A CLIMATE OF FEAR BLANKETS COATESVILLE; that small town in Southern Italy with all the Mafia problems

Actually Coatesville is a small Pennsylvania town that I think has more in common with a Mafia controlled town in Italy than it does with its nearest neighbors.

Living in a place where families have known each other for more than 100 years can make you feel comfortable. But when it enables drug traffickers with operations that were set in stone decades ago to know all about all of your extended family it can establish an envelope of fear that covers the entire town.

I can't know for sure but I believe the drug selling "industry" in Coatesville could be the main engine of the economy here and in a good part of Chester County.

The population of Coatesville is about 12,000. There is infrastructure in place for 20,000 residents. New residents are much more likely to report crime than long time Coatesville residents with lots of family to protect.

Redeveloping Coatesville could take away the alleged control by fear that drug dealers have. The USDoJ knows that and even more importantly the drug dealers and all who profit from it know that redeveloping Coatesville and bringing new residents with new eyes on the street could end the drug game here.

I think that Bart Blatstein, Carl Chetty and Don Pulver need to take the “alleged Mafia town connection” into consideration when they propose building here. They need to consult with the DEA, Chester County District Attorney, FBI and ATF and integrate their development proposals with those law enforcement groups.

Don’t forget the public official connection.
Well established drug trafficking operations do not exist without the cooperation of public officials. (

see "Police, Politics, Corruption (Hardcover)
by Colonel Frank McKetta PA STATE POLICE)

Former Chester County Republican Party Area 14 Chair Richard Legree’s son got a light sentence because of his cooperation.

Another Republican Party official and State Constable Clayton Ayers (Area 14, Modena) has a son Clayton J. Ayers III doing six to 15 years in prison on similar charges to Richard Jr.

SEE:

Drug dealer to serve 6 to 15 years in prison
Published: Saturday, May 3, 2008

http://www.dailylocal.com/article/20080503/TMP01/305039988/drug-dealer-to-serve-6-to-15-years-in-prison
USA vs Richard Legree Jr. Sentencing
http://www.box.net/shared/disuv5gm2a

Former Chester County Republican Party Area 14 Chair Richard Legree has a nephew Harvey “Bitsy” Legree who is a video producer.

Daily Local News
Opinion
It’s not ‘snitching,’ it’s standing up for your community
Published: Saturday, May 6, 2006
http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2006/05/06/opinion/16594178.txt

The climate of fear that blankets Coatesville is very much in evidence in the murder trial of Earl Handfield II taking place right now in West Chester, PA. Bitsy Legree was alleged to have produced the “don’t snitch” video mentioned in the Daily Local News article below:


Murder trial's missing person
Published: Sunday, June 14, 2009

Harder to buy smack and crack

It’s harder to buy smack and crack in Coatesville right now. You can thank the boys that work for Eric H. Holder Jr.

Daily Local News
High-tech mapping program aids police sweep
Published: Wednesday, June 3, 2009

http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2009/06/03/news/srv0000005494009.txt

I decided to add this as a post instead of a reply

I revised the introduction to the Coatesville Dems blog to reflect exactly what it is I do here.

I decided to add this as a post, instead of only a reply, to this comment of the post SMALLWOOD DISBARRED ATTORNEY SMALLWOOD MOSAIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS:

“I would like to see someone do a background check on the candidates for City Council. I am sure all of them have made some mistakes in their life. This is a good company. Instead of trying to smear their name perhaps people should argue the merits of the proposal!”

I stand by what I have said about Mosaic and I can back it up if necessary.

I have checked for any criminal records of all the candidates in this and all other elections since I have lived in Chester County. At times I have hired CFR-Cloud, Feehery, & Richter, Inc. when I had trouble finding information myself.

I have law enforcement contacts at local and Federal levels.

Since this is Coatesville, PA it is not surprising that a few of the candidates now running in this local Election do have felony convictions that they are hiding. If they should win I will do what I can to remove them from office.

