Thursday, May 23, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
More Results
| Mayor - 4 Year | Vote for 1 | ||||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| Sandra Kitty Westrope | 218 |
| 100% | ||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| David T. Rivella | 379 |
| 100% | ||
| Tax Collector - 4 Year | Vote for 1 | ||||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| Elaine J. Miller | 229 |
| 100% | ||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Pat Pordash | 251 |
| 53.2% | ||
| Robin M. Reithmeyer | 221 |
| 46.8% | ||
| Borough Council - 4 Year | 1st W | Vote for 2 | |||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| Todd Sanford | 44 |
| 100% | ||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Corryn L. Kronnagel | 83 |
| 100% | ||
| Judge of Elections - 4 Year | Morrisville Boro 1st | Vote for 1 | |||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Eileen Dreisbach | 85 |
| 100% | ||
| Inspector of Elections - 4 Year | Morrisville Boro 1st | Vote for 1 | |||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| Patricia Anne Brofman | 46 |
| 100% | ||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Judge of Elections - 4 Year | Morrisville Boro 2nd | Vote for 1 | |||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| JoAnn M. Panzitta-Gigliotti | 53 |
| 100% | ||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Donald Kronnagel | 77 |
| 100% | ||
| Inspector of Elections - 4 Year | Morrisville Boro 2nd | Vote for 1 | |||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| David A. Crist | 53 |
| 100% | ||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Shelly Franklin | 59 |
| 68.6% | ||
| Robyn Kronnagel | 27 |
| 31.4% | ||
| Borough Council - 4 Year | 3rd W | Vote for 1 | |||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Justin R. Bowers | 62 |
| 38.8% | ||
| Fred Kerner | 98 |
| 61.3% | ||
| Judge of Elections - 4 Year | Morrisville Boro 3rd | Vote for 1 | |||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Inspector of Elections - 4 Year | Morrisville Boro 3rd | Vote for 1 | |||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| Elaine J. Miller | 93 |
| 100% | ||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Borough Council - 4 Year | 4th W | Vote for 1 | |||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Victor A. Cicero | 78 |
| 100% | ||
| Judge of Elections - 4 Year | Morrisville Boro 4th | Vote for 1 | |||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Mary E. Singleton | 112 |
| 100% | ||
| Inspector of Elections - 4 Year | Morrisville Boro 4th | Vote for 1 | |||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| Lyle G. Hawthorn | 46 |
| 100% | ||
| Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Kathryn N. Schell | 75 |
| 58.1% | ||
| Connie G.F. Jamison | 54 |
| 41.9% | ||
1 Winner Not Projected 2 Write-In Candidate 3 Winner By Lot
The Results Are In
| School Director - 4 Year 1 | Vote for 4 | ||||
| Republican | View Results by District | ||||
| Ivan Colon | 173 |
| 22.9% | ||
| Joe Gilleo | 153 |
| 20.3% | ||
| Jon Perry | 147 |
| 19.5% | ||
| Ronald Stout | 148 |
| 19.6% | ||
| Daniel Dingle | 133 |
| 17.6% | ||
Democrat | View Results by District | ||||
| Joe Gilleo | 325 |
| 21.9% | ||
| Jon Perry | 304 |
| 20.4% | ||
| Ivan Colon | 375 |
| 25.2% | ||
| Ronald Stout | 173 |
| 11.6% | ||
| Daniel Dingle | 310 |
| 20.8% | ||
Monday, May 20, 2013
Go Vote... and Don't Expect Lines
Go vote... and don't expect lines
Posted: Monday, May 20, 2013 6:45 pm
Posted: Monday, May 20, 2013 6:45 pm
Posted on May 20, 2013
“The ignorance of one voter … impairs the security of all,” warned the late President John F. Kennedy.
So just how secure should we all feel with the majority of registered voters expected to ignore Tuesday's primary election? Lower voter turnout has become the norm in recent years. Some 88 percent of registered voters abstained from the past two municipal primaries back in 2011 and 2009, election officials said. And just 12 percent of registered voters are expected to participate in Tuesday’s election.
