Welcome to the Coatesville Dems Blog

Public Corruption in Chester County, PA

I believe an unlikely mix of alleged drug trafficking related politicos and alleged white nationalist related politicos united to elect the infamous “Bloc of Four” in the abysmal voter turnout election of 2005. During their four year term the drug business was good again and white nationalists used Coatesville as an example on white supremacist websites like “Stormfront”. Strong community organization and support from law enforcement, in particular Chester County District Attorney Joseph W. Carroll has begun to turn our community around. The Chester County drug trafficking that I believe centers on Coatesville continues and I believe we still have public officials in place that profit from the drug sales. But the people here are amazing and continue to work against the odds to make Coatesville a good place to live.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Shredded Justice, Rolling Stone & The difference between Mafia and Wall Street

Nicky Scarfo  allegedly dabbled in mortgage derivatives with “FirstPlus Finiancial Group Inc.”
The FBI was all over Scarfo's companies while the SEC gave "Get Out of Jail Free" cards to Wall Street Bankers. The difference: The non-Mafia investment bankers could offer lucrative comfy jobs in their companies to SEC regulators. I don't think the FBI would be interested in a job offer from Scarfo's associates. 
Scarfo's companies: 
Rutgers Investment Group, LLC 
121 North Wayne Avenue
Suite 210
Wayne, PA 19087
(DON'T KNOCK NOBODY'S HOME) 
And: 
Firstplus Financial Group, Inc.
GET THE SEPTEMBER 1st. ROLLING STONE  MAGAZINE
AND READ: 
SHREDDED JUSTICE
Is the SEC destroying evidence and covering up Wall Street crime


See:
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2011
Organized crime and Wall Street-Or maybe it’s organized crime mimicking the big time criminals on Wall Street

I can relate to the “Shredded Justice” article on a personal level.  I run into statements that I find very frustrating such as, “Well that’s not enough evidence to convict someone of a crime”. That’s true but not relevant.  The result of keeping information of possible crimes from law enforcement is there is no record to connect any future suspicious action with. A pattern of suspicious actions and behavior can reach a level that triggers a full investigation. And there is RICO-Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. With RICO it’s not any particular individual crime. The CRIME is a PATTERN of racketeering activity connected to an enterprise.
Update:
Maybe this excerpt from “Shredded Justice” will make what I wrote above clearer:
“The SEC not keeping the MUIs-you can see why this would be bad,’ says Markopoulos, the fraud examiner famous for breaking the Madoff case, ‘The reason you would want to keep them is to build a pattern. That way, if you get five MUIs over a period of 20 years on something similar involving the same company, you should be able to connect five dots and say, “You know, I’ve had five MUIs-they’re probably doing something. Let’s go tear the place apart”

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

In 2007 the PA Commonwealth Court ordered landlord Amrit Lal to pay the City of Coatesville $110,000. It never happened.


Landlord Amrit Lal was supposed to pay $110,000 to the City of Coatesville instead Harry Walker and Andrew Lehr allegedly accepted his check for $5,000.
There was a long fought court battle between Coatesville landlord Amrit Lal and the City of Coatesville over unpaid fines for several of his Coatesville properties. After many years and a LOT of legal expenses paid by the City of Coatesville the City of Coatesville won:


Or did landlord Amrit Lal win?
But allegedly Mr. Lal and/or RST Properties never paid the fine or the legal expenses of the City of Coatesville:


Elwood Dixon asked the Coatesville City Council what happened to the $110,000 that was owed to the City of Coatesville. The Courthouse in the County of Chester could not give Mr. Dixon an answer.
Mr. Dixon got his answer last night.
City Councilperson Ed Simpson, “It wasn’t money from the County it was money from fines. Mr. Walker and our previous solicitor settled for $5,000.
Mr. Dixon, “What happened to the $5,000?”
Mr. Simpson, “It was deposited.”
Mr. Dixon, “It was deposted?”
Mr. Simpson, “I’m pretty sure that it was, I’ll check my files.”
Mr. Dixon, “Did the council give the OK?”
Mr. Simpson, “No they did not. Council was never informed about it.”
Mr. Dixon, “So there’s nothing that can be done?”
Mr. Simpson, “At this point, no.”
Mr. Joe Hamrick, “It was signed off...”
Mr. Simpson, “By Mr. Walker and Andrew Lehr.”
LISTEN HERE:



“The District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has “noted that Lal is no ordinary pro se litigant, claiming to possess a law degree and a Ph.D., and that he has filed countless actions over an approximate 18-year period beginning in 1978.”

