Golden Cockroach has been covering the crazy, stoopit, illegal antics of Glen Russell and his sidekick bro, Gary Russell, for about 3 years.  They operate by this simple motto:

“Our money is our money and your money is our money”

Cracked open the blog this afternoon to find this little gem

awaiting approval…

We’re giving the following comment the full EXPOSURE it deserves.  Hang onto your Money…

Kajed writes:

Glen’s a real piece of work. He was my slumlord a few years ago. He didn’t take care of the mold issues or the rodent infestation. Then, about 9 months in, I get a letter from Russell Property Management stating that I had missed about 5 of my rent payments and that I owed them thousands in back rent. Luckily, we saved our receipts (that we had to insist on getting each month since we were paying in cash) and provided the proof that we had payed in-full every month.

Glenn’s brother, Gary, told me it must’ve just been a misunderstanding and apologized for his brother. Then several months later, I received a similar letter about owing back rent again. I again provided proof. Oddly, 3 of the months listed on the new letter were also on the original letter which I had already provided proof for. This to me seems like an intentional scam to take advantage of those who do not keep good financial records.  **Good records or not, this is scammin’ behavior.**

In the end, we left the place in better condition than we had received it in. This however did not stop them from unjustly stealing our security deposit. They didn’t even send the required itemized explanation.

When I called to find out why we hadn’t received our deposit, Glenn claimed that the carpet was damaged with burn holes and stains and there were also marks on the walls. I then referred him to the original lease in which those damages were specifically listed by me prior to us moving in. Somehow, we got cut off at that point.

I then called Gary who explained it must just be another misunderstanding and that we would receive our deposit in a few weeks. That was the last I heard from either of them.

They stopped answering/returning my phone calls. They never sent the check. Unfortunately, I did not find out that there are laws to help protect renters in this situation, until after the statute of limitations had expired. Apparently, I could’ve sewed them for up to 3x my deposit.

Look, it’s been said a million times before and we’ll say it till the pigs come home:

IF YOU’RE LISTING OR BUYING A HOME, CHOOSE A REAL ESTATE AGENT THAT DOESN’T RIP PEOPLE OFF.   YOU COULD BE NEXT.   File a complaint with the state if you’ve been ripped off by Glen Russell, Re/Max <<clik for his website. 

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/state_real_estate_commission/12523

Check the PA Court dockets & MontCo Prothonotary for a history on any agent or landlord doing business in Pottstown.

http://goldencockroach.wordpress.com/no-rest-for-the-wicked/

http://goldencockroach.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/glen-russell-and-a-maggot-in-the-middle-of-the-road/

MontCo Property Records list the following properties in Pottstown:

Glen Russell owns:  410 High St.  / 42 E. Third **tax delinquent**

Gary Russell owns:  176 N. Charlotte St. / 180 N. Charlotte St.

Have you got a tale of woe to tell about a slumlord you rent from or rented from in Pottstown or Norristown?  Have you been ripped off?  We’ll publish your experience and photo’s too.  Email us at:

ptownadvocates@hotmail.com

Today is Pottstown CARES day.  While volunteers make happy chatter cleaning up the streets and sidewalks in Ward I, I am appreciative.

I am also struck by the notion that it is not the people who make the messes that clean them up.

103 N. Hanover St. Pottstown. Owner: Rebecca Rhodes of Sunnyvale, CA

Yesterday, these photo’s were posted on Facebook.  They were taken by various residents who drive along the prominent, historic corridor of N. Hanover St. that leads to downtown.

This is a corridor that will likely be heavily used by visitors on their way to and from the nearby proposed Tourist District, Click Here.

Make no mistake, the proposal is exciting for Pottstown however, when we see renters continue to regurgitate their households on the streets, we know who is airing their dirty laundry in Pottstown and, that becomes the unfortunate focus.

No matter how walkable, how interesting the Tourist District will become, this kind of activity in our community is a negative attraction because it is impossible to avoid it unless, of course, you work for the borough.

We have to ask:  How well is the Housing Ordinance understood and enforced? This has been going on for at least a week, according to neighbors.   Surely borough employees have passed by, including police, did they report this to anyone? If not, why?  Why shouldn’t the various departments have each others backs ?  Working in tandem could suggest that this mess would have been caught before it escalated to this level.  Team work could have big pay offs for the borough of Pottstown.

