{"id":7199,"date":"2013-05-21T15:43:48","date_gmt":"2013-05-21T19:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=7199"},"modified":"2013-05-21T15:44:19","modified_gmt":"2013-05-21T19:44:19","slug":"kennett-twp-finances-remain-in-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=7199","title":{"rendered":"Kennett Twp. finances remain in spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

New auditing practices praised, old ones unresolved<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/span><\/strong>, Managing Editor, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"IMG_1601\"<\/a>

Kennett Township Supervisor Scudder G. Stevens presents a summary of information he received from his numerous Right-to-Know requests from the township.<\/p><\/div>\n

Kennett Township finances dominated Monday night\u2019s supervisors\u2019 meeting, ranging from the first-quarter financial report to a summary of a right-to-know request that has spawned controversy as well as changes in auditing procedures.<\/p>\n

Supervisor Scudder G. Stevens, who won election in 2011 on a platform of improving the township\u2019s transparency, filed a public-records request during his campaign that has been subject to ongoing challenges from the township. At Monday night\u2019s meeting, Stevens fulfilled a promise made at the last supervisors\u2019 meeting when he was asked by two residents to share what he learned from the voluminous materials he obtained.<\/p>\n

Among his disclosures, which only \u201cscratched the surface,\u201d Stevens said he found a disturbing pattern of closed-door activities and unchecked power by township supervisors. For example, he said the supervisors improperly took cash payments for their personal and spouses\u2019 health care that was never reimbursed.<\/p>\n

Calling Supervisors’ Chairman Michael E. Elling \u201ca harsh enemy,\u201d Stevens said an acrimonious dispute between Elling and the Kennett Land Trust led to the trust\u2019s move out of the township – and a name change to the Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County, an outcome that did not benefit residents. He said he also had questions about whether the purchase of the State Line Woods property was handled in the township\u2019s best interest.<\/p>\n

Several residents suggested that Stevens\u2019 criticism spilled into the township\u2019s commissions and committees and township employees, but Stevens\u2019 said his remarks were directed at the supervisors,\u00a0 \u201cnot to castigate volunteers and paid staff.\u201d He said he had great respect for the work they do.<\/p>\n

Stevens said he had received information that may lead to Ed Johnson, the mystery auditor who prepared the 2009 and 2010 township audit and allegedly disappeared. \u00a0Stevens said he would turn that information over to Police Chief Albert McCarthy.<\/p>\n

Township Manager Lisa M. Moore presented the first-quarter financial report, which she said would get posted on the township\u2019s web site.\u00a0 Describing a \u201cquite healthy\u201d financial picture, she said overall general fund expenses were 34 percent higher than last year but 1 percent less than budgeted for the first quarter. She said some new accounting changes would facilitate accountability. Several residents credited the township\u2019s Business Advisory Committee will assistance in that regard.<\/p>\n

Bill Hewton, a former township supervisor, expressed disappointment that Elling, who did not attend Monday night\u2019s meeting, and Supervisor Robert A. Hammaker, ignored the wishes of many residents and voted to approve the Longwood Gardens\u2019 demolition permit for three historic cottages on U.S. 1 at a work session on May 7. He said work sessions were intended for discussion, not official voting.<\/p>\n

Hammaker said the vote was needed because \u201cwe had a deadline,\u201d but he declined to elaborate. \u201cI think it was wrong,\u201d said Hewton as several residents nodded in agreement. \u201cI think it was wrong to do that at a workshop session.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other business, the supervisors approved three ordinances, all of which appear on the township\u2019s web site.\u00a0 Two involved sewage and the other dealt with registration for non-resident earned income tax.<\/p>\n

On June 5, Moore and the supervisors will meet with the county commissioners regarding the future of the Chandler Mill Bridge, a historic, county-owned span has been awash in conflict for several years. The deteriorating structure was closed amid disagreement over whether it should be razed or rehabilitated.<\/p>\n

Litigation over Stevens\u2019 Right-to-Know request ended earlier this spring when the township, which had appealed the Open Records decision to county court,\u00a0 signed off on an agreement authorizing Moore to begin redacting personal information, such as Social Security numbers, from the township\u2019s QuickBooks software. It is not expected that the information on the township\u2019s finances will be available before the end of August.<\/p>\n

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

New auditing practices praised, old ones unresolved By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times Kennett Township finances dominated Monday night\u2019s supervisors\u2019 meeting, ranging from the first-quarter financial report to a summary of a right-to-know request that has spawned controversy as well as changes in auditing procedures. Supervisor Scudder G. Stevens, who won election in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,1],"tags":[2490,2259,459,2142,2488,2403,2487,1276,2489],"class_list":["post-7199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","category-uncategorized","tag-bill-hewton","tag-chandler-mill-bridge","tag-ed-johnson","tag-land-conservancy-for-southern-chester-county","tag-right-to-know-request","tag-supervisor-robert-a-hammaker","tag-supervisor-scudder-g-stevens","tag-supervisors-chairman-michael-e-elling","tag-township-manager-lisa-m-moore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7199","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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}