Area residents link voter apathy to a lack of competing candidates in the primary.
Unemployed since July 2012, Paul Bibeck of Bensalem said he will vote Tuesday “though I don’t really know everyone that’s running.”
“The problem we have today is that a lot of the issues are big, national issues,” said Bibeck, 47. “People want solutions for the economy and jobs.”
Retired Hatboro police Officer Robert Hegele suspects low voter turnout is tied to the number of independent voters. Independent and non-affiliated voters have less cause to participate in the primaries, he said.
The party faithful remain a powerful force in Bucks and Montgomery counties. Roughly 85 percent of voters in Bucks and Montgomery are registered either Republican or Democrat, according to voter registration numbers.
Yet there aren't many Republicans and Democrats competing for those choice positions on the ballot this year, noted Lisa Pflaumer of Middletown.
A Republican, Pflaumer walked away from a seat on the Middletown board of supervisors in 2008.
It's just too costly and time-consuming to run for office at the local level, Pflaumer said. As a result, Democrat and Republican organizations often ask their unendorsed candidates to bow out from the primaries. That way, the party can save money for the November election.
“I was one of those people (township supervisors) that read every word in our (informational0 packets, which were huge,” she said. "When you’re juggling two meetings a month, you can just get caught in reading those packets...as opposed to reading the people.”
Musician Traci Adams of Croydon also said she walked away from a stint in local politics. Adams said she went to a local GOP committee meeting to pitch her ideas for school board and was met with a lukewarm response.
“They didn’t really seem very interested in my ideas,” Adams said. "Truth is: We vote for people on school board and we don't even know if they even graduated from a school."
“But local elections are the most important elections," she added. "If there’s corruption and mismanagement at the local level, then it impacts us directly.”
LisaBeth Weber of Solebury blamed low turnout on the lack of political advertisements. "As much as I don’t like seeing all those TV ads and campaigns signs, some people may need them just to know there’s an election happening.”
Voters who do participate to participate in Tuesday's primary will be asked once again to voluntarily show photo ID. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
“All election officials were instructed to asked for ID,” said Deena Dean, elections director for Bucks County. "If the voter does not show acceptable voter ID, then the person will be provided a handout about voter ID requirements that might take affect in the future.”
Bucks County offers a polling place locator as well as sample ballots on its board of elections page at www.buckscounty.org For more information or to report election day issues, contact the department at 215-348-6154.
So just how secure should we all feel with the majority of registered voters expected to ignore Tuesday's primary election? Lower voter turnout has become the norm in recent years. Some 88 percent of registered voters abstained from the past two municipal primaries back in 2011 and 2009, election officials said. And just 12 percent of registered voters are expected to participate in Tuesday’s election.
Area residents link voter apathy to a lack of competing candidates in the primary.
Unemployed since July 2012, Paul Bibeck of Bensalem said he will vote Tuesday “though I don’t really know everyone that’s running.”
“The problem we have today is that a lot of the issues are big, national issues,” said Bibeck, 47. “People want solutions for the economy and jobs.”
Retired Hatboro police Officer Robert Hegele suspects low voter turnout is tied to the number of independent voters. Independent and non-affiliated voters have less cause to participate in the primaries, he said.
The party faithful remain a powerful force in Bucks and Montgomery counties. Roughly 85 percent of voters in Bucks and Montgomery are registered either Republican or Democrat, according to voter registration numbers.
Yet there aren't many Republicans and Democrats competing for those choice positions on the ballot this year, noted Lisa Pflaumer of Middletown.
A Republican, Pflaumer walked away from a seat on the Middletown board of supervisors in 2008.
It's just too costly and time-consuming to run for office at the local level, Pflaumer said. As a result, Democrat and Republican organizations often ask their unendorsed candidates to bow out from the primaries. That way, the party can save money for the November election.