The candidates supported by the Coatesville Democratic Party have no criminal records, not even misdemeanor criminal records. That is part of the reason they were chosen.

It is my opinion that pubic corruption in the City of Coatesville is at a truly astounding level.

In some parts of Coatesville the social life is a closed loop of families that go back for generations. Not necessarily a bad thing. “Coatesvillians” are a very friendly and loving people. I have spent some very good and memorable moments with long time Coatesville residents.

Think of Coatesville like a village in Sicily or the suburbs of Naples. It is not that bad here. The drug dealers here are not even close to being as effective or as brutal as the Mafia or the Camorra. But I think that the money from drug trafficking trickles down and spreads into nearly every corner of Coatesville and is major portion of the economy and political life here. The fact that many people know not only your immediate family but nearly all of your extended family and where they live makes it very easy to for a climate of fear to spread in certain areas of the city. The money and the fear make people be inclined to not hear or see things.

It is very hard to sit and listen to the victims of violent crimes here tell their stories. I don’t know how the police, district attorneys and social workers can do it.

I believe that public corruption and organized crime in the form of drug trafficking is the primary impediment to the redevelopment of Coatesville.

The current administration eliminated the CPD Narcotics Division, the CPD Bicycle Patrol and a Police Lt. who is said to have more knowledge of the players in drug trafficking than any other single person and that District Attorney Joe Carroll said was extremely important in his investigations. Joe Carroll said “I want Lieutenant Matt Gordon back”. Joe never got him back. Those facts arouse my suspicions about the city administration.

I believe that Coatesville has the potential to become the primary destination place in Chester County PA; but right now it is the primary destination place of anyone who wants to move “product” in Chester County.

That needs to change.

I believe that we need a massive increase in drug trafficking enforcement to do that. That level of drug trafficking enforcement does not need to be permanent. It does need to happen so that drug crime Coatesville is ordinary manageable level like it is similar cities like Phoenixville or West Chester. When that is achieved the redevelopment of Coatesville will be possible.

October 22. 2007 The Coatesville Administration did not know that 200 police would march side by side into the City Council Meeting

From the Chester County Reporter:

"Five months ago the police department was a mess,’ said Schenk. Matthews was hired in April. Schenk said many of the police officers who departed didn't want to work for a black chief. ‘If that's the reason they left, they need to be gone,’ he said. Statements that angered District Attorney Joe Carroll.

‘The department was not a mess before Chief Matthews came here,’ shouted Carroll, pointing his finger at Schenk. And to say these officers left because of racism is outrageous.’ Schenk later retracted his statement regarding officers not wanting to work for a black chief, saying it was based on rumor.”

Joe Carroll is a very quiet spoken gentleman. He rarely raises his voice. Joe's hands shook as he said the words below. A recording of Kurt Schenk’s Comments and Joe Carroll's response at that meeting is below:

http://www.box.net/shared/tieit04ix8

An article in the Chester County Reporter is here:
http://chestercountyreporter.com/100policeturnout.html

The curfew is back

We drove through Coatesville last night (Saturday) shortly after 10 pm. Except for some activity at the Masonic Hall and the CYWA the streets were empty. On Saturday night in Coatesville when the weather is nice; the corners at 6th Avenue and Lincoln Highway, Pennsylvania Avenue and Lincoln Highway, Chester and Lincoln Highway and 8th Avenue and Lincoln Highway are usually teeming with people. I asked around; the word on the street is that the curfew is back.

PAID HIT ALLEGED

At Joe Carroll's community meeting last night in Coatesville, Joe said that we may read in the papers that Jeremiah bush AKA Hanif Murphy has been captured in Philadelphia. Bush is wanted for the murder of Jonas"Sonny"Suber at Suber"s home on Walnut Street in Coatesville on Saturday morning at 9 am, October 21, 2006.

Joe said that the murder is allegedly a "paid hit". It is alleged that the "hit" was ordered by someone in Coatesville.

Jonas "Sonny" Suber is a relative of Coatesville City Council person Kareem Johnson.

