The Sanatoga Post

HOT AND JUICY FUND-RAISER AT UPLAND SQUARE – Who wouldn’t want to be served by these two colorful characters? Pottsgrove Middle School Assistant Principal Dr. David Ramage, left, and hamburger look-alike and Principal Dr. William Ziegler, were delivering meals to customers Tuesday night (Feb. 21, 2012) inside the Jake’s Wayback Burgers franchise at Upland Square Chopping Center in Pottstown. Franchise owners Lynda and Darryl Hendershot, who have long been active in Pottsgrove School District affairs, donated 10 percent of their sales yesterday between 4 and 8 p.m. to the Middle School Parent-Teacher Organization. Patrons also helped fill a PGMS jar sitting on the store’s counter, right, with additional cash.

WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE WHEN THEY’RE WORKING – It happens about this time every year: members of the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors are asked, just before a meeting, to assemble so a high school photographer can take their group picture for the annual yearbook. No one ever likes their fashion choices that day – they would have worn something different had they know this was coming, most board members say – but they all smile wonderfully nonetheless. The Post was positioned behind and to the left of the school photographer when this shot was taken last Tuesday (Feb. 14, 2012). Directors, from left, are Justin Valentine, Nancy Landes, David Faulkner, Philip Keogh, Jodi Adams, Theodore Coffelt, Michael Neiffer and Patricia Grimm; Scott Fulmer was absent.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Feb. 14 meeting):

• Casual, Smiling Pottsgrove Directors Pose For Yearbook
• Pottsgrove District, Teachers Resume Labor Negotiations
• March On! Pottsgrove OKs Buying Instruments, Uniforms
• Pottsgrove Multi-Tasks Through MCIU Budget Approval
• State Suspends $3.2M In Ringing Rocks’ Reimbursement

POTTSTOWN PA – Students at Pottsgrove High School, 1345 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA, were named Wednesday (Feb. 15, 2012) as having achieved “distinguished honors” on its honor roll for the 2011-2012 school year’s first quarter, and dozens more were named with “honors.”

On the honor roll were:

Grade 12 Distinguished Honors

Samantha Brockway, Matthew Cimino, Amy Defnet, Joseph Di Paolo, Erica Edwards, Kassandra Forster, Ashleigh Kleinschmidt, Benjamin Macluckie, Alysa Adams Murray, Courtney Nealy, Alexandra Schurr, Jessica Stewart, Emily Stump, Michael Vennettilli, Lara Weisbach, Allison Weller.

Grade 12 Honors

Jordan Adkins, Steven Ambs, Ahmed Amer, Lauren Antenucci, Emily Bowen, Ian Brennan, Amy Cherico, Donna Chu, Ceara Coseo, Matthew Dao, Gwendolynne Davis, Emily Delena, Shelby Edelson, Lauren Edmunds, Tyler Gross, Trevor Hallman, Maura Hannum, Tillman Harris, Samantha Hunkel, Ryan Ivins, Wasay Khan,  Achilles Kontostathis, Jennifer Korb, Elliott Koss, Matthew Krieger, Stacie Kuneck, Austin Lastoskie, Megan Lazowicki, Meghan Luna, Caitlin Macfarland, Gabrielle Mack, Storm McLeod, Mallory McMenamin, Rowan Meador, Branden Mercier, Daniel Michaels, Megan Monzo, Allison Neel, Madeline OBrien, Casey Payne, Vincent Pellechio, Kevin Phillips, Edith Pineda, Brian Price, Justin Purdom, Victoria Queen, Brooke Rafalowski, Christopher Rathgeber, Carrie Robinson, Taylor Robinson, Deanna Robles, Jenna Saylor, Nicholas Sotera, Mark Teaford, Anthony Tremble, Cordelia Urquhart, Jared Valentine, Maurice Webster, Jarrod Wentzel, Tylar White, Jessica Williams, Jessica Wrubel, Yinan Xiong, Paige Yerger, Colleen Young, Bao Steven Zheng.

Grade 11 Distinguished Honors

Zachary Birch, Nathan Breidenbach, Nathan Fretz, Nia Gonzalez, Mackenzie Gross, Kiera Howard, Nicholas Hunsberger, Kelsey Lloyd, Adam Maynard, Daniel McNamara, Ashley Monzo, Justin Munro, Tanmay Patel, Kevin Rathgeber, David Brandon Stone, Ian Yanusko.

