COUNCIL HITS A NEW LOW - TOM SAWYER AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
The Free Press, August 14, 2003

It was Tom Sawyer Night at the Quakertown Borough Council meeting last Wednesday. Remember Tom? He only had to whitewash a fence. Council whitewashed a whole community! And if big players come up big in big situations, council can be known as the seven dwarfs.

Council President Ray Fulmer began the non-proceedings by reading a prepared statement proclaiming that Quakertown is a great place to live. Apparently Ray’s message wasn’t prepared by all of council, because member Stanley Schoch, with refreshing candor, later said that he has lived in the borough for 75 years, and “it hasn’t gotten any better”.

Fulmer then blamed “entities outside the community”, like Richland Township, The Free Press, and me, for raising all of the issues about Police Chief James McFadden’s questionable policies, and council’s failure to act. What was interesting to note was that in his entire five-minute speech, he never once offered anything to disprove the allegations, and never directly said that they were untrue.

And then the whitewash really hit the fan. The room was packed with serious, concerned people, there to see if council would take any action to restore citizen confidence in their government and police chief. And Fulmer told a joke. It wasn’t intended to be a joke, but for those of you who weren’t there, let me repeat it so we can all have a good laugh.

It goes like this: Seven council members sat in a room. Doing nothing. One asked “Who can we appoint to investigate us”. The second said “How about us”. The End. Get it????

The seven members of council have appointed three of themselves to investigate themselves, and their police chief. The three, Jim Roberts, Elfriede Werner, and Fulmer himself, have no police expertise, no investigative experience, and certainly no impartiality. And to top matters off, they have no guidelines, and no deadlines, for their “report”. Fulmer believes it will take months. Maybe many months. Until after the November election, when Roberts, Werner, Schoch, and Dennis Hallman are up for re-election. Whitewash.

Borough council has hit a new low. Are we really to believe that three council members, who last week participated in shutting down all public comment and dissent, will be reborn next week as seekers of the truth?

Council has set up this “investigation” to fail. The borough police officers, local shopkeepers, and most people who know about the problems won’t be willing to talk to council members who likely will take their names right back to McFadden, the man everyone fears. King James must be laughing at us all. Whitewash.

If you thumb through most versions of a Webster’s Dictionary, you will find a separate definition for every word. However, in the Quakertown edition, there is the same definition for the words “arrogant”, “disdainful” and “insulting”. It is “Borough Council”. Imagine expecting the residents to swallow a crock like this. If you weren’t offended before, you certainly should be now.

Who among us truly believes that council can investigate itself? Do you see them admitting that they have been wrong in ignoring McFadden’s problems for years? A real panel would have impartial, trustworthy professionals who understand police work and the responsibilities of government. And they would complete their mission long BEFORE the election, so the voters can act on the results. Can you say “foxes guarding the henhouse?”

If you CAN say it, then you will be saying one more sentence than most people were allowed to say at the meeting. President Fulmer announced that he was invoking a seldom-used rule that prohibited anyone other than borough residents from speaking or asking questions. And a never-used rule, enacted for the occasion, that prohibited ANYONE from asking questions about personnel - such as council and the police chief. So much for the accountability of our elected leaders. Tom Sawyer would have been proud. Whitewash. Three young women who work in a borough day-care center wanted to ask why police have ignored their reports of harassment by a neighbor, who has slashed tires and repeatedly threatened young children. Fulmer prevented them from speaking publicly because one of them lives in Milford. Maybe this enforced muzzle really has nothing to do with the fact that Chief McFadden and his wife sit on the board of that center. Whitewash.

Finally, when Fulmer could find no rule to prohibit borough residents from asking about borough problems, we encountered the final whitewashings: A borough resident wanted to know if the police really are under-equipped. He pointed out that this was a matter of public safety that concerned everyone. Fulmer, The President of Borough Council, claimed that he didn’t have any knowledge of his own police. Folks, if The Free Press knows about it, you can bet Fulmer does too. Or he certainly should! Of course, McFadden knows. So, the resident logically responded that the chief was sitting right there, perhaps we might ask him. The answer from the seven dwarfs was “NO”. In fact, council spent the entire evening shielding McFadden from any potentially embarrassing questions. Whitewash.

Another resident asked about the policy of not allowing Q-Town police to give help or accept it from other departments. Council refused to discuss it. Your tax dollars at work. Whitewash.

A new resident, who moved here because he thought Quakertown would be a great place to live (guess he hadn’t talked to Stanley) was unhappy that police would not deal with the people who make lots of noise, and race cars along his street late at night. Here was a great chance for council to say “We hear you, Mr. Citizen. Let’s ask the police chief to do something for you, Mr. Taxpayer”.

Not a chance. Councilman Hallman responded that he has the same problems, as if it made the newcomer feel any better that a councilman can’t get any police action either. And Schoch chimed in that in his 75 years here “it’s gotten worse”.

Other people asked for stop signs, controls on skateboarders, and a town curfew. No, no, and no. An answer to who spray-painted 42 cars in one night? None.

It was quite an evening, watching our elected officials try their damnedest to avoid taking questions, or giving answers to a roomful of concerned citizens. Every request met with opposition from the seven dwarfs. Well, council members, to repeat a comment made to Richard Nixon when he tried to avoid confronting the Watergate accusations, “It’s hogwash, it’s a whitewash, and it won’t wash”.

And you remember what happened to Nixon.