The way Coatesville politics works

Organized Crime as defined by the FBI:

“Organized Crime
The FBI defines organized crime as any group having some manner of a formalized structure and whose primary objective is to obtain money through illegal activities. Such groups maintain their position through the use of actual or threatened violence, corrupt public officials, graft, or extortion, and generally have a significant impact on the people in their locales, region, or the country as a whole.”
From: http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/orgcrime/glossary.htm

Long established drug trafficking “businesses” simply cannot exist without cooperative and corrupt public officials.

I believe that there are two basic groups of politicians in the City of Coatesville and nearby:

1. Those that are working against the drug trafficking, culture and economy

2. Those that “go along” with the drug trafficking, culture and economy

Please note that the public officials themselves may not be aware that some of their backers are “going along” with the drug trafficking economy in Coatesville.

Drug trafficking is big business in Coatesville. I believe that when Coatesville was crawling with undercover ATF officers looking for arsonists the drug business in Coatesville nearly dried up. Some of the businesses used by Coatesville residents had a downturn in business and people had some trouble paying bills. It was not just bad press. Bad press does not keep anyone from paying bills.

He was not the easiest person to get along with but the cornerstone of Paul Janssen’s plans for the growth of Coatesville was to make the streets safe and drive out the drug dealers. When Janssen began working here his opposition to the then prevailing stranglehold that drug traffickers held over Coatesville was the reason that the FBI told the Janssen family not to live within the Coatesville City limits.

Coatesville’s former administration was approaching that goal of making the streets safe and did make it nearly impossible for a drug dealer to live within the city limits without being picked up by Coatesville Police. They could not even come into Coatesville to visit a girfriend without risking arrest.

I believe that the people who back politicians that “go along” with the drug trafficking finally got back into control and as a US Attorney involved in prosecuting drug traffickers in Chester County said to me: “Coatesville was ready to turn over and then these new guys came in”. Within a few months the dealers came back in a very big and violent way.

In addition to intimidation, threats of violence and payoffs; I believe that it’s Coatesville’s “politics” that keeps Coatesville’s biggest business enterprise going on Friday and Saturday nights.

If you want to be in politics in Coatesville the easiest route is to close your eyes and ears and just go with the flow. The money and political machine is there for you if you do.

Some people are so deep in the community trees in Coatesville that they don't see how the forrest works. Or maybe they think they can give in a little to the powers that be and still make Coatesville a good place to live.

Organized crime doesn't work that way. Greed is the highest value in organized crime systems and trumps life itself. .The people that take the easy go along with the flow way will eventually be brought down or burned some way by organized crime. There is no middle road.

Just a careful reading of news reports can tell you a lot about who goes along and who does not.