From Jeremiah Young Bush AKA Hanif Murphy">

There is one simple way to eliminate the source of about one half of the drug trafficking in the United States of America.

And that is legalizing marijuana.

The correct question to ask is; are the heath problems and social problems associated with marijuana use worse than explosive growth in the health and social problems associated with gun violence, kidnapping, home invasion and beheading?

I think that drug trafficking violence is now a real probability in any neighborhood; rich or poor, city or rural, in the United States of America.

In my opinion law enforcement in the USA cannot keep ahead of the drug trafficking business. Since the United States of America is by far the largest user country on earth; legalizing marijuana would cut an entire product and revenue stream from that product from the worldwide drug trafficking industry.

The citizens of the USA are currently on the losing side of the “War on Drugs”. With less money on tap for the drug traffickers; the “battlefield” of the “War on Drugs” would be more even. And part of the tax revenue from the sale of marijuana could go to law enforcement.

There are hundreds of millions of dollars available for bribing. I would be highly suspect of any politician that opposes legalizing marijuana.

The article below centers on the drug violence from Mexico. A large amount of the marijuana sold in the USA also comes from Canada.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/us/23border.html?hp

The United States of America is the top user country of illegal drugs.

Ask anyone that was involved in fighting the “War on Drugs” for a long time. They will tell you that reducing the number of drug users in the United States of America is the way to really hurt the illegal drug business. I don’t know enough to suggest how that could be done.

The United States of America is the top user country of illegal drugs. Reducing illegal drug use at the person to person level would have a real effect on the market for illegal drugs. It would reduce the violence and despair in our own country and also in the increasingly desperate situations in countries to our South. The violence there has become a war; a war not on drugs but a war between drug dealer armies and the police and armies of those countries. Thousands of people are caught in the crossfire.

SUR-13 members tried to make a connection here in Coatesville last year. I believe that the 3 SUR-13 members that were arrested by East Fallowfield Police were a part of a group in Virginia and Maryland. An older man with 1 and 3 shaved eyebrows was in a Coatesville laundromat at about that same time. An investigation lead to the break up of that SUR-13 group. I have not seen any new SUR-13 graffiti since then.

See:
Mexico Under Siege The drug war at our doorstep
Los Angeles Times coverage of Mexico Under Siege

http://projects.latimes.com/mexico-drug-war/#/its-a-war

"Case May Define When a Judge Must Recuse Self"

How about this scenario; the judge is a relative of the alleged suspect in a drugs and guns arraignment. Is recusal necessary? What if that scenario comes up often?

In my view judges should not be a part of any election. I believe that the election of judges is an open invitation for the corrupting influence of organized crime and unscrupulous business practice.

Appointment, instead of election, of common pleas judges could come with the blessing of the Bar Association and something like the Judicial Review Board.

Magisterial judges are of the people and not of the law profession. It gets more complicated to appoint instead of elect magisterial judges. However the magisterial judges are the first step and sometimes a crucial first step in the criminal justice system. I believe that steps should be taken to minimize the intrusion of corrupting influences into our justice system.

The case below has international press attention and scrutiny. On a local level the judiciary may attract no reporters and may never come to the public’s attention.
Jim

"Case May Define When a Judge Must Recuse Self
W.Va. Justice Ruled for a Man Who Spent Millions to Elect Him
By Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 2, 2009; A01

BECKLEY, W.Va. -- Hugh Caperton was born into the coal business, but for more than a decade he has spent more time in a courthouse than in a mine. The complex, intrigue-filled legal tale he will present to the Supreme Court this week was literally enough to spawn a suspense novel, but it boils down to this:
Caperton and his little coal company sued a huge coal company on claims that it unlawfully drove him out of business, and a jury agreed, awarding him $50 million.
That company's chief executive vowed an appeal to the West Virginia Supreme Court -- but first, he spent an unprecedented $3 million to persuade voters to get rid of a justice he didn't like and elect one he did."