Notably, appellant has been sanctioned several times for bringing frivolous claims to court and abusing the legal process."

SEE:

Do something nice for someone. Go to the Coatesville Flower Shop today

If you go into the Coatesville Flower Shop today and say you want to do something good for someone else the DePedro’s will give you a dozen roses. Keep a rose for yourself and give 11 to other people.
Seven years ago today Greg DePedro and his wife Dorrie lost their daughter. This is the DePedro's way of giving back to the community that gave them so much support when they were grieving for the loss of their daughter.

Listen to Coatesville City councilperson Ed Simpson speak about the DePedros:

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Were there were physical altercations between a city employee and Forensic Auditor Manny Dechter?

Were there were physical altercations between a city employee and Forensic Auditor Manny Dechter and physical altercations between that same city employee and Coatesville Finance Director Stacy Bjorhus? Did Stacy Bjorhus show up at a City Council Meeting with facial injuries?
Was the city employee that allegedly assaulted Manny Dechter and Stacy Bjorhus ever disciplined or protected?
Did that same city employee try to sue for discrimination but had no case?
Did certain city council members ask that Manny Dechter be removed from City Hall before his forensic audit was finished?
This is part of what I wrote on March 19, 2011: 
There are still unresolved issues at Coatesville City Hall related to the former administration; for instance, the missing $168,000 in the 2008 budget. Joe Carroll had a forensic auditor, Manny Dechter, audit the 2008 budget. He found the same $168,000 missing that Thornton Barbacane found. I believe the missing $168,000 may have something to do with payments in cash to the City of Coatesville. I think the people involved are still on the payroll. 
Paul Janssen’s primary effort was making the streets safe and he was run out of town. We do have a good police force again but I feel the court system may not always be on their side. 
I think the primary opposition to the redevelopment came from those who benefit from the drug business of Chester County. I think the primary opposition to the redevelopment of Coatesville is still coming from those who benefit from the drug business in Chester County. 
I believe some corruption remains within City Hall. 
The revitalization of the City that came to a standstill with the “bloc of four” is coming about in a very big way. I believe that within 5 years Coatesville will be the major municipality in Chester County for recreation, business, residential real estate, transportation and shopping. 
If a Coatesville City Manager can’t accept or handle all those elements to the job he won’t do us much good.
The entire post is here:
SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2011
Also see:

FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2011

The first duty of a new City Manager is to make the streets safe


Also see:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2011

And also see:

THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2011

I warned the City Council to ignore the person Chester County sent us to look for a Coatesville City Manager.



One more thing:
Was the free wireless Wi-Fi service-“coatesvillefreewireless.com” at City Hall and other areas of Coatesville shut down because it allowed open access to Coatesville City Government computers AND BECAUSE DRUG DEALERS WERE USING IT FOR THEIR BUSINESSES?  Karl Marking shut it down. 

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Urban Farming Movement Detroit, Philadelphia and maybe Coatesville too?


Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.
“A garden that grows community”
We already have at least one small urban garden in Coatesville. 


This is just a suggestion with out any meat to it but what if we took some abandoned properties. That is the properties where the buildings need to be torn down and made them into small garden plots?


The Recovery Park project in Detroit is on too grand a scale for Coatesville. There isn’t enough space for it.


Philadelphia has a full blown urban gardens movement:

 
“The Neighborhood Gardens Association / A Philadelphia Land Trust (NGA) is a nonprofit corporation whose mission is the continuity and long-term preservation of community-managed gardens and green spaces in Philadelphia neighborhoods.”
More at:The Neighborhood Gardens Association


Cities did in the past have farming areas. Since 1854 the far Northeast section of Philadelphia was part of the City of Philadelphia. It was a rural farm area until the post war baby boom Bauhaus style grid homes were built on those former farms. I worked with a man who grew up on one of those Northeast Philly farms. 
And there are plans to revive farming in the far Northeast Philadelphia: 


Coatesville is a cleaner place this Saturday


The Coatesville Parks and Recreation Committee of the City of Coatesville and the Coatesville Youth Initiative of the Brandywine Health Foundation have combined to make the City of Coatesville a cleaner and healthier place.
This morning Marie Hess of the Coatesville Parks and Recreation Committee organized a group of mostly youth from The Coatesville Area School District, The Girl Scouts of America, The Boy Scouts of America and many individuals to clean up the streets and common areas all over the city.
At the same time there was a coordinated “Coatesville Recycling & Living Green Festival at Victor Abdala Park in Coatesville organized by Jarvis Berry of the Brandywine Health Foundation. 


