It's good to be on Quakertown borough council. The hours are short, the demands are ridiculously low, and the perks are great. Especially if you are Councilman Dan Williams.
Back on January 13th, Williams needed some stone for the alley behind his house. For those of you who have alleys, you are probably painfully aware that the borough will only maintain them if they are paved. If you have stone, you're on your own.
Except if you are Councilman Dan Williams. When he needed stone, he just asked his long-time friend, borough manager David Woglom, to have the public works department deliver it to him. Three loads. Borough stone, borough truck, borough employees.
Just like Qtown would do for any citizen, says Williams. Not . According to borough employees who came to me, stone has not been delivered for any alley since the borough ceased maintaining those byways five years ago.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is certainly improper, and likely illegal. So simple, even a councilman can understand, and expressly forbidden by the Pennsylvania Ethics Act.
"Conflict of interest." Use by a public official or public employee of the authority of his office...for the private pecuniary benefit of himself, a member of his immediate family or a business with which he or a member of his immediate family is associated.
Williams' benefactor, David Woglom, is the guy who is supposed to be preventing things like this. In fact, under Quakertown's (pardon the pun) stone-age system of government, Woglom makes most of the decisions, and presents them to council for rubber-stamp approval. He pretty much does their thinking for them. They have become the seven brass monkeys: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil...
Actually, many of the individuals on council are very nice people in their personal lives. But as a result of years of ostrich-like abdication of responsibility, they are just plain out of touch with their own government. Former police chief Jim McFadden isolated Qtown's force from the rest of Bucks County. The borough's sewer department was caught overbilling, and had to repay $800,000.
Quakertown's water system was allowed to deteriorate to the point where replacement is now forcing rates up over 100%. And council has become the laughing stock of the county, expecting Richland to just hand over a zoning change that will enrich the borough by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What's a little crushed stone to folks who can overlook entire mountains?
If you have ever been to council meetings, they are generally short and sweet. Seldom is heard a discouraging word. Approve a few bills (presented by Woglom), hand out some permits for the park, and discuss...well, something or other. But if you truly want to know what goes on, you better actually be there at the meetings. Unlike other towns, minutes are not displayed anywhere, and are not on the website.
The only way to see those records is to read the minutes book. In David Woglom's office. Which allows him, and the borough, to know exactly who is nosing around in their business. Perhaps looking for records of a stone delivery to Councilman Dan Williams.
Let me save you the trouble. It's not in the minutes. It was also kept out of the public works daily log. Because the order to deliver the stone came in a private email - from Dave Woglom .
Woglom makes a mighty fine salary for supposedly keeping an eye on borough expenses (like stone deliveries). With benefits, it works out to $52.23 per hour, almost $109,000 a year. And a car. And an expense account. Last year his rate was $47.70. Do the math. Woglom got a 9.5% raise this year. Not too shabby for a town where county property tax is up 10%, to the sixth highest in Bucks.
School taxes up 14.4%. Electric up 20%. Water rates up 104%. Did you, or any of your friends and neighbors, get a 9.5% raise this year? Perhaps you didn't arrange for a stone delivery to Councilman Dan Williams.
When confronted, Woglom stated that he had always been willing to provide stone to anyone who would pay for it. But, he claims, in five years, only one person had asked - Councilman Dan Williams. Qtowners are certainly missing out on a bargain. Williams' bill (still unpaid) read: "Delivery of 17 tons of stone @ $10/ton. Total $170". No charge for the borough labor or truck. No tax.
What a sham. The stone delivered to Williams was never weighed. Quakertown has no scale. Public works had no way to calculate the weight, and no record was kept. A local stone provider charges $18/ton plus delivery, $35 per load. 17 tons would take four loads. With tax, $472.76. 280% higher than Williams was billed . Such a deal for Councilman Dan Williams, from his friend Dave Woglom.
To order stone from the borough, home of tax-free shopping, at $10/ton, delivered, call 536-5001. Say "I want the Williams Price".
Look at recent borough history. Woglom has presided over one disaster after another, yet he got a 9.5% raise while all other QT employees received just 3%. Why does he get such exalted treatment for the same conduct that would get others fired? Because he does everything council doesn't want to do themselves - including think. And, he has great prices for stone. Your tax dollars at work.
It's not easy to dig up even public information in Quakertown. You have to go to Woglom's office. Ask for a copy of the budget, and you get only the summary. Press for the details on salaries, you get a list of 74 employees. But QT has 75. Guess who is missing. Dave Woglom.
Councilman Dan Williams believes he has done nothing wrong. But he couldn't explain to me why the delivery is not on the work log. Or why he is the only resident in five years to get a delivery. Or why he wasn't charged for the borough truck, or personnel, or tax. Or how the borough weighed the stone without a scale. Or why he was billed 280% less than market rate.
If Councilman Dan Williams is only guilty of being incredibly naive, then the real culprit must be...