Since the owner lives in California the question really becomes:

Does she have a “designated responsible agent residing or working within the Borough of Pottstown” as required in the Housing ordinance? The activities of the renters suggests she does not have an agent so the 2nd question becomes, how was the owner allowed to rent the place without one?

There are no penalties for defying the ordinance by not having an agent. At minimum, isn’t it reasonable to expect the owner would be prohibited from renting without one?

The borough requires a record of the contact info for the agent so either they have one or they don’t. If there is an agent why would he/she not have been alerted to the problem right away so they could take care of it quickly?

Leading to the next question: is the property even registered with the borough and does the owner have a rental license?  Sneaky rentals carries a fine of between $250 – $1000, are we collecting that money?  If not, why?  I kinda get when poverty pimps sneak rentals into the bowels of my neighborhood because it is so badly chopped up… but this????

The disservice to the community is that so many defy the laws and ordinances in Pottstown because they get away with it. Then there is the unevenhanded-ness of enforcement that sends the wrong message too.

Like this chair which didn’t fit through the door of a well-kept rental property in the 3rd Ward.  The renter’s son was picking it up anyway within 48 hours but the renter got a warning within 24 hours of placing the chair on the porch, despite being informed by the neighbor that it would be removed quickly.  That’s a waste of time and effort – PLEASE PLEASE focus on the problems like we see at 103 N. Hanover St.  Don’t waste our tax money on trivia.

203 Owner and Occupant Duties (page 5)
http://www.pottstown.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/128

If the owner, Rebecca Rhodes, has an agent, I’d like to know who it is so I can steer people away from doing business with him/her. Rental agents in PA are required to have real estate licenses, but many in our area should be scrutinized for their practices.

The optimal concept behind the Housing ordinance is to prevent this kind of disrespect in our community.  What’s the plan Stan?

We are the residents of Pottstown and we CARE every single day of the week.

The chair was picked up as promised and the rental is back to its lovely, well-maintained appearance.  We truly hope, as some have suggested on FB, that the warning wasn’t issued here in retaliation or vindictiveness.  I would love to have this rental as a neighbor any day of the week.

TERMINATED…According to the PA Real Estate Commission website, Click Here.  This sleaze bag and his real estate rip-off  business are NO MORE in Pennsylvania. 

Word to the wise:

DUE DILIGENCE when hiring a property manager in PA.  Don’t take anything they say at face value – the waters are infested with sharks.   In Pottstown, where there is minimal oversight of the activities of poverty pimps and real estate agents, your ass-ets are on the line.  That goes for renters too.

Montgomery County

Brian W. Patrick, license no. RM421375, of Pottstown, Montgomery County, permanently and voluntarily surrendered his license because he co-mingled deposits, other escrows, or property of another person with the broker’s own funds or property; failed to preserve for three years following its consummation records relating to any real estate transaction; and failed to provide information requested by the Commission within a reasonable time, as the result of a formal or informal investigation. (07/15/14)  

Not to mention he was charged and found guilty of  41 counts of theft. 

Affinity Property Management and Realty, LLC, license no. RB066997, of Pottstown, Montgomery County, permanently and voluntarily surrendered its license to practice as a real estate broker in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania because it co-mingled deposits, other escrows, or property of another person with the broker’s own funds or property; failed to preserve for three years following its consummation records relating to any real estate transaction; and failed to provide information requested by the Commission within a reasonable time, as the result of a formal or informal investigation. (07/15/14)

June, 2014

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/25686805/fox29-investigates-local-property-manager-charged-with-theft

…doesn’t mean we can’t do better in Pottstown.

 Act 90, 2010 provides powerful new tools to put an end to housing injustice. But unless the law is implemented residents are doomed to remain victims of a system that favors slumlords.

click on “Judicial” to link to the PA State Judical and Local Govt. code

 JUDICIAL CODE (42 PA.C.S.) AND GENERAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE (53 PA.C.S.) – COURTS OF COMMON PLEAS, AUTHORIZING HOUSING COURTS, DETERIORATED REAL PROPERTY EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM FOR JUDGES AND NEIGHBORHOOD BLIGHT RECLAMATION AND REVITALIZATION

Act of Oct. 27, 2010, P.L. 875, No. 90

§ 917. Housing courts.

