DV Journal

Chester County commissioners, sitting as the Election Board, have voted to certify the Nov. 2 election results. It voted 2-1, with Republican Michelle Kichline opposing, to certify the election.

Commissioners got an earful of complaints from irate residents last Monday. Michael Taylor, the solicitor for the Chester County Republicans took issue with comments from Charlotte Valyo, chair of the county Democrats, that were reported in a previous Delaware Valley Journal article.  Taylor said he does not disagree with the GOP Chairman Dr. Gordon Eck’s assessment that numerous issues occurred during the 2021 election, but rather, Eck learned of those issues from Taylor.

“Let me be clear, there are serious issues with the count in Chester County caused by the failure of the electronic resources employed by the county to tabulate the vote,” said Taylor. “I have voiced them to county staff and at yesterday’s Board of Elections Meeting. The concerns voiced by Dr. Eck were first raised by me. Simply because I am polite and professional in dealing with the Democratic solicitor and or county staff does not equate to agreement or compliance with the election process. It astounds me that such a conclusion could be reached and underscores the divisive nature of politics in 2021.”

The issues included mail-in ballots that were damaged by a machine that opens the mail and then taped together, jammed scanners, a bag of uncounted 265 ballots found days after the election, and problems with UBS computer sticks with votes stored on them. Taylor said he and the Democrat’s solicitor will work with the county commissioners and staff to improve the vote-counting process.

He also hopes to “ameliorate the distrust many Republicans feel with the mail-in ballot program,” said Taylor. “It is not a good program, but we have to learn to work within the rules of the game. I am concerned that too many of my party’s voters stayed home because of distrust or disgust with the mail-in ballots. Educating them on the program can only assist in bringing trust back to the public.”

More than 20 people told the commissioners they don’t believe the election results were accurate due to issues such as damaged ballots, a bag of ballots found days after the election, and discrepancies with the voter rolls.

“What is the worth of a single life?” asked a Malvern man. “Hundreds of thousands of men and women have sacrificed their lives for our right to vote.” His son-in-law lost a leg in Iraq. “What’s a leg worth? If they thought there were counterfeit bills in a pile of money, wouldn’t they do more than just recount the same money? What is the worth of your election oversight and integrity?”

Another resident said the “citizens demand a full forensic audit.”

Elaine Weber said the county has had the same issues with the last three elections because of mail-in ballots.

Suzie Smith said, “I don’t understand why two commissioners won’t agree to a full audit. It is unacceptable to certify this election with all these issues.”

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So, what happened on Election Day in Chester County? Ballot fiasco or “no big deal”?

Dr. Gordon Eck, chair of the Chester County Republicans, has requested a forensic audit of the November 2 election. He pointed to what he alleges were multiple ballot problems. His Democratic counterpart, Charlotte Valyo, dismissed those concerns and sees no need for further action.

The county Board of Elections is expected to discuss the issue on Tuesday, November 23, after Republican minority Commissioner Michelle Kichline sided with Eck and called for a recount. Residents who are concerned about election integrity have taken to the streets and held protests at the Chester County Courthouse to voice their concerns.

Republican Greg Simotas, who ran for a seat on the Downingtown School Board, was ahead in the vote count on election night. But by Wednesday morning his margin had dropped and eight days later the results showed he had lost at 45 percent to Democrat LeeAnn Wisdom, who ended up with 53 percent. Simotas is not claiming there was fraud. But he says the process of counting the ballots was not smooth and he was disturbed that misplaced ballots were found after the election, among other irregularities. He says an investigation is needed for people’s “peace of mind about the integrity of the election.”

“We need to get to the bottom of what happened,” Simotas said. The process was “inefficient and sloppy.”

A GOP press release outlined the details of alleged irregularities, which included mail-in ballots that were damaged by a machine that opens the mail and then taped together, jammed scanners, a bag of uncounted 265 ballots found days after the election, and problems with UBS computer sticks with votes stored on them.

Kichline sent a letter to her colleagues saying “these irregularities continue and must be fixed.”

“More importantly, the county must clearly identify and correct the failures of its election processes so that all our citizens may feel confident that their votes will be properly counted, recorded, and certified in future elections,” Kichline wrote. “Specifically, we must have answers about the chain of custody for every last vote cast in this election. The voters of Chester County deserve to know that their votes, whether sent by mail or cast in person, were properly handled and counted.”

Eck called the election process “a fiasco.”