“I was one of those people (township supervisors) that read every word in our (informational0 packets, which were huge,” she said. "When you’re juggling two meetings a month, you can just get caught in reading those packets...as opposed to reading the people.”
Musician Traci Adams of Croydon also said she walked away from a stint in local politics. Adams said she went to a local GOP committee meeting to pitch her ideas for school board and was met with a lukewarm response.
“They didn’t really seem very interested in my ideas,” Adams said. "Truth is: We vote for people on school board and we don't even know if they even graduated from a school."
“But local elections are the most important elections," she added. "If there’s corruption and mismanagement at the local level, then it impacts us directly.”
LisaBeth Weber of Solebury blamed low turnout on the lack of political advertisements. "As much as I don’t like seeing all those TV ads and campaigns signs, some people may need them just to know there’s an election happening.”
Voters who do participate to participate in Tuesday's primary will be asked once again to voluntarily show photo ID. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
“All election officials were instructed to asked for ID,” said Deena Dean, elections director for Bucks County. "If the voter does not show acceptable voter ID, then the person will be provided a handout about voter ID requirements that might take affect in the future.”
Bucks County offers a polling place locator as well as sample ballots on its board of elections page at www.buckscounty.org For more information or to report election day issues, contact the department at 215-348-6154.
Primary Election Info - Tues., May 21
Polls are open Election Days 7 am
to 8 pm.
MORRISVILLE
POLLING PLACES
|
Morrisville Boro 1st
Ward
|
Morrisville Senior Citizens Center
|
31 E Cleveland Ave
|
Morrisville
|
|
|
Morrisville Boro 2nd Ward
|
Morrisville Library Building
|
300 N Pennsylvania Ave
|
Morrisville
|
|
|
Morrisville Boro 3rd
Ward
|
Capitol View Fire Company
|
528 N Pennsylvania Ave
|
Morrisville
|
|
|
Morrisville Boro 4th
Ward
|
Grandview Elementary School
|
Grandview Ave
|
Morrisville
|
|
Pennsylvania's Voter ID Law
|
|
If you would like more information
on the PA Voter ID Law, please go to VotesPA.com
|
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Primary Election Day - Tuesday May 21
Don't forget the election
Posted: Sunday, May 19, 2013 12:15 am
Posted: Sunday, May 19, 2013 12:15 am
For anyone not paying attention, there is an election on Tuesday. The fact it’s a primary election is one strike against a large voter turnout. The second strike might be it’s a so-called “off-year” primary election; the absence of any high-profile race will surely keep the polls less than busy.The third strike, the one most likely to guarantee a poor showing at polling places, is voter apathy. Not only voter apathy, but apathy among many of the candidates themselves, as shown by their failure to respond to our request for information to be included in our Voters Guide.
All of that negativity aside, Tuesday’s voting has plenty of local implications in communities and school districts, where what’s decided on town councils, boards of supervisors and school boards can have immediate, direct and profound effects. When legislation is passed in Washington or Harrisburg, the implications may or may not be felt right away, if at all. But when the local school board decides to raise taxes, the impact, unmistakable, hits with the next tax bill.
Local government, unlike its federal and state counterparts, is not remote. Elected supervisors and school directors are accessible, and accountable. But they’re only accountable if voters make the effort to become involved, and then affirm or reject what their officials are doing on Election Day.
We make this appeal to voters twice a year, for the spring primary and the fall general election. We must admit our rate of success in convincing those registered with the major parties to go to the polls in the springtime has not been very good. And it’s unrealistic for us to think Tuesday’s turnout will reverse the trend. Except for a “noisy” race here and there, this has been a quiet run-up to May 21. A betting man would not wager a great many voters will cast their ballots in two days.
Nevertheless, we once again encourage all eligible voters to at least check out our Voters Guide that was included with Thursday’s newspaper. It’s also available online at couriertimesnow.com and intelligencernow.com. If you find a local race that’s likely to affect your life, give some serious thought to weighing in on Tuesday.
It’s very easy not to vote. It may be less easy to live with the consequences of not voting.
