DV Journal

Beth Stefanide-Miscichowski says it is time for a change in the Delaware County District Attorney’s office, and the county’s crime statistics prove it.

The Republican candidate for DA issued a statement Tuesday drawing attention to the number of murders committed in Delaware County last year.

“In 2022 – the last full year for which there is data – there were more homicides in Delaware County than in Chester County, Montgomery County, and Bucks County combined,” said Stefanide-Miscichowski. “According to the Uniform Crime Report (UCR), there were 45 murders and non-negligent manslaughter cases in Delaware County in 2022, versus 44 combined for all the other counties.”

Stefanide-Miscichowski, a former assistant district attorney now in private practice, added, “Public safety in our county has collapsed since DA Jack Stollsteimer took office in 2020.”

“Every day, we see headlines about crimes that shock our communities and consciences, from thefts and robberies to carjackings and homicides. DA Stollsteimer has shown that his priorities are political and ideological – not pragmatic and results-focused. Since 2020, the county justice system he runs has gone from supporting law enforcement, denouncing crime, and advocating punishment for offenders to one that supports criminals, allows them out on low or no bail, and reduces the prison population by one-third. Is it any surprise violent crime is skyrocketing?”

Asked for his response, Stollsteimer, a Democrat running for a second term, downplayed the issue.

“As everyone in local law enforcement knows, Delaware County always has a higher homicide rate than the other suburban counties,” said Stollsteimer. “In fact, for each of the last 10 years – no matter who was the DA or what their party registration – Delco has reported more homicides than its sister suburbs.”

Stefanide-Miscichowski, however, said it is time for solutions, not excuses.

“Mark my words – if change does not come soon, Delco will be a shell of what we have always known it to be – a safe place to own a home, raise your family, and thrive in a community. On November 7th, we must vote like our lives and the lives of those we love depend on it. They do. Vote for your neighbor who had their house broken into. Vote for your coworker who had their car stolen. Vote for the coffee shop you visit every morning that was robbed. Vote for the teenager in Upper Darby who was murdered earlier this year and whose killer still remains at large.

“A vote for all of them is a vote for the leadership and accountability I will bring to the Delaware County DA’s office on my very first day in office. The time for change is now,” she said.

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 From a press release

Delaware County Council unanimously voted to adopt a resolution denouncing hate crime in Delaware County during its public meeting on September 20, 2023.

Antisemitic vandalism incidents have been reported in Delaware County recently, and according to data compiled by the Anti-Defamation League, Pennsylvania overall saw a 65 percent increase in antisemitic incidents of assault, vandalism, and harassment in 2022. Other hateful behavior has occurred and is occurring in Delaware County and state-wide. According to data maintained by the Pennsylvania State Police, Pennsylvania saw a sharp increase in hate crimes in 2021, with 255 incidents reported, almost as many as the previous three years combined.

In 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raised civil rights violations, including hate crimes, to its highest-level national threat priority, and preventing and prosecuting hate crimes is a top priority for the U.S. Justice Department.

The resolution states that current Pennsylvania law is inadequate to prevent this surge of hate crimes, and stronger legal protection is necessary to protect the residents of Delaware County and calls on Delaware County residents to stand up against hate.

In part, the resolution reads:

Whereas, bigotry, violence, hate, and racism do not align with the values of Delaware County Council and our community and they have no place in Delaware County and will not be tolerated.

Whereas, hate crimes instill fear across communities and undermine our democracy; and we believe that the vast majority of County residents are as appalled as we are by these crimes, and it is only a small group of persons who are responsible for trying to spread hate in Delaware County.

In the resolution, Council urges state lawmakers to promptly pass the package of anti-hate crime bills (including HB 1024, HB 1025, HB 1026, & HB 1027) currently being considered in the Pennsylvania Legislature. Council also urges all residents to speak up against hateful behavior so that we may create a more just, peaceful, and inclusive society which will benefit everyone.

“We can no longer sit silently,” said Delaware County Council Member Richard Womack. “We all know that hate crimes do exist, and we must be outspoken, and we must call that out, and that is what we are doing here today. When I look around our county and I see that people are being targeted because of their race, because of their religion, because of the sexuality, there is something wrong. This Council will not stand for this. We will speak out against it. We will not stand for it.”

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On Monday, the sun shone brightly as Delaware County officials observed the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, just as it did that fateful day 22 years ago.