“The issue is the process. How do I know my ballot wasn’t taped? What was the chain of custody? There needs to be an investigation. While this election had a 39 percent turnout, what will happen in 2022 when the Senate and governor’s race bring out 69 percent or more? How great is the magnitude of the problem? Election integrity is fundamental to our whole democracy,” Eck said.

But Chester County Democrats have another view.

“The continued insistence by the Republican chair that there were serious problems during this election is not just an effort to undermine confidence in election results, but also casts doubts on the performance of the Republican solicitor,” said Valyo. “Both the Republican and Democratic solicitors were included in all decisions made that affected the ballot counting processes. Both the Republican and Democratic solicitors agreed to the reconciliation process, the scanning process, and the determination that all ballots were secure at all times. Ballots have been counted and the results uploaded to the CCVS website and reported to the Department of State. As always there will be a bipartisan review of all election processes to improve procedures going forward.”

She also thanked everyone who voted and those who work at Voter Services.

“Chester County Voter Services has now uploaded election results that include all in-person, mail-in and absentee, provisional, and military/civilian overseas votes,” said Rebecca Brain, county spokesperson. “Throughout the ballot counting process, Voter Services staff has worked alongside both the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as experts from our voting system vendor, ES&S.  Having identified a discrepancy during the counting of mail-in and absentee ballots late last week, the county identified and isolated the cause of the issue, and recounted the impacted ballots in order to ensure every legally-cast vote was counted. These results remain unofficial until certified by the Board of Elections.”

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Chester County controller Margaret Reif’s mismanagement is creating a host of financial problems that are not only costing taxpayers, but snowballing into other headaches, according to one county commissioner.

Commissioner Michelle Kichline says Chester County’s pension was overdrawn by approximately $1 million at one point under Reif’s management. The commissioner also noted that the IRS hit the county with $22,000 in payroll-tax late fees in late June.

The county is also paying penalties for delayed payments to vendors, has seen nearly 50 percent turnover of controller staff positions, and operated with unreconciled financial books from June until October, she said.

These revelations come on top of public scrutiny Reif faced in July for payroll problems. Initially, numerous county staffers either did not receive their paychecks on time or were underpaid. Soon, overpayments to other employees began to pop up, totaling over $100,000.

Reif said the problems affected about 10 percent of the county’s workforce after the county contracted with Lancaster-based Inova Payroll of Pennsylvania to manage salary disbursements. According to Kichline, Reif presented the idea of switching payroll vendors as a means to “modernize” the county payroll system and asserted it would be “net neutral” in terms of cost.

“I can assure you it has not been ‘net neutral,’” the commissioner said.

According to Kichline, the employees most impacted are those at the county prison, the Pocopson Home long-term care facility, and Chester County Emergency Services. She observed workers at these departments not getting proper overtime pay nor getting hazard pay for working in high-risk environments during the coronavirus pandemic. Others who were overpaid had to work extra, uncompensated hours for months to make up the difference.

“These people rely on this money for their rent, for their mortgages, for the food on their table,” Kichline said. “It’s been really, absolutely disheartening to see what these people are going through. They’re very upset.”

The commissioner said she’s been inundated by messages from county staffers struggling under the circumstances.

Workers who have been with the county for more than two decades wrote a letter discussing the administrative burdens the payroll glitches have caused them. Along with improper compensation, some are having trouble ascertaining how much time off they can take—an increasingly important issue as the holiday season nears.

In the wake of these concerns, both the county’s general payroll manager and the prison payroll manager have resigned.

Kichline and other county sources have also stated that, while each Chester County department is typically allocated $8,000 for legal expenses, Reif’s allotment, per her request, exceeded that standard legal budget by over $10,000 during a six-month period in 2020. They indicated that the solicitor receiving those funds was Tony Verwey, now a Democratic candidate for judge in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas.

Kichline said she finds that arrangement “ironic” insofar as she recalls Democrats criticizing the Republicans who led the county until 2017 for hiring politically connected attorneys. She said she has long called for reviewing the present system that allows such attorneys to profit from the county and then shortly go on to run for county office.

“Profiting at the public expense is not a good thing,” she said.

The county’s contract with Advaite, a Malvern-based biotech company, has also made unsettling headlines. In April of last year, Chester County entered into  agreement  the agreement to provide the county health department with COVID-19 rapid antibody test kits. After the tests were administered, however, many probable false-positive results were seen.

While the county halted its order of a million kits after reportedly receiving only 102,000 of them, it paid more than $13.2 million of the agreed upon $20 million. One source has said that Advaite actually delivered no more than 79,000 of the kits on schedule and that the county’s purported overpayment to the company is now the subject of litigation in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas.