MORE AT:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/01/AR2009030102265.html?hpid=topnews

"Police seek public's help with manhunt for homicide suspect"

"Coatesville man slain in October 2006
Saturday, February 28, 2009 6:08 AM EST
By JENNIFER MILLER, Staff Writer
COATESVILLE — The Coatesville Homicide Task Force is seeking the public's help in its search for a man allegedly linked to the killing of Coatesville man nearly 2½ years ago.

Jeremiah "Young" Bush, 22, of Philadelphia, alias Hanif Murphy, is wanted for his alleged role in the killing of Jonas "Sonny" Suber, who was killed in the doorway of his Walnut Street home Oct. 21, 2006.

Investigators said Friday afternoon they are actively pursuing Bush, who will face homicide charges. Bush has ties to Coatesville and West Chester and is believed to be living in Philadelphia."
MORE AT:
http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2009/02/28/news/srv0000004800660.txt

Also See:
“Vicious cycle, tragic ending
Monday, November 27, 2006 3:00 AM EST
By By: Jennifer Miller
...‘I was hoping he would leave Coatesville. It's not a good place for a young black man,’ Stretton said... "I warned him this summer he should leave for his own safety."
‘He wasn't going to leave. Jonas felt rooted in Coatesville,’ Stretton said...

Then, on Oct. 21, a gunman ended Suber's life with eight bullets. The gunman shot him at 9 a.m. in the doorway of his Walnut Street home.”
MORE AT:
http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2006/11/27/frontpage/17519212.txt

One “bloc head” is fitting into a round hole Kareem switches back to Republican

Kareem switched back to Republican. As of Monday he was asking for help in his election as a Democrat.

Kareem was a “bloc head” and helped to make the city what it now is. Now he says that he is remaking his “bloc head” round.

Hmm, I wonder how much different in style and content Eric Brown is compared to former Republican Chair Richard Legree. Mr. Johnson’s and Eric Brown's records may indeed speak for themselves.

Jim
The Daily Local (dailylocal.com), Serving Chester County, PA
Johnson to run for re-election

"Thursday, February 26, 2009 6:43 AM EST
By JENNIFER MILLER, Staff Writer
COATESVILLE — City Council Vice President Kareem Johnson has announced he is running for re-election this year.

Johnson, an at-large councilman, said in a two-page letter to the Daily Local News that he intends to seek a second term. "In this critical time we need experience on City Council as well as new blood on council and in our administrative ranks," the letter states.."
MORE AT:
http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2009/02/26/news/srv0000004780345.txt

CRACKING DOWN ON PUBLIC CORRUPTION

Why We Take It So Seriously...and Why It Matters To You
Q: Does public corruption really have an impact on people's lives?
Dan: Absolutely. Public corruption can take funding away from your child's school and even prevent your street from being re-paved. Police who take bribes endanger your neighborhood. And guess who ultimately foots the bill for these crimes? We all do...through higher taxes. The Government Accountability Office estimates that at least 10 percent of the funding for federal government programs is lost to public corruption and government fraud every year. We're talking tens of billions of dollars.
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june05/obrien062005.htm


Your local field office is:

Philadelphia
FBI Philadelphia
8th. Floor
William J. Green Jr. FOB
600 Arch Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106
(215) 418-4000
philadelphia.fbi.gov

Special Coatesville City Council Meeting Tonight at 6pm

In describing the city's problems, Walker said in his letter to Casey that "Coatesville continues to grow its deficits." However, when council voted to approve this year's budget, they were told by Walker it was balanced.

"One of those is a lie," said Eggleston.
More at:
http://chestercountyreporter.com/109overduebills.html

Richard (Fat Boy) Legree Jr. views deceased father, NEW SENTENCING HEARING DATE

AND NOW, this 30th day of December, 2008, it is hereby ordered and declared that Frank Norris. (or his designee) United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania shall produce the body of Richard Legree, prisoner number 6129-066 at the United States Courthouse, 601 Market Street. Philadelphia, PA on Wednesday December 31, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. for the purpose of a viewing of the prisoner’s deceased father, at the sallyport in the Federal Courthouse.