Grade 11 Honors

Jaclyn Bealer, Amanda Birard, Dominic Bridi, Christie Christ, Nicole Chu, Patrick Collins, Danielle Czekaj, Jessica Diaz, Jessica Evans, Nicole Finn, Jessica Fiore, Chloe Grebe, Ashley Haraczka, Daniel Harp, Brittany John, Julia Kemper, Benjamin Kunrath, Marc Ludwig, Troy Lutcavage, Michael Makoid, Alexander McCarthy, Rachelle Mewshaw, Qwhadir Miller, Tiara Mitchell, Tyler Mitchell, Robert Mohollen,  Aaron Roberts, Shawn Robles, Alexandra Rodriguez, Andrew Rodriguez, Caitlin Smith, Jamira Stephenson, Abbey Sullivan, Anthony Tartaglia, Allysha Towson, Ian Valway, Bridgette Vuotto, Kaitlyn Wagner, Ceirra Walton, Jasmyn West, Cameron Williams.

Grade 10 Distinguished Honors

Jeffrey Adams, Arizona Brennan, Angelica Glaeser, Christopher Haslam, Jacob Hunsberger, Daniel Kaiser, Jaid Mark, Thomas Sephakis, Gabriella Tammaro, Hayley Tomaselli, Jay Young, Kylie Yuchimiuk.

Grade 10 Honors

Ethan Abdalla, Alexis Adair, Marquis Barefield, David Bieleski, Teodoro Calabretta, Kacy Carroll, Joshua Chamberlain, Audrey Eiland, Kylie Fulmer, Thomas Galamba, John Garges, Ferryn Garner, Noel Geniza, Abigail Girafalco, Charles Gulick, Elizabeth Harley, Ashley Hoffman, Gaia Houseal, Abagail Hudock, Taylor Inhof, Tyler Kline, Dana Landes, Kelsey Lee, Mollie Marko, Megan Montey, Natalya Nodolski, Brittany Opokwu, Sene Polamalu, Kayla Polen, Nicole Raimondi, Hannah Robinson, Ashlyn Sassaman, Kaleigh Tillman, Joshua Toth, Christopher Vecchio, James Walmsley, Grant West, Maxton Wickward.

Grade 9 Distinguished Honors

Joseph Buchler, Aubrey Christman, Samantha Goins, Renee Hunsberger, Chloe Klaus, Kyle Reed, Julia Tartaglia.

Grade 9 Honors

Andrew Bayless, Danielle Buchanan, Matthew Bush, Danielle Cook, Olivia Vanessa Cortez, Brianna Costira, Damian Creasy, Patrick Finn, Chad Flannery, Shayna Flint, Macie Frame, Caitlin Gillette, Evan Hillen, Kelsey Hutchinson, Hailey Jacobs, Katherine Likman, Sarah Lindgren, David Macartney, Cole Meitzler, Eric Mitchell, Autumn Mortimer, Meganne Natale, Sean OBrien, Andrew Phillips, Emily Ryan, Cassandra Shields, Kristi Shultz, Bernard Steyaert, Alexandria Thierry, Jacob Trexler, Hailee Tyson, Courtney Weaver, Allison Wentzel, Brianna West, Keely Zaborsky.

POTTSTOWN PA – Members of Pottsgrove High School’s acclaimed classical auditioned vocal ensemble, the Choraliers, will participate next Monday (Feb. 13, 2012) at 7 p.m. in the annual Tri-County Honors Choir Concert to be held at Spring-Ford Area High School on South Lewis Road in Royersford.

• These events have been added to The Post calendar.

Selected singers from Pottsgrove, Norristown, Spring-Ford and Plymouth-Whitemarsh high schools have been rehearsing together since November (2011) “to produce a concert of gorgeous music,” Pottsgrove Director Of Choral Music Cynthia Foust said Tuesday (Feb. 7), and she expects they’ll be even busier Monday with final preparations and “an entire day of rehearsal … to polish our music.”

