Paul Greco and Election Day in Trappe

Several residents of Trappe have forwarded to me an e-mail from Paul Greco titled "Make Trappe Great Again" and have commented they are upset that Mr. Greco sees fit to "put down" their town. And after reading the e-mail I can see why. These folks went on to say they think Trappe is a great place to live but they do not like the traffic congestion and want it addressed prior to additional development.

Obviously Mr. Greco feels differently when he writes "For the last two years Borough Council has systematically moved to isolate us and roll back the advances of the last fifteen-plus years. Rather than a Council suited to the challenges and demands of 2007, this Council seems happy to conduct business as if it's 1977".

One person who wrote to stated "Well if lower taxes, fiscal prudence, and making sure the residents can get out of their driveways and their developments is such a bad thing, so be it. I do not want more development until we address traffic problems".

But more important than anything is that tomorrow is election day in Trappe. Fred Schuetz, Paul Edwards and Lew DiPrete deserve a chance as Council Members. But Matthew Watson has a conflict of interest in being a realtor who has until recently, advertised himself for sale to developers at his employers web site. He removed that reference after it was reported on this Blog.

And in my opinion that conflict of interest coupled with Mr. Watson's attendance record is a good enough reason to write in Stu Strauss when you vote.

According to the meeting minutes of Trappe Borough, as a Councilperson Mr. Watson in 2004 was absent 4 out of 13 meetings; in 2005 he was absent 4 out of 13 meetings; and in 2006 he missed 7 out of 14 meetings. In January and February of 2007 Mr. Watson was absent but when he decided to run for re-election as part of the "Trusted Team" he only missed one more meeting up until now.

And the meeting minutes of the Collegeville-Trappe Public Works Committee show Matt Watson's Official Attendance Record for 2004 that he was absent 8 out of 12 meetings attending 4; For 2005 that he was absent 7 out of 12 meetings attending 5. He was removed by a unanimous vote of Trappe Council in June 2006 due to poor attendance. He could have voted against replacing himself but you guessed it ... he was absent from Council ... and Mr. Watson did not cite a reason for his absence.

And according to these same meeting minutes Matt was Chairperson. In my eyes that is a very poor attendance record and it does not cover the period that he states all of those deaths in his family. And if there were these many deaths not one person at Trappe Borough and/or CTMA/Public Works knew about it until many months later after Mr. Watson's attendance record was brought forth by his critics. According to sources at both Trappe Borough and CTMA/Public Works, Mr. Waston would make contact late in the day stating he would not be attending the respective meeting but citing no reason as too why.

On the other hand Stu Strauss has a near 100% attendance record for both CTMA and Public Works as a member of those committees. Strauss (along with the Trappe Representatives) have uncovered many overcharges made to the Trappe Ratepayers and Residents and has ensured that there will be no rate increases in sewer or water until there is fiscal responsibility brought to the local utility for sewer, water and other services. And that includes the illegal charges made to the pension plan for the non-uniformed workers of Public Works.

If you are a voter in Trappe do yourself a favor ... mix it up ... give Fred Schuetz, Paul Edwards and Lew DiPrete a chance but do not vote for Matthew Watson. Write-in Stu Strauss and keep an assemblance of balance in Trappe Politics.