The Delco remembrance featured a color guard, bagpipes, speeches and wreaths at the memorial in Rose Tree Park.

District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer connected the 9/11 attack on America to current events, while praising the bravery of the first responders who ran toward danger in 2001.

“It was a stark reminder that there are people in this world who hate us simply because of what we believe,” said Stollsteimer. “There is truly evil that exists in this world.”

It was a shocking event, the DA said, because, after the fall of the Soviet Union, people thought the world would come together.

“The threat to our freedom, the threat to our way of life, is only being re-invigorated as we speak. There are nations now in this world who hate how we live, who hate who we are and hate the freedom we all espouse,” he said.

“You can see that in the rise of China,” said Stollsteimer. “You can see that today when the leader of North Korea is meeting with the thug who runs Russia, Vladimir Putin, to give him more weapons to kill people in Ukraine.”

“Ukraine’s fight today is our fight,” said Stollsteimer, who noted his mother’s family immigrated from Soviet Ukraine after being held in a Nazi slave labor camp during World War II. “Because we have to stand together with everyone who believes in freedom because this is going to be the fight of the 21st Century.”

“In the DNA of every Ukrainian is the thirst for freedom,” he said. “The Russians have been trying for 300 years to stamp out Ukrainian culture, and they have failed, and they are going to continue to fail. What you’re seeing today, ladies and gentlemen, is Ukraine’s finest hour.”

Bagpipe players Brian Gilmore, with the Upper Chichester police (left), and Robert Cleary, with the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office.

“How many times do our military leaders have to tell us that China is arming for a war before we take it seriously?” asked Stollsteimer. “How many times do we have to hear our leaders tell us that they have heard from Russian and Chinese leaders themselves that they believe American Democracy is going to fail in the 21st Century and that the era of the autocrats is just beginning.”

“Those of us who lived through 9/11 and remember what it was all about, it was about average citizens, men and women who serve every day as first responders, doing everything they could because they believe in what this country is all about,” said Stollsteimer. “We know what freedom brings. We have to be ready to fight for it.”

“As I reflect on this day, I’m reminded of the story of an Army lieutenant who, five days before that vicious, villainous attack on our nation, was actually in the Pentagon,” said Col. Arthur L. Jenkins Jr., director of Veterans and Military Affairs for Delaware County. “And he reflected upon the fact, a mere five days later, he could have been in the Pentagon at that time when the plane hit…That Army lieutenant was me.”

“I’m very grateful to be with all of you today. For me, as I reflect on that cathartic moment, it was a defining moment. It was whether that defining moment would overwhelm me in a morass of dark feelings and emotions or could I take that defining moment and use it as a motivating force?”

Council Vice President Elaine Schaefer said they were paying tribute to national heroes and the county’s first responders.

“We will never forget that tragic day when almost 3,000 men, women and children were taken from us in a cruel and violent terrorist attack on our land,” said Schaefer. They share their sympathies with those who lost a loved one that day. She called 9/11 “horrifying and surreal.”

“That day, first responders ran into a burning and crumbling building without a second thought,” she said. “While most of us run from danger, they bravely ran into it. While it’s painful to remember, we must keep the memory alive for generations to come…to keep the legacy of these heroes alive.”

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Philadelphia/Delaware) said, “When I think back to that day, I instantly remember how our community and our nation came together in the face of that tragedy. Yes, we remember the horror. Yes, we remember the awe as first responders ran and ordinary Americans raced into the breach to help protect their neighbors. The urge to connect with neighbors and friends was strong…That evening, we found comfort in an inter-faith service that had been quickly arranged by our community leaders.”

Scanlon said she’s sponsored and passed legislation so that the victims of 9/11 have medical support and compensation they need.

“We must always put our shared commitment to our national security, to ensuring our preparedness, our responsiveness and our recovery capabilities, to put all of that above petty politics,” said Scanlon.

Echoing Schaefer, Scanlon said that people who remember what happened on 9/11 need to teach the younger generation about it.

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From a press release

Delaware County Council formally introduced Col. Arthur L. Jenkins Jr. as the county’s Military and Veterans Affairs director during their September 6 public meeting.