Representing Pottsgrove are students Abby Huddock, Andrea Paganelli, Anne Fischer, Danielle Gambino, Jasmyn West, Rhiannon Levengood, Rowan Meador, Stephanie French, Aaron Jaffe, Joe Daye, Justin Hernandez, TJ Galamba, Ashleigh Kleinschmidt, Emily Weaver, Erin Amole, Felicia Nester, Jazmin Reddick, Jennifer Korb, Kelsey Lloyd, Krisina Antonio, Shaina Wood, Tiara Mitchel, Andrew Koss, Jeremy Downey, Vincent Pellechio, Nick Wolfe, and Trevor Noll.

Choral directors involved in addition to Foust are Yvonne O’Dea, Spring-Ford; Amy LaRue, Plymouth-Whitemarsh; Lynn Danoff and Bruce Tonkin, Norristown. Retired Spring-Ford director David Nicol assisted as pianist during rehearsals.

Tickets for the show, available at the door, cost $7 for adults and $5 for seniors; students will be admitted free.

And, as they say in show business, that’s not all!

Pottsgrove’s Choral Department presents its pops concert, “A Night on Broadway,” on Feb. 16 (Thursday) beginning at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Pottsgrove High School, Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA.

The Pottsgrove Show and Concert choirs will open and close the concert with selections from “A Chorus Line” and “Les Miserables.”

Solos from various musicals will be performed by Erin Amole, Brianna Pettiti, Anastasia Koss, Karley Moser, Jennifer Korb, Emily Weaver, Krisinia Antonio, Anne Fisher, Andrea Paganelli, Passione Nettle, Danielle Buchanan, Rebecca Smith, Jazmin Reddick, Sara Onyemaobin, Vincent Pellechio, Shayna Flint, Felecia Nester and TJ Galamba. Robin Ward will be piano accompanist.

Tickets, also available at the door, cost $5 for adults and $3 for students and seniors. Maroon and White cards will be honored.

Finaly, Foust notes the choral department will conduct its annual Bingo and Bling Night fund-raiser Feb. 24 (Friday) at the high school beginning at 7 p.m. Filled Longaberger-brand baskets and sterling silver Silpada-brand jewelry are among the prizes offered. Tickets cost $20 and can be bought at the door or in advance from Foust by calling 610-326-5105 Ext. 6501.

WHITE ON THE GROUND, CANDY CANE IN THE WINDOW – “Mother Nature does some beautiful work,” notes Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township historical researcher Carol Isett, who received a candy cane amaryllis bulb for Christmas from her son and his family. Husband Glenn Isett, membership secretary for the township Historical Society, took this photo just as the bulb “was at the peak of its blooming time,” Carol reports. The arrival of (rare, so far this year) snow Wednesday (Feb. 8, 2012), which lightly covered the ground and trees, seemed like a perfect time to show it off.

Photo by Glenn Isett

WITH LOVE, FROM SIS – Nine-year-old Coral Feldman prepared Sunday (Feb. 5, 2012) to have her hair trimmed by Great Clips salon store manager Beth Maggiotto (above) during a fund-raising conducted on behalf of her younger sister, Victoria, age 5. Victoria was diagnosed last October with a malignant brain tumor, and recently underwent surgery, radiation treatments and several forms of therapy to battle the disease. The staff at Great Clips, which opened a few months ago in the Pottstown Plaza on Shoemaker Road, near Wal-Mart, held a “cut-a-thon” fund-raiser to offset the family’s medical expenses. The store’s stylists donated all their tips, and customers were generous; a huge goblet atop the store’s front counter was filled with bills of all denominations. Outside meanwhile (below), mother Renee Feldman braved chilly weather with friends and family members to hold an accompanying bake sale.

Other coverage:

• Cut-A-Thon For Victoria Today (Pottstown Patch)
• See another photo from the event, here.

Sue Repko

POTTSTOWN PA – Pottstown native and author Sue Repko, a St. Pius X High School grad who reported extensively during October 2010 for her Positively Pottstown blog on the park and trail system in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, has been named as the first executive director of the MOASIC Community Land Trust in Pottstown, trust President David Jackson announced Friday (Feb. 3, 2012). She officially began her duties there Wednesday (Feb. 1).

Repko, Jackson, Sanatoga-based attorney David Garner, and Montgomery County commercial property assessor Chris Huff all are founding members of the trust, which intends to buy properties and buildings in Pottstown, rehabilitate them, and sell or lease them at affordable rates. The trust retains ownership of the land beneath properties it sells, lowering costs for homeowners who also become trust members, Jackson explained.

