......the Catholic Church to address pedophile priests, the coverups and the tragic damage and injustice done to children???
The Vent
It only took the Catholic cardinals two days to elect a new Pope, and our representatives in Washington have spent X days and STILL have not passed a budget.
Harlem Wizards show off moves in Morrisville Story Comments Print Create a hardcopy of this page Font Size: Default font size Larger font size Email to a friend
Posted: Friday, March 15, 2013 6:19 pm | Updated: 7:42 pm, Fri Mar 15, 2013.
By GEMA MARIA DUARTE Staff writer
Posted on March 15, 2013
by Gema Duarte
MORRISVILLE — The Harlem Wizards are coming to Morrisville.
The ball-handling wizardry of the team will help the Morrisville PTO fund raise for improvements to the auditorium that are expected to run about $150,000.
To add to the entertainment, the Wizards will play against a team of Morrisville School District staff and parents.
Area residents can enjoy the athleticism, tricks, fancy teamwork and comedy at 7 p.m. on Friday at the gym at Morrisville High School, 550 West Palmer St. in Morrisville.
Tickets are $10 and $12 at the door. For tickets, email morrisvillepto@hotmail.com. Souvenirs will be on sale and an autograph session with the players will be available.
Pa. gov plan would freeze current pension benefits
HARRISBURG (AP) — Gov. Tom Corbett and his legal staff are hoping fine distinctions in Pennsylvania case law will allow $12 billion in cuts to future pension benefits for more than 370,000 current state and school employees.
Corbett and state legislators are grappling with Pennsylvania's unfunded pension liability of $41 billion, and the governor is taking an approach never before tested in state courts in hopes it will help the benefit reductions pass constitutional muster.
"We've designed our proposal in a way we believe it is constitutional, knowing that the likelihood is that that issue will ultimately be litigated in the courts," state Budget Secretary Charles Zogby said.
More than a month after Corbett announced his plan, drawing threats of lawsuits from labor unions, the legislative response has been cool and no bill has been introduced.
The benefit cuts are the main source of savings in Corbett's multi-pronged pension reform package and are expected to save an estimated $12 billion over 30 years. The package also would require new hires to enroll in a 401(k)-style plan, instead of the traditional plan and temporarily limit annual increases in taxpayer contributions.
The governor proposes freezing benefits for current employees and replacing them with reduced benefits in 2015. When workers retire, they would receive the combined value of both sets of benefits.
The change for members of the Public School Employees' Retirement System would occur Jan. 1, 2015; and for workers in the State Employees' Retirement System, on July 1, 2015, officials said.
For current employees, the biggest single change in the governor's plan is a reduction in the "multiplier," a percentage applied to an employee's years of service and final average salary to calculate pensions, typically from 2.5 percent to 2 percent.
Over the years, Pennsylvania courts have issued numerous rulings that have established that public pension benefits are contracts and that the state constitution protects them against changes that "impair" that contract.
In a 1984 decision central to the current debate, the state Supreme Court overturned a legislatively approved increase in employee contributions. The justices said the increase represented an unconstitutional impairment of contract because it reduced a pension's value by forcing the employee to pay more for it.
Corbett's legal team says past court rulings on contract impairment have weighed both the retroactive effect of benefit changes and the future impact. By freezing current benefits and locking in their value to employees, the lawyers hope to focus any challenge exclusively on future benefits — something they say neither the Legislature nor state courts has ever done.
"It's a brand new analysis for the court," said James Schultz, the governor's general counsel. "In short the (state) Supreme Court would not be put into a position where it had to overrule itself on prior precedent."
Union leaders who have led the fight against the pension cuts said the novelty of the administration's approach doesn't fundamentally change the facts.
"Their legal theory doesn't make any sense to me," said Lynne Wilson, general counsel for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union.
David Fillman, executive director of Council 13 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, reiterated that his union would challenge the proposal if the Legislature approved it.
Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the governor's plan would provide short-term savings to taxpayers but it would not make a significant dent in the already accrued unfunded liability. But he is similarly uncomfortable with such alternatives as pension bonds, which he called "a risky proposition."
"It's a huge issue that has to be dealt with," Corman said. "People are finally coming to the realization that there's no easy answer."
As some of you may know, for some time Morrisville borough council has been working towards a green project for the entire borough. This project would involve NO TAX INCREASES and would bring new street lights to the entire borough, (over 600), would include major improvements to borough hall such as new windows, new boiler system, etc. Improvements have not been done to borough hall in over 50 years. It would have reduced Morrisville's carbon footprint and cut energy costs significantly. All with no tax increases. Council has worked on this project for well over a year, with various votes at times. These votes were constantly 5-3, with Debbie S., Todd S., & Eileen D. voting against these borough wide improvements on a regular basis. After moving forward, beyond signing the contracts, what was left was taking out a loan which would have been paid with the energy efficiency savings each month, again at no cost to the residents, the project was voted down. After months of voting for the project that the borough is now contractually obligated to move forward on, Vic C. voted against the financing which made the vote 4-4. This meant that the mayor had to break the 4-4 vote and of course she voted against this FREE project. This would have been the only borough wide project in history, would have updated all borough buildings, & given the entire community better street lighting. It would have given us a huge "green" component enabling us to qualify for a whole new type of grants in the years to come. Maybe most importantly, this project was a stepping stone for the borough. It would have cleaned things up a bit, similar to cleaning up your house before you invite folks over. It was a real chance at beginning toward real revitalization. Keep in mind that no tax dollars would be used and Rita, Eileen, Todd, Debbie and Vic voted against it. I expect obstructionism from the others, but Vic, who had previously voted in favor of moving forward and signing the contracts, voted against the project last night. Because of Vic's sudden change of vote no doubt the borough will be sued costing, thousands of dollars now because there are signed contracts. Rumor has it that Vic's sudden change of vote is based on his desire to stick it to Dave R. Dave has been outspoken about the benefits of this project, his desire to help the community in this way and what it would do for Morrisville, and Vic's no vote was to stick it to Dave. Vic had no problem screwing over the whole borough to make sure Dave couldn't move forward. I'm so disgusted at the pettiness of this.
My advise to EVERYONE is to VOTE all of these obstructionists out of office. If they are not working for the community, if their goal in holding office is to be an obstructionist, DO NOT VOTE FOR THEM or anyone like them to hold any office, ever, in Morrisville. The town cannot afford them and their petty obstructionisms at the community’s expense.
Rumor I heard was he is kissing up to Jane Burger to help get a family member a job with the Bridge Commission, which sounds just dumb enough to be true.
Ah, Jane of the tentacles, but I have a hard time believing that rumor. She has no real power except that which the citizens grant her. Stop giving this power to her by ignoring these rumors. A better approach is to demand that the council persons each explain their reasons for heir vote at the next meeting, including the mayor. If enough people show up and make a fuss, perhaps a few of them can be shamed into changing their minds. I don't expect Eileen and gang have any shame, so it won't work on them, but, the other two might be ripe.
Vic has not been working with the majority on council for quite some time, over a year, I think. Vic & Jane sit on the MMA together.
Please do not be fooled into thinking that because Jane no longer sits on council, she has given up her puppet strings. She has made plotting & obstructionism her retirement job and we are all the ones who end up paying for it over and over again. She worked hard to get Rita Ledger her seat as mayor and her brightest mouthpiece, Debbie Smith, into a council seat. Now she is working to take down Fred Kerner.
As far as Vic's latest turncoat vote, it is sad for all of us but not surprising. The project looked like it the most comprehensive project the borough has ever taken on and it was free. No wonder the vote failed. Same old Morrisville.
