April 17, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

From our readers

Democracy in the Democratic Party

It is difficult to understand the furor of the calls for Hillary Clinton to step aside. Could it be that this race started way too early and therefore seems like it’s been going on for years, when in reality the first votes were cast only three months ago? Isn’t the idea of an election that everyone gets a vote? A primary election should serve the purpose of allowing every voter to choose which candidate best reflects their views. Why then are members of the media and Obama supporters calling for Senator Clinton to drop out? The disenfranchising of millions of voters in Florida and Michigan is also puzzling, especially when polls show that Senator Clinton leads Senator McCain in Florida while Senator Obama trails him by six points. While it may appear that Barack Obama is the clear front runner, let’s not assume he’s the clear winner.

Neither candidate can gain enough delegates to secure the nomination; however, with the remaining contests, Hillary can win the popular vote. With the results in both Florida and Michigan strongly favoring Hillary and big wins in large states such as Pennsylvania and Indiana, that would likely be the case. In addition, Hillary has already secured victories in all of the largest states which are critical wins in November. Imagine, if you will, a scenario whereby Florida and Michigan voters were ignored. The Democratic Party could hand victories in both those states and possibly many others to John McCain.

Chris Visco and Susan Fedele
Erdenheim

Credit due

In the April 10 issue of the Local, Kristin Pazulski writes about the forum sponsored by the Ninth Ward Democratic Committee held on Tuesday night, April 1. More than 100 people attended a forum to hear Mayor Nutter speak for Hillary Clinton and former Senator Harris Wofford speak on behalf of Barack Obama. Each speaker spoke eloquently for their chosen candidate and answered questions raised by the audience. Highlighted in the article describing the forum was a comment by Mayor Nutter — “Only the Ninth Ward could have this many stars.”  What Ms. Pazulski failed to mention was that John O’Connell, Ward Leader, was responsible for gathering those “stars” and generating the publicity for this well attended event.  I believe Mr. O’Connell deserves a very big “thank you” from those of us who were in attendance and an apology from Ms. Pazulski for a significant omission in her article.  

Marilyn Lambert
Mt. Airy

Trustees: the Financial Gatekeepers

As with any endowment, the Chestnut Hill Community Fund has appointed trustees whose primary responsibility is to preserve the endowment, control the distribution of earnings and principal where permitted, and to do critical review of the financial statements and earnings reports on a regular and ongoing basis.  The trustees in this case are appointed by the CHCA board for specific terms and can be removed or replaced at any time.  All significant CHCA assets are held within the non-profit 501(c)3 Fund and are subject to stringent IRS regulations and those defined within the Trust Indenture.

We just learned from an Inquirer news report that the president of the trustees for the period 2002-2006 suffered some serious federal legal consequences regarding his personal finances.  The recently disbanded CHCA Oversight Committee concluded last year that the failure of that same individual and the trustees to meet even their most fundamental responsibilities during this period allowed the CHCA board and management to run reckless with administrative and financial record keeping, and to raid the Trust Fund without authorization.  Despite the fact that detailed exhibits and records were presented to the board in this regard, they disbanded their own committee one year early as we were getting just a little too close to the facts for some long-term members.

Many issues are still pending, unanswered, and papered over, but private actions on the part of some present and former directors are focused on taking the remedial action that has begun to its natural, transparent, and legitimate conclusions; without which the credibility of this organization will still be in question.  While new trustees have been appointed, they still do not operate with the degree of transparency required and have actually participated in the efforts to keep the pretext alive that only minimal administrative errors were made and there was no negligence, fraud and malfeasance during the five year period when investment losses, misuse of Fund assets, and unnecessary tax consequences may have totaled half a million dollars. We will never actually know until corrected audits are produced, and we will not have a respected organization until new board management is elected and new trustees appointed who live up to the full measure of their responsibility.

Jim Foster
Former Chairman
Oversight Committee

Lead poisoning?

The April 10 fact-filled letter from Bridget Irons “Too many deer deaths” makes a good case for changing the name of Fairmount Park to Genocide Park.

The recent concern over toys from China containing lead, news from South Dakota, Minneapolis, and Iowa show a lead concern emanating from hunting grounds.  The humanitarian ruse of donating deer flesh to food pantries and shelters used by the hunting establishment to make deer kills more palatable has prompted health officials from these states to warn that venison could be contaminated by lead from bullets.  North Dakota and Iowa health officials have told food pantries in the state to throw out the donated deer flesh. As an added precaution, North Dakota told food pantries to dispose the venison into a landfill, not in garbage, so no one could pick through it.

North Dakota physician and hunter Dr. William Cornatzer alerted officials after he conducted his own tests on venison using a CT scanner and found lead in 60 percent of 100 samples destined for food pantries. He stated, “This isn’t just a food pantry problem. This is a national problem.” He explained that although many lead fragments are microscopic, they can still cause harm if ingested; they are like lead dust.

It would be interesting to know whether Pennsylvania has done any lead testing on the deer kill bounties gathered by the USDA sharpshooters and other hunters.

Gloria S. Feldscher
Flourtown

Make ‘em mine detectors

After reading, day after day, of the crimes being committed against our hard working, law-abiding, honest citizens by scumbags, such as the ones who murdered the Starbucks manager, I have come up with a solution of what to do with those scumbags.

Ship them and all the others of their kind to Iraq; put them in the fields detecting mines … don’t bother to give them mine detectors. Let their feet do the job  When our troops hear a great big BOOM! they’ll know: another mine disarmed; another scumbag gone.

This would solve two problems: help relieve over-crowding of our prisons and reduce the danger of land mines to our troops.

Pretty good idea, don’cha think?

Tom Woodruff
Oreland

Never buy a pet from a pet store

I hope that many of you saw Oprah’s show on Friday, April 4, on the secret underworld of puppy mills, many of which are located in nearby Lancaster County and run by the Amish.

Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, and Bill Smith, head of Main Line Animal Rescue in Chester Springs, talked about how 99 percent of puppies in pet stores come from these mills.

Smith and Lisa Ling, a correspondent on the show, went undercover with cameras hidden in the buttons of their coats, filming horrific conditions and the inhumane treatment of the dogs.

Females are bred twice a year, mothering over 100 babies on average.

 When they are old, the females and the males that are not sold as puppies are shot to death. Smith regularly rescues dozens of unwanted dogs, many of which spend their entire lives in wire cages with barely enough room to turn around.

The Amish apparently don’t understand the relationship that others have with dogs as pets, and were shocked that Smith would allow a dog to walk around in his home. According to Smith, they view dogs as a cash crop, or just another ear of corn.

Viewers were urged to adopt dogs from shelters, where millions of dogs are euthanized every year, because of overflow. The sight of loving shelter employers choosing which of the beautiful animals to put to kill each day was gut-wrenching. Winfrey closed the hour by saying, “I would never, ever adopt another pet now without going to a shelter to do it. I am a changed woman after seeing this show.”

Rich McIlhenny
Mt. Airy