Matt Watson – Top Cop?

Click on image to enlarge

In our post of February 9, 2010 we pointed out that of all people to represent the law it should not be Matt Watson, Trappe Borough Council Member and all-around deadbeat. In our blog post we laid out a pretty convincing argument with the evidence. Well, once again the chickens have come home to roost!

We have from a very good source within the PSP that Matt Watson was recently investigated for impersonating a police officer by pulling someone over in a traffic stop and flashing his constable badge. This violates the law as a constable does not have the powers to conduct a traffic stop. Now according to our sources the only reason Mr. Watson was not charged is that the victim whom Mr. Watson violated felt intimidated did not want to press charges.

As we stated many times before Mr. Watson and the ‘Trusted Team’ have to go and there is no better time than during the next election. Mr. Watson should resign as a Council Member and certainly be removed as a constable!

The Sudden Republican

You may or may not know that the illustrious Mayor of Trappe Borough Connie Peck (pictured left) ran and won as a Democrat. Now word is she is suddenly a Republican. Change of heart? We don't think so. We think it is a page out of the Stagliano playbook as both Al and Terri Stagliano were long time Democrats (and still are) but of course registered as Republicans. After all we all know that while we have heard about the (soon to be) death of the Republicans in Montgomery County it just has not happened and if you want to get elected you need to at least register as Republican.

Which leads us to remind you the reader that when you are voting for folks like the Staglianos and/or Ms. Peck and you think you you are voting for Republicans but just remember the tale of the wolf in sheeps clothing.

After the last post ...

... I could not resist this!

The Tale of the Two Johns

I enjoy watching Jay Leno especially the 'Headlines' part of his show where you see the wackiest things people send in. You ask yourself 'what were they thinking'?!

Well I had one of those moments when a reader forwarded me two different mail pieces for the recent 'campaign' for the two Trappe Republican Committee positions. When I saw the mailer with the tag line the 'Two Johns'' and thought what the hell were they thinking about?!

The next thing I said was who in their right mind spends a small fortune for a committee position? As they say in the south ... that dog don't hunt.

So what is it? Is it the ego maniacs on Trappe Council (the self proclaimed 'Trusted Team') and if so what is Fred Schuetz (retired) and the other members of the 'Trusted Team' most of which make their living in the housing industry (or have a spouse in local goverment - Fred whose wife works at the Montco courthouse and Lou DiPrete whose wife works in Limerick and was part of that whole mess with David Kane) and benefit from deals such as Fred Schuetz's continuous push to relocate the Collegeville-Trappe compost site for no good reason. This will benefit a developer with land adjacent to the compost site and will benefit a property owner in Trappe wherein the land owned is a junkyard and environmental clean-up nightmare. More on this later.

What bothers me most are these people who make a living from or 'retire' to a goverment position only to suck money out of our pockets. For the first time in our history in this country more people are employed by the goverment then working in the private sector.

Time to wake up folks ... start in your backyard with the Trusted Team.

Trusted Team Not So Trusted

Well the Trappe Republicans have spoken and they have said that the Trusted Team cannot be Trusted. Jack Minster and Stu Strauss ran for the positions for the Republican Commitee representatives in Trappe as they beat the team that Fred Schuetz and the Trusted Team endorsed in a BIG way.

And I mean in a BIG way with lots of money and backing that resulted in a very professional campaign that was backed by more than Trappe folks. We smell Bob Kerns and Mike Vereb in this one as we did for the campaign Terry Stagliano. We will connect the dots later for all of this but for now please allow me to share the thoughts of a true Republican, Jack Minster. This e-mail was shared with us by one of our readers.

Dear Neighbors,

Tonight, Stu Strauss and I won the positions of Trappe Republican Committeepersons. One aspect of the election process I have always found vexing is how long it takes for local results to filter down. We learned it ourselves only ninety minutes ago and wanted to share the news immediately with those who gave me your email addresses during the campaign. More efficient communication with Trappe Republicans is one of our main objectives.

But most important to us are your voting requirements. If you have the type of professional or personal schedule that may find you traveling or otherwise disposed during election weeks, why chance it? Call us, we will run you out an absentee ballot. If you know someone who needs to get registered, we will help. The number of conservative Republicans voting for conservative Republicans absolutely must improve. Incidentally this year's Primary Election turnout in Trappe exceeded that of last year, which thrilled me more than this win.

Special thanks to those who came out and voted today, and please know that Stu and I will give you our best effort. Performance feedback on us, as well as all thoughts pertaining to Trappe GOP and local government truly is readily encouraged.