If a candidate isn’t enthusiastic about running, why should he or she expect any votes?
Local government, unlike its federal and state counterparts, is not remote. Elected supervisors and school directors are accessible, and accountable. But they’re only accountable if voters make the effort to become involved, and then affirm or reject what their officials are doing on Election Day.
We make this appeal to voters twice a year, for the spring primary and the fall general election. We must admit our rate of success in convincing those registered with the major parties to go to the polls in the springtime has not been very good. And it’s unrealistic for us to think Tuesday’s turnout will reverse the trend. Except for a “noisy” race here and there, this has been a quiet run-up to May 21. A betting man would not wager a great many voters will cast their ballots in two days.
Nevertheless, we once again encourage all eligible voters to at least check out our Voters Guide that was included with Thursday’s newspaper. It’s also available online at couriertimesnow.com and intelligencernow.com. If you find a local race that’s likely to affect your life, give some serious thought to weighing in on Tuesday.
It’s very easy not to vote. It may be less easy to live with the consequences of not voting.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
School Board Candidates - Voter Guide Info
VOTER GUIDE
Ballot0/9
Morrisville School Board Choose 4
4 seats/4-year term
Morrisville
Choose two candidates from below to compare.
Ivan Colon (Dem, Rep)Project manager, Alpha Environmental
Daniel Dingle (Dem, Rep)Director of security and emergency management and safety officer, PHCS
Joe Gilleo (Dem, Rep)Electrical supervisor, Bucks County Electrical Works Inc.
Jon Perry (Dem, Rep)Environmental engineer, senior project manager, environmental consulting firm
Ronald Stout (Dem, Rep)
Morrisville Candidates Meet n' Greet
Driveway Meet n' Greet for Various Morrisville Candidates.
When: This Sunday, May 19, 2013 4:00 to 5:00 pm
Where: 109 Grandview Ave
Got questions? Want to put a face to the name on those election signs? This is your chance...
Stop by and the candidates will greet you at the car Or park and join us in the driveway and get all the info you need to vote.
The Primary is on Tuesday May 21st, use your vote wisely and get informed.
CANDIDATES include...Dann Dingle, Joe Gilleo, Jon Perry and Ivan Colon for School Board. Robin Reithmeyer for Tax Collector, Dave Rivella for Mayor, Mary Singleton for Council and others may join us well, the list is growing!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Superintendent Tapped as Pa. Education Chief
Superintendent tapped as Pa. education chief
Posted: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 1:45 pm | Updated: 2:01 pm, Wed May 15, 2013.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The superintendent of a large suburban Harrisburg school district will be Gov. Tom Corbett's nominee for education secretary and replace Ron Tomalis, who after a busy and rocky two-year tenure will move into an advisory role in the administration, Corbett said Wednesday.William Harner of the Cumberland Valley School District in Cumberland County will become the acting secretary June 1, Corbett said. He will require Senate confirmation to take the job of secretary.Harner, a retired Army officer, will bring public school experience to an administration stacked with advocates for private, parochial, charter and cybercharter schools. In an interview Wednesday, he said the public school teachers in Cheltenham Township outside Philadelphia, where he grew up, "changed my world and my opportunities."
"I was lucky to be in a great district, and in this role I'm going to do my best to make sure every district is a great district," Harner said.
Corbett did not explain the reason for the change and an administration spokesman did not return messages Wednesday. Tomalis was not quoted in the statement, and he was replaced at two public speaking events Tuesday by one of his top deputies.
Corbett called Harner "an effective problem solver able to unite all sides in a common goal of educational excellence." Tomalis, he said, worked hard to make Pennsylvania's public education system benefit all students.
The Department of Education oversees more than $14 billion in state and federal money for Pennsylvania's public schools, charter schools, libraries, universities and colleges, making it one of the state's most important agencies.
The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported last week that Tomalis would be leaving the post.
Tomalis had some successes and some failures as Corbett aggressively tried to empower private and charter schools while challenging school boards to stop raising taxes and universities to stop raising tuition.