“We’re very excited to have Sue leading us during this early phase of the land trust. She brings a wealth of experience in the nonprofit world and in the development of affordable housing,” Jackson said. “Through her blog, Positively Pottstown, and other activities over the past two years, Sue has brought people together to make connections and get things done. That’s the spirit of the (trust) as well. It’s a good fit,” he added.

Repko holds a masters’ degree in urban planning from Rutgers University, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. While living in New Jersey, she worked for the Section 8 federal housing program, municipal and state government, and in a private planning firm. She also served on a local planning board and the boards of a Montessori pre-school and an autism non-profit.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with such a great group of people at MOSAIC, who are creative and passionate about making things better,” Repko said. “Plus, I got my start in affordable housing and community development, and I’m glad to be doing this work in my hometown.” Although the executive director position now held by Repko is part-time to start, the organization hopes to expand it to a full-time position within two years.

The trust hopes to do more than fix and sell homes. Its goal, according to the founders, is neighborhood stabilization. Its first project is construction of a community garden to be built at 423 Chestnut St., Pottstown, this spring with a $30,000 grant from the Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation. Other donations have already been received from Genesis Housing and Susquehanna Bank, Lowes, Davey Tree Experts, attorney Andrew Monastra, the borough of Pottstown, and the Pottstown School District.

A series of outreach meetings are planned for February to inform residents about the community garden and the process for becoming a member.

MOSAIC runs an art gallery at its office at 10 S. Hanover St., Pottstown, and also is negotiating for its first residential rehabilitation project. For more information, call Jackson at 484-949-4235 or Repko at 609-658-9043.

Sen. John Rafferty, center, gives his “Thumbs Up!” to a Reading Site Contractors pavers, joined by volunteers David Shafer of Royersford PA, left, and Jim Rivers of Mattiola Services

POTTSTOWN PA – It pays to know people, state Sen. John Rafferty recognizes, and sometimes tapping the right people pays off in unexpected and delightful ways.

Take, for example, the Pennsylvania Army National Guard armory in Spring City PA. Rafferty’s been there dozens of times, usually in the capacity of welcoming home troops returning from overseas deployments. During his visits there late last year, the senator said he was disappointed to find the driveway into Guard headquarters “was crumbling and full of potholes.” The Guard lacked the money to fix it; the state couldn’t afford it either.

So Rafferty called on people he knew – the corporate leaders of The H&K Group contractors, whose quarrying operations extend across Sanatoga and Pottstown – and asked them for help.

Voila! New driveway.

“When Sen. Rafferty reached out to us … we immediately jumped at the opportunity to not only give back to the community, but also to the brave men and women who serve our country,” H&K President and CEO Scott Haines said recently.

H&K donated all the materials and equipment needed to make the repairs. In addition, 15 employees of Mattiola Services LLC and Reading Site Contractors of Pottstown, two H&K divisions, rallied to the cause and volunteered their professional services. Within hours of meeting Rafferty and armory Chief Warrant Officer Michael Murphy at the site a few weeks ago, about 70 tons of new asphalt had been delivered, placed and rolled, “leaving the driveway in a condition worthy of a war hero,” Haines reported.

“The end result is a repaired driveway that will greatly benefit the Guard,” Rafferty agreed, at no cost to the Guard or taxpayers.

Haines praised those who gave of their time to make the job move quickly.

From Mattiola Services, Mike Arrivello provided saw cutting and Travis Zimmerman operated the milling machine. Reading Site Contractors employees Bryan Mclain, Wayne Archer, Chad Davis, Michael Hillegas, Jason Stauffer, and Jistino Villalva made up the paving crew. Terry Gennaria, Dave Leister and Jason Tokonitz hauled paving materials. Tony Alexander was the broom truck driver. Ray Cushman and Gary Halteman mobilized and demobilized the equipment, and Uriah Lessig mixed the asphalt at the H&K Group’s Sanatoga asphalt plant.

“I am so proud that a local company and its workers pitched in to get this project done,” Rafferty noted. “This is an example of neighbors helping neighbors, and a great way to honor our troops.”

