DV Journal

(From a press release.)

Delaware County Council recently appointed Dr. Albert Chu as the county’s Chief Medical Examiner.

The mission of the medical examiner is to conduct expert medicolegal investigations into deaths that occur under statutorily prescribed circumstances. The findings of these investigations are then independently shared with members of the public and relevant agencies to improve public safety and health. Chu will lead the Medical Examiner’s Office and its departments, including administration, autopsy, evidence, forensic investigation, and morgue operations.

Dr. Chu completed undergraduate and graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University and received his medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He then completed an Anatomic and Clinical Pathology residency at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital and a Forensic Pathology fellowship at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Maryland. Before becoming Chief Medical Examiner, he served as an Assistant Medical Examiner at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences in Houston, Texas, and as deputy chief medical examiner for the City of Philadelphia.

“The ultimate goal is to create a Medical Examiner’s office that optimally serves our stakeholders – including family members, funeral homes, organ procurement organizations, law enforcement, attorneys, courts, hospitals, educational institutions, and public health agencies – using employing best practices and utilizing up-to-date technology, “said Chu.

Steps to fulfill this goal include addressing staffing issues, training new and current employees, and developing policies and procedures that will allow the Medical Examiner’s Office to standardize and optimize best work practices. Future plans include designing and constructing a new, state-of-the-art facility to replace the county’s aging building. Relocation into this facility will allow the office to apply for National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) accreditation.

“Accreditation by NAME would be tangible recognition that we are successfully providing the highest quality of medicolegal death investigation for the county,” said Chu.

On November 7, 2023, Chester County voters will elect five judges to serve on the Court of Common Pleas, the county’s trial court that hear criminal prosecutions and civil cases — that include contract disputes, personal injury claims, divorce, custody, and local government appeals.

Such a critical position demands, not only a keen knowledge of the law, but also judicial temperament — a trait that includes objectivity, fairness, open-mindedness and ability to render decisions without bias or prejudice.  Having had the privilege of practicing law alongside Andy Rongaus for the past four years, I can attest without equivocation that he possesses such knowledge and attributes that qualify him to serve as judge.

Andy has over twenty years’ experience as a state prosecutor and government attorney in the criminal and civil practice areas.  He served as Deputy Chief Counsel for the Pennsylvania State Police and Chief Deputy Attorney General for the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General in Narcotics and Drug Law Enforcement.  Andy has also served our community as a volunteer firefighter for over thirty years.

Since joining our law firm as a partner, Andy has employed his skills as an outstanding trial attorney, representing police officers in federal civil rights lawsuits and labor disputes.  Outside the courtroom, he has also shown tremendous proficiency in advising public officials on governmental policies designed to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare.

Andy’s record of achievement as both a government and private attorney demonstrates his unquestionable commitment to law and order and the pursuit of justice.  For these reasons, I have no doubt that he will bring honor to the bench and implore all County voters to cast their ballot for him on November 7th.

The lack of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical volunteers statewide -including the Delaware Valley – is a crisis.

Since the 1970s, volunteer firefighters’ ranks in Pennsylvania have dropped from 360,000 to fewer than 37,000, state Sen. Frank Farry (R-Bucks) said previously.

“When you have higher call volume and fewer people responding, the demands get greater,” Farry said.

On Thursday, Chester County Commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell, and Michelle Kichline took a step to address that crisis by approving an ordinance enacting a tax rebate for volunteer members of Chester County-based fire companies and not-for-profit emergency medical services agencies.

The Active Volunteer Real Estate Tax Rebate Ordinance provides a financial incentive, in the form of a rebate, on Chester County real estate tax for first responder volunteers.

Volunteers can be an emergency responders, an administrative member of a fire company or EMS agency, or both.

