Participate in a bike safety rodeo, bike to work, get your wheels tuned up and more!  A sample of events is listed below – see the whole program here.

Saturday, May 12

• 10 a.m-1 p.m. – Bike Safety Rodeo – Wilson Farm Park – Tredyffrin Township.
For more information go to www.tmacc.org

Monday, May 14
• 7:45 a.m. – Chester Valley Trail Ride from Valley Creek Boulevard to Wegman’s
• 8:15-9 a.m. – Bike to Work Week Kickoff and Registration – Wegman’s, Malvern,
featuring Chester County Commissioner Ryan Costello

Friday, May 18
• 2-6 p.m. – Recycle Your Bicycle! – Wegman’s, Malvern.

Contact Lesa Franz at lesa@coatesvillebikeworks.org for info.

• 4:30-6 p.m. – Bike to Work Week Happy Hour and Awards – Wegman’s, Malvern

• 4:30-6 p.m. – Bike Line of Exton – Bike Tune-up Tent – Wegman’s, Malvern

Wednesday, May 16
• 7 p.m. – Ride of Silence – West Chester.
For more information to go www.bicyclecoalition.org/member/chester or www.rideofsilence.org/main.php

Saturday, May 19
• Bike Schuylkill Phoenixville Annual Phoenix Parade.
Contact kyle.b.guie@gmail.com for info.

Also, on Wednesday, June 6, there will be an Active Transportation Forum The School at Church Farm.
Contact Angela at angela@tmacc.org for more info.

For more details about all of the events listed above, go to www.tmacc.org.

ID will not be required at the primary on April 24th – voters without appropriate ID for the primary will receive guidelines on acceptable ID for the November election.    But let’s not wait til the fall – turn out for the primary and help us make sure your family, friends, and neighbors who don’t drive have the appropriate ID.

2012 Democratic Candidates:

Barack Obama for President: http://www.barackobama.com/
Local contacts for Tredyffrin:  Keith Miller kmiller@ofapa.com,
Cheryl Bittner cherylbittner@gmail.com

Bob Casey for U.S. Senate http://casey.senate.gov/

Dr. Manan Trivedi for U.S. Congress, 6th District http://www.trivediforcongress.com/

Patrick Murphy for PA Attorney General http://www.murphyforpa.com/   

Rob McCord for PA Treasurer http://www.mccordforpennsylvania.com

Eugene De Pasquale for PA Auditor General http://eugene4pa.com/

Andy Dinniman for PA Senate, 19th District http://www.senatordinniman.com/

Paul Drucker for State Representative, 157th District  http://drucker2012.com/

What happened to “Jobs, jobs, jobs?”

By Paul Drucker

Pennsylvania has many challenges to overcome, but voter fraud is not one of them. The education-funding crisis, crumbling roads and bridges and, of course, job creation are the challenges voters want and need Harrisburg to address. Instead Governor Corbett and the Republican legislature have chosen to spend millions in taxpayer dollars to fix the fictional problem of voter fraud. This is simply unfair to Pennsylvania’s taxpayers.

Neither Governor Corbett nor any member of the Republican leadership has been able to produce evidence of any voter fraud in Pennsylvania. The lack of evidence did not prevent them from pushing and passing House Bill 934, the Voter ID Bill, a bill that comes with an $11-million price tag at a time when we cannot afford to pay for education or safe roads.

Pennsylvania is in the midst of a fiscal crisis. Governor Corbett and the Republicans claim that there is no money to adequately fund our public-school system. They are unwilling to invest in rebuilding our crumbling roadway and bridge infrastructure, which would also serve to create thousands of jobs. Lack of funding to these essential functions of the state government is costing us jobs as well as jeopardizing our future and our safety. Republicans claim that their cuts-only approach to balancing the budget is putting Pennsylvania on the right fiscal path. After just one year of Republican control of state government, Pennsylvania dropped from fourth to 47th in the nation for job creation, and while the U.S. gained 200,000 jobs in January, Pennsylvania lost 9,000. It is unfair to all Pennsylvanians that Republicans would focus on a costly Voter ID Bill when we need them to address the real problems we face. Republicans gave us a Voter ID Bill, but we need a Jobs Bill.

The Voter ID Bill does nothing to address the issues that are the priorities of taxpayers. It does unfairly burden and disenfranchise the poor, minorities and the elderly of one of their fundamental rights, the right to vote. It does perpetrate this unconstitutional attack on our basic rights at great cost to the taxpayers. It does expose the public commitment to fiscal responsibility, which Republicans so proudly publicize, as nothing but a fraud.