If you would like to let the borough (council) know how you feel about this project, about the latest vote, or about anything, here is the link to the online contact - you can email them from what's below. If you do this, it will be printed out and all of council & the mayor will receive a copy of it in their weekly packets. http://www.morrisvillepagov.com/Contact.asp
The MSD was recently awarded a Safety Grant from the Safe Routes to School organization run through PENDOT. The Grant requires the formation of an Advisory Board to oversee the Grant process through12/31/13.
The following volunteer positions remain open on the newly formed Advisory Board:
Morrisville Community member/non-parent Morrisville Parent and Child* from Ward 1 and Ward 4 (must be current student at MSD, grades 1-8) *the role of the Parent/Child is to walk the Safe Route for their Ward, once established by the Advisory Board, to provide a Childspoint of view re: obstruction, obstacles, etc that may hinder a child from walking to school)
If you are interested please email your name, address and phone # as well as your Ward # to Wanda Kartal at wkartal@mv.org. All emails of interest MUST be submitted by April 1, 2013.
Kitty is the person who was working illegally for the tax collector. She is involved with the business assoc. She is tight with none other than - Jane Burger. Running for both seats is a trick Jane got from her good friend Dorothy V in Falls. Dorothy V has done this in the past. In my opinion, it clearly shows that she & her friends are just trying to fill any seat they can get without any real desire to for a particular position. It's new to Morrisville but it's not new. It rarely works.
If this person were to win both the council & mayor seats she would have to decide which one should would take. I say this even though I do not believe she will win either.
I AM SORRY - I can't believe I didn't include this with the earlier post.
Morrisville Borough School District School Director - 4 Year Vote For: 4 Ivan Colon REP Joe Gilleo REP Jon Perry REP Ronald Stout REP Daniel Dingle REP
Joe Gilleo DEM Jon Perry DEM Ivan Colon DEM Ronald Stout DEM Daniel Dingle DEM
You thought right. He is a joke. He does represent an ugly low information segment of our populace, but Worob does too and he's got it covered for 2 more years.
Joining the consortium was discussed at Morrisville's 3/20 agenda meeting, and is up for a vote at the 3/27 business meeting.
Council Rock CR board votes to not join consortium
By Chris English Staff Writer Posted on March 22, 2013
The Council Rock school board voted 5-3 Thursday night to not join the Bucks-Montgomery Health Care Consortium.
Voting to join were Patty Sexton, Paul Anagnostakos and Richard Abramson while Bernadette Heenan, Bill Foster, Robert Donnelly, Kyle McKessy and Wendi Thomas voted no. Board member Jerold Grupp was absent.
The consortium is a group of 15 school districts or educational institutions in Bucks and Montgomery Counties who have banded together in an effort to save on health insurance costs for their employees.
While Council Rock would have saved an estimated $140,000 next school year by joining, most board members felt the savings were outweighed by the possible loss of control the school district would have sustained over its health insurance matters.
The school district went to a self-insurance system about four years ago, meaning it essentially collects its own premiums and pays out claims with mostly no help from an insurance company, though there are still some administrative fees paid to Independence Blue Cross.
Superintendent Mark Klein, Human Resources Director Christine Trioli and Director of Business Administration Robert Reinhart made an administrative recommendation to the board to not join the consortium.
“It was a very close call, but we felt that once in the consortium, we would have lost some decision-making power over our insurance and the flexibility to craft health insurance to the exact needs of our employees,” said Klein.
Council Rock still has the option on a year-to-year basis to join the consortium but by voting it down now, might not get a seat on the group’s governing body, Klein said.
Thomas said she trusted the administration’s recommendation.
“They’ve spent an enormous amount of time studying this,” she said. “There are definite pros and definite cons, and I’m just not convinced, at this point, it’s the best thing for us.”
Council Rock will spend about $20 million this year on health insurance, including current employees and retirees.
Sexton was the most outspoken proponent for joining the consortium.
“I’m not sure I understand this control issue,” she said. “I believe bigger is better, and when you can save $140,000 next year and more in the future, you should do it.”