“Generations of families in Chester County have made it their mission to serve their family, friends, neighbors, and community as volunteer firefighters and EMTs. It is a responsibility that requires extensive training and time, with a dedication like no other,” said Moskowitz. “This rebate is one way we can show how valued these volunteers are and add value for future generations of volunteer first responders.”

Chester County’s Active Volunteer Real Estate Tax Rebate program is based on a point system earned through emergency response calls, training, meeting attendance, public education activities, leadership roles, and other activities such as fundraising events. Attaining the maximum =points available will result in a 100 percent rebate on the county property tax, with lower point levels resulting in a lesser percentage tax rebate.

Volunteers must be residents of Chester County who volunteer with an eligible agency.

Maxwell said, “This real estate tax rebate is one of the commonwealth’s most comprehensive tax incentive programs and is the only such program in southeastern Pennsylvania. Our first responder volunteers are there for us every hour of every day, saving lives, and are very deserving of this. They give back to our communities in such an important way, and the least we can do is give back to them in the form of a rebate.”

Kichline added, “Chester County is the fastest growing county in Pennsylvania, so our population growth increases the need for first responder services – at a time when volunteerism is waning. We must find ways to keep our volunteers and attract new ones. By signing this ordinance today, Chester County is taking an important step to retain the expertise of the volunteer first responders that we have now and to incentivize those who are seriously thinking of becoming volunteers.”

The ordinance signed by the commissioners is effective immediately, with volunteers being eligible for a real estate tax rebate applicable to the 2024 tax year for service provided between January 1 through December 31, 2023. County staff will contact all eligible volunteer fire and EMS agencies to share the criteria and application process for the real estate tax rebate program.

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Now that escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante is back in custody, DVJournal asked readers for their thoughts.

Cavalcante was on the loose for two weeks after escaping from Chester County Prison in an identical way that another inmate used in May. Cavalcante, who is 5-foot tall, was able to crab-walk up a narrow passageway to access the roof, then jumped to another roof in a less secure section of the jail, pushed through razor wire, and was free.

While on the lam, Cavalcante stole a van and drove to northern Chester County. He contacted friends to get help and stole items, including a rifle.

More than 500 state, local, and federal officers, including air assets, high-tech equipment, horses, and K-9 officers, participated in the search. A Belgian Malinois finally apprehended Cavalcante as members of state and federal task forces closed in on him.

No civilians or law enforcement officers were injured.

“Thanks to all those who worked tirelessly to bring this search to an end. As for the escape, it’s time for a professional ‘debrief’ and analysis of systems to improve procedures, and that should be done in a nonpartisan fashion and not done to try to score cheap political points,” said Rich Heiland.

Eileen Potts Smith said, “My thoughts go to the officers who stood in the heat, climbed through the woods, dealt with bugs, went hungry, dealt with rain, and managed to catch him with not a shot fired. Hope they are given a well-deserved break. Great job, officers!”

Joyce Erbenich Starr said, “He should never have been here in the first place.”

And Kryssa Renninger Brasch said, “My thoughts go gratefully to the dog who subdued him! That K-9 unit deserves any reward money to spend on the care and training of those dogs!”

“The first day, I was worried if this would end up with another murder,” said Anita Edgarian. “Frankly, I am surprised how he didn’t hurt anyone to get inside a home to change appearance, steal a car, etc. He could have easily done so and got away the very first hour or two.

“I didn’t leave the kids at home by themselves and just checked the doors and basement windows,” she added.

“Mostly, people are mad at the leadership, and so am I,” Edgarian said. “Why is he here? Why wasn’t he deported? What is going on with the current DA’s Office and Sheriff’s Office?

“Apparently, both offices are a mess under Democrats, and people want accountability,” she said. “They are worried about their campaigns while dangerous escapee runs around. Were these offices just a stepping stone for a judge position?”

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From a press release 

Following the successful conclusion of the search for Chester County Prison escapee Danelo Calvacante, the Chester County Commissioners will hold Town Hall meetings for Chester County residents, to provide information on security enhancements at Chester County Prison, explain the emergency communication process for county residents, and to offer counseling services for those who have experienced emotional stress related to the escape incident.