Jenkins graduated from the Pennsylvania State Officer Candidate School (OCS) program and was commissioned as an Officer in the Medical Service Corps.  His most recent assignment was serving as the Taskforce Medical Commander for Operation Allies Welcome. A former Commander of the largest Wounded Warrior Company in the Department of Defense, he is also a Carlisle Scholar graduate of the United States Army War College.

Col. Jenkins will lead the County’s Military and Veterans Affairs Department, which serves Veterans and their families, with a focus on increasing awareness of the benefits and resources available to Veterans and their dependents.

“Veterans were major contributors while serving their country and they want to continue contributing long after their distinguished military careers have come to an end,” said Jenkins. “Essential to this task is ensuring that each Veteran is aware and informed of the vast resources available to them.”

Jenkins has set goals for he and his team to increase awareness surrounding the office, participate in military-affiliated events throughout the community, establish periodic gatherings for Veterans to connect and be celebrated, and connect with the county’s elected officials and organizations to connect residents with his department.

“There are far too many Veterans within Delaware County whose stories of extraordinary service are untold and unsung,” said Jenkins. “Our office will also serve as a platform to acknowledge them and convey their incredible stories!”

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This article first appeared in Broad + Liberty

Delaware County’s spending on outside attorneys last year totaled more than $3 million, reaching new highs for a trend that began in 2020 when Democrats took the majority on the county council.

The numbers mark a sharp divergence from 2019, the last year in which Republicans maintained a majority on the county council, where spending on outside legal help totaled $402,000.

Since then, that category of spending has skyrocketed by almost eight times as much.

2019 — $402,000

2020 — $2.2 mill.

2021 — $2.3 mill.

2022 — $3.17 mill.

When Broad + Liberty first reported on this issue looking at the jump from 2019 to 2020 spending, the county said it was affected by the pandemic as well as other one-off circumstances.

“Several significant litigation matters, along with unusual costs associated with the county-wide reassessment, the 2020 election and the organization of the new County Health Department contributed to the increase in legal costs,” county spokeswoman Adrienne Marofsky said at the time.

Then, when examining the 2021 spending, the county pointed the finger at the Republicans previously in power, saying the legal spending was for “a wide ranging set of issues, most of which had not been addressed by the previous administration,” according to County Solicitor Bill Martin.

He cited acquiring the largest park in the county via eminent domain, the recent county-wide reassessment, issues associated with the Aqua takeover of the Delcora wastewater management authority, restructuring union contracts, and the de-privatization of the county jail.

When questioned this year about the $3 million tab, Martin said, “Many of the items from past years remain active. The litigation to block Aqua’s sweetheart takeover of DELCORA continues, with the litigation proceeding on multiple fronts in the PUC, Commonwealth Court and Common Pleas court. The litigation related to the multiple abuse cases brought by former residents of the Juvenile Detention Center continues. All of these cases are triggered by events which occurred prior to the time when the current County Council took office.”

Martin did not answer a question about whether this level of outside legal assistance represented a new normal, or whether the county’s legal spending might wind down to previous levels.

Joy Schwartz, a Republican running for county council this year, isn’t buying Martin’s reasoning.

“This County Council uses our own tax dollars against us, those taxpayers who dare to ask basic questions about their agenda, and the costs are staggering,” Schwartz said. “The bottom line is their policies are unpopular and expensive. When people find out about it and complain at county meetings, this council hides behind its lawyers at great expense to the taxpayer. Solicitor Martin uses county council meetings as his bully pulpit to excoriate those who have the temerity to challenge the county’s actions. Blaming his predecessors is really not a good look for Mr. Martin, but in reality, it is likely the only explanation he has to offer.”

Schwartz recently won an open records appeal that allowed her access to count mail-in ballot envelopes, after the county had originally denied her request.

Some of the spending has drawn criticism from Republicans in the county, not only for the volume. In some instances, they say, it’s the kind of spending Democrats used to portray as politically corrupt.

For example, in 2019, former County Council Chairman Brian Zidek accused Republicans of crony spending, which he labeled a “corruption tax.”

“Democrat Brian Zidek said residents’ [sic] don’t get their money’s worth from the county because of ‘no-bid contracts going to people and companies that contribute to politicians and political parties.’” according to a WHYY report from the time.

Ballard Spahr, the second largest recipient of the legal spending in 2022 was paid $426,000, a total that is higher than the total third-party attorney spending for all of 2019, the last year Republicans had the majority. Democratic Councilwoman Christine Reuther, who is seeking a second term on council this fall, is a former employee of Ballard Spahr, and the firm held a fundraiser for her in 2019.