RICHARD LEGREE, JR. SENTENCING NOTICE:

March 11, 2009 at 4:00 p.m., before the Honorable Michael M. Baylson, in Courtroom 3A.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

(Continued from 2/24/09)

TAKE NOTICE that the above-entitled case has been set for SENTENCING, in the
United States District Court, United States Courthouse, 601 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,

http://www.box.net/shared/jvcdjvzjlf


http://www.box.net/shared/cae4cdd2x3

Some previous actions of Coatesville Police Chief Matthews and Coatesville City Manager Harry G. Walker:

I believe that when Lt. Fitzgerald of the Philadelphia PD was interviewed by Harry G. Walker at the King of Prussia Mall for the position of Coatesville Chief of Police, Walker was accompanied by Richard Legree. I think Lt. Fitzgerald said Walker demanded that Fitzgerald appoint Legree as his first Lieutenant or Assistant Chief. Lt. Fitzgerald said “would not hire Legree due to his ‘checkered’ background”. I think that Lt. Fitzgerald may have been referring Legree’s conviction of selling 145 bags of heroin and a separate conviction of selling nine bags of heroin to undercover agents in Coatesville in1975.

It may be a little thing but in my opinion Richard Legree appeared to be treated by the “bloc of four” as almost god like. For instance: the time limit rule for citizen’s comments is 5 minutes. Richard Legree went on as long as he wanted. I watched as the minutes went past 7 and Don Wilkinson laid the timing clock down on its face. Legree spoke for 22 uninterrupted minutes.

Richard went all over the country in his capacity as Administrator of the Laborers' Health & Safety Fund of the Philadelphia LECET. When he was in Coatesville he was at city hall.

Richard was also Chair of Area 14 of the Chester County Republican Committee (Coatesville, Modena, Valley North and Valley South).

Richard’s son is now awaiting sentencing on February 24th in his conviction of selling Crack Cocaine in Coatesville.
And From:

“UNITED STATES OF AMERICA : CRIMINAL NO. 06-504
v. :
RICHARD LEGREE, JR. :
GOVERNMENT’S MOTION FOR PRETRIAL DETENTION

1. Although the defendant has considerable ties to the Coatesville area, he is currently unemployed and has been captured on audiotape arranging drug deals while residing in his father’s house on home confinement.”
http://www.box.net/shared/6xa2stfhbo

Soon after Matthews was given the job as Chief of Police the word spread that the city was considering laying off Coatesville Police Officers. The lay off did not happen but did result in about 15 officers leaving. The officers that were concerned with job security looked elsewhere. You see before Walker and Matthews the Coatesville Police Department was the envy of small PD’s all across Pennsylvania. Five years of serving in Coatesville under former Coatesville Police Chief Dominic Bellizzie was said equal to a lifetime of extremely good training in most Pennsylvania small town police departments. Coatesville police officers could nearly double their salaries in another police department.

Lieutenant Matt Gordon, referred to by Chester County DA Joe Carroll as “the Coatesville PD’s very best narcotics investigator, a man who knew all the “players” in Coatesville”, was put on administrative leave for years and eventually retired. Even when 200 police officers and police chiefs from all over Eastern Pennsylvania paid a surprise visit to a Coatesville City Council meeting and District Attorney Joe Carroll pleaded that he needed Lt. Gordon for his narcotics and murder investigations; the city council and city administration would not budge. “I need Matt Gordon back,” he said to the council. “If you could handle that as soon as possible, it would be greatly appreciated.” “Schenk was the lone council member to voice his unequivocal support for Matthews”. I believe that the actions toward Lt. Matt Gordon were an effort to remove him and replace him with Richard Legree.


The bike squad was extremely effective in squashing drug dealer activity. The lookout system of the dealers did not work well against the Coatesville Police Bike Squad. The bike squad was squashed by Chief Matthews.

