Newtown Township Municipal Authority Shutdown

Last night’s attendees at the Newtown Township Municipal Authority included a couple of students.

Seems to me, they got a real lesson in what a government shutdown looks like.  In Newtown, it is not a shutdown of spending.  Oh no, they are more than willing to spend. It is a shutdown by Board Chairman Sweeney of residents’ questions and participation.  It was also a lesson in how the Municipal Authority Board members continue to allow Chair Sweeney to act as a dictator.  The other Board members appear to be unwilling or unable to understand that Mr. Sweeney has no more power to act or answer a question or direct the Engineer or Solicitor than any other board member.  All Municipal Authority Board members have the same rights as to their role.

Why do they continue to allow Mr. Sweeney to dictate their actions?  It is especially concerning to me to watch Board member Linda Gabell, currently a candidate for Newtown Supervisor, continue to sit by and allow Mr. Sweeney’s actions.   It makes pretty clear how she would act if elected.   

Last night’s Municipal Authority meeting included an update of the status of the Township’s sewage facilities plan.  Recently, the PA Department of Environmental Protection approved the township’s latest plan. This is the plan that in a previous post, I offered some of the issues that, in my view, still remain with the plan.  I urged Newtown officials to work with residents to make the plan the best it could be for all residents so that the public sewers are of benefit to all neighborhoods.

 Last night, I watched the Municipal Authority challenge residents who had a specific issue with the plan told that their option was to appeal that plan.  I heard the Engineer pipe in to say, in effect, that he does want to negatively impact their property values.  I heard Chair Sweeney once again tell me that he would not answer my question and would not allow the Municipal Authority Engineer to answer my question.  

Last night, the Municipal Authority again indicated that they would rather spend more taxpayer dollars fighting with residents than working with residents.  That means, in addition to the over $1,000,000 taxpayer dollars reported on the Municipal Authority’s audit and wasted on previous planning and litigation, this group would rather waste more than work more.

The students that attended the Municipal Authority meeting last night certainly got an education.  Unfortunately, it was not an education in good government.