There is a reason that the AARP, NAACP and the PA Association of County Commissioners, among other groups, have vehemently opposed this law. It is just bad policy. It infringes upon our rights and imposes unnecessary costs in order to further narrow political interests. It is an unfair betrayal of the trust voters place in our elected officials, and it is bad policy for voters and taxpayers at a time when the Commonwealth can least afford it.

Paul Drucker is a candidate for state representative in the 157th Legislative District.

Senator Andy Dinniman and Representatives Warren Kampf and Duane Milne will provide legislative perspective on PSERS.

On Monday, March 19, 2012, the Tredyffrin/Easttown School Board will hold a public Budget Workshop focusing on key aspects of the budget including 2012-2013 enrollments and needed staffing, revenue projections, and state and federal funding. The Budget Workshop will also include presentations on the PSERS funding crisis and the impact on Pennsylvania school districts. The Workshop will be held at 7:30 pm in the Conestoga High School auditorium at 200 Irish Road in Berwyn.  The public is encouraged to attend to learn more about the budget and how retirement funding is affecting school district budgets.

Following opening remarks from School Board President Karen Cruickshank and a review of the scheduled budget development topics, Dr. David Davare from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and Jay Himes from the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials will present data on PSERS state and local funding.  Senator Andy Dinniman and Representatives Warren Kampf and Duane Milne will complete the presentation segment of the Workshop by providing a legislative perspective on PSERS. The Workshop will close with the opportunity for questions from the audience.

For more information on factors influencing the 2012-2013 budget, proposed budget strategies and other budget materials, visit the Budget section of the T/E School District web site, www.tesd.net, under “Quicklinks” and then “Budget.” Click on “2012-2013 Budget Development” for a list of budget documents.

The T/E School Board encourages public participation during the budget development process so that the budget reflects the input of all stakeholders. All School Board committee meetings have public comment periods. In addition, comments may be submitted to Arthur J. McDonnell, Business Manager, at mcdonnella@tesd.net or to the T/E School Board at schoolboard@tesd.net.

In June, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed House Bill 934 (HB 934) almost entirely along party lines, sending it to the Senate for action. The bill requires valid state or federal photo ID from all Pennsylvanians at all elections before they are permitted to vote. HB 934 is an expensive voter suppression bill that would make it harder for older citizens, young adults, people with disabilities, racial minorities, and lower-income people to vote.

That’s why Marian Schneider, a local attorney, created a petition to The Pennsylvania State Senate, which says:

“Oppose House Bill 934 because it is unnecessary, it is a waste of taxpayer funds, and it will deprive citizens of their right to vote.”

The petition is sponsored by the Protect Our Vote Coalition, Advancement Project and PA Voice. They have over 17,000 signatures but are aiming for 20,000 – please sign the petition!

For more information, contact

Marian K. Schneider
Attorney-at-law
295 E. Swedesford Road, #348
Wayne, PA 19087
Tel. 610-644-1925
Fax. 610-722-0581

Karen Cruickshank, T/E School Board President, will explain the district’s budget issues in a presentation entitled “Success & Sustainability: A Plan for the T/E Community.” This 45 minute presentation will outline our district’s financial situation, including the fiscal pressures causing the projected $6.2 million deficit for 2012-2013 and the options under consideration to balance the budget. Hear it all on Tuesday, February 7, 2012, at 9:10 am at Hillside Elementary School in the Large Group Room

On, February 25, 2011, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected new maps for  House and Senate districts for this year’s election.   So for the time being, we’re back to being in Senator Andy Dinniman’s district and our House district will stay the same!

Read an Inquirer article with more details on the decision here.

Make your voice heard! If you oppose the proposed voter ID bill ( H.B. 934) as an attempt to disenfranchise voters, or an expensive and unnecessary solution to a non-existent problem,  then please contact your new state senator,  Ted Erickson (Republican, 26th District) here.

The state Senate is scheduled to reconvene on Wednesday, January 17, 2012. Along with a final vote on redistricting, the full Senate will vote on H.B. 934 with amendments.  The original bill required all voters to present a government issued photo ID at the polls. As amended by the Senate Government Committee, the bill adds nursing home, in-state college and some expired ID’s, which many believe does little to address the potential for voter suppression.
This bill has been characterized as “a solution looking for a problem”. Yet Republican Gov. Tom Corbett is now pressuring lawmakers to enact it into law ASAP – even as GOP lawmakers admit they lack proof of voter fraud.