Yours truly,
Jack Minster

Wow, we are impressed with somone who has not even been on the job a day and reaches out like this. Someone who is a true Republican wanting to do good for the party.

John Pelosi deserved to lose as he did not represent the Republican party in Trappe ... hell he didn't even put out signs for the endorsed candidiates. And John Keleman ... well let us just say this is the second time he ran out of Trappe acting as though his ass was on fire! Good riddance!

Montgomery County Sheriff John P. Durante Passes

It is with much sadness that we heard of the passing of Montgomery County Sheriff John P. Durante. While we did not know him personally we do know people who did and from heard and read about his deeds as a husband, fellow human being and public law official he was just a fine example of great human being - period.

For this man to have been taken by the Lord at such an early age brings to mind only one thing ... heaven needed him more than we did ... we are not sure how or why but the plans of our God is his own. We viewed the tribute Facebook page for Sheriff Durante (you can see it here) and it alone is testimony to the lives this man touched.

He leaves behind his a wife (he always introduced her as "as my beautiful wife") and fabulous family he was so very proud of! Rest in peace Sheriff Durante as we salute you as the finest example of a human being ... you were taken from all of us much too soon.

Fox Guarding The Henhouse

Where did the phrase, "Like a fox guarding the henhouse" start? Trappe PA? No, just kidding as here is what it means and and how it started.

DON'T LET THE FOX GUARD THE HENHOUSE - "Don't assign a job to someone who will then be in a position to exploit it for his own ends. Said to one who entrusts his money to sharpers. The proverb has been traced back to 'Contre-League' (1589) and is similar to the Latin: 'Ovem lupo commitere' ('To set a wolf to guard sheep.') First attested in the United States in 'Poet's Proverbs' (1924). The proverb is found in varying forms: Don't put the fox to guard the chicken house; Don't let the fox guard the chicken coop; Don't set a wolf to watch the sheep; It's a case of the proverbial fox guarding the chickens, etc. The idea is expressed in the old nursery rhyme: 'Sleep, my little one, sleep. Thy father guards the sheep'." From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" (1996) by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).

Now, what if we told you that Trappe Councilman Matthew Watson is now a Constable. Yes, during the recent election Mr. Watson won 100% of the vote. Why you may ask? Well, three (3) people voted (including Mr. Watson) as a write-in candidate. It appears that there is a lot of shenanigans going on in Trappe (duh!) but the collusion between Trappe Republican Committee Representatives John B. Pelosi and Theresa Pammer and certain members of Trappe Council is inexcusable. It is the job of the committee people to find qualified Republican candidates for the vacant positions. Obviously not only did the committee folks not find anyone qualified to do this position but they did not let anyone else besides Mr. Watson and a couple of his cronies know (perhaps collusion) to very quietly slip his name in as a write-in candidate.

So you may say 'big deal'?

Well here is the interesting thing - after looking into the background of Mr. Watson in our opinion he is not trust worthy and should NOT be in any type of law enforcement let alone hold public office! If he is the duly elected constable, he will be quite busy serving himself court papers. The following is a list of the legal problems (most recent first) that Mr. Watson has had (last year he and his family were evicted of their home) with a link to the courthouse for details.

1) Federal Tax Lien - filed May 2009 - details here
2) Mortgage Foreclosure - filed August 2008 - owes over $220,000 - details here
3) Capital One Auto Loan - filed June 2008 - Automobile Repossession - details here
4) Federal Tax Lien - filed July 2007 - details here
5) IRS Federal Tax Lien - filed June 2007 - details here
6) Discover Bank - filed January 2002 - see details here
7) Sears - filed April 2001 - see details here
8) Drivers License Suspended - filed February 1998 - see details here - who knows what this was for?

In summary, this man has serious financial problems and at the very least Mr. Watson needs to resign as a Constable and if he refuses then he needs to be removed. We think he needs to resign all public positions as a person in debt often does things out of desperation and a position of trust leads to temptations. Afterall, perception is reality.

We Told You So

Well it appears that Fred Schuetz and gang are up to no good. See the story here at Whatsthe422.com!

Everyone dies ...

I have always valued the quote 'Everyone dies but not everyone lives'. I have valued this because it has and continues to serve as a reminder that we all have a responsibility to be inspired to make the effort to not only make our lives better but the people around us. Oh, I am not speaking of family (that is often easy) but the people who our neighbors, our community, our state, our country and all of the world.