In my opinion the news that “the money is good again in Coatesville” spread all over the nation. We rapidly had dealers from Philly and New York taking up residence in Coatesville. SUR-13, KOD, Cripps and other gang recruiters came to Coatesville. The guns poured in with them. Gunshots were heard and people were picking bullets out of walls and vehicles almost daily. Armed robberies and muggings, nearly all of them unreported in the press, rocketed up.

At about the same time the arson began.

Take all this into consideration and then ask yourself why did the city administration resist implementing a Town Watch for more than 3 years?

Take all this into consideration and then ask yourself why is Matthews resisting implementing a curfew for adults?

See:

“Daily Local News
Pusher called "danger to community',

Friday, September 10, 1976
By BRUCE MOWDAY (Of the Local News Staff)

Richard "Stretch" Legree of Coatesville, named as the number one drug pusher in Chester County by District Attorney William H. Lamb, was convicted last night of selling 145 bags of heroin to an undercover agent in January.”

"DAILY LOCAL NEWS
04/24/2007
CHIEF NOT RULING OUT LEGREE
JENNIFER MILLER , Staff Writer

BUT WILLIAM MATTHEWS ALSO SAYS HE DOES NOT HAVE PLANS TO REORGANIZE COATESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT “

COATESVILLE — One year has passed and the matter of an inactive police lieutenant remains unresolved.
http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=19949657&BRD=1671&PAG=461&dept_id=17782&rfi=8



SOMEBODY IS GOING TO GET HURT
FORMER DETECTIVE CRITICIZES COATESVILLE CHIEF FOR PERSONNEL, SAFETY DECISIONS
Saturday, December 1, 2007 3:00 AM EST
By R. JONATHAN TULEYA and JENNIFER MILLER

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration revealed Operation Trickle Down in May.

It was the code name for a two-year investigation by various federal authorities, the Coatesville Police Department and other Chester County law enforcement agencies into a cocaine pipeline connecting Philadelphia to Coatesville…

’The sad truth is that although continuing drug investigations and arrests are necessary, Matthews wrote, they rarely make a real difference on the street. Simply put, we cannot arrest our way out of the illegal drug culture’,,,

Murrin, 41, worked eight years for the Coatesville police, including 3� years as a narcotics detective. Matthews’ reaction to Operation Trickle Down was not the only reason he left, but it contributed to his decision….

I was one of the guys (saying) ;don’t leave, don’t leave. It’s going to get better, Murrin said.

Seven officers, including Murrin, have left Coatesville’s department since Matthews took over in March. An eighth, former Lt. Matthew Gordon, remains suspended with pay as a result of a dispute with the chief about vacation time.

Murrin said he left reluctantly, and it was not until he felt concerned for his safety, mostly because of the Coatesville’s manpower shortage, that he made his decision. There were nightshifts, he said, being covered by only two officers.

‘That’s crazy. That’s scary crazy. Somebody is going to get hurt,’ Murrin said. The problem with that is you have to be reactive instead of proactive…

One former candidate for chief, Philadelphia Lt. Joel Fitzgerald, confirmed he met with Walker and Legree, who was not on the appointed search committee and is not a city employee, at the King of Prussia shopping mall.

During the meeting, Fitzgerald said, Legree tried to negotiate a position for himself in the police department as well as convince Fitzgerald to fire one of the department’s two lieutenants.

Roughly two months after the secret meeting, police arrested Legree’s son, Richard Legree Jr., on drug charges as part of Operation Trickle Down. Legree Jr., who earlier had been convicted of drug charges in the county court, still has pending drug distribution charges in federal court in Philadelphia.”

http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2007/12/01/past%20stories/19941502.txt


Daily Local News
EDITORIAL
Wake up chief, you are putting the city in danger
Tuesday, October 23, 2007 3:00 AM EDT

People being kind would say Coatesville Police Chief William Matthews and Councilman Kurt Schenk are unrealistic; others would say they�re delusional.
We think it’s the latter.”

http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2007/10/23/past%20stories/19943361.txt