38 comments:
......the Catholic Church to address pedophile priests, the coverups and the tragic damage and injustice done to children???
The Vent
It only took the Catholic cardinals two days to elect a new Pope, and our representatives in Washington have spent X days and STILL have not passed a budget.
Bill Minder, Morrisville
Friday march 15 gym night for Morrisville high school. 6 pm. come out and watch the students compete against blue and gold
Morrisville March Madness?
You know it. Go Blue! Go Gold!
Harlem Wizards show off moves in Morrisville
Story
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Email to a friend
Posted: Friday, March 15, 2013 6:19 pm | Updated: 7:42 pm, Fri Mar 15, 2013.
By GEMA MARIA DUARTE Staff writer
Posted on March 15, 2013
by Gema Duarte
MORRISVILLE — The Harlem Wizards are coming to Morrisville.
The ball-handling wizardry of the team will help the Morrisville PTO fund raise for improvements to the auditorium that are expected to run about $150,000.
To add to the entertainment, the Wizards will play against a team of Morrisville School District staff and parents.
Area residents can enjoy the athleticism, tricks, fancy teamwork and comedy at 7 p.m. on Friday at the gym at Morrisville High School, 550 West Palmer St. in Morrisville.
Tickets are $10 and $12 at the door. For tickets, email morrisvillepto@hotmail.com. Souvenirs will be on sale and an autograph session with the players will be available.
That article didn't mention the date for the Harlem Wizards, but the district website says it's Friday MARCH 22.
District Event
Friday, March 22, 2013
Harlem Wizards in the HS GYM
Site: DIST
Start Time: 7:00 PM
End Time: 9:00 PM
Pa. gov plan would freeze current pension benefits
HARRISBURG (AP) — Gov. Tom Corbett and his legal staff are hoping fine distinctions in Pennsylvania case law will allow $12 billion in cuts to future pension benefits for more than 370,000 current state and school employees.
Corbett and state legislators are grappling with Pennsylvania's unfunded pension liability of $41 billion, and the governor is taking an approach never before tested in state courts in hopes it will help the benefit reductions pass constitutional muster.
"We've designed our proposal in a way we believe it is constitutional, knowing that the likelihood is that that issue will ultimately be litigated in the courts," state Budget Secretary Charles Zogby said.
More than a month after Corbett announced his plan, drawing threats of lawsuits from labor unions, the legislative response has been cool and no bill has been introduced.
The benefit cuts are the main source of savings in Corbett's multi-pronged pension reform package and are expected to save an estimated $12 billion over 30 years. The package also would require new hires to enroll in a 401(k)-style plan, instead of the traditional plan and temporarily limit annual increases in taxpayer contributions.
The governor proposes freezing benefits for current employees and replacing them with reduced benefits in 2015. When workers retire, they would receive the combined value of both sets of benefits.
The change for members of the Public School Employees' Retirement System would occur Jan. 1, 2015; and for workers in the State Employees' Retirement System, on July 1, 2015, officials said.
For current employees, the biggest single change in the governor's plan is a reduction in the "multiplier," a percentage applied to an employee's years of service and final average salary to calculate pensions, typically from 2.5 percent to 2 percent.
Over the years, Pennsylvania courts have issued numerous rulings that have established that public pension benefits are contracts and that the state constitution protects them against changes that "impair" that contract.
In a 1984 decision central to the current debate, the state Supreme Court overturned a legislatively approved increase in employee contributions. The justices said the increase represented an unconstitutional impairment of contract because it reduced a pension's value by forcing the employee to pay more for it.
Corbett's legal team says past court rulings on contract impairment have weighed both the retroactive effect of benefit changes and the future impact. By freezing current benefits and locking in their value to employees, the lawyers hope to focus any challenge exclusively on future benefits — something they say neither the Legislature nor state courts has ever done.
"It's a brand new analysis for the court," said James Schultz, the governor's general counsel. "In short the (state) Supreme Court would not be put into a position where it had to overrule itself on prior precedent."