Ballard’s chair is also the husband of Democrat Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, whose congressional Fifth District encompasses all of Delaware County. Scanlon was also “Pro Bono Counsel” for a time at the firm.

“The rhetoric around their original election, 2019 and 2020, where the incoming Democrats proclaimed that they were going to do government differently than the prior Republican administration — and yet when I look at that spending, what I see is they spent eight times more in general on legal fees than the Republicans did,” said Jeff Jones, another Republican challenger for the county council. “The question is very simple: is that really better than what the Republicans were doing for the hardworking families of Delaware County?”

The firm Duane Morris banked over a quarter of a million dollars in billings to the county, and the former chairman of the Delaware County Democratic Party, David Landau, was previously a partner there, but Martin tried to shoot that down.

“[N]ote that David Landau (the presumed “former chairman” that you referenced) is no longer a partner at Duane Morris. In fact, a review of that firm’s affiliation would demonstrate just as many prominent Republicans (e.g. William McSwaine [sic] — former state-wide Republican candidate) as Democrats,” Martin said. “An example of legal services continued from the prior administration would include Burnes White, which represented Fair Acres on significant litigation matters for years, and has continued in that role.”

Broad + Liberty pointed out that J. Manly Parks, also of Duane Morris, bills the county for election-law consulting, and that Parks’s resume includes highly partisan campaign work for Democrats such as former President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf.

Martin did not address the question as to whether this could be considered a conflict.

“The solicitor’s office seeks law firms and lawyers, appropriate for each specific representation. It specifically avoids asking about, or investigating, the political contribution history of any attorney or law firm,” Martin concluded.

(Editor’s note: Martin’s quote was lightly edited mainly for spacing and punctuation. No words were added or subtracted from the quote.)

The county does, however, specifically ask about and investigate the political contribution history of virtually every other contractor in its employ. According to the Delaware County Political Contribution Disclosure Form, available on the county website, under Section 6-12 of the Administrative Code of Delaware County, “Contractors under certain Covered Contracts are required to provide this Disclosure Form in connection with consideration” for the sought after work. Section 6-12 requires outside entities hired by the county to disclose all reportable political contributions made in the prior 24 months.

Since campaign finance reports for local committees remain unavailable for public review online, Broad + Liberty also inquired as to whether any of the outside firms or attorneys hired by the county are current or previous donors to the Delaware County Democratic Party, elected members of the Delaware County Council, or other local Delaware County Democratic committees. Neither Martin, nor the county spokesperson responded to this specific inquiry.

Frank Agovino, chair of the county Republicans, blasted the county’s response.

“The county administration’s claim that contracts such as these do not benefit the politically connected is preposterous on its face. The attorneys hired by the county are a who’s who of Democratic Party donors, officials, appointees and activists. However, more preposterous is that this fits a larger, irresponsible pattern of spending that is bound to result in double digit tax increases for Delco families who are already being crushed by high property taxes and inflation.”

As for 2023, the county now faces a number of lawsuits from former employees.

As Broad + Liberty was first to report in April, the county’s former assistant director of labor relations is suing the county alleging it fired him for investigating claims of bullying. Two former employees of the county jail filed lawsuits this year as well. Finally, county Republicans also filed suit against the county alleging that the council illegally granted itself new authority when it comes to naming members of the minority party to the county election board.

From a press release 

Delaware County Council Chair Monica Taylor, Ph.D. joined Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, Sen, John Kane, and a representative from Sen. Tim Kearney’s office to tour areas of Chadds Ford that were severely damaged by strong thunderstorms and high winds on August 7. The tour, led by the County’s Director of Emergency Services Tim Boyce provided an update on the homes, businesses, and roads that were impacted.

On August 7, several Delaware County municipalities experienced a strong thunderstorm with straight line wind gusts estimated by the National Weather Service at 85 to 95 mph, which is equivalent to an EF-1 Tornado but without rotation.

The storm caused trees to fall, bringing down powerlines and utility poles, causing electrical fires, and damaging homes and businesses. Approximately 1300 calls for service were dispatched to first responders through the county by the County’s 911 Center during or immediately following the storm. Over 600 calls came in from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

The majority of the storm damage was in the western section of the county. Chadds Ford, Concord, Thornbury and Chester Heights have declared disasters.