The first two Town Hall meetings will take place on Monday evening, September 18 and Wednesday evening, September 20, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. at Pocopson Elementary School, 1105 Pocopson Road, West Chester, PA.

Attending the Town Hall meetings with the Chester County Commissioners will be Chester County Acting Warden Howard Holland, Chester County Director of Emergency Services Bill Messerschmidt, and a team from the Chester County Disaster Crisis Outreach Referral Team (DCORT) who will offer trauma-informed counseling support at the meetings and information on further counseling services.

“The nightmare of the past two weeks may have concluded with the capture of Cavalcante, but there are many questions that we know our residents have, especially those who live close to the prison.  These Town Hall events will serve to provide an update on prison security and emergency communication and will also give us the chance to listen to residents and answer their questions,” said County Commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell and Michelle Kichline.  “We stand ready to bring the resources of Chester County to bear, to support residents as they process and recover from this incident.”

Additional Town Hall meetings will be scheduled as needed, following the September 18 and 20 events.

Some Chester County candidates and officials took part in a day of service on July 20, Pennsylvania Day, as part of the celebration leading up to America’s 250th birthday in 2026.

Pennsylvania Day marks the day the commonwealth joined the United States.

America250PA, Chesco America250PA Commission, and Chesco250 invited residents to participate in several volunteer opportunities throughout the county. Chester County received a National Pennsylvania Day mini-grant from America250PA for one of the projects, the Sandy Hollow/Thornbury Farm Brandywine Battlefield Site Clean-Up.

Commissioner Michelle Kichline is the county’s liaison to the America 250 Commission.

Chester County has celebrated Pennsylvania Day for three years with various activities. This year Kichline planted parsley and hacked down thorny bushes in a field where a local food bank is growing vegetables for people who don’t have access to healthy food.

It also partners with Keeping Pennsylvania Clean to pick up litter from parks.

“And we are preparing for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country,” said Kichline. “Chester County was the first county.” It was named under a land grant from William Penn and also included Delaware County, which later broke away. That is why the City of Chester is named Chester, she added.

“So, we really think Chester County should be one of the celebration’s highlights,” said Kichline.

David Sommers, a Republican candidate for Chester County Commissioner, said, “Today was a great opportunity to give back to our community through service. To be a part of the America250PA event at Chester County Sandy Hollow Heritage Park was both rewarding and educational. The site played an important role in 1777 at the Battle of Brandywine during the American Revolutionary War.”

Volunteers at Sandy Hollow Heritage Park

Chester County joined various counties, towns, cities, states, federal agencies, and other groups around the country to celebrate the 250th anniversary—the Semiquincentennial– of the founding of the United States on July 4, 2026. Other activities marking the anniversary will take place in the coming years leading up to the historic founding of the republic.

And Roy Kofroth, the Republican candidate for Chester County sheriff, said, “The America 250 PA was such a great volunteer event. It gets volunteers from all over the county involved in projects that are crucial to maintaining our county. The project I had the opportunity to do was clearing a trail from Thornbury Farms to Sandy Hollow Heritage Park. This allows better access for visitors. I enjoyed the time I had with all the volunteers and will continue to do this in the upcoming years.”

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Looking for a healthy place to live?  Chester County may be it.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation deems Chester County the healthiest in the Commonwealth. And a survey conducted by U.S. News and World Report ranked Chester County’s life expectancy at 81 years, about four years above the national median.

The apparent promise of a healthy life may be a factor in Chester County’s continued population growth. Census data indicate that the county has continued to grow even as other Delaware Valley counties have lost residents.

Chester County Health Director Jeanne Franklin said the county is focused on “a multi-sector commitment to health and safety.”