A top Corbett priority of creating the state's first school voucher program to help low-income students in struggling public schools died in the Legislature, although it resulted in an expanded tax credit designed to achieve the same goal.
Tomalis served at a time when Corbett imposed deep cuts in aid to schools and universities to balance the disappearance of federal aid to bail out recession-wracked state budgets. The cuts in public school aid, which fell most heavily on the state's poorest school districts, helped speed the near-collapse of the Chester-Upland district in southeastern Pennsylvania before state lawmakers and federal courts intervened.
Tomalis began an overhaul of the public school teacher evaluation process and pushed for clearer assessments of school district performance. He also oversaw a school cheating investigation that led to suspensions and stricter testing protocols.
As a Penn State trustee, Tomalis helped lead an investigative committee in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal. As an adviser, he will focus on issues raised by Corbett's Post-Secondary Education Advisory Commission, which he led.
He leaves at a time the Legislature is battling over how to address longstanding complaints that charter and cyber schools are overpaid by taxpayers and need stronger state oversight.
There was no immediate word on Tomalis' salary. The education secretary is paid nearly $150,000.
Harner, 56, retired from the Army in 1998 after getting degrees in education while serving. He started a second career as a school administrator, racking up experience at schools in Gainesville, Ga.; Greenville County, S.C.; New Orleans and Philadelphia. He took over at Cumberland Valley in 2008.
Cumberland Valley is among the state's top school districts in income and size, with about 8,000 students and a budget of about $102 million. Its graduation rate of 93 percent is higher than the state's 83 percent average, according to Department of Education data.
He was a high school principal before he became superintendent of South Carolina's largest school district, Greenville County, in 2000. He went on to become a deputy superintendent in Philadelphia schools, and told a Cumberland Valley school crowd in 2008 that it was "an experience I wouldn't wish on anybody," the Patriot-News of Harrisburg reported at the time.
In New Orleans, he oversaw the reopening of nine school buildings in the post-Hurricane Katrina era, Corbett's statement said.
"I was lucky to be in a great district, and in this role I'm going to do my best to make sure every district is a great district," Harner said.
Corbett did not explain the reason for the change and an administration spokesman did not return messages Wednesday. Tomalis was not quoted in the statement, and he was replaced at two public speaking events Tuesday by one of his top deputies.
Corbett called Harner "an effective problem solver able to unite all sides in a common goal of educational excellence." Tomalis, he said, worked hard to make Pennsylvania's public education system benefit all students.
The Department of Education oversees more than $14 billion in state and federal money for Pennsylvania's public schools, charter schools, libraries, universities and colleges, making it one of the state's most important agencies.
The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported last week that Tomalis would be leaving the post.
Tomalis had some successes and some failures as Corbett aggressively tried to empower private and charter schools while challenging school boards to stop raising taxes and universities to stop raising tuition.
A top Corbett priority of creating the state's first school voucher program to help low-income students in struggling public schools died in the Legislature, although it resulted in an expanded tax credit designed to achieve the same goal.
Tomalis served at a time when Corbett imposed deep cuts in aid to schools and universities to balance the disappearance of federal aid to bail out recession-wracked state budgets. The cuts in public school aid, which fell most heavily on the state's poorest school districts, helped speed the near-collapse of the Chester-Upland district in southeastern Pennsylvania before state lawmakers and federal courts intervened.
Tomalis began an overhaul of the public school teacher evaluation process and pushed for clearer assessments of school district performance. He also oversaw a school cheating investigation that led to suspensions and stricter testing protocols.
As a Penn State trustee, Tomalis helped lead an investigative committee in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal. As an adviser, he will focus on issues raised by Corbett's Post-Secondary Education Advisory Commission, which he led.
He leaves at a time the Legislature is battling over how to address longstanding complaints that charter and cyber schools are overpaid by taxpayers and need stronger state oversight.
There was no immediate word on Tomalis' salary. The education secretary is paid nearly $150,000.