Archbishop Chaput

PHILADELPHIA PA – Yet another call to the Pennsylvania Legislature for passage of a school choice bill – a debate in which Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township‘s state House advocate, Rep. Tom Quigley, has been a key player – arose Thursday (Jan. 25, 2012) from Philadelphia, this time in the form of the weekly column from Archbishop Charles J. Chaput.

Chaput, the spiritual leader of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and its more than 1 million Roman Catholic parishioners, in a statement distributed to the media challenged his flock to “get active and focused” in lobbying elected officials to support proposals that would help families pay for their students to attend alternative and private schools rather than public ones.

Chaput’s column makes several references to the use of Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) funds as the source of financing for a school choice or voucher program. Using EITC money has been championed by Quigley, but not yet become law. A bill with that provision died in legislative committee discussions last year. Members of both the state House and Senate are due to return for work in Harrisburg on Feb. 6 (2012).

Chaput blamed the recent announcement to close dozens of parochial schools in the archdiocese, including Sacred Heart in Royersford and St. Philip Neri School in East Greenville, in part on their supporters’ inability to date to force legislators’ hands. “Elected officials do listen, and they act when the noise gets loud enough,” he said, in promoting a lobbying campaign.

Here’s Chaput’s column in its entirety:

“Monday, January 29, begins Catholic Schools Week.  It’s a time to honor the unique value of Catholic education.  Here in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, we have a long record of dedicated service by the women and men who teach in our classrooms and run the “business” of Catholic schools.  That record includes the legacy of thousands of women and men religious and diocesan clergy.  In the single academic year of 1963-64, more than 4,100 religious and 1,600 laypersons taught more than 263,000 students enrolled in our schools.  Today, scores of our pastors make extraordinary commitments of parish funds to keep our schools open and excellent.

“Unfortunately, schools run on resources, not simply good will and heroic service.  Our schools can no longer count on unlimited Church support.  The resources simply don’t exist.  Many of our parishes are financially strained.  The archdiocese itself faces serious financial and organizational challenges that have been developing for many years and cannot be ignored.

“So where does that leave us?  We can honor Catholic Schools Week this year by actually doing something about the fiscal problems hurting our schools.  We need to press our lawmakers, respectfully but vigorously, to pass school choice.

“First, we need some clarity:  School vouchers do not mean “government support for religious schools.”  That argument is flatly false.  No vouchers go to any school, religious or otherwise.  Vouchers do, however, return the power of educational choice to parents, where it belongs.  In doing so, vouchers make all schools more accountable for the quality of education they deliver.  Parents get the voucher.  Parents choose the school.  This makes perfect sense.  And if a school offers a poor education for young people, parents will rightly vote with their feet — and their vouchers.  Of course, most Catholic schools do the opposite:  They offer a strong education, in a safe environment, with a focus on developing good moral character.  That’s why parents are so upset when they close.

“Some people argue that school choice legislation only helps families in poor areas. Helping the poor is obviously vital, and vouchers would accomplish that.  But vouchers would also assist many more families than the poor.

“If vouchers are approved, they will free up what’s known as EITC funds — Educational Improvement Tax Credit funds – along with other grant and scholarship monies for many thousands of other school families. In effect, the positive impact of vouchers translates to millions of dollars of additional educational resources potentially available to a wide range of school families each year – including Catholic school families.

“Now here’s an unhappy fact:  In 2011, the bishops of Pennsylvania made the passage of vouchers one of their priority legislative issues.  People like Bob O’Hara in our statewide Catholic bishops’ conference and Jason Budd in our archdiocesan Office of Catholic Education worked hard to mobilize Catholic support.  Their efforts failed – and not because they didn’t try, but because too few people in the pews listened.  Very few Catholics called or wrote their state senators and representatives.  Even fewer visited their offices to lobby as citizens.  Despite this, vouchers passed in the state senate, before stalling in the house.  One non-Catholic school choice activist – who has poured years of his time and millions of dollars of his own resources into fighting for vouchers as a social justice issue – was baffled at the inability of Catholics to mobilize around an issue so obviously vital to the public interest and so clearly helpful to the survival of their own schools.

