To the Editor:
So, the Kuchinski-Blake administration of Hopewell Township has stepped aside to allow the two members of their rubber-stamp majority to become the McGlaughlin-Ruger administration. But not that far aside.
If you watched the first regular township committee meeting on Monday, January 14, you would have noticed that now Committee member Kuchinski and now Committee member Blake stepped in when Mayor McGlaughlin faltered.
More significantly, the same old tactics of non-transparency and partisanship live on. Township government continues to be run like a private club.
Did you know that the McGlaughlin-Ruger administration held an “open house” on Thursday, January 11, regarding future development of Scotch Road? I wouldn’t think so because there was no prior notice beyond a listing on the township website. No township committee meeting. No work session. No on-the-record-recording. No single speaker or single audience. No transparency.
Did you know that Larry Clarke, long-serving member and the only free-thinking voice on the Hopewell Township Planning Board, has been silenced by non-reappointment, despite his request for re-appointment? The 2019 planning board now consists of 9 registered Democrats and 2 unaffiliated members, where there were 8 registered Democrats and 3 unaffiliated members with Mr. Clarke. Apparently, Ms. McGlaughlin and Mr. Ruger give lip-service to volunteer diversity, but show their partisanship when they would actually have to do it.
Did you know that Township Committee meetings, which were typically held on the second and fourth Monday of the month are now being held on the first and third Monday of the month. There was no mention highlighting that important change at the first regular meeting either.
It seems that the McGlaughlin-Ruger administration is starting off on the same dismal note where their predecessors left off.
Harvey Lester
Titusville