The County estimates that 100 homes suffered damage and reports are still being filed. Over 30 homes in Chadds Ford, Concord, and Thornbury were damaged, including a home in Chadds Ford that was split in half and a home in Thornbury that was moved off its foundation. Homes in Haverford Township, Middletown, and Norwood also suffered varying degrees of damage. Thankfully, no major injuries were reported.

“The destruction that the storm caused is devastating,” said Taylor. “We’ve seen hundreds of trees down, dozens of homes damaged, and roads unpassable. We know many residents have a great deal of clean up ahead of them and the County is working with state and federal leaders to provide financial assistance.”

Residents are urged to report downed trees and property damage to their municipalities. The County’s Department of Emergency Services is continuing to work with affected municipalities to obtain damage reporting data from their residents and business owners. They are beginning to obtain cost recovery data for storm related damage to infrastructure, cleanup of streets and/or public land for submission to PEMA for possible Public Assistance Re-imbursement.

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This article first appeared in Broad + Liberty.

A Commonwealth Court ruling on Tuesday will likely erase previous restrictions that had kept citizens, journalists, and some public officials from being able to access autopsy reports in the largest counties in Pennsylvania.

A quirk in the state’s Right-to-Know Law, combined with another piece of legislation known as the Coroner’s Act, created a scheme in which anyone could get an autopsy report in counties of the third class or lower. Counties of the second or first class, however, had the legal ability to deny access to those documents.

The 6–1 ruling seems likely to shake loose a key document in Delaware County, where officials have thus far denied access to the autopsy report for an inmate who died at the county prison last February of what officials described as a “delayed homicide.”

“The homicide is a delayed homicide from complications from a previous gunshot,” county spokeswoman Adrienne Marofsky said in March, roughly one month after inmate Mustaffa Jackson died.

Broad + Liberty filed a Right-to-Know request for Mustaffa Jackson’s autopsy to learn more, given that county officials have not divulged any of the most basic information about his death, including when and where he was originally shot, and the degree to which that wound received appropriate attention while he was incarcerated.

After county officials denied the request, Broad + Liberty appealed that decision to the Office of Open Records. The appeal is still pending.

If the autopsy is ultimately pried loose, it will be due to today’s ruling borne of similar problems at the Allegheny County prison that emerged in 2020, where Delaware County’s new warden, Laura Williams, was then serving as a deputy warden.

The lack of transparency in obtaining an autopsy for a prisoner who died under extraordinary circumstances spurred one reporter in Pittsburgh to fight the issue all the way to Commonwealth Court, which generated today’s ruling.

As Pennsylvania law stood just one day ago, counties of the third class or lower have coroners who must file their autopsies yearly with the county prothonotary. When that happens, the documents essentially become public records.

In counties of the first and second classes, however, coroners are replaced by medical examiners who are not required to make the same filing with the county court system that lower counties are. As a result, medical examiners in larger counties like Philadelphia, Allegheny, and Delaware could keep autopsies closeted.

In 2020, Allegheny County Jail inmate Daniel Pastorek died under unusual circumstances that journalist Brittany Hailer was determined to verify.

“Two incarcerated people who were housed with Pastorek in the acute mental health housing unit told [the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism] that Pastorek cried out for medical attention for days,” Hailer wrote. “He complained of chest pains, vomited, and seemed disoriented, incarcerated persons said. They remembered him as the elderly man with the walker. One man said he was haunted by Daniel’s death, and said he felt like he was watching himself die on the floor of the cell.”

The attempts to obtain Pastorek’s autopsy have been something of a legal ping pong match.

Hailer’s Right-to-Know request for Pastorek’s autopsy was denied, but the denial was then reversed on appeal at the Office of Open Records. Allegheny County then elevated the matter to trial court where a judge reversed the OOR.

With the help of the Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press, Hailer appealed that last decision to the Commonwealth Court, which heard oral arguments on the case in May.

The judges in the majority said counties of the second class or higher, like Allegheny and Philadelphia, were essentially taking advantage of a wording quirk when the Pennsylvania General Assembly made some minor updates to the Coroner’s Law in 2018.