“That’s at the county government level,” she said. “The number of topics we approach from a multi-sector perspective (varies) from human services to the (criminal justice system), drug and alcohol, health, and planning.

“We’re always working together to address a need, a gap, an opportunity, all angles, and it’s having an impact.”

The county promotes good health through its interactions with school districts, relationships with community leaders, and connections to the county’s nonprofit organizations. Franklin estimates there are some 3,500 nonprofits in the county.

The county has been successful in its efforts, she said, “because there’s such an integrated approach to many, many, many topics.”

Chester County is the wealthiest county in Pennsylvania. Americans in upper-income brackets theoretically have access to a better quality of health care.

But the county also includes a sizable population of migrant workers, a demographic that can skew poorer. Franklin emphasizes it’s important to meet their needs as well.

“In southern Chester County,” Franklin said, “we have a portion of the population that is migrant farm workers, or from other Spanish-speaking countries coming here to make a living, or to find the American dream, whatever that may be, or support their families.

“And they don’t know how to have a voice for themselves, being so new in the country. So even though we’d love for them to make those healthy decisions, they don’t know enough necessarily, and they don’t have a voice.

“So we rely on the non-government organizations that are already serving them and can speak on their behalf. They’re the boots on the ground that become the ears and the voice for pockets of the population that either can’t or won’t speak out.”

One such organization is the Kennett Library, which for decades has been serving immigrants with adult literacy programs. Since 1979 the program has assisted immigrants from 55 countries on five continents.

Amanda Murphy, the library’s marketing director, said the literacy program “means a lot” to the immigrant community.

“Not only are folks coming and getting an education or learning English, but they’re also getting their U.S. citizenship,” she said, “and they’re also finding a connection where they feel welcome, they feel accepted, and they are understood.

“We try our best to see that most of our important messaging is bilingual.”

Murphy notes that programs like the adult literacy effort enhance participants’ mental health and self-esteem.

“I don’t think that’s talked about enough and what that means,” she said. “I don’t think many people know what that’s like, to come to a place that is not your home. And you’re coming there with your good intentions. It’s a big life change, no matter what the transition or what someone’s story might be.”

Franklin said that since the start of the pandemic, county officials have become more attuned to mental health issues.

“People just outright lost their jobs,” she said. “After years of being productive, working individuals, they lost their jobs and realized they needed help obtaining food, shelter, etc. COVID-19 put mental health on our kitchen tables and forced us to talk about it.”

The county is paying attention to other health issues, including those affecting the school-age population.

Franklin said the goal is to encourage students to make informed and positive life choices.

“Instead of just talking about tobacco, we talk about healthy relationships, healthy decision making when you go off to college, or when you don’t get your first job that you apply for,” she said. “Encouraging them to be stronger growing adults. We have a very educated county, but it doesn’t come automatically.”

Franklin said the county’s effort is intended to promote both physical and mental health.

“It’s not all about the physical body,” she said. “It’s about educational attainment, the exposure to trauma, skill sets to maintain so you can keep a job.

“There are so many factors in health that are never about someone’s physical body. It’s about everything else around them.”

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Democrat Chris de Barrena-Sarobe and Republican Ryan Hyde, both former prosecutors, have earned their parties’ endorsements for Chester County district attorney.

Democrat de Barrena-Sarobe is a career prosecutor, first in the Chester County District Attorney’s Office and then for the Department of Justice as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Wilmington, Del. He spent his childhood in Sacramento and came to the area to attend law school at Temple University.

Hyde’s background is more varied. Hyde grew up in Arizona and worked in the pharmaceutical industry before attending law school at Villanova. In addition to his law degree, Hyde holds an MBA.

Ryan Hyde

“In the last few years, you’ve seen crime in Philadelphia starting to creep out more and more into the counties. And it’s not just Philadelphia; it’s Wilmington,” Hyde said. “I talked to a narcotics (officer) the other day in Kennett Square, who told me most of the drugs in the lower part of the county are now coming up through Wilmington. And I know a lot of stuff is coming through Baltimore.”