Union leaders who have led the fight against the pension cuts said the novelty of the administration's approach doesn't fundamentally change the facts.
"Their legal theory doesn't make any sense to me," said Lynne Wilson, general counsel for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union.
David Fillman, executive director of Council 13 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, reiterated that his union would challenge the proposal if the Legislature approved it.
Last part .............
Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the governor's plan would provide short-term savings to taxpayers but it would not make a significant dent in the already accrued unfunded liability. But he is similarly uncomfortable with such alternatives as pension bonds, which he called "a risky proposition."
"It's a huge issue that has to be dealt with," Corman said. "People are finally coming to the realization that there's no easy answer."
http://www.mv.org/files/filesystem/March-April%202013.pdf
March/April newsletter for MHS
As some of you may know, for some time Morrisville borough council has been working towards a green project for the entire borough. This project would involve NO TAX INCREASES and would bring new street lights to the entire borough, (over 600), would include major improvements to borough hall such as new windows, new boiler system, etc. Improvements have not been done to borough hall in over 50 years. It would have reduced Morrisville's carbon footprint and cut energy costs significantly. All with no tax increases. Council has worked on this project for well over a year, with various votes at times. These votes were constantly 5-3, with Debbie S., Todd S., & Eileen D. voting against these borough wide improvements on a regular basis. After moving forward, beyond signing the contracts, what was left was taking out a loan which would have been paid with the energy efficiency savings each month, again at no cost to the residents, the project was voted down. After months of voting for the project that the borough is now contractually obligated to move forward on, Vic C. voted against the financing which made the vote 4-4. This meant that the mayor had to break the 4-4 vote and of course she voted against this FREE project. This would have been the only borough wide project in history, would have updated all borough buildings, & given the entire community better street lighting. It would have given us a huge "green" component enabling us to qualify for a whole new type of grants in the years to come. Maybe most importantly, this project was a stepping stone for the borough. It would have cleaned things up a bit, similar to cleaning up your house before you invite folks over. It was a real chance at beginning toward real revitalization. Keep in mind that no tax dollars would be used and Rita, Eileen, Todd, Debbie and Vic voted against it. I expect obstructionism from the others, but Vic, who had previously voted in favor of moving forward and signing the contracts, voted against the project last night. Because of Vic's sudden change of vote no doubt the borough will be sued costing, thousands of dollars now because there are signed contracts. Rumor has it that Vic's sudden change of vote is based on his desire to stick it to Dave R. Dave has been outspoken about the benefits of this project, his desire to help the community in this way and what it would do for Morrisville, and Vic's no vote was to stick it to Dave. Vic had no problem screwing over the whole borough to make sure Dave couldn't move forward. I'm so disgusted at the pettiness of this.
My advise to EVERYONE is to VOTE all of these obstructionists out of office. If they are not working for the community, if their goal in holding office is to be an obstructionist, DO NOT VOTE FOR THEM or anyone like them to hold any office, ever, in Morrisville. The town cannot afford them and their petty obstructionisms at the community’s expense.
At the meeting, did he explain his no vote or did he just vote no?
Rumor I heard was he is kissing up to Jane Burger to help get a family member a job with the Bridge Commission, which sounds just dumb enough to be true.
Ah, Jane of the tentacles, but I have a hard time believing that rumor. She has no real power except that which the citizens grant her. Stop giving this power to her by ignoring these rumors. A better approach is to demand that the council persons each explain their reasons for heir vote at the next meeting, including the mayor. If enough people show up and make a fuss, perhaps a few of them can be shamed into changing their minds. I don't expect Eileen and gang have any shame, so it won't work on them, but, the other two might be ripe.
Good post. Open the curtain and Jane Oz doesn't have much going on and it's dwindling every day.
Vic has not been working with the majority on council for quite some time, over a year, I think. Vic & Jane sit on the MMA together.