“Accepting the conclusions of the trial court would lead to the absurd result that a requester could receive autopsy records located anywhere in the Commonwealth, unless those records are located in [Allegheny County] or Philadelphia County,” the majority noted in Tuesday’s opinion.

Even before Tuesday’s result, the challenge was catching the eye of transparency advocates.

“Government accountability depends on a favorable ruling for PINJ. It’s highly unlikely that a bitterly divided state Legislature would fix the problem by cleaning up the law,” the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette wrote in a house editorial.

“Making autopsy records public in some counties but not others is absurd. It amounts to access by geography. If anything, the right of public access is more compelling in larger counties, where more deaths occur.”

The death of Mustaffa Jackson has already been kept behind a veil by Delaware County administrators. Like Pastorek, Mustaffa Jackson does not appear to have any kin, close or far, advocating on his behalf — and who might have legal access to the autopsy because of the family relations.

Towards the conclusion of the Post-Gazette piece, the paper seemed to speak to the driving reason behind Broad + Liberty’s request for the autopsy of Mustaffa Jackson.

“The cause of the deceased’s death, without additional information, reveals little about the circumstances leading to it. If a person dies of a shotgun wound, for example, it matters greatly whether the wound was in the chest or in the back. Autopsy records are important pieces of the puzzle in determining how someone died, and whether the death was preventable.”

The final determination from the Office of Open Records on the Broad + Liberty appeal for the autopsy is due on or before next Monday, July 17, which now seems likely to incorporate new conclusions based on the Tuesday ruling.

This article first appeared in Broad + Liberty. 

Republicans filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Delaware County Council for changes the council made to the election code dealing with how members of the minority political party are appointed to the county election board.

In January, the Delco county council passed an ordinance giving the sitting council far wider latitude to choose that minority-party member, which Republicans say is an illegal power grab.

State law provides that all counties (except those of the first class) shall have an elections board. The same statute also provides that the majority political party must also appoint a representative from a minority party to the elections board.

Democrats first won a 3–2 majority of the five council seats in 2019, and currently enjoy a 5–0 majority.

The state law also says where there is no minority-party representation on the elections board, the county shall, “appoint such representation from a list submitted by the county chairman of the minority party.”

The new county ordinance, however, says the chair of the minority party will submit a list of three people as candidates for the seat on the elections board, but the Delco county council “may reject such list and request a new list of nominees.”

Another section of the new county ordinance says if the minority party does not submit its list of three nominees in 30 days, “Council may appoint any member of the minority party.”

Republicans say both these changes cut against the state law.

“Under the Pennsylvania Election Code, the Council cannot ‘reject’ a nomination from the minority party chairman or make their own minority nomination and appointment,” the lawsuit says.

The suit asks for a judgment from the court affirming the idea that the county chairperson “has the sole authority to nominate the minority member of the board of elections, who the County Council shall appoint.”

A request for comment to the county was not immediately returned.

In February, shortly after the ordinance was passed, county spokeswoman Adrienne Marofsky told Broad + Liberty, “The Delaware County Charter gives the County council unfettered discretion over who to select as the minority party member of the election board.”

“Both the County Solicitor and the Solicitor for the Election Board have reviewed the amended ordinance regarding the appointment of the minority party member of the election board and are confident it is consistent with state law,” Marofsky said at the time.

But Delaware County Republican Party Chairman Frank Agovino obviously disagrees.

“The foundation of democracy rests upon free and fair elections. In Pennsylvania, minority parties have the right to have members on county election boards to act as a crucial check on the majority party and to ensure elections are fair and transparent. The Delaware County Democrats are violating the law in a blatant power grab by trying to deny the minority party this right,” Agovino said in a statement.

“Elections produce partisan outcomes; however, the process of administering and certifying them should be bipartisan. The Delco GOP is seeking to uphold basic principles of fairness and transparency to protect whoever the minority is now and in the future,” Agovino added.

The complaint also notes that the term of the current Republican member of the elections board, John McBlain, is set to expire in December, meaning the issue of how a minority member will be appointed to replace him will be directly at issue at that time.

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From a press release 

Delaware County held a public Town Hall on June 15 at Delaware County Community College to discuss strategies to best utilize funding that the County will receive in a multi-state opioid settlement.

The county will receive funds as part of a $26 billion multi-state opioid settlement with Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson. Delaware County will receive $63 million in 18 annual payments. The funding will be used to tackle the devastating opioid epidemic affecting Delaware County residents, their loved ones, and the community.