“And to be honest with you, the reason I even toyed with this idea (of running) is because I have a daughter, and I don’t want her growing up with all these problems.”

Hyde, now in practice at Hyde Tebay in Exton as a defense lawyer, was formerly a deputy assistant DA in Bucks County.

“We have to get back to when criminals didn’t come to Chester County because they were afraid of it, frankly. Because we took a very hard stance on crime,” Hyde said.

Chris de Barrena-Sarobe

Chester County Republican Chair Raffi Terzian said, “Mr. Hyde is an experienced attorney with substantial experience as a Deputy District Attorney. At the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, he led investigations and prosecutions of high-profile drug, theft, and corruption cases.”

“I want to raise my daughter in a safe community, and I’m afraid that’s slipping by every day,” Hyde said. “It’s getting worse.”

Hyde lives in Chester Springs with his wife, Kristen, and 7-year-old daughter.

De Barrena-Sarobe resides in Willistown with his wife, Christa, and two daughters, ages 6 and 8.

He had to quit his federal prosecution job to run for office and is working at Bellwoar Kelly, LLP in West Chester.

“When I realized there was an opening at the DA’s office, I thought that it was the next thing that I could do to really help the community I live in,” he said.

He hopes to bring his experience as a federal prosecutor and deputy DA to Chester County. Asked if crime is increasing in Chester County, de Barrena-Sarobe said, “It’s hard to tell because we don’t get real-time stats, and this is one of the things I’d like to work toward building.”

“But if you look at studies, crime is down across the board,” said de Barrena-Sarobe. “I don’t think there’s been a homicide in Chester County all year…My perception is there is no significant change in crime in Chester County.”

“My priorities would be to make sure that resources and funding for investigations and programs to protect children remain in place,” he said. “The DA’s office has an amazing child abuse unit and detectives that I worked with before when I was at the DA’s office from 2009 to 2015. I want to make sure protecting children remains a top priority.”

He would also prioritize gun crime and investigate straw purchases “to prevent guns from falling into the hands of violent criminals.” He did that work as an assistant U.S. Attorney in Wilmington. He also wants to invest in technology and programs to bring police and communities together and expand programs to treat addiction and mental illness. One program teaches teenagers how to act if they are in a car stopped by police, he said.

He also successfully prosecuted Delaware’s first fentanyl overdose death case after a trial. The defendant sold fentanyl-laced drugs, which killed a young woman.

“I’m the only candidate who’s prosecuted cases in Chester County,” said de Barrena-Sarobe.

Charlotte Valyo, Chester County Democratic Committee chair, echoed that.

“The Chester County Democratic Committee is proud to endorse Chris de Barrena-Sarobe for Chester County District Attorney. de Barrena-Sarobe is by far the most experienced candidate in the race with 13 years of prosecutorial experience both at the federal level and in Chester County,” she said.

Hyde wants to draw from his private-sector experience to improve the public service of the DA’s office. For example, he wants satellite DA offices to work with the police in high-crime areas. He would also like to see district court judges low-level hand crimes where defendants will be sentenced to probation, saving money and freeing up the criminal court docket for Common Pleas judges. Another idea is to start programs for young people in trouble to help them get back on track.

“I have a background in accounting and finance,” he added. “But I also did a lot of drug cases. And I had one of the first homicides by vehicles under the statute when it was formed. I was described as a creative prosecutor because I was willing to work with police officers (about) whether to charge somebody. We made iron-clad criminal complaints and indictments together.”

Hyde says the number of drug overdoses “terrifies me,” and he doesn’t support drug legalization. Instead, he says, his strategy will be “to educate people that this stuff is going on, even in Chester County.”

And, Hyde says, it’s time for a change.