(a) Establishment.–The court of common pleas of a judicial district may establish, from available funds, a housing court which shall have jurisdiction as provided under subsection (d). The court may adopt local rules for the administration of housing courts and their related services such as housing clinics to counsel code violators on their responsibilities and procedures to bring properties into code compliance. The local rules may not be inconsistent with this section or any rules established by the Supreme Court.

The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts may develop and implement annual and ongoing education and training programs for judges, including magisterial district judges, regarding the laws of this Commonwealth relating to deteriorated real property and the economic impact that such properties have upon municipalities.  

State, County, Local Officials and the municipal courts must be encouraged to implement Act 90.  Housing safety and insecurity is a nefarious plague on Pottstown.

(2) These deteriorated properties create public nuisances which have an impact on crime and the quality of life of our residents and require significant expenditures of public funds in order to abate and correct the nuisances.

“When you have code violations and tenants withhold their rent lawfully because of these violations and then are evicted, it calls into question the whole system,” Liz Hersch said.

PA Landlord/Tenant Law/Implied Warranty of Habitability

“Maybe we should call it the pre-homeless court or the landlord court. It’s definitely not the tenant’s court.”

http://articles.philly.com/1996-05-10/business/25626854_1_eviction-cases-rent-and-court-costs-landlord-court

Kendra paid her rent every month.  She paid for the previous tenants water, sewer, trash at the insistence of Charles Watson who has never, at any time, provided her with the actual statement of charges from the Authority yet he also sued Kendra for authority payments.  To keep the roof over her head she complied.  She has kept careful records of every penny given to Watson and, in return, he’s been given more money than he deserves under the law and…

Charles has repeatedly received impunity for his miserable business acumen, breaking local and state laws.

License and Inspections Department will have their day in court too. We want them to be successful, we want Charles Watson stopped now.

Kendra’s chances of finding safe, affordable rental housing in Pottstown are very slim.  She and her children will be forced to move during the holiday season with cold icy weather forecasted this winter.  Kendra will most likely end up with another slum property owner.  This judgement will scar her credit rating and she will be forced to repeat this tragic scenario until she can no longer afford to supplement the slum people in Pottstown.  Then, she will be homeless.

409 Beech St. is a dangerous trap that awaits the next victim.  Purchased in 2005 for $49,000 by Charles Watson, 6 W. 6th St. Bridgeport, PA…

The taxes are some of the lowest I’ve seen in Pottstown @ $1,700 per year.  He did not register the house with L & I before renting to Kendra, he has NO local property manager as required in the Housing Ordinance and Watson has a history of  municipal liens throughout Montgomery County, most recently 5/2014 in Pottstown, and…

A Commonwealth lien was also placed against a property of his. 

His civil history suggests anything but responsible property management.   Why aren’t these infractions taken into consideration in Landlord/Tenant court? 

 It’s time now for every capable official to work together:  L & I, police, justices, state representatives and the county.  Today I am requesting meetings with State Reps Quigley, Hennessey and Sen. Mensch to bring their personal attention to the housing injustice in Pottstown.
I am ashamed that we have let this happen in our community and I cannot bear another winter of  witnessing anyone, especially women and children, being thrown out of their homes to enable the greed of negligent investors.

In parting, I ask everyone to think about this:   

“Would you want to be forced to pay $800/mo to live in filthy, unsafe conditions and raise  children in a dangerous environment where they are always sick?”  If the answer is no please help stop the injustice.  

Residents can voice their concerns too and, you will be in good company as Citizens Action Committee will support Council’s proposal to inspect rentals on an annual basis.  

Show your support for the implementation of the Better Landlord Program for Pottstown.  Write your council person and speak up at council. 

December 8th 7PM Borough Council Meeting 100 E. High St. 3rd floor –  avaricious poverty pimps have promised to gather and hold a “group whine” for borough council.  They say the proposed, annual safety inspections of their properties is a financial imposition.

B.S. 

After the video of the November Pottstown Council meeting was posted on youtube I received a correspondence from a fellow who used to work for Joyce Heuer, doing odds and ends at her rental properties in Pottstown, he has plenty to say about her business acumen and ethics but….

Let’s just say, nothing shocks me anymore, even the fact of her not-so-veiled threats of lawsuits against the borough, which is a repeat performance each time the borough attempts to hold the extractive investors accountable for their slovenly habits.

A search of the MontCo protonotary website and PA Docket Sheets tells the story of a history of delinquent municipal fees,  court ordered tenant evictions and money judgements against Heuer’s renters.  When it comes to THEIR money – make no mistake about the intentions of experienced slum property owners or the lengths they will go to maintain their crooked activities.

