No crystal ball. No visions from Miss Cleo. But a bit of information, and a little intuition, say that January, 2007, will see big headlines, and even bigger changes, around here.
At the January 11 Quakertown Community School Board meeting, the controversy over Integrated Math promises to take a dramatic turn. On December 4, director Paul Stepanoff's motion to allow students a choice between Integrated or traditional math next September was tabled in a close 5-4 vote.
However, on December 14, director Zane Stauffer, who voted in favor of tabling the motion, told Stepanoff that he now supports the dual program. Unless president Kelly Van Valkenberg (a staunch proponent of IM) blocks a new vote, the board will reverse itself and finally take the first step in dragging QCSD out of education hell.
And the school district will again be in the news eight days later, when Judge Robert Mellon holds a hearing on how board members will be elected. 1400 people signed a petition calling for all nine to be chosen at-large, rather than the current regional system. Expect the judge to broker some sort of compromise. He is unlikely to scrap the existing plan, since the district's problems are more a product of the decision-makers than the decision-making process. But, he will also find it hard to ignore those 1400 signatures, gathered in just three weeks, when only about 500 were needed.
A deal combining both regional and at-large representation will allow everyone to emerge with a "victory". But, no matter what the outcome, the board's decisions are only as good as the people making them. The petition has already served its purpose - raising the community's consciousness about the importance of knowing who, and what, they are voting for in school board elections.
January 22 will be the red-letter day in the borough of Quakertown. Keystone Municipal Services will finally present its long-awaited report on the town's procedures, including how council must be a more effective governing body. It won't be pretty.
It will explain that our arcane form of government, "strong manager/weak council", can lead to the kind of abuses that have been rampant under outgoing manager David Woglom. That is why only eight of Pennsylvania's 961 boroughs still operate this way. There will be suggestions for better communication between council and employees, staff, and neighboring municipalities. There will also likely be a recommendation to hire an active assistant manager, to prevent knowledge from being concentrated in one person.
But now that Woglom has resigned, we have to wonder if part of the controversial severance deal, which allowed him to stay until the end of April, and then leave with an obscene pile of your money, was to scale back the investigation of his alleged improper and illegal activities. He could then job hunt without a damning official record. Council has already cancelled planned interviews with the dozens of employees who complained that Woglom mistreated and deceived them, leading to their unionization. That testimony might have been used in the ongoing labor dispute.
Uncensored findings would confirm that Woglom handed out numerous contracts without proper bidding; note the borough purchases from councilmen's businesses; point out that the solicitor and manager should have been aware of the 1998 law which made those purchases illegal. It will discuss the various violations of the Sunshine Law, and state that last January's improper secret vote for council president highlights the need for updating Qtown's Home Rule Charter.
The overall conclusions will be embarrassing for council. The buck stops with them. They have been part-time "leaders" in a town, and at a time, that requires much more. Quakertown can no longer afford the attitude of council president Dennis Hallman: "Our job is not to do that". Starting now, the job will be "to do that", and only people willing to put in the necessary time and effort need apply.
January is the likely month for Richland supervisor Mike Zowniriw's appeal of his disorderly conduct conviction for throwing a rock at a neighbor's child, though his attorney has asked for a continuance. In the first trial, before Magisterial Judge C. Robert Roth, Z pled not guilty, but admitted throwing the rock. Roth convicted him, and fined him $220. That might have been considerably higher if Zowniriw had not represented to Roth that this was an "isolated occurrence", and "certainly would not be repeated".
But just 12 days later, Mike was already backpeddling from his promises. He appealed for a "trial de novo". A whole new hearing, in front of a whole new judge. There has to be a very good reason why he would appeal a fine that could have been substantially more, including up to 90 days in jail. His attorney's fees will be far greater than the fine itself, and the new judge could impose a stiffer penalty.
The logical answer is that he wants his promises to Roth taken off the record. Richland Police Chief Larry Cerami confirms that his officers have responded to more calls to the Zowniriw home, and Mike apparently doesn't want to be held to his words.
But the joke's on Z. According to the District Attorney's office, an appeal does not invalidate any statements made at the prior hearing. The representations to Roth remain part of the record, whether or not the conviction is overturned. And you can bet your black robe that if Mike is ever back in Roth's courtroom, the judge will remember the promises made by Richland's only criminal supervisor.
Finally, the January 10 edition of The Free Press will be the last one for Chris Barnes as editor. He will turn his talents to educating minds in the classroom, as well as educating TFP readers with his column, which he will continue to write. Chris, and former regional manager Lanita Lum (who joined the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce two months ago) are typical of the plight of many journalists. Smalltown newspaper salaries can't compete with teaching, or business. Young, enthusiastic writers too often find that loving their work just isn't enough when marriage, kids, and the realities of life consume the paycheck every month.
Chris served this community for six years with distinction. He stood for honest reporting, and pride in his newspaper. Under his leadership, The Free Press is the most successful of the 13 papers in the Berksmont/Lehigh Valley group. We will all miss him.