To The Editor,
As the most recently elected Kennett Township Supervisor, and I am responding to Chief McCarthy’s retirement agreement and some residents’ statements and concerns about transparency in Kennett Township.
I want to review the publically available information regarding the agreement signed on May 6, 2015 by Chief McCarthy. There was a news article (Chester County Press, May 15, 2015) in which, when asked, Lisa Moore was quoted that the contract was to pay Chief McCarthy unused vacation time, 6 months’ salary and medical benefits for a year upon his retirement.
An individual using a right-to-know request, which was honored by Kennett Township, was sent the agreement. As soon as a possible issue with the agreement was brought to the attention of the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors, a public meeting was held (our 4th public Board of Supervisors meeting of July), lengthy discussion and votes ensued, and the agreement under discussion was made public on the Township’s website that very evening (https://kennett.pa.us/blog/2015/07/29/chief-mccarthy-retirement-agreement/).
Since Scudder Stevens became chair of the Board of Supervisors of Kennett Township in 2014, we have had more transparency than ever before in Kennett Township. We now have the Township Checkbook online for all to see (https://kennett.pa.us/check-register/) and have robust and open discussions at public meetings of the Board of Supervisors. We notify the public of Executive Sessions and do our best to be as open as possible with topics we are permitted to discuss. As a reminder, prior to 2014: a supposed Township-hired auditor could not be found, Township finances were kept from the public under the guise of being a HIPPA violation, public questions at Board of Supervisor meetings were often met with ridicule, not answered, and once even resulted in having an ex-supervisor escorted from a public meeting by the Township police officer
Contrast those actions with the prior administration’s appeal of a right-to-know request to continue to hide the Township finances behind a supposed health privacy concern related to HIPAA, and it is clear that Kennett Township now has much more sunshine than it ever did before.
Richard Leff
Kennett Township Supervisor
When I was running for State Representative last year, I had the pleasure of attending Township meetings in many different area Townships. I can say from experience that the current Board of Supervisors in Kennett Township makes public discussion on every issue up for consideration an integral part of the meeting, which is not the case in Concord Township, for example. Making sure citizens have the ability to give their input and express concerns about local issues in particular is what is at the heart of our democracy.
Our elected officials and representatives are charged with the task of making decisions that benefit the larger community, and while not every decision will be popular, the management decisions need to be made with thoughtful and deliberate consideration. I have been impressed by the openness of Kennett Township, and I hope to continue that new tradition if I am elected Supervisor in November.