“I think the Democratic Party has tried to take away law enforcement’s power to do good,” said Hyde. “You have to hold people accountable, and we’re getting away from that as a country. I think we need to get back to that, especially with law enforcement.”

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Pennsylvania is one of the big states that, like California and New York, is losing population. Part of the reason is the Delaware Valley, where Philadelphia lost more than 20,000 residents last year and a similar number the year before. Bucks and Delaware Counties lost population last year, too, while Montgomery County picked up a negligible 661 residents.

But in Chester County, it is a very different story. It is the top area for growth in the Delaware Valley, growing by nearly 5,000 people from 2021 to 2022.

What makes Chester County so different from the region and the state as a whole?

“I think the diversity of the economy is one of the benefits, for decades,” said Guy Ciarrocchi, former president of the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry. Chester County has agriculture, biopharma, life sciences, manufacturing, technology, and finance, with Vanguard as its largest employer.

And pharmaceutical and technology jobs have attracted many Asian and South Asian immigrants over the last few years. He said those immigrants have, in turn, brought their extended families to the area.

“We’re becoming a much more diverse ethnic community,” said Ciarrocchi. “The fastest growing portions of our community are Asians and Hispanics.

“Those communities have doubled since 2000 and are over 15 percent of the population,” Ciarrocchi continued. “So you take a growing economy, a community that has welcomed folks from India and China. It’s the same way the Italians came 100 years ago to work on the railroads… We’re growing and diverse, and I think it’s great.”

Brian O’Leary, executive director of the Chester County Planning Commission, summed it up in one word: Housing. He said new housing developments “came online” in West Whiteland, Exton, West Goshen, and Downingtown.

And it doesn’t hurt that Chesterbrook was just named the nation’s number-one neighborhood for the fourth year in a row.

Another positive is there were 1,500 more births than deaths in the county in that period.

Ben Gruswitz, manager of socioeconomic and land use analytics with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, cautioned not to read too much into the Census Bureau numbers, which are only estimates and are likely to be revised.

“I don’t put a whole lot of trust in this data,” he said.

And Ciarrocchi noted some warning signs for the future. Losing Brandywine Hospital and Jennersville Hospital closing and coming back as a hybrid might cause some people to have second thoughts about moving to Chester County.

“You may not see the growth you were seeing before if people realize the closest hospital is 30 minutes away or 40 minutes instead of 15,” he said.

Still, Gruswitz said, Chester County is an attractive area, with “a lot of land preserved” as open space. And even if people move into multi-family housing, they can take advantage of the open space. “You can be in some of these denser communities and still have access to open spaces, even if you’re not living in the most rural area of Chester County,” he said.

The question, says Ciarrocchi, a Republican who ran for Congress last year, is whether political leaders and policymakers can resist taking action and instead take a hands-off approach to Chester County.

“Politicians in office now ought to think long and hard about doing anything to upset the apple cart,” said Ciarrocchi. “This is where people want to come.”

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In a sharp rebuke to a lower court and the Chester County Board of Elections, Commonwealth Court Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon on Friday overrode its refusal to recount ballots as requested by petitioners after the November 2022 election.

“The Trial Court did not schedule a date and time for the opening of the ballot boxes as required. Instead, the Trial Court entered an order scheduling a ‘hearing,'” Judge Cannon wrote.

Instead of following the recount statute, Judge Jeffrey Sommer scheduled a hearing on the petitions and invited the Chester County Board of Elections–comprised of the County Commissioners–to respond to the recount petitions. Rather than moving forward with the recount, the Democratic-controlled Board of Elections objected and instead declared the election certified.

But as Cannon ruled, “Our Supreme Court has explained that boards of elections improperly certify election results while timely and properly [sic] petitions to open the ballot boxes are pending.”

That was the case Chester County Republican Commissioner Michelle Kichline made at the time. As an attorney, she said she reviewed the law governing elections before voting against certification while her two Democratic colleagues voted to certify it.