Rather than conduct a thorough background on tenants to minimize the risk of not receiving the rent, or renting to criminals, slum owners chronically abuse the court system.  I advise renters to do a background on rental property owners too – if they have a history of evictions and filing for money judgements – they are pros at it and it’s become part of their business model – RUN THE OTHER WAY.  You’ll see the same renters and the same slum property owners show up over and over in landlord/tenant actions –  over and over as they feed off the system at taxpayers expense <we pay judges and the courts operate from our tax dollars too> so when Joyce says slumlords pay the same taxes as homeowners and should be treated the same  – I call BULLSHIT when I hear it.

What you’ll never see are poverty pimps showing up to Pottstown CARES day or any other community activity but, as soon as the borough makes a noise like they are going to mess with slum owners income, the pimps whip out those inflatable attorneys, quoting unrelated lawsuits against other municiplities, wagging their fingers and throwing in a renter, for good measure, who proclaimed from a prepared statement the hardship of annual inspections for renters <she returned her speech to Joyce Heuer as she left council chambers> just dust it off and use it again some day.

Something about Joyce Heuer’s prepared statement sounds so familiar. She LOVES her properties?  *SMH*

20 Pebble Beach Dr. Linfield, Pa

Joyce probably LOVES this house.  She is an owner of record of this $357,900 house she bought last September.

305 N. Franklin St. Owner of Record: Joyce Heuer. Does she LOVE this house the same? Or maybe just the money she makes from this house?  Would she live here herself?

The lingo in Joyce’s speech is so familiar after four + years that I’ve been stalked online in newspaper comments and facebook posts by Deb Campbell a real estate agent/property manager who, along with her ex-husband Douglas, went belly up in 2012, intentionally defaulting on over $2,000,000.00 of income properties and dump truck loads of taxes and municipal liens <credentials to make any self-respecting perveyor of slum properties proud> yet today, she still holds a real estate license, a good landlord recently reported that she is now working for Big Realty of Spring City as well as Reliant Property Management of Blue Bell??  She also can be found  “pimping” her services at borough hall in front of the L & I department window schmoozing with income property owners as they arrive to arrange their inspections.  Why does the borough let her do that?

Would they let me stand up in front with a big old >>>>>> sign like this >>>>>>>>

Mysteriously Deb also seems to know when new property owners schedule U & O inspections, prior to the property transfer information even being made public on the MontCo property website and, she just shows up at their properties – offering her services.  How does she get ahold of that information?  Who would hire a real estate loser to manage their properties in the first place?  Other slum people.

Connecting the dots it’s quite likely, Joyce Heuer is part of the “club”  –  The Western Montgomery County Real Estate Income Investors Group that Deb claims to speak on behalf of <which really tells you everything you need to know about that organization>  Strange that Deb doesn’t have the integrity to stand before council and do her own speaking…

Along with the spineless, anonymous letters she sends out, with no return address or letterhead, instructing people to file lawsuits against me or threatening renters who speak out about their slum owners, (see my last post with video).

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PROBLEM TENANT DATABASE in PA.  I have a collection of letters <yes, collection> from investors and others who contact me when they recieve these anonymous directives and you can tell it’s the same person whose written them.   I plan to bring them to the PPD’s attention if this continues. It’s creepy, unstable behavior.  The woman who penned this anonymous letter, under another fake name, (to harass and intimidate a renter),  exhibits twisted logic indicating profoundly deeper problems than annual rental inspections …

January 8, 2014

Second suspect arrested in homicide in Pottstown

“Daquan Hamilton arrested as 2nd suspect in homicide in Pottstown Khaleef Jones arrested a few days after Dec. 27 shooting death…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/daquan-hamilton-arrested-as-2nd-suspect-in-homicide-in-pottstown/23832964

January 17, 2014

Police investigate strong-armed robbery in Pottstown

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “Police in Pottstown, Montgomery County are investigating Friday after they say a gas station employee was injured during a robbery…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-berks/Police-investigate-strong-armed-robbery-in-Pottstown/23991878

January 28, 2014

2 Arrested For Pair Of Thefts From Pottstown Citgo

“Scott T. Sinclair, 48, and Marzel D. Brickhouse, 46, were arrested over the weekend on charges related to stealing cash and lottery tickets, respectively, from the Citgo convenience store on the first block of West High Street…”

http://roysrants.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/2-arrested-for-pair-of-thefts-from-pottstown-citgo/