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Friday, August 19, 2011

Is the silence about the gang war in Coatesville our “Milquetoast” City Manager’s doing?


LISTEN TO THIS CALL, it came to me on Thursday August 18, 2011:




Call it a gang war between the “Dope Boyz” and the “Goons” or a bunch of children playing with real guns; either way people are getting hurt and Coatesville is scared.
I don’t know if there is a concerted effort to keep gang violence out of the news as a public relations ploy or not. If it is a public relations ploy, is keeping Coatesville's image up and sweeping violence under the rug more important than letting Coatesville’s residents know what's going on?

Thursday, August 18, 2011

I warned the City Council to ignore the person Chester County sent us to look for a Coatesville City Manager.

I would much rather see Rawlings go and Karl Marking stay no matter how much it costs the city and even though there is no one ready to immediately step in as Coatesville City Manager.
I told several people that it was a HUGE MISTAKE to hire Rawlings as Coatesville City Manager. Now I believe we are stuck with the very same problems with city staff all over again.
And I really can’t stand the animosity towards our Finance Manager allegedly because she discovered that Marty Eggleston, Ed Simpson and Jarrell Brazzle have delinquent trash bills. 

I might also say that this is an extremely reserved and toned down post.
Published: Thursday, August 18, 2011
Karl, if you do go, let everyone know exactly why; don’t hold any punches. You owe the people of Coatesville. 

There is sort of a revolving gang war in Coatesville


It’s between the “Dope Boyz” and the “Goons” and has been raging since at least when Falandez James gunned down Carron London in front of my cousin’s store on June 26, 2010.
Several shooting events were not reported in the news. 
In a few shootings gang members accidently shot their own gang members.
Now gang members are posting on the Daily Local News comments to the DLN article below. 
People with indirect and direct involvement with crimes in Coatesville have posted in the "comments" in the Daily Local News before, but I can't remember anything like this number of postings from people who may in some way be involved with the crimes. 
Some of the postings are just the usual racist rants. 
Someone thoughtfully posted a glossary of gang names/real names:
"jb123 wrote on Aug 17, 2011 10:54 PM: 
' Just in the event that you have read all of this moronic statements listed above and am wondering who is mentioned as being involved, maybe this helps: Pumpkin is William Shockley. Cam is Camren Horne. Snop is Steven Carter and Jerisha is Jerisha Short. All wanna be thugs that will probably spent the majority of their adult years incarcerated. Nothing but total losers!!!! "
This is William Shockley’s criminal docket:
This is Camren Home’s criminal docket:
The other two mentioned above are juveniles.
SEE:



The Daily Local (dailylocal.com), Serving Chester County, PA
News
In one case, a teenager was shot 5 times, police report
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
By JENNIFER CARBONI, Staff Writer

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Something happens in Coatesville and everyone knows about it in 24 hours.


I knew about this a week ago. I think there were even more shootings. I don’t know why the information is withheld but I go along with it.
The Daily Local (dailylocal.com), Serving Chester County, PA
News
In one case, a teenager was shot 5 times, police report
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
By JENNIFER CARBONI, Staff Writer

Thursday, August 11, 2011

“Corporations are people” the “Citizens United” decision and the Saha Farm thing were both about corporations as people.

The “Tea Party Republicans” are now vigorously pursuing personhood rights for corporations. The “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision is about personhood rights for corporations. The earlier battles over eminent domain were about personhood rights for corporations. The battle between the City of Coatesville and the group of people making up the Saha property coalition was a very small part of the Republican plan to give personhood rights to people.


MITT ROMNEY: There’s various ways of [preserving Social Security and Medicare’s solvency]. One is we could raise taxes on people. That’s not the way . . .
AUDIENCE: Corporations! Corporations!
ROMNEY: Corporations are people, my friend.
AUDIENCE: No they’re not.
ROMNEY: Of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. Where do you think it goes?
AUDIENCE: It goes into your pocket!
ROMNEY: Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People’s pockets. Human beings, my friend.