We received news and with a heavy heart we must report that Steve Saviello of the infamous LIM-SF newsletter that was delivered via e-mail to those that subscribed passed away over the weekend. Our condolences to Steve's family and to those who loved him.

We must confess we did not subscribe to these e-mails but many people forwarded them to us. Let us say that Steve was indeed a great man who took the time to care. Steve lived his convictions and through his actions made this a better world.

So in dedication to Steve I urge all that read this to THINK how you can do more and contribute. And for God sake, tell the truth even when it goes against you.

“A good example is the best sermon.”
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist and writer

Tyranny in Trappe

It was reported to us that at the Trappe Borough Council meeting last Tuesday that Council President Fred Schuetz was on his own (meaning his other Trappe 'Trusted Team' cronies were not in attendance) and apparently Mr. Schuetz attempted to ram-rod through approval for $60,000.00 worth of playground equipment for Rambo Park. Up to this point council was not aware that this was on the agenda for a vote. It is reported that Council President Schuetz became rather annoyed when the rest of Council would not go along with his tyrannical plan.

Now at this time of the largest economic dilemma in 60 years we find it interesting and that Mr. Schuetz would be pettifogging about such things as playground equipment or taking care of his cronies by attempting to purchase a most certain super fund cleanup site to relocate the current compost site for Collegeville and Trappe and not thinking about easing the tax burden for Trappe residents.

Yes you heard it right - Mr. Schuetz is pushing to purchase a piece of land that is now a junk yard for cars (off 7th Avenue) so that he and the Trusted Team can take care of their cronies (in this case) a developer who wants to build single homes near the existing compost site but sees the current site as not very complimentary to a new housing development.

There is no need to relocate the current compost site as it is more than adequate space wise and the ingress and egress poses much less of a safety problem. But the hell with the taxpayers says the 'Trusted Team' let us once more do a dastardly deed to benefit ourselves and our cronies than the taxpayers whom elected us. The next time one of these clowns run for office note where you see their campaign signs (if you don't we will do our best to point it out to you).

Next post 'The Wisdom of Watson' and why this clown Matt Watson (who should have pulled out of this race when we gave him the chance) is more than enough to make the circus that has become Trappe Borough Council.

There is irony here when they usually say a few clowns short of a circus.

(Another) Calmity in Collegeville Borough

Here we go again with another financial fiasco in Collegeville. You may recall we reported that Collegeville Borough has knowningly kept pension money (over $45,000.00) for the Collegevile Police that should have been appropriated for the Collegeville Trappe Joint Public Works employees. Well now we have been told that Collegeville Borough knowingly has been collecting the Berkheimer Earned Income Tax for an unknown number of Trappe Residents and has been keeping the money for years!

At this point we do not have all of the facts but we know this has been going on for years and when Collegevile was once again caught with their hands in the bank account of Trappe Borough we know that all they could say we will settle this with an offer of a repayment plan that covers a few years (around $22,000.00) and offered repayment over a period of unknown time with NO interest.

What Trappe Council should be seeking is ALL of the money misappropriated to them over all of the years and demand it now or seek criminal charges against longtime Borough Manager Jeff Thompson and and 12 year veteran and now Council President Terrie Stagliano.

And thank God for Trappe Council Members Nevin Scholl and Steven Kurcik as if it was not for their pushing this issue it certainly would have been buried by the Collegeville cronies on Trappe Council. Namely Council President Fred Schuetz, Vice-President Matthew Watson, Lew DiPrete, Paul Edwards and perhaps the worst offender, Mayor Conne Peck.

In our next blog we will cover Fred Schuetz and his antics at the last Trappe Borough Council meeting and we are still working on our post for Matthew Watson as a financial deadbeat.

Irv Homer Dead

Longtime Philadelphia radio talk show personality Irv Homer has died.

Homer collapsed on stage Wednesday evening after delivering opening remarks before several hundred people at a program at Eastern University. He was rushed to Bryn Mawr Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was 85.

Sources say that he suffered a massive heart attack. KYW-AM reporter Dave Madden had worked with Homer at WWDB-FM and says Homer became a broadcasting legend in the Philadelphia area. Homer started out as a bartender and got his first job on WEEZ-AM in Chester. His last talk show on WBCB was Wednesday.

Irv Homer told it like it is (or was) and we loved hearing him and his no-nonsense views. He will be missed but his spirit will carry on.