February 2, 2014

Man shot outside Pottstown lodge – video

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Man-shot-outside-Pottstown-lodge/24254432

February 2, 2014

2 Pottstown police officer assaulted aiding shooting victim

“Two borough police officers were injured after they were attacked while trying to help a shooting victim outside the Montgomery Elks Lodge on Walnut Street early Sunday morning, according to police…”

http://www.dailylocal.com/general-news/20140202/2-pottstown-police-officer-assaulted-aiding-shooting-victim

February 6, 2014

Thomas Arnold wanted in connection with Pottstown shooting

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “Pottstown police are searching for a man they say is behind a weekend shooting. They’re looking for 32-year-old Theodore Arnold who’s facing several charges, including attempted murder…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/thomas-arnold-wanted-in-connection-with-pottstown-shooting/24324134

March 26, 2014

Police: Pottstown man violently shakes infant daughter, lies to investigators about it

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “A Pottstown man is accused of an unspeakable crime, and now his infant daughter is fighting for her life…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/police-pottstown-man-violently-shakes-infant-daughter-lies-to-investigators-about-it/25181232

April 14, 2014

Norristown man accused of role in Pottstown slaying rejects plea deal, heads to trial

“COURTHOUSE — A Norristown man accused of conspiring with his Pottstown cousin in the gunshot slaying of a man outside a Pottstown bar appeared to take an active role in the selection of the jury that will ultimately decide his fate…”

http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20140414/norristown-man-accused-of-role-in-pottstown-slaying-rejects-plea-deal-heads-to-trial

April 15, 2014

Pottstown man charged with punching pregnant woman

POTTSTOWN — “A Pottstown man was charged with intimidating a witness after a woman allegedly received a threatening text message while waiting to speak with police about a previous incident. The pregnant victim, according to police, was allegedly assaulted in a domestic dispute on March 30 around 7:30 p.m…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140415/pottstown-man-charged-with-punching-pregnant-woman

April 17, 2014

Hinton guilty of first-degree murder in 2013 Pottstown slaying

NORRISTOWN — “A Norristown man was noticeably disgusted after a jury convicted him of charges he assisted his Pottstown cousin in the gunshot slaying of a man outside a Pottstown bar…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140417/hinton-guilty-of-first-degree-murder-in-2013-pottstown-slaying

April 21, 2014

Jury finds three men guilty of murder in Pottstown home invasion case

“Charles Freeman, Omar Miller and Andre Collier are guilty of murdering Kareem Borowy last May…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/jury-finds-three-men-guilty-of-murder-in-pottstown-home-invasion-case/25592210

April 22, 2014

Pottstown police called frequently to Montgomery Elks Lodge

POTTSTOWN — “During the last 27 months, borough police officers filed more than 230 incident reports for the Montgomery Elks Lodge, which was the site of a brawl in February, according to documents obtained by The Mercury under a Right to Know request…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140422/pottstown-police-called-frequently-to-montgomery-elks-lodge

May 3, 2014

Teen shot in Pottstown

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “Police say a teenager was shot in Pottstown. The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. Friday on Lesher Alley…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/teen-shot-in-pottstown/25795064

May 10, 2014

Man arrested in shooting of child in Pottstown

“A suspect has been arrested in connection with a shooting that wounded an 8-year-old boy in Pottstown Friday evening…”

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Man_arrested_in_shooting_of_child_in_Pottstown.html

 May 14, 2014



Couple found passed out with babies in car



“When police arrived on the scene, they found Ellen Vaughn Thompson of Pottstown passed out on the ground outside the car, and Nigel Levern Stewart of Boyertown was passed out in the back seat of the car…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/couple-found-passed-out-with-babies-in-car/25968522

May 18, 2014

Pottstown armed robber on the loose

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “A gas station clerk in Montgomery County almost forced away an armed robber Sunday night. The incident happened at the Gulf gas station store at 615 E. High Street in Pottstown around 11:15 a.m., according to officials…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/pottstown-armed-robber-on-the-loose/26046054

