Local Politicians in Norwood Neglecting Responsibilities

Last August was when Republican Councilman George Reed was charged with six counts of failure to file sales tax returns. He was also charged with six counts of failure to pay withheld state income tax and had not paid a citation from 2009 for operating a business without a valid sales-tax license. That's just the beginning. According to court documents, he was charged with 30 counts of tax evasion totaling more than $37,000. It was just reported yesterday though in The Delaware County Daily Times what a mess this has left the borough of Norwood in.

Norwood, Pa's Republicans a No Show-What This Means For Norwood

Although Republican Councilman George Reed resigned and moved out of Norwood. However, the way Norwood Borough is set up, unless their minimum number of council members are present, nothing official can be passed or accepted, including George Reed's resignation. Because of this, they cannot elect a new council member either. So every meeting, all the Democratic members show up, and none of the republican's do, leaving a complete standstill to the borough's government. They have called for another meeting on October 4Th, 2010. If they are still a no show any bills and business will remain at a complete standstill.

Norwood, Pa's Republicans a No Show-Why This Should Concern Everyone, Not Just Residents of Norwood

Delaware County is a very large county, but split up into 49 boroughs, and 21 townships. Most of the boroughs are small, like Norwood. So if all the boroughs are run the same, what is happening right now in Norwood Borough spells big trouble for us all. Basically, by the republican council members not showing up, a mere three people, government in that borough is at a complete standstill. That's pretty scary. So let's say something happens in another borough that either one or the other party doesn't like? It is quite possible that they can just no show, and nothing will pass. I certainly wouldn't want my township to be unable to pay any bills, pass any bills or conduct any borough business for that matter just because four people decided that they didn't like what was going on so they just wouldn't show up. There must be some type of back-up in order to to avoid this kind of trouble. This is how Councilman John Hauger explained to people there to conduct business as reported by The Delaware County Towntalk:

"Due to the fact that a quorum is not present tonight, no borough business can be conducted. No bills can be paid, no contracts signed, no advertisements, nor any directions given to our professional staff. The reason for this is that the Republican members of this Council would rather engage in political theater and not deal with the resignation of Mr. Reed (Councilman George Reed). Mr. Reed's resignation must be accepted by a quorum so that a replacement can be named in a resolution and approved The Republicans would rather ignore the needs of Norwood Borough than deal with this situation,"

Imagine this happening where you live. Taxpayer's money hard at work again. While everyone else is showing up to do the job they are elected to do, a couple of people put everything on hold. I will stay on top of this story and see what becomes of Norwood Borough. I will do this particularly because it is the next borough over and I think it is very important to stay informed on this kind of matter so I know what to do if it happens here. There must be a way to put an end to this silliness, and it would be important to know how before it becomes an issue here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_County,_Pennsylvania
http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2010/09/29/news/doc4ca2ac302ba63272765615.txt
Adele Malloy Norwood Borough Council stonewalled Delaware County Towntalk:
http://delconewsnetwork.com/articles/2010/09/30/ridley_town_talk/news/doc4ca386806fe54491809921.txt