T/E School Board Inches Closer to Party Balance, While Tredyffrin Supervisors Revert to One-Party Rule

Reviewing the November 3 local election results, the Tredyffrin Democratic Committee celebrated an important gain in the school board composition while absorbing a serious setback in achieving partisan balance on the township board of supervisors.

Kevin Buraks, Democratic candidate for T/E school director, won in Region 1, while his counterpart Julia Hanson ran solidly but lost her bid to represent Region 2. Meanwhile, all three Democratic candidates for Tredyffrin Board of Supervisors were defeated. Eamon Brazunas, running in District 2, and at-large candidates Sean Moir and Pattye Benson all lost their races. Brazunas fell short by a heart-breaking 71 votes, despite the solid endorsement of the outgoing Republican supervisor for that area and the support of the township police association, firefighters and others.

These losses will leave the 7-member township board in the complete control of the Republican party--a lock that Democrats historically undid in the 2005 election. Democrats viewed this as the start of a new era in local government and are dismayed at this setback.

"I’m delighted that Kevin Buraks is joining me on the T/E board," said school board member Karen Cruickshank. With Anne Crowley elected from an Easttown region, the board will have 3 Democrats in its nine members. Cruickshank, a Democrat elected in 2007 said, "Kevin campaigned on the basis that partisanship is inappropriate on the school board, and I’m sure the board will quickly see him as another team member focused on solving problems. Kevin has a lot of experience in school district financing, in his work as an attorney, and I expect that to be valuable for us right away."

Celebrating the school board effort, Tredyffrin Democratic Party Chair Jayne Yockey nevertheless was stung by the supervisor losses. "Our supervisor candidates had so much experience on township advisory boards and involvement in community service," said Yockey. "We’re disappointed, because in 2 out of 3 cases their Republican opponents were essentially rookies."

"But nothing is handed to you in politics. Some of the Republican campaign mailings completely disrespected our candidates’ experience. We tried to get our message out to voters. Our candidates worked all-out, very hard, and we had significant mail and canvassing effort on their behalf. We salute their energy."

"Meanwhile," Yockey allowed, "We’re frustrated to be back to one-party rule in the township. When all elected positions are held by any one party, who are the officials beholding to? The electorate or the party leaders who select them to run?"

The low-taxes content of the Republican message was a concern of Democratic Vice-Chair Jerry Henige. "Three weeks after the 2007 election in which the Republican candidates campaigned on 'Stable Taxes,' the Republican supervisors voted for a 3.3% property tax increase and a big draw down on the township’s reserve fund. Then, in late 2008, they voted for another 2.4% property tax increase and a draw down on the reserve fund. Meanwhile, in the same time frame, Radnor and Upper Merion did not increase their property taxes. So much for the 'stable' taxes."

"We’re not going to linger on our recent losses. No sour grapes," said TTDem Chair Yockey. "Tredyffrin is facing significant unresolved budget issues for the future. We all want the best resolution. We just hope that these new supervisors are not going to let their ideological biases prevent reasonable solutions. The Democrats intend to remain truth tellers."

Both party leaders pointed to the decline in voting participation this year. Overall turnout fell from 36% in Nov 2007 to about 28% in 2009. Meanwhile, Democratic registration has grown from 31% to 39% of voters. The margin between the 2 parties is down to about 1500 voters across the township. There was a 20% gap separating Democratic and Republican registration in 2007, and now there is about a 7% gap.

"We remain resolved. We intend to close that gap and bring the voices in local government more in line with the balance in party registration," said Yockey and Henige.
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Specific precinct-level results are available at the Chester County voter services website.
If you are uncertain of your precinct's designation, there is a clickable list.

Tredyffrin Township Results: Nov. 3, 2009
SCHOOL DIRECTOR TREDYFFRIN EASTTOWN REGION I
KEVIN BURAKS (DEM) . . . . . . . 1,202 51.83%
STEVEN SHERONAS (REP) . . . . . . 1,117 48.17%

SCHOOL DIRECTOR TREDYFFRIN EASTTOWN REGION II
JULIA L. HANSON (DEM) . . . . . . 1,636 44.52%
RICHARD BRAKE (REP) . . . . . . . 2,034 55.35%

TOWNSHIP SUPERVISOR AT LARGE TREDYFFRIN TOWNSHIP
PATTYE BENSON (DEM) . . . . . . . 2,515 21.88%
SEAN MOIR (DEM) . . . . . . . . 2,542 22.12%
EVELYN E.J. RICHTER (REP) . . . . . 3,073 26.74%
MICHELLE H. KICHLINE (REP). . . . . 3,341 29.07%

DISTRICT SUPERVISOR 2ND DISTRICT TREDYFFRIN 2ND DISTRICT
EAMON C. BRAZUNAS (DEM). . . . . . 1,046 48.36%
PHIL DONAHUE (REP) . . . . . . . 1,117 51.64%