It’s “We the people” in the preamble to the United States Constitution not we the corporations because back then the only powerful corporation on earth was the “East Indian Tea Company”. And they owned the tea that the “Boston Tea Party” threw into Boston Harbor. The Tea Party Republicans have it exactly backwards. It was brand new country with a "government of the people, by the people, for the people". Not a government of and for private property and corporate property. 

The ideas to give full personhood rights to corporations came out of Milton Friedman’s University of Chicago School of Economics.

"Regulatory takings’ has become the cornerstone of the ‘Wise Use’ movement's legislative agenda as well as the ideology underlying the movement's ‘property rights’ wing. Under the regulatory takings banner, Wise Use leaders have rounded up a broad range of economic and political interests, including developers, small property owners, timber companies, and others into the so-called "property rights" movement. More accurately termed ‘property primacy’ for its subordination of the public good to private financial interests, this is the fastest growing wing of the Wise Use movement.” 
FROM:
 Regulatory Takings and Private Property Rights
By Tarso Ramos

See my post:

MONDAY, JULY 11, 2011

The huge fights over eminent domain are over.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The Interrupters



Meet Chicago's Interrupters…

They are the shock troops in the city's battle against endemic street violence – peacemakers who once lived by the gun. As a documentary on their work reaches cinemas, we visit Chicago to see the campaigners in action

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Is the missing $160.000 the sticking point on approving City of Coatesville finance reports?


DAILY LOCAL NEWS

Coatesville council splits on finance reports

Are a few Coatesville City Council members and two Coatesville City Managers protecting some city staff members in concern to the Pennsylvania State Police and District Attorney Joe Carroll’s forensic audit that was done by Manny Dechter?
Were there physical altercations in City Hall between Manny Dechter and some city staff members?
 Was Mr. Dechter forced to leave too early?
On March 19, 2011, I wrote:
There are still unresolved issues at Coatesville City Hall related to the former administration; for instance, the missing $168,000 in the 2008 budget. Joe Carroll had a forensic auditor, Manny Dechter, audit the 2008 budget. He found the same $168,000 missing that Thornton Barbacane found. I believe the missing $168,000 may have something to do with payments in cash to the City of Coatesville. I think the people involved are still on the payroll.

SEE:

SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2011


Are people being protected by not auditing the 2008 City of Coatesville budget?

Coatesville 1911


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A reminder from The Coatesville Historical Commission:

This Saturday, August 13th from 9-12pm at The Lukens Executive Building will be the 100th anniversary remembrance of the lynching of Zachariah Walker. A lecture from celebrated author and scholar Dr. Dennis Downey of Millersville University describing from his recently re-published book on the lynching and his recently published book describing the aftermath of the lynching of Zachariah Walker. There will be a Q&A panel including Dr. Downey, James Kennedy, mayor of South Coatesville and local civic and spiritual leaders. Followed by a book signing.

Also, the Commission is selling Dr. Dennis Downey’s new book “Coatesville and the Lynching of Zachariah Walker” for $19.99. Please support the commission and purchase your book from us (priced the same at retail stores). You can contact me via email, thanks!!! See attached for the website for Dr. Downey’s new book:


Monday, August 8, 2011

Coatesville will get the hotel and pharmacy but will we get anything else???

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The hardest part of building the Marriott Hotel and Walgreens Pharmacy is financing them and that’s been done.
I believe the Veldrome is not yet financed and because of this man it might be a lot more difficult:



DAILY KOS

The Washington Post-with Bloomberg

Friday, August 5, 2011

Will Obama cave into GOP pressure and kill this plan to fight domestic radicalism too?

latimes.com 
White House unveils broad plan to fight domestic radicalism 
The strategy calls on federal agencies to help police, schools and community groups prevent violent extremism. 
By Brian Bennett, Washington Bureau 
August 4, 2011 
“The plan did not identify a single agency that would coordinate the initiative, which could cause the effort to fall short, Levitt said.”
The thing is we once had an division of the Department Homeland Security  in place that had nearly the same function.  It  generated this report to law enforcement officials:

A part of the Department of Homeland Security that did much of what is proposed in the new plan to fight domestic terrorism was killed by the Obama Administration because of fierce opposition by the Republican Party and Fox News.  I believe the Republican Party killed the DHS program on domestic terrorist threats because some of the treat came from Tea Party Republicans and the Republicans needed their support in the 2010 elections. 
believe that radicals are now so deeply embedded into the fabric of the Republican Party that an act of domestic terrorism could come from within the ranks of the Republican Party. 