“In the coming week I’ll be writing every state senator and representative in the territory of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to press them to support school vouchers.  And I’ll continue doing it until vouchers pass.  I hope my brother bishops and pastors across the state will do the same.  More importantly:  Our Catholic people need to do the same.  Elected officials do listen, and they act when the noise gets loud enough.  If nothing else, the crisis of Philadelphia’s Catholic schools is an unpleasant but finally very healthy wake up call.  The bill for our failure to pass school choice over the past decade has come due.  Now we’re paying for it.

“When vouchers stalled, yet again, in the Pennsylvania house last fall, a frustrated Catholic school teacher friend of mine said “Catholics are suckers.”  I don’t believe that.  But then, I’m new in town.  If we Philadelphia Catholics love our Catholic schools, and we obviously do, then the time to get active and focused is now.  We need to begin pressing our state lawmakers to pass the school choice legislation — including vouchers and expanded EITC credits – that’s currently pending in Harrisburg  And we need to do it this week, today, right now.  I plan to do that.  I hope you’ll join me.”

Related (to education tuition vouchers):

• Archbishop’s Column Pushes Again For School Choice
• School Voucher Users Must Pass Tests, State Suggests
• PA School Voucher Bills Seem To Run Out Of Time
• School Choice Voucher Action Anticipated This Week
• Pottsgrove Board Officially Opposes School Vouchers
• Local Rep. Quigley Favors Tax Credits In School Choice
• PA Senate School Choice Vote Possible Next Week
• Two Unions Break Ranks, Back State School Vouchers
• Idea: Pottsgrove Might Prosper With Own Charter School
• Choice Amendment Would Remove Vouchers’ 3rd Year
• Teacher Unions Say Budgets, Vouchers Top Their Agendas
• Poll Claims Public Opposes Tuition Vouchers
• Senate Education Chair Preps For Voucher, Choice Battle

Photo from Facebook

SANATOGA PA – New members were appointed Thursday (Jan. 19, 2012) to Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township’s planning and zoning hearing boards, despite the objection of a local resident who – after the Board of Commissioners’ meeting ended – alleged it played favorites by choosing people “in their buddies’ network” to fill government vacancies.

P.J. McGill hoped for, but didn't get, a planning board position

Donna Cleaver, of Donna Lane in Sanatoga, wasn’t shy in telling board members what she thought of their actions to their faces, either. “I think your selection of individuals stinks, to be perfectly honest,” she commented during their public meeting in the Buchert Road municipal building.

The board named Brian Brentzel to the Planning Commission, to fill the vacancy left last year by the resignation of Nicholas Hiriak. It named B. Scott Fulmer, who also serves as vice president of the Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors, as an alternate member of the Zoning Hearing Board. The votes for both, who will serve as unpaid volunteers, were unanimous. Both attended the meeting.

Cleaver, who is a frequent audience member during board meetings, questioned commissioners about the appointments from the outset.

She asked about the number of people who applied for the planning position (“five,” Manager Rodney Hawthorne replied); the number of people interviewed (two; a third sought by the board declined for reasons unknown, he added); and their qualifications (determined primarily from interviews and resumes, Hawthorne said.)

“Why didn’t you interview everyone who applied?,” Cleaver wondered. “We took the three we thought were best qualified,” Hawthorne responded. “So only a favored few get to be considered,” Cleaver shot back. No one at the board conference table answered her.

She also pursued Fulmer’s nomination. “He’s busy with the school board,” Cleaver observed. “Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate to find another member? What if he has a conflict of interest between the zoning board and the school district?,” she asked. “Then he’ll recuse himself,” board President Jonathan Spadt suggested.

One township resident who has actively lobbied to be selected for planning commission membership, but was passed over, is Cleaver’s neighbor P.J. McGill of Rivendell Lane. McGill, a proud Democrat in the Republican-dominated township, has run unsuccessfully for several elective offices in years past. He was a candidate last November (2011) for a Board of Commissioners’ seat.

In an e-mail to The Post earlier during the day, McGill said he was unable to attend Thursday’s meeting because of a prior family commitment. It likely “will be a cold day in hell before I would ever get appointed to any board” in Lower Pottsgrove, he wrote.

“It won’t always be this way,” Cleaver claimed after the board adjourned. “Things are changing, the parties are changing, and it won’t be like this much longer.”

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Jan. 19 meeing):

• Board Appointments Prompt Questions, Angry Words
• Commissioners Welcome Lower Frederick To CMERT
• Jump Start: Township Wants Early Police Contract Talks