May 21, 2014

Drug Ring Out Of Pottstown’s Bright Hope Knocked Out

“Five people were arrested for allegedly trafficking heroin, cocaine and crystal methamphetamine in both Montgomery and Philadelphia counties since at least 2013, according to a release from Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele…”

http://roysrants.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/drug-ring-out-of-pottstowns-bright-hope-knocked-out/

May 22, 2014

Wayne Snowden to stand trial in accidental shooting of boy on bicycle near Pottstown

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “A man who accidentally shot a young neighbor boy on a bicycle has been ordered to stand trial…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/wayne-snowden-to-stand-trial-in-accidental-shooting-of-boy-on-bicycle-near-pottstown/26121510

May 28, 2014

Student arrested at Pottstown High School

POTTSTOWN — A” Pottstown High School student was arrested Wednesday morning, according to the school district. The 17-year-old student, who was identified as Christian Ortiz-Hernandez in court documents, was charged as an adult. He faces one felony count of robbery and several misdemeanor charges of possession of a weapon, criminal attempt at theft by unlawful taking and simple assault, according to court papers…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140528/updated-student-arrested-at-pottstown-high-school

May 31, 2014

Shots ring out in Pottstown, leaving man hospitalized

“The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. in the 200 block of Jefferson Avenue, near the corner of Liberty Alley…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/shots-ring-out-in-pottstown-leaving-man-hospitalized/26264526

May 31, 2014

FBI: Shots fired during Pottstown bank robbery

“Investigators are looking for a brazen stickup man who fired off multiple gunshots during the attempted robbery Saturday morning of a Wells Fargo bank branch in Pottstown. The suspect walked into the bank at 1470 E. High St. around 9:15 a.m., according to the FBI. He allegedly brandished a .38-caliber semiautomatic handgun, verbally threatened employees and demanded money.”

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/FBI_Shots_fired_.html#w8DelKkL3bwiyAKF.99

June 6, 2014



Man found shot to death inside car in Pottstown

“The victim was identified by the Montgomery County coroner’s office as Steven Mitchell, 20. He was discovered by police shortly before 10 p.m. in the 400 block of Jefferson Avenue as officers were responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle.”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/dead-man-found-in-car-police-investigate-homicide-in-pottstown/26359336

June 9, 2014

Pottstown crime protesters call for Toroney’s ouster



POTTSTOWN — “Borough Council President Stephen Toroney rejected protesters’ calls Monday for him to step down in the wake of a series of shootings, saying…

“I have no more to do with that guy getting shot than the man on the moon…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140609/pottstown-crime-protesters-call-for-toroneys-ouster

June 26, 2014

Pottstown man arrested after selling heroin to undercover cop

POTTSTOWN — “Police charged a man with multiple drug-ralated felonies after they concluded a 10-month investigation this week.  Benjamin Robinson, 51, of Pottstown, allegedly sold heroin to an undercover officer several times last fall, police said…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140626/pottstown-man-arrested-after-selling-heroin-to-undercover-cop

July 10, 2014

Man taken into custody after short standoff in Pottstown

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “Police say a man is in custody after a standoff Thursday night in Pottstown. Police were called to the 1400 block of Cherry Lane around 7:00 p.m…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/man-taken-into-custody-after-short-standoff-in-pottstown/26893876

August 12, 2014

Pottstown woman allegedly shoots self in hand hiding guns

POTTSTOWN — “While allegedly trying to dispose of evidence after her boyfriend’s arrest, a 27-year-old woman accidentally shot herself in the hand with a shotgun.  Korrin M. Myers will face a preliminary hearing before District Judge Scott Palladino after one scheduled this week was continued to Aug. 28. Among other offenses, she is charged with receiving stolen property, a felony, related to the theft of a rifle from Berks County…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140812/updated-pottstown-woman-allegedly-shoots-self-in-hand-hiding-guns


August 19, 2014

Pottstown teens arrested in taped beating of park ranger in Philadelphia

“Two teenagers are charged in a brutal attack at an iconic Philadelphia park that was caught on camera. Two of the three skateboarders police say were involved in the beating of a 35-year-old ranger at LOVE Park, captured on cell phone video, have been arrested, police officials announced Monday…”

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Alleged-Beater-in-Love-Park-Attack-Arrested-271703651.html

August 25, 2014

Unrelated Police Investigations Result In Charges

SANATOGA PA – “Two male Pottstown residents were arrested on drug-related charges during separate and unrelated incidents Sunday (Aug. 24, 2014) and Wednesday (Aug. 20), Lower Pottsgrove police have reported…”

http://sanatogapost.com/2014/08/25/unrelated-police-investigations-result-charges/