According the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP), who oppose the bill, “we find no evidence – substantiated by a search of case records and anecdotal information from the counties that it is an issue“. Click here to read the entire statement, which was presented to the House State Government Committee.

The Pennsylvania League of Women Voters has also stated its opposition to H.B. 934. “Both unnecessary and costly, this legislation creates hurdles to voting that would disenfranchise thousands of our fellow citizens who are currently eligible to vote….Research shows they [photo ID requirements] encourage racial and ethnic discrimination at polling places, limit voter turnout and prevent eligible voters from participating in our democracy.  Photo ID requirements… do very little to combat the demonstrably rare instances of a voter impersonating someone else at the polls. Indeed there have been no prosecuted cases in Pennsylvania.” Read the entire statement here.

Senator Andy Dinniman made his opposition clear in an opinion piece in last week’s Daily Local.  He stated, “While I oppose the bill, I strongly believe in protecting the integrity of our voting system. The….facts show… since the 2004 elections, 20 million Pennsylvanians cast votes and not one voter was found to have impersonated someone else.“  Read his guest column here.  Note: Andy has served us well and faithfully since 2006, but as a result of the Republican state redistricting plan, Tredyffrin is no longer in his (19th) senatorial district.

Also concerned about the integrity of the voting process in Pennsylvania, local resident Margaret Van Naerssen wrote a thoughtful letter to the editor of Main Line Times last week. In it she offered a number of reasons why our state legislators should oppose the voter ID bill and protect eligible voters’ right to vote and the democratic process. You can read her letter here.

FYI:

The potential for disenfranchisement: The number of Pennsylvanians who don’t have government-issued photo ID’s is estimated to be 11% of the state’s 8.2 million registered voters, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School.  A disproportionate number are African-American and Latino voters, senior citizens, people with disabilities, low-income voters, young voters, and foreign-born Americans.  Many lack documents such as birth certificates required to obtain a driver’s license or state ID.

Long lines on Election Day will further disenfranchise voters who cannot miss work or leave their families long enough to wait to vote. Because poll workers will need additional processing time for voter check-in, inevitably, some voters will leave without casting their ballots. Helping voters with provisional ballots and witnessing their signatures will cause significant delays, but there is no precedent for this in Pennsylvania. Further, the state’s provision for training and additional workers has not been included in H.B. 934.

Absence of Fraud: Nationally, the incidence of voter fraud is extremely rare. According to a 2005 study commissioned by the Justice Department under George W. Bush, there was just one conviction for voter impersonation out of  300 million votes from 2002-2004. The Brennan Center has estimated that 44 one millionths of one percent of votes are cast by people who commit voter fraud. It is statistically near zero and will have no effect on the outcome of an election.

The cost of implementing this bill: It is estimated to be $11 million in the first year alone, according to the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. Neither the state nor the counties have budgeted for this expense. According to the Pennsylvania’s LWV, “the cost to implement voter photo ID in Pennsylvania is still unknown.” The costs of additional training for poll workers, a statewide voter education system, new voter registration cards that include a photo, as well as the costs of legal challenges to the new law have not been fully considered. “At, a time when support for education, healthcare and other services are being slashed, it makes no sense for taxpayers to be forced to pay for this…”

Voter ID bills were introduced in 20 states in 2011. Nine state legislatures rejected them, but eight measures are pending, including bills in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. More information on voter ID laws can be found here.

Hate to say we told you so, but Tredyffrin’s all-Republican Board of Supervisors just raised your taxes again.  On Monday, December 19, after claiming to be committed to “holding the line on taxes,”  the all-Republican Tredyffrin Board of Supervisors voted to raise property taxes by 3.5%. Once again the GOP trumpets an anti-tax stance before the elections, then raises taxes right after – just take a look at the history of our tax increases below, which have all occurred despite Republican-dominance of the Board of Supervisors and T/E School Board. It is ironic, though, that the GOP tried to scare voters in November’s election by claiming that Democrats had a plan to increase taxes!

The table below shows what has happened under Republican domination of the Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors and the Tredyffrin/Easttown School Board.  You tell us – which is the party that likes to raise taxes?

Read his Op-Ed, “Real reason for voter-ID plan,”  which appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer Currents section on December 11, 2011.