Lights up on Coatesville’s potted trees this Saturday

I copied John Pawlowski’s email with his permission:

Friends:

 Here is a friendly reminder that the Weed and Seed Community Policing Sub-Committee plans to install lights on the small trees in the planters between First and Third Avenues Saturday, April 30. We will meet at 204 East Lincoln Hwy., at 9 am. Please help if you can.

 I know we would need ladders of varying sizes, 6, 8 or even 10 feet.

 The City of Coatesville Publics Works department, have dropped off some ladders and the lights that we'll need for the project.

 The ladders that I mentioned are inside of 204 E. Lincoln Hwy., along with the lights. I was given, for this particular job, a key to 204 E. Lincoln Hwy.

 We will meet at 204 E. Lincoln Hwy., rain or shine. If it rains, we'll discuss this project and of course we'll reschedule.

 Please try and be available this Saturday.

How important are those bright lights for Coatesville, ask yourself, how important are bright lights for Times Square and Las Vegas?

We will do this rain or shine. If it rains we will simply meet at 204 E. Lincoln Hwy., and discuss further dates for re-scheduling.

John Pawlowski

Enronizing Education

Remember the “smartest boys in the room” from Enron? Those boys moved to Wall Street investment banking companies like Goldman Sachs after Enron went under. I think their “smarts” were pushing formerly legal businesses into organized crime as possible without going to prison for a long time.

I think a willingness to commit criminal acts “for the good of the company” is what separates “business ethics” from ethics. A criminal mind is now a sought after quality in Wall Street employees.

The GOP is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street and fossil fuel extraction companies. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett underscored the Republican Party’s relationship with fossil extraction companies and the Republican Party’s efforts to privatize education with this:

Corbett suggests schools drill for gas

• Apr 28, 2011

Unions are the Democratic Party’s only big money counter to the GOP Supreme Court’s stamp of approval on the laundering of secret campaign financing “Citizens United” decision. All the rest of the big money for political spending in the USA comes from US and foreign corporations.  

See:

United States of America-China Chamber of Commerce

Strangling publicly funded secondary schools, cutting off funds to K to 12 public schools and pouring public funding into private “charter schools” are not unique to Pennsylvania. It’s a nationwide GOP effort to “Enronize” education in the USA and make education a money pot for Wall Street while at the same time eliminating public sector unions.

One of our nation’s greatest achievements is public education. That educated intelligent public helped to make the USA the manufacturing and innovative powerhouse that it once was.

That manufacturing powerhouse was transported to China by Reaganomics and “moving to the ideological middle” Democrats. Unions and middle class prosperity declined with the exportation of manufacturing.  The Republicans and their fat cat international partners flourished and the United States withered. 

Wall Street now sees no reason for the existence of intelligent American citizens; they make their money in China. Privatizing education by cutting public funds for higher education and creating charter schools will allow Wall Street to bleed the USA completely dry.

See:

Public Good vs. Private Profit:
Imagine Schools, Inc. in Ohio

Vouchers to use in private corporate “Charter Schools”

Voucher bill slated for Senate vote

Published: Monday, April 25, 2011

In Coatesville you don’t “follow the money” you follow the people. There are certain people who I believe are only involved in enterprises that offer opportunities to steal. And there are several former Coatesville officials who are or have been involved in charter schools.

There are well meaning people that think charter schools are an opportunity for students and in some cases this is true. But I think the primary momentum behind charter schools is in the opportunity to steal tax payer money. 

Charter Schools are private corporations using tax payer money. But they are accountable to their board of directors. We are contemplating throwing tax payer money into the closed and darkened back rooms of Charter Schools.

Many of us are angry at giving Billions of tax payer dollars to investment bankers who operate in a grey area between legality and organized crime. I believe there are many charter schools that operate in a grey area between legality and organized crime where parents and students loose and criminality wins.

See:

Public Good vs. Private Profit:
Imagine Schools, Inc. in Ohio

Break out the straightjackets for Santorum and Republicans like him

When you see this guy in person it’s glaringly obvious that he is a nutcase jerk. Santorum, Gov. Scott Walker and other Messiah syndrome Republicans like them need professional psychiatric help. Put the straightjackets on them and put them in sanatoriums. 

See:

Rick Santorum: I Would ‘Absolutely’ Let The Country Default Over Defunding The Health Care Law

Earth Day Tree Planting at Coatesville's Gateway Park

It was a little chilly but no one noticed. Warmth came from working together to make Coatesville a better place. From left to right in the lineup photo; Sheila Fleming and Wesley Horner from the Brandywine Conservancy, former City Councilman Kareem Johnson, Matt Baker, Officer Ollis and Marie Hess Weed of the Seed Committee. In the other photos you can see Weed and Seed Director Allen Smith, the really amazing John Pawlowski and Public Works Director Don Wilkinson. Sorry, I just couldn’t get everyone’s name.

This is Wesley Horner speaking about the plans for Today’s Earth Day Tree Planting in Coatesville at the April 11 Coatesville City Council meeting:

Wesley Horner on Earth Day tree planting.mp3

“Thank you very much, I’m Wesley Horner, Senior Advisor for Water Resources for the Brandywine Conservancy and we’re here this evening to make sure council is aware of and invited to the upcoming Earth Day Planting Project which we are doing with multiple involvement from City groups and agencies.