Please do not be fooled into thinking that because Jane no longer sits on council, she has given up her puppet strings. She has made plotting & obstructionism her retirement job and we are all the ones who end up paying for it over and over again. She worked hard to get Rita Ledger her seat as mayor and her brightest mouthpiece, Debbie Smith, into a council seat. Now she is working to take down Fred Kerner.
As far as Vic's latest turncoat vote, it is sad for all of us but not surprising. The project looked like it the most comprehensive project the borough has ever taken on and it was free. No wonder the vote failed. Same old Morrisville.
If you would like to let the borough (council) know how you feel about this project, about the latest vote, or about anything, here is the link to the online contact - you can email them from what's below. If you do this, it will be printed out and all of council & the mayor will receive a copy of it in their weekly packets.
http://www.morrisvillepagov.com/Contact.asp
Who's up for election on council this year. Isn't Vic C. up? Is he running? Who's running?
Volunteers Needed
The MSD was recently awarded a Safety Grant from the Safe Routes to School organization run through PENDOT. The Grant requires the formation of an Advisory Board to oversee the Grant process through12/31/13.
The following volunteer positions remain open on the newly formed Advisory Board:
Morrisville Community member/non-parent
Morrisville Parent and Child* from Ward 1 and Ward 4 (must be current student at MSD, grades 1-8)
*the role of the Parent/Child is to walk the Safe Route for their Ward, once established by the Advisory Board, to provide a Childspoint of view re: obstruction, obstacles, etc that may hinder a child from walking to school)
If you are interested please email your name, address and phone # as well as your Ward # to Wanda Kartal at wkartal@mv.org. All emails of interest MUST be submitted by April 1, 2013.
Nice Timing (just received this from Doylestown)
UNOFFICIAL list of who is running for what in Morrisville Borough
Borough Mayor – 4 year vote for 1
Sandra Kitty Westrope - Rep
David T. Rivella - Dem
Borough Tax Collector – 4 year vote for 1
Elaine J. Miller - Rep
Pat Pordash - Dem
Robin M. Reithmeyer - Dem
Borough 1st Ward Borough Council – 4 year vote for 2
Todd Sanford - Rep
Corryn L. Kronagel - Dem
Borough 1st Ward Judge of Elections – 4 year vote for 1
Eileen Dreisbach - Dem
Borough 1st Ward Inspector of Elections – 4 year vote for 1
Patricia Anne Brofman - Rep
Borough 2nd Ward Judge of Elections – 4 year vote for 1
JoAnne M. Panzitta-Gigliotti - Rep
Donald Kronnagel - Dem
Borough 2nd Ward Inspector of Elections – 4 year vote for 1
David A. Crist - Rep
Shelly Franklin - Dem
Robyn Kronnagel - Dem
Borough 3rd Ward Borough Council – 4year vote for 1
Justin R. Bowers - Dem
Fred Kerner - Dem
Borough 3rd Ward Judge of Elections – 4 year vote for 1
(NOBODY)
Borough 3rd Ward Inspector of Elections – 4 year vote for 1Elaine J. Miller - Rep
Borough 4th Ward Borough Council – 4 year vote for 1
Sandra Kitty Westrope - Rep
Wayne O’Neal - Dem
Victor A. Cicero - Dem
Borough 4th Ward Judge of Elections – 4 year vote for 1
Mary E. Singleton - Dem
Borough 4th Ward Inspector of Elections – 4 year vote for 1
Kathryn N. Schell - Dem
Connie G.F. Jamison - Dem
*No petitions from Morrisville were rejected by the county.
I see the typo in what I just posted above. Sorry about that.
oh jeez - sorry again, I left out this person is also running for Inspector in the 4th ward
Morrisville Boro 4th Inspector of Elections - 4 Year Vote For: 1
Lyle G. Hawthorn - REP
So this Sandra Kitty Westrope is running for both Mayor and 4th Ward council?
If she loses both that's settled but if she wins both she gets to pick which one she really wants to be?