The Town Hall, hosted by Delaware County Council, was held to engage community members around the opioid settlement funds that the county will receive and gather information about how to best utilize the funds.

It’s critical that Delaware County move quickly to put the new funding into use, because every day is another day that someone struggles with addiction and its devastating impact on their lives, the lives of their loved ones, and the community.

Future Opioid Settlement Town Halls are also being scheduled to be held at locations across the county.

Residents are also invited to provide feedback via an online survey.

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The standoff continues between Delaware County Council candidate Joy Schwartz and county election officials over viewing and counting the envelopes that mail-in ballots came in for the May 16 primary.

Schwartz and plaintiffs Gregory Stenstrom, Leah Hoopes, and Paul Rumley have filed three petitions asking the Commonwealth Court to intervene. Schwartz and her supporters were initially denied permission to look at the envelopes by county officials. Then, after the certification occurred Thursday, they were told they could. However, Acting Secretary of State Al Schmidt said the names must be redacted from those envelopes first for privacy reasons.

As workers began to affix blue strips of painter’s tape over the names, Schwartz was concerned there would be damage to the envelopes and filed a second court challenge.

However, Schwartz had wanted to see the envelopes before certification, fearing any challenges would be moot once the primary election was certified.

The county Board of Elections voted 2-1 to certify the election on Thursday, with minority Republican member John McBlain voting no.

Schwartz asserted her right to see the materials, saying both McBlain and county GOP Chair Frank Agovino supported her.

“I do not understand the recalcitrance of the county in granting me this request,” she said.

Election Board Chair Ashley Lunkenheimer scolded Schwartz.

“It’s interesting. I don’t know if it’s ironic, as a line in an Alanis Morrisette song. We’ve had so many debates over the chain of custody, and you and others are coming forward to say… ‘Somebody touched the ballots,’ things we’ve found not to be true. And here it is, and you’ve asked to go sorting through some of the materials in an uncertified election… It’s just interesting to me that you, of all people, would be asking to touch some of the election materials.”

McBlain said it was a request to examine the outside envelopes, not the actual ballots. “It seems to me that some of our officials are making decisions based on who the requester is.” He read the regulations saying the materials should “open for public inspection during normal business hours.”

“It is important to allow the public to view the records,” said McBlain. “There’s no good reason why Ms. Schwartz or anyone else can’t see the (envelopes). This board and employees are in the wrong.”

Lunkenheimer said, “Integrity is how we operate.”

Voting services director Jim Allen said, “Act 77 (the mail-in ballots law) is being misquoted.”

In her most recent filing, Schwartz asked the court to “order defendants to immediately comply with the Pennsylvania Open Records Act of 2008, the Election Reform Act of 2019 (revised in 2020) referred to as Act 77, to include the signatures of electors on the expended (opened), absentee MIB envelopes from the May 2023 primary election, and to cease from allowing Plaintiffs to exert their civil rights in violation of USC 42 § 1983.”

Further, Schwartz and other plaintiffs said, “Defendants remain recalcitrant to provide meaningful access to public records, specifically the expended (opened) MIB envelopes for inspection.

“Plaintiffs hold no immediate interest in the ballots, or images of the ballots, or the CVR records with images of the ballots, at this time, and point out that the ‘Risk Limiting Audits’ offered by public officials since 2020 as ‘evidence’ of honest elections only test the efficacy and accuracy of the scanners that record the marks on those ballots, and have little use, or practically nothing to do with gauging the ‘honesty’ of elections.

“Plaintiffs’ interest and subject of controversy before the Honorable Court is (are) the forensic origins and legitimacy of cast absentee ballots, for which only the absentee MIB envelopes and signatures of electors remain as critical and germane evidence of election integrity to ascertain if the votes which were cast by absentee MIB voters were those of verified ‘qualified electors,’ and that the signatures on the MIB envelopes were genuine,” the filing said.

Asked to respond, county spokeswoman Adrienne Marofsky said, “The plaintiffs are seeking records that the Department of State instructed Delaware County to redact so that voters’ personal information was not visible.

“The county began to redact the information – until the plaintiffs said they did not want to view redacted records. There is no validity to the claim that any records were damaged. It will now be up to the court whether to affirm the instructions provided to the county by the Department of State.”

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