From  Inside the DHS: Former Top Analyst Says Agency Bowed to Political Pressure 
“What was your mission at DHS? 
DHS's mission was identified in the 2002 Homeland Security Act. Part of the department's responsibilities includes identifying and assessing possible terrorist threats to the homeland and notifying law enforcement officers of those threats. We looked at extremist groups who had histories of violent activities, but who might not necessarily be doing anything right now. We also studied radicalization: the process of adopting an extremist belief system and showing a willingness to use or facilitate violence to change the world. We wanted to know how a law-abiding person becomes radicalized to the point of being willing to hurt people. No one else was doing this work from a uniquely domestic, non-Islamic perspective… 
What worries me is the fact that our country is under attack from within, from our own radical citizenry. There have been a lot of small-scale attacks lately, whether it's three mail bombs sent to U.S. government facilities in Maryland and D.C., or a backpack bomb placed near a [Martin Luther King Jr. Day] parade in Spokane, Wash., or two police officers gunned down at a traffic stop in West Memphis, Ark., [by antigovernment extremists in May 2010].  
These incidents are starting to add up. Yet our legislators, politicians and national leaders don't appear too concerned about this. So, my greatest fear is that domestic extremists in this country will somehow become emboldened to the point of carrying out a mass-casualty attack, because they perceive that no one is being vigilant about the threat from within. That is what keeps me up at night." 
Daryl Johnson Former Top Analyst at the Department of Homeland Security: 
From: 
SPLC 
Intelligence Report, Summer 2011, Issue Number:  142 
Inside the DHS: Former Top Analyst Says Agency Bowed to Political Pressure 
Interview conducted by Heidi Beirich
The decent into economic depression adds fuel to the fires of extremist terrorism. 
IT’S looking more and more like 1937:
Tue Aug 02, 06:14 AM 
Fears of far-right rise in crisis-hit Greece 
The Associated Press 
“ATHENS, Greece — They descended by the hundreds -- black-shirted, bat-wielding youths chasing down dark-skinned immigrants through the streets of Athens and beating them senseless in an unprecedented show of force by Greece's far-right extremists.
In Greece, alarm is rising that the twin crises of financial meltdown and soaring illegal immigration are creating the conditions for a right-wing rise -- and the Norway massacre on Monday drove authorities to beef up security. 
The move comes amid spiraling social unrest that has unleashed waves of rioting and vigilante thuggery on the streets of Athens. The U.N.'s refugee agency warns that some Athens neighborhoods have become zones where "fascist groups have established an odd lawless regime." 
MORE AT: 
CTV News 
http://m.ctv.ca/world/20110802/greece-economic-and-political-crisis-110802.html
Also see:
SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

ALSO SEE:
I was reminded of the "credible threat" on Obama Staff in Coatesville

ALSO SEE:

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

The Republican Party “End Days Clock” is ticking

There are several things that could bring the Republican Party to an abrupt halt.

The extremism, the Christian Reconstructionists and White Nationalist now flourishing top to bottom in the Republican Party.
A Republican elected official could go nuts and do a Jared Lee Loughner or a Timothy McVeigh. The real number of wing nut Republicans is one hell of a lot more than just the 23 named here. See:
By Robert Steinback
It would be nice, but I don’t think there is much chance of the Republican Party coming back to the Country Club Republican Party of the 1950s. The GOP is overwhelmed by extremists. The Citizens United decision making secret contributions possible from anywhere won’t even help if they are seen as bunch of hopelessly out of control radical extremists who would, on a whim, collapse the worldwide economy.
Rupert Murdoch could be arrested.
 The Phone Hacking Scandal is getting more serious and now involves Murdoch news hacking into computers of anti-terrorist officials. If Fox News, Wall Street Journal and almost countless Republican Murdoch rags in the USA go down the American people will get honest journalism for a change. With Murdoch gone conservative ideas worldwide will lose their principal propaganda minister. See:
The big one is global warming.
Rupert Murdoch and Koch Brothers have convinced a lot of people that global warming is imaginary. Right now news organizations and weather forecasters fearfully self-edit out all references to global warming when reporting droughts, floods and horrific tornados.
Global warming is becoming obvious. Someday soon no one will believe Rupert Murdoch’s news organizations and the Koch Brothers lies about global warming.
It is a certainty that global warming will someday soon be undeniable. When global warming becomes an obvious part of everyday living the reaction will be wide spread panic. People will be looking for people to blame and the Republican Party is where they will find them.