Coy in Collegeville

We have been told by several sources now that the Collegeville Borough Manager, Jeff Thompson (left) has not been complying with the new right-to know law (see here) that went into effect January 1, 2009. In fact, we were forwarded evidence that not only has he not complied with the law but he is being defiant and has decided to not reply to the repeated follow-ups by some of the requestors. Well, that is a Denial of access and the court may impose a civil penalty of not more than $1,500 (per incident) if an agency denied access to a public record in bad faith. Just as an FYI the requestor had requested the financial disclosures for Terrie Stagliano. I wonder if Ms. Stagliano, as President of Council, gave the directive NOT to release those statements? Nah, she always complies with the law (cough, cough)!

Now this would appear not to be a very smart thing to do but we obviously are not talking about the sharpest tool in the shed here. Mr. Thompson got his willy twisted pretty good when Trappe Borough, in September 2006, sent a letter to Collegeville notifying them that they has shorted the CTJPW employee's pension fund to the tune of $45,000.00.

On October 4, 2006, Collegeville announced at their regulary scheduled meeting the following:

Collegeville Borough recently received a letter from Trappe Borough’s Solicitor requesting that Collegeville Borough pay $45,000 to the Joint Public Works employee’s pension fund. If the payment was not authorized at the October Council meeting Trappe Borough will explore litigation to recover the $45,000.

For the public’s information, the employees of Public Works are members of Collegeville Borough’s pension plan which is the PA Municipal Retirement System. This arrangement developed about 20 years ago because the Joint Public Works Committee was not a state recognized legal entity, thus they could not be part of PMRS and Trappe Borough did not have a pension plan. Collegeville Borough agreed to allow Public Works employees in the Borough’s PMRS plan. So as far as the state is concerned, Public Works employees are employees of Collegeville Borough. Financial aid from the state is received each year for the purposes of funding municipal pension plans. The financial allocation is determined by the number of employees and their salaries. The state aid received is distributed between Collegeville’s Police Pension Fund and PMRS. Recently, due to state legislation, obligations to the Borough’s pension funds have increased dramatically and the yearly allocation of state aid has not been adequate to satisfy both pension funds. The state aid received was used to satisfy the Police Pension fund, which is permitted under state law. State law allows the municipality to distribute state aid as it sees fit. The only requirement is that the state aid be deposited into a pension plan.

Collegeville Borough is currently seeking additional information from PMRS before making any decisions.

Well, after several months (early 2007) Mr. Thompson appeared at a Trappe Borough Council meeting and announced (and told the truth) that that Collegeville had indeed misappropriated monies that belonged to the workers pension at CTJPW and Collegeville kept for the police pension. He then proceeded to tell Trappe that Collegeville would reimburse the money by the end of the year. Trappe insisted that the money be paid back immediately or Collegeville would need to pay interest. So guess what - Collegeville then announced at a later Trappe Borough Council meeting that they had not taken any money and what they did was right and legal.

Trappe and their solicitors disagreed and filed suit against Collegeville and Lord knows where that stands? I am fairly certain that Fred Schuetz and the 'Trusted Team' have swept it under the carpet. They are too busy spending ridiculous amounts of money at Rambo Park handing money to Borough Engineer John Sartor (also a big contributor to their campaign) and the employees down at the CTJPW (who also donated to their campaign). We will have more on the dictatorship of Fred Schuetz and the 'Trusted Team' along with what appears to be the 'Gestapo' like ways of Borough Manager Tommy Ryan. More on this in the near future.

Trappe Election Results

The following are the results for Trappe Borough Council:

Rep - Trappe Council

1/1 100.00%

Under Votes	397
Over Votes	0
	Vote Count	Percent
Theodore Patrick	219	24.72%
Matthew Watson	229	25.85%
Catherine Johnson	218	24.60%
Nevin H. Scholl	220	24.83%
Total	886	100.00

Just for editification an under vote is when a voter chooses not to vote on a specific race or issue. An over vote is when a voter votes for two candidates in a race or connects the arrow for both "yes" and "no" on an issue. Pay attention to the under votes as it is important to what the current power is doing to continue their stranglehold.

A Planted Story

In case you missed the story in the Philadelphia Inquirer (and there is a great chance you could have missed the story as the circulation for the paper is is less than 20% in the area) that appeared on May 17, 2009 (see here). I do not think it was a coincidence that this story ran just before the election primary on the following Tuesday.

Now let me tell you straight up this is a planted story and the cast of characters here can only bring laughter! The irony here is so thick it is going to most likely take several posts to connect the dots.

