u2014 In front of a packed crowd including residents, committee heads, police and fire officials, and the township government, newly elected Kennett Township Supervisor Scudder Stevens was inaugurated during Tuesday night\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[266,55,362,248],"class_list":["post-2195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-audit","tag-kennett","tag-stevens","tag-township-supervisor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2195","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}