Reif has clashed with Chester County Commissioners Kichline, Josh Maxwell and Marian Moskowitz) over which of their offices has proper authority to investigate the contract and ensuing payments. But while Reif has contended she should probe this purchase that the commissioners approved, her Republican opponent Regina Mauro has criticized her for disbursing millions of dollars of taxpayer money to Advaite and not questioning the contract from the start.

Specifically, Mauro has raised doubts about the corporation’s short history (about three years), its modest staff, its unidentified clientele, and its unrelated general focus (on diagnosis and treatment of eye conditions).

“As the county’s fiscal watchdog, the controller is expected to prevent or advise against anything that poses a financial risk or loss, especially in difficult times when funds are most needed,” Mauro said. “While it was not within the controller’s purview to negotiate or enter into this agreement on behalf of the county, as its fiscal watchdog, the controller would have been expected to have a powerful voice making the case against taking on such obvious risk, or at least insisting on specific provisions that would protect the county.”

“I have heard directly from many people who have had problems with the way the controller has run the office,” Mauro said. “Sadly, the first thing some ask me is if I know what I’d be getting into, because it is that bad. It is regrettable that all are in fear of reprisal should they come forward to testify on the condition that the office is in, and all the costly mistakes that have been caused by the controller’s decisions.”

Reif’s office did not return a call for comment.

This article first appeared in Broad and Liberty.

A Havertown caller into my radio show said it best discussing the disconnect between working class Philadelphians and their suburban, upper-middle class expatriate peers.

“There’s no greater tyrant than the white, suburban soccer mom. They move out of the cities, and as long as they’ve got bike paths, Whole Foods, and SUVs — everyone else can burn in Hell.”

As a suburban Chester county resident, I had a hard time disputing his blunt point.

How else can you explain the complacency among many in Pennsylvania today? A governor who has the economy in a headlock, limiting the movements and activities of every citizen young and old.

He shows no sign of restoring normalcy or constitutional liberties because, you see, “it’s too risky.” He’s moved the objective from flattening the curve and keeping our hospitals from being overwhelmed to “eradicating the virus” or waiting for a vaccine.

Those goals cannot be achieved. There can be no eradication of a virus. It will mutate as the flu does every season, or it will fizzle out as SARS did years ago. But Gov. Wolf can’t control that outcome. A vaccine might never be developed. They haven’t found one for HIV, for example.

Still, my suburban neighbors seem largely unmoved. Why? Because they don’t feel the pain or the hurt of a lockdown. Oh, sure, maybe they’re scared of getting sick, or maybe they’re afraid of their elderly loved ones getting sick. I worry about that, too.

But that’s a well-off, suburban person’s worry because they have nothing else to worry about.

So many of these people have jobs already based out of their homes. Six-figure incomes tied to some large corporate entity that still operating as they always have. One parent brings home the handsome direct deposit while the stay-at-home parent posts on social media about every day being a holiday now that the “kiddos” are home full time.

Their biggest challenge is making sure everyone else is doing their part in the Starbucks drive through by wearing masks and thoroughly cleaning the cart handles while they scout home décor at Target.

It is a blissful ignorance with no concern of what life is like for the waiter or waitress, the bartender or the busboy, the small retail owner, the dairy farmer or even the middle class guy whose company didn’t let him go but severely cut his hours and wages.

These are working-class people who aren’t “poor” per se, but they’re broken hearted.

They’re losing their dignity, their security and their independence as they wait on the phone for the unemployment office to process their weekly handout. Or worse, there’s not even a handout. Just belt tightening and praying they can hang on.

There’s a big divide in our city suburbs. It’s not just about haves and have-nots or the employed versus the unemployed.

It’s about a culture of working class versus working comfortable. A proud south-Philly-turned-suburban friend who’s been in politics all his life spoke of the disconnected suburbanite this way.

The suburbs used to pull us together — a mix of urban and rural. You either hunted or knew someone who did. You either grew up in a Philly neighborhood or you knew someone who did. A short drive and you were in the countryside or downtown.

But now they’ve become their own enclave, seeing themselves as superior to the rural communities and having a mix of benign neglect or liberal guilt for the poor in the city. They are the people who allow politicians like Wolf to tear us apart.

These detached, graduate school, educated elites who have a disdain for the very society and culture that allowed them to succeed and thrive in the first place. They used to be the glue that joined communities together. Now they are the aloof.

They’re not political. They just don’t care. They don’t have to. They’re the perfect citizens for a tyrant who wants to maintain full control.

By the time it upsets them, it’ll be far too late.