“Once those petitions are filed by voters, it stops the process,” said Kichline. [Democrat] Chester County Commissioners Josh Maxwell and Marian Moskowitz filed a brief in the statewide appeals court, repeating their arguments and continuing to fight to prevent recounts that would verify the accuracy of reported election results. At the same time, the Pennsylvania Department of State and Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth,  Al Schmidt, filed an uninvited brief also arguing that the petitioners should be required to allege a particular act of fraud or file petitions in every precinct in Pennsylvania.

When Sommer was considering the petitions for recounts, he demanded the petitioners produce some evidence of fraud in the election. Again, Judge Cannon wrote, he erred. The recount statute states that “[i]t shall not be necessary for the petitioners to specify in their petition the particular act of fraud or error which they believe were committed, nor to offer evidence to substantiate the allegations of their petition.”

After the hearing, Sommer rejected the voters’ petitions “with prejudice,” meaning they could not be filed again.

As for “prejudice,” that was what the petitioners said they encountered in Sommer’s courtroom. When presented with polling results that showed that 52 percent of American voters believe the 2020 election was fraudulent, Sommer said, “Well, they’re wrong. We know that. We know factually, even Republicans know that factually. . . Well, you may not, and the QAnon people may not, but people know.”

Ada Nestor, a voting rights activist who helped organize the petitions, noted that the voters do not need to allege fraud under the law. There must only be three voters from a precinct.

“It was disappointing to see the law misunderstood by Judge Sommer and by Democrats Moskowitz and Maxwell,” said Nestor, “as well at the Republican secretary of state, who also filed his brief with the Commonwealth Court.” Moskowitz and Maxwell are running for re-election.

She expects ballot boxes in the precincts under appeal will be opened and a recount conducted, which will either find the results are correct or are “unreconcilable.”

Kichline made the point the process was violated, and that was the key issue in the dispute, not the petitioners’ views on ballot security. She noted there were also petition challenges in neighboring Berks County which did follow the law and refrained from certifying its election. Eventually, a judge denied those petitions.

“I think it’s our obligation as a Board of Elections to follow the law,” said Kichline.  “We couldn’t certify the election until after the judge had a hearing and made a ruling,” she said. And Judge Sommer would not hear the case until the following week. “It was very, very clear to me that we couldn’t certify the election ahead of Judge Sommer having his hearing. I’m pleased to see that the Commonwealth Court reviewed this. There is very clear law and very clear procedure.”

Joseph DiGuglielmo, the lawyer for the voters, said, “I would hope that those politicians who have a duty to administer elections would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate transparency, integrity, security, fairness, and honesty in our elections. But they are doing just the opposite. The Pennsylvania Department of State and the county commissioners (who also sit on the county boards of elections) for 26 counties where recount petitions were filed, have fought against the voters of Pennsylvania and objected to the exercise of their rights under the election code.

“The key takeaway from the Commonwealth Court’s decision, which agreed with the petitioner’s interpretation of the recount statute, is that the Pennsylvania Department of State and county commissioners around the commonwealth cannot intentionally misinterpret the Election Code to shield their administration of elections from public scrutiny, he added. “The Commonwealth Court ordered the Chester County Court of Common Pleas to commence the recounts, which will likely start and finish within one day.”

“The Commonwealth Court ruling about petitions for recount is disappointing, especially in light of the Berks County decision.  The Chester County Board of Elections is reviewing the court’s decision before considering the next step,” said Rebecca Brain, a spokeswoman for Chester County.

Kichline disagreed.

“I think it’s our obligation as a Board of Elections to follow the law,” said Kichline.  “We couldn’t certify the election until after the judge had a hearing and made a ruling,” she said. And Judge Sommer would not hear the case until the following week. “It was very, very clear to me that we couldn’t certify the election ahead of Judge Sommer having his hearing. I’m pleased to see that the Commonwealth Court reviewed this. There is very clear law and very clear procedure.”

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