This is a Growing Greener project sponsored by the Department of Environmental Protection. It involves basically preparing reforestation and plantings along the Brandywine Creek, which is obviously near and dear to our parks. And the first phase of the two planting is a fairly modest planting will happen on the morning of Earth Day which also happens to be Good Friday a week from Friday 8:30 to approximately 11:30.  And we will be planting some additional shrubs, native species along the rear fence line at Gateway Park. There’s already been trees planted, revitalized.  

And the second phase will be a little more ambitious, that will occur next year hopefully on Earth Day 2012 and will involve significant sections of the stream bank along the Brandywine north of Lincoln Highway. So that will be a considerably more ambitious project. It involves at the present time we’re trying to reduce invasives so we’ll be doing some spraying and removal of invasives there…

We’ve been working very closely with Weed and Seed Community Policing Subcommittee; Matt Baker, Allen Smith, Officer Roger Ollis have been extremely helpful and we hope to have a good turnout in the morning and get these 75 native shrubs put in there; ultimately a modest amount of water quality improvement impact on the Brandywine. But I think in this case, probably intended to have more of an esthetic and screening impact so that when we’re in the park you get a nice visual effect. As the trees mature there will be a nice green background…

The total project is approximately $40,000 of trees and shrubs and a far amount of invasive control as the vines north of Lincoln are serious problems. We are doing this, it’s really part of the Conservancy’s Reforestation Campaign, planting thousands of trees throughout the watershed. And we thought it’s important to do some projects in the City of Coatesville as well.”

"Wesley Horner recently joined the Conservancy staff as Senior Advisor for Water Resources. A familiar face, Wes was Associate Director of the Conservancy’s Municipal Assistance Program (MAP) from 1996 to 2000. While here, he co-authored two handbooks, the Conservation Design for Stormwater Management and Transferable Development Rights: A Flexible Option for Redirecting Growth in Pennsylvania. Most recently, he worked for Cahill Associates, an engineering firm formerly of West Chester, and CH2M HILL in Philadelphia. During his tenure with Cahill Associates, Wes managed the preparation of Pennsylvania’s Stormwater Best Management Practices Manual. Contributions to numerous other manuals for managing low impact development-stormwater fill his resume.
At the Conservancy, Wes will strengthen our sustainable watershed management program. Many will benefit from the treasure of experiences that make him a leader in his field.
A graduate of Haverford College with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Wes also received a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from Harvard University. An avid gardener, he lives in the Coatesville area and has two grown children."
From:
http://www.brandywineconservancy.org/pdfs/ECW2008-2009.pdf

Are people gun shy about building walking/biking trails in Northern Chester County?

If you go into Northern Chester County you can find Confederate Battle Flags proudly flying and now and then someone proudly wearing a KKK baseball cap.

I was at Wednesday evening’s Brandywine-Struble Greenway Open House meeting in Downingtown.

I think the people from Chester County and the Brandywine Conservancy won’t say it publicly but I believe they are gun shy about putting Greenway Riverpark trail along the West Branch of the Brandywine from Coatesville to Hibernia Park and further into Honeybrook Township. And also the East Branch Greenway into Honeybrook Township that is now in the planning stages (some sections are complete). I believe they’re afraid of the white nationalist/property rights/KKK people in that area of Chester County.

I don’t think they need to be afraid of them.

We have exactly the same type of people in the Northern Montgomery County Skinhead/KKK areas along the Perkiomen Creek. They put up “Stop the Horse Trail” posters along RT. 29 when we tried to build the Perkiomen Trail.  They circulated rumors that Black People from Philadelphia would be “walking in your backyard and maybe robbing you”.  That’s a very long walk but reality doesn't intrude into the KKK mind.

The property rights people strung thin wires across the existing portions of railroad bed at neck level for horseback riders. One of those horseback riders happened to be Michael Marino who was Montgomery County District Attorney at the time. If Mike Marino hadn’t pushed for the trail’s completion it probably wouldn’t have happened.

It took 11 years from idea to start of construction. Add several years of property rights lawsuits during construction.

When it was in the planning stages many people complained that the Perkiomen Trail would lower their property values and some of them sold their properties near the proposed trail route before the imagined lowering of property values.  The trail was actually re-routed away from a group of property owners adamant in their opposition to the trail. Now, “Close to the Perkiomen Trail” is featured in real estate advertising.

The Perkiomen Trail is complete and successful beyond most people’s expectations.  Moccia’s Train Stop Restaurant gives “Along the Perkiomen Trail” a prominent position in their advertising.  Moccia’s old small Restaurant in Schwenksville re-opened as a light meal place and as does their new larger Restaurant, caters to trail users. It has hitches on the trail side for horseback riders. The Moccias are, by the way, an extremely nice family. 

The Skinhead/KKK types still have their “ceremonies” near the Perkiomen Creek but they don’t actually light crosses anymore, the fire might be seen from the trail.

Perkiomen Trail is regularly patrolled by Montgomery County Park Rangers. There is actually a level of security along the path of the road bed that didn’t exist before the Perkiomen Trail.

There is a deeply ingrained human need to stroll and socialize.  Italians call it La Passeggiata. There is also a deeply ingrained human need to be into a natural area with wildness. When you give people that live in car centered concrete and macadam communities trail systems that combine both, we flock to those places in huge numbers.

Because of the astounding success of the Perkiomen Trail and the Schuylkill Trail it’s easier to find support for new trails. The “property rights” people are still around and because we have a Black President they are highly aroused, but they just don’t have the clout they once had. 

UPDATE Student Certificate- Earth Day Tree Planting along Brandywine in Gateway Park Coatesville

UPDATE:
Here is the Earth Day Certificate for student volunteers