Kitty is the person who was working illegally for the tax collector. She is involved with the business assoc. She is tight with none other than - Jane Burger. Running for both seats is a trick Jane got from her good friend Dorothy V in Falls. Dorothy V has done this in the past. In my opinion, it clearly shows that she & her friends are just trying to fill any seat they can get without any real desire to for a particular position. It's new to Morrisville but it's not new. It rarely works.
"It rarely works."
Neither does Kitty.
If this person were to win both the council & mayor seats she would have to decide which one should would take. I say this even though I do not believe she will win either.
How is she illegally working for the tax collector?
I AM SORRY - I can't believe I didn't include this with the earlier post.
Morrisville Borough School District School Director - 4 Year Vote For: 4
Ivan Colon REP
Joe Gilleo REP
Jon Perry REP
Ronald Stout REP
Daniel Dingle REP
Joe Gilleo DEM
Jon Perry DEM
Ivan Colon DEM
Ronald Stout DEM
Daniel Dingle DEM
Ron Stout? I mean no disrespct but I was under the impression he has terrible health problems.
I don't think Stout is up to the job even if healthy.
5 people, 4 seats. The choice is clear:
OUT WITH STOUT!
SORRY RON, TIME TO MOVE ON!
No one is officially vying for the 2-year seat. Could have been yours, anyone.
For school board? My understanding is that the 4 open S.B. seats are for 4 years.
After looking at the lists provided I have no doubt, there will be write in campaigns for both the primary & the general elections this time around.
Ronald Stout - LOL
Oh, I'm sorry. I thought that was a joke ;)
You thought right. He is a joke. He does represent an ugly low information segment of our populace, but Worob does too and he's got it covered for 2 more years.
Joining the consortium was discussed at Morrisville's 3/20 agenda meeting, and is up for a vote at the 3/27 business meeting.
Council Rock
CR board votes to not join consortium
By Chris English Staff Writer
Posted on March 22, 2013
The Council Rock school board voted 5-3 Thursday night to not join the Bucks-Montgomery Health Care Consortium.
Voting to join were Patty Sexton, Paul Anagnostakos and Richard Abramson while Bernadette Heenan, Bill Foster, Robert Donnelly, Kyle McKessy and Wendi Thomas voted no. Board member Jerold Grupp was absent.
The consortium is a group of 15 school districts or educational institutions in Bucks and Montgomery Counties who have banded together in an effort to save on health insurance costs for their employees.
While Council Rock would have saved an estimated $140,000 next school year by joining, most board members felt the savings were outweighed by the possible loss of control the school district would have sustained over its health insurance matters.
The school district went to a self-insurance system about four years ago, meaning it essentially collects its own premiums and pays out claims with mostly no help from an insurance company, though there are still some administrative fees paid to Independence Blue Cross.
Superintendent Mark Klein, Human Resources Director Christine Trioli and Director of Business Administration Robert Reinhart made an administrative recommendation to the board to not join the consortium.
“It was a very close call, but we felt that once in the consortium, we would have lost some decision-making power over our insurance and the flexibility to craft health insurance to the exact needs of our employees,” said Klein.
Council Rock still has the option on a year-to-year basis to join the consortium but by voting it down now, might not get a seat on the group’s governing body, Klein said.
Thomas said she trusted the administration’s recommendation.
“They’ve spent an enormous amount of time studying this,” she said. “There are definite pros and definite cons, and I’m just not convinced, at this point, it’s the best thing for us.”
Council Rock will spend about $20 million this year on health insurance, including current employees and retirees.
Sexton was the most outspoken proponent for joining the consortium.
“I’m not sure I understand this control issue,” she said. “I believe bigger is better, and when you can save $140,000 next year and more in the future, you should do it.”
Dan Dingle's seat was a 2-year seat, so if he's running for a 4-year seat, there is still a 2-year seat vacancy to fill.
There is no 2 year seat.
Dingle replaced Marone who had a two year seat because of Brenda Worobs death
All four seats are for four years
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