By Dr. Gordon Eck, Chairman, Republican Committee of Chester County
Dr. Gordon Eck
Thomas Jefferson said, “Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.” In recent weeks and months, there has been an ever-increasing awareness that things have gone far wrong.
Nationally, we are seeing trillions of dollars of unnecessary debt placed on the backs of our children and grandchildren. Out of control inflation, the highest in 30 years, on everyday goods like gas, meat, and eggs, has effectively wiped out any wage increases and amounts to an extra tax on every American. Businesses are still struggling to recover from the unnecessary and unfairly applied shutdowns from last year. New mandates are making it even harder for these businesses to survive. At the same time, our southern border is wide open with thousands of unvaccinated and unvetted people flooding into our country, only to be relocated throughout our country in the middle of the night. Halfway around the world, we have left Americans behind, at the mercy of the Taliban, and at home efforts continue to defund our police.
Locally, in addition to having to deal with the above issues, we are now faced with unprecedented challenges. Sexually explicit materials do not belong in school libraries. Until recently, this idea was taken for granted. In recent months, however, parents across our county and our nation have put a spotlight on some of the obscene materials found in their children’s schools. Impassioned parents flooded school board meetings and town halls. The National School Boards Association went so far as to suggest these parents were guilty of domestic terrorism for voicing concern. I’m here to tell you that these parents are not domestic terrorists. They’re American patriots, and they’re uncovering the inappropriate, gratuitous and sexual content that is being handed to your kids right here in Chester County.
These school board members, like Chris McCune (R) of the West Chester Area School District, are also pushing a divisive ideology which tells people to judge others by the color of their skin, instead of the content of their character. Call me old fashioned, but I don’t believe in judging a book by its cover.
Our “row” office holders, who are up for re-election this year, are not exempt from criticism. Controller Margaret Reif’s (D) mismanagement has cost the county taxpayers dearly. After overseeing the payment of $13 million for faulty Covid-19 tests, she failed to follow county protocol in transitioning to a new payroll system. This has resulted in many county employees, particularly long-term caregivers, Emergency Service workers, and county prison workers, being underpaid or not paid at all, while others have been overpaid, to the tune of $100,000. In addition to the personal hardship this has created, both the county’s general payroll manager and prison payroll manager have resigned. Compounding all of this is the fact that the County’s pension was overdrawn by approximately $1 million and the IRS imposed a $22,000 payroll-tax late fee earlier this summer.
County Treasurer Patricia Maisano (D) claims to have received a master’s degree in “Assessment and Evaluations” from Sheffield State University. The problem is Sheffield University is not a university but a diploma mill. Ms. Maisano refuses to provide any explanation. Clerk of Courts Yolanda Van De Krol (D) claims to have saved taxpayers $160,000 a year, while Chester County’s “Comprehensive Annual Financial Report” shows expenditures have increased by $123,061. Finally, Coroner candidate and non-physician Sophia Garcia-Jackson (D) has been complicit in conducting autopsies of our loved ones in a garage!
It’s time to end this insanity. This Tuesday, November 2nd, you have the chance to cast your votes for the qualified candidates we have put forth to serve you, while protecting your children. It is time, in the words of Jefferson, to set things right.
Thanks for the clarification, Christina. As an Independent voter trying to decide who to back, that odd comment Eck made stood out among all the unflattering ones thrown around out there these days. Odder still that he would make that comment knowing his team utilized the same facilities.
Ecks comments about schools and obscene materials sounds painfully familiar, as angry parents showed up to protest a “pornographic book” at the recent school board meeting… though the book is reportedly neither taught or even in school libraries in our district. But unsurprisingly, the two copies of that book are now stolen/missing from our public libraries.
As Chester County Coroner, I too would like to set things right. That is why I would like to reassure County residents that Dr. Eck’s statement about the Coroner’s Office is false. Autopsies for the Coroner’s Office are performed by board-certified forensic pathologists (specialized medical doctors) in the autopsy room of the Chester County Hospital (a Penn Medicine facility). In fact, the same pathologists performed autopsies in the same space when Dr. Eck was coroner. While the space is antiquated and does not meet accreditation standards, it is not a garage. It should also be noted that coroners and deputy coroners in Pennsylvania, unless they happen to be pathologists, do not perform autopsies and are not required to be physicians.