Lower Pottsgrove Running Short of Elected Officials

Mercury Photo by John Strickler

Shawn Watson resigned as a Lower Pottsgrove Township Commissioner Tuesday night.

Shawn Watson's last-minute resignation last night from the Lower Pottsgrove Township Board of Commissioners creates a very unusual situation.

Between his resignation, that of James Kaiser earlier this year and Jonathan Spadt last year, the board
of commissioners now has only two of its five members who were actually selected by the voters.

Chairman Bruce Foltz and Vice Chairman Stephen Klotz, both of whom are on the ballot in November, are currently the township's only elected commissioners.

James Vlahos, who was appointed to fill Spadt's seat last year, is also on the ballot in November.

Retired West Pottsgrove police chief Earl Swavely, who was chosen to replace Kaiser in February, is on the ballot as well.

Of course, they are all fine and upstanding people, but its getting like elected commissioners in Lower Pottsgrove Township are becoming an endangered species.



Of course, the news of the night was Watson's resignation, which you can read about in full in The Mercury or by clicking here.

But there were a few other things of interest you might find in the Tweets below.

First of all, the township adopted a new animal ordinance which, among other things, will limit the number of cats and dogs you can have depending on how big your property is.

They also voted to guarantee a bond re-financing for the township's sewer authority that could save ratepayers up to $1.2 million next year.

And Fire Marshal Lew Babel said a dumpster fire at the now closed Sanatoga Thriftway is being investigated as "suspicious."

The News Was Not at the Meeting

So sometimes, the news is happening behind the scenes while a municipal meeting relevant to that news blithely goes along on its merry way.

Who is missing from this picture? The empty chair, 2nd from
the right 

is usually occupied by Supervisor Fred Ziegler,
who has been arrested.

Such was the case Tuesday night in the case of Douglass Township, Montgomery County.

While Supervisor's Chairman John Stasik was saying he did not know where Supervisor and former police chief Fred Ziegler was, and didn't know if he would be at the meeting, sources tell us he was cooling his heels in a Pottstown holding cell, possibly being arraigned on charges of stealing from the township.

So, luckily for us, we caught wind of that and, with some help, got the story in time to make the deadline for today's print edition.

(You can also read the full criminal complaint here.)

In the meantime, here's the other stuff that was going on while Ziegler was making his way through the justice system.

This Town is Going to the Dogs...

Fido, don't do it!

...That was the message resident Stanley Thomas had for borough council during the April 8 meeting.

Thomas, who said he recently moved to the area near the King and Washington streets intersection, was at council to complain about dog crap.

"There are dog droppings all over the place," he said.

"You see all these people walking with Rotweillers and those dogs who get blamed for things and you have to look down when you walk," said Thomas.

"Nobody is picking up after their dogs, it's disgusting."

"That is a real problem," agreed Borough Council President Stephen Toroney.

Steve Toroney has

promised to address the

problem of indescreet dogs.

"There are areas of the town that are not well kept and you have to walk in the
street to avoid it," he said.

Councilwoman Carol Kulp suggested that perhaps signs be put up to remind residents that there is an ordinance against allowing their dogs to crap in the street and on the sidewalk.

"Right now people have to be caught in the act to be cited," Toroney said.

"This is a problem and we will address it," he said.

In the meantime, watch where you walk...