DAILY LOCAL NEWS
10/03/2008
Police dispute still on
By JENNIFER MILLER, Staff Writer

http://www.dailylocal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20149013&BRD=1671&PAG=461&dept_id=635398&rfi=6 “


Daily Local News
Monday, September 11, 2006

Controller questioning transport
Eight constables provided security
By MICHAEL P. RELLAHAN
Staff Writer

…In addition to DiGiorgio’s concerns, the transportation arrangements for the defendant, Odell Cannon, are drawing some scrutiny from Sheriff Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh. She said she was alarmed when told that Cannon may be related to one of the constables chosen by Davis to take him to the hearing, Richard Legree."

I am a little re-assured after last nights meeting

I am a little re-assured after last nights meeting, but not because of anything that I heard at the meeting. You see, except for Joe Carroll the meeting was mostly the usual self praise and talk about coming together. This time the coming together talk is genuine. I can do without the narcissistic self praise. It’s one of the most repulsive things about our city council and Harry Walker.

State and Federal Government cannot except for a Declaration of Marshal Law force themselves on to a municipal government. Let me make something as clear as I can:

The Coatesville City Administration did not call or go to the Commonwealth or Federal Government or Chester County DA Joe Carroll and ask for help. It was more like: You will ask for help. We will help you. Do not try to stop us.

The City Administration’s role in giving aid to its citizens is now just a formality. The Governor, the Federal Government and through District Attorney Joe Carroll, the County is helping us. That is why I feel a little better about our city.

It is not that difficult for me to explain what I think happened to Coatesville.

Just 5 years ago we were a town full of promise. We were on the cusp of a $700 M redevelopment.

Coatesville has one operating passenger and freight track coast to coast railroad line and one short line freight that could be expanded to the passenger service from Wilmington, DE to Reading, PA that it once had.

We have an airport that will soon have direct international flight capacity.

We have a population of about 12,000 with the infrastructure in place for 20,000 people.

We have quick road connections to Interstate North and South roads.

We are centrally located within one of the ten wealthiest Counties in the USA.

Through its Redevelopment Authority Coatesville owns many acres of former industrial land near very high road traffic intersections.

We are in the path of development from Philadelphia, PA from the East and Lancaster, PA from the west.

The Miami School of Architecture’s Knight Foundation for Community Building selected Coatesville for its 2004 Charrette. Only one community is selected per year:

http://www.coatesville.org/forms/charrettereport.pdf

Upper middle class drug users are within an easy drive to Coatesville. We are a mixed race community long trampled on by its wealthy White Anglo-Saxon neighbors. We have quick transportation to New York, NY, Philly and Baltimore. “Packages” can come by air to Scranton Airport down the NE Turnpike to Coatesville. All ways for “packages” have a quick 15 minutes in and out in Coatesville. Combine all that with the generations long tension between fear of murder and income from drug money and you have Coatesville as the multi-million dollar drug distribution center of Chester County. Nothing else comes close in Chester County.

The planned revitalization would have eventually lain to rest the county drug depot here.

I think that some people couldn’t let that happen.

The ATF and State Police didn't shut them down in Coatesville

It's partly indoors. The cash is indoors. The bag is under a car. Just drive down Lincoln Highway.

Coatesville is crawling with police and investigators of all types

The ideas about a curfew or the National Guard in the streets of Coatesville would definitely stop the arsons here.

But Coatesville is not a town in Iowa. The next town is not 100 miles away. The arsonist or arsonists could just start fires in say, West Chester. Or he/they could just shut down for a year.

The ATF is here and Coatesville is crawling with police, local, State, Federal and private investigators. I have to drive around and check but I would bet that the drug dealers are all but shut down completely. At the very least they would have to take it indoors.

Am I being too cynical in saying that there is such a big turnout to get the arsonists because the multi-million dollar drug distribution business in Chester County is all but shut down and it’s killing the “off the books” economy here? Even the booster stores might have had to shut down.

The only good thing is that the roaches in City Hall are now in the national spotlight.