Let me close this post in pointing out that in the what several people have pointed out to me that in the printed version of The Sunday Inquirer where the above story appeared there was a picture of Peck Electronics, owned by Trappe Mayor Connie Peck (a Democrat) and her Husband Bob. And guess what - prominently featured in that picture is a campaign sign for Republican Terrie Stagliano running for District Justice. Coincidence? You decide but also consider there was not a sign for the Democratically endorsed candidate.

Some Luck in Limerick

While we believe it was more than just luck in Limerick we are very pleased to hear the great news for the battered and abused citizens of Limerick Township that Tom Neafcy cleaned the clock of Renee Chesler by besting her with 36.50% of the vote compared to her 29.34%. That may not seem like much in politics but it is a good old fashioned a** whooping in a tight race ... and the Limerick Township race was tight!

We wish Mr. Neafcy the best in his bid this coming fall as he is a good and honest man and that is hard to find today in politics. If Ms. Chesler had any brains she would have followed David Kane when he left. All that education (BA and MBA from Eastern University in Saint David's PA) and they still have no common sense ... go figure. Oh well, now she suffers the humiliation of defeat due to her arrogance.

As we move towards November we will give you the skinny on all of the Limerick candidates as well as the surrounding boroughs and townships.

38-1-20 Race Results

The final numbers for the election are out and all of them can be seen here. Specifically here are the results for the Magisterial District 38-1-20 race and they speak for themselves.

Martin P. Dorminy
Total Vote Count: 96
Total Percentage: 3.10%

Terrie Stagliano
Total Vote Count: 777
Total Percentage:25.11%

Cathleen Kelly Rebar
Total Vote Count: 2,221
Total Percentage: 71.78%

The people have spoken and now we set our sights towards November. We have received a fair amount of e-mail asking us to check out Matthew Watson in Trappe who is running for re-election to Council. Our results will shock you and suffice to say that we will give Mr. Watson the long holiday weekend to really consider pulling out of the race and we will let it go - otherwise he is fair game.

The Forced Crahalla Endorsement

It seems that everyone in this area knows and loves Ben Crahalla, the current sitting judge for Magisterial District 38-1-20 who must retire as required by law, as he will reach the age of 70 in July.

In April 2009 the letter here (click to enlarge - after viewing use the browser back button to return to the blog) was mailed out wherein Mrs. Crahalla notes she feels compelled not only to set the record straight due to the misinformation being spread (most likely from the Stagaliano Camp since it benefited Ms. Stagliano) but to make an endorsement.

Mrs. Crahalla had hoped to stay out of this race and our sources tell us that for the past several years Mrs. Stagliano very heavily pursued Mrs. Crahalla for a personal relationship. In fact, we were told that none other than Albert Stagliano, husband of (and current Mayor in Collegeville Borough) Mrs. Stagliano showed up at Judge Crahalla's office demanding he resign so there would be no need for his wife to run in an election (apparently the Stagliano's thought they had it wired with the Pennsylvania Governor to appoint her). I have the feeling that did nothing to bolster that personal relationship.

In spite of all this Mrs. Crahalla did not wish to get involved but as she cites in her letter that she originally planned to remain neutral but, unfortunately, she intimates she was forced to take a position.

Once again a key endorsement not only due to a much more qualified candidate, Cathleen Rebar, but as with Mr. Draksler, an endorsement due to the tatics of her opposition.

A Ray of Class in Collegeville

In our blog posting of May 12th we spoke about the conflict of interest that occurred in January 2008 when Ms. Stagliano was appointed Collegeville Borough Council President (something she desperately wanted and needed as she crawled nearer to her goal for the DJ position) wherein her Mayor-Husband broke the tie for her.

Based upon what we read in the January 2008 meeting minutes for Collegeville Council and what we have heard, we concluded that the past President, Charles Draksler, was forced out by the Stagliano's.

Well we would say based upon the letter above we think our guess is correct. A very good letter with a lot of class ... but why would we expect anything else from a classy guy. Well done Mr. Draksler.

Disremembered Omissions II

To left is a copy of the Statement of Financial Interests form for Terrie Stagliano. These forms, by law, must be filed with the State for all persons holding public office and/or running for public office.

If you carefully review the form to the left (click to enlarge - use your browser back button to return to our blog) you will see that Ms. Stagliano left off her ownership and financial interests in Bella Flora (see internet listing here) and is registered with the State of Pennsylvania (see here) since 2005.

This business clearly should have been listed on the ethics form that Ms. Stagliano filed but once again why should she have regard for the law based upon her past actions.