Harner, 56, retired from the Army in 1998 after getting degrees in education while serving. He started a second career as a school administrator, racking up experience at schools in Gainesville, Ga.; Greenville County, S.C.; New Orleans and Philadelphia. He took over at Cumberland Valley in 2008.
Cumberland Valley is among the state's top school districts in income and size, with about 8,000 students and a budget of about $102 million. Its graduation rate of 93 percent is higher than the state's 83 percent average, according to Department of Education data.
He was a high school principal before he became superintendent of South Carolina's largest school district, Greenville County, in 2000. He went on to become a deputy superintendent in Philadelphia schools, and told a Cumberland Valley school crowd in 2008 that it was "an experience I wouldn't wish on anybody," the Patriot-News of Harrisburg reported at the time.
In New Orleans, he oversaw the reopening of nine school buildings in the post-Hurricane Katrina era, Corbett's statement said.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Michigan District Fires All Teachers, Closes Every School
Michigan District Fires All Teachers, Closes Every School
Takepart.com – 10 hrs ago
Buena Vista schools have been closed for
five days already, and on Monday, the district's website stated that the school
would be closed until further notice. For good reason, this decision has
parents, and the community, up in arms.
The problem in Buena Vista is that the school district, educating
approximately 450 kids, is out of money. All the teachers have been laid off and
a financial emergency has been declared. The district has suffered from
declining enrollment, which, in turn, has led to a loss of $3 million in state
funding since 2010.
In an effort to keep schools open, teachers
said they would work without pay. This is not possible under Michigan law so
educators have been left in limbo. To make matters worse, the staff has also
lost their health insurance.
This sounds nice, but what about the students left hanging with unfinished
class work? This lingering question has yet to be answered.In the midst of the chaos, parents have been trying to transfer their children to other districts. Given the school year is almost over, it's not the most opportune time for kids to switch schools. Some nearby districts are looking at every student on a case-by-case basis.
The Buena Vista School District isn’t the only
district in Michigan—or across the country—that is having financial trouble. The
public school financial crisis looms in almost every state.
Michigan’s Pontiac School District was
nearly in the same position as Buena Vista. On Friday, it couldn’t make payroll.
Over the weekend, however, the state accepted a hastened reworked deficit
reduction plan created by the Pontiac school board.
In Arkansas, two schools—the Helena-West Helena School District in the
impoverished Delta region and Pulaski County School District in the Little Rock
area—were told Monday that they would remain under state control due to lack of
funds.In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest school district, high deficits have caused the district to request cash from the state. Without the money, the schools could be in jeopardy during the 2013-14 school year.
“If these dollars don’t come to the district—and soon—we may face the real prospect of not seeing school doors open in any meaningful way this fall. If that sounds scary, it should,” Anthony Williams, a Pennsylvania state senator, wrote in a column for The Philadelphia Tribune. “No one I know wants Philadelphia to have the distinction of having the largest U.S. school district to declare bankruptcy.”
In Pennsylvania, urban school districts like Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Reading, and York lost 10 times more in state aid than affluent school districts in recent years. About $860 million in school funding cuts will likely result in more distressed school districts.
“In 2011, Gov. Tom Corbett slashed nearly $1 billion from Pennsylvania's public schools, creating a school funding crisis that is getting worse every year these unprecedented cuts are not restored,” the Pennsylvania State Education Association states on its website.
Mike Crossey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, has blamed ideological politics for the funding crisis.
“If the governor was serious about addressing the school funding crisis he created two years ago, he would target sustainable funding to our students rather than use their education as leverage to promote his ideological agenda,” Crossey said in a February news release.
Regardless of politics, in Michigan, state and local education officials met late Monday to try and figure out a plan for Buena Vista students. One possibility? Officials may try to use federal funds to run summer camps to help students make up missed class work.
Regardless of what happens this summer, Buena Vista's website states that, at this time, it's impossible for them "to predict whether the District will be in a position to enroll students next year."
One good piece of news: At least seniors will be able to graduate in June.
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