September 11, 2014

Officials find burn victim in Pottstown alley

POTTSTOWN, Pa. –“Officials say a man was found burned inside an alley in Pottstown, Montgomery County Wednesday morning.It happened in Rowan Alley, off North Warren Street…”

http://newsinpenn.com/officials-find-burn-victim-in-pottstown-alley/

October 3, 2014

Five men wanted in Pottstown on drug charges

Pottstown >> The Pottstown Police Department is seeking the public’s help in locating five wanted men.

 http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141003/five-men-wanted-in-pottstown-on-drug-charges

October 8, 2014

Norristown man pleads guilty to murder in stabbing of teen near Pottstown

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – “Justice has been served for a young man brutally murdered last year in Chester County. His attacker has pleaded guilty to first degree murder, robbery and arson…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/norristown-man-pleads-guilty-to-murder-in-stabbing-of-teen-near-pottstown/29010944

October 16, 2014

Pottstown Police searching for 2 women in video of assault

“On Oct. 15 a link to a video capturing a fight that occurred on East High Street across from Rite Aid was posted on Facebook. The date and time of the recorded incident is not known by police but the video indicates that the assault may have occurred in warmer weather at a later time in the day. The video was posted to the Crime in Pottstown page on Facebook…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141016/pottstown-police-searching-for-2-women-in-video-of-assault

October 10, 2014

Police charge Ohio man with rape in Pottstown

Pottstown >> “An Ohio man faces rape and assault charges following an incident on Oct. 4.  Marcus Veal, 30, of Dayton, Ohio, has been charged following a reported rape on the 400 block of West Buttonwood Street in Pottstown…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141010/police-charge-ohio-man-with-rape-in-pottstown

October 17, 2014

Police: 2 people found dead inside car near Barto

WASHINGTON TWP., Pa. – “Two Pottstown area men were found dead of apparent gunshot wounds inside a parked car in Berks County early Friday, state police said…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/police-2-people-found-dead-inside-car-near-barto/29202850

October 24, 2014

Pottstown man faces sexual assault charges

Pottstown >> “A local man has been charged after several victims have come forward with allegations of sexual assault.  Brian Golson, 45, of Pottstown has been arrested and charged after allegedly sexually assaulting several victims who reported it last week, according to court documents…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141024/pottstown-man-faces-sexual-assault-charges

October 29, 2014

Police: Man shot following dispute in Pottstown

Pottstown >> “Pottstown Police are investigating a shooting that occurred on Chestnut Street, leaving a man seriously injured…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141029/police-man-shot-following-dispute-in-pottstown

October 29, 2014

Pair arrested in robbery, assault in Pottstown

POTTSTOWN >> “Two people were arrested Monday for an alleged assault and robbery Saturday night on East High Street.  Franklin Davis Jr., 49, and Jereline Strickland, 51, both of Pottstown, were taken into custody and charged with felonies including aggravated assault and robbery by inflicting serious injury, along with corresponding conspiracy charges, as well as a list of misdemeanor offenses…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141028/pair-arrested-in-robbery-assault-in-pottstown

October 30, 2014

Police warn dollar stores of armed robbery threat Same man believed to have robbed 2 Pottstown area stores this week

LOWER POTTSGROVE TWP., Pa. – “Authorities are alerting dollar stores across the region after two armed robberies in just four days…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/Police-warn-dollar-stores-of-armed-robbery-threat/29440454

November 2, 2014

One person injured in Pottstown shooting

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “One person was shot early Sunday morning in Montgomery County. The incident happened around 1 a.m. on Queen and Montgomery streets in Pottstown…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/one-person-injured-in-potstown-shooting/29488950

November 6, 2014

Pottstown man charged after stealing officer’s pepper spray

Pottstown >> “A Pottstown man was arrested after allegedly stealing an officer’s pepper spray and attempting to use it on the officer.  Michael Horner Jr., 32, of Pottstown is facing charges after police pulled him over and he allegedly resisted arrest and attempted to assault the officer…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141106/pottstown-man-charged-after-stealing-officers-pepper-spray

November 10, 2014

Pottstown police seek 2 men in connection with weekend shooting

POTTSTOWN >> “Police are looking for two men in connection with the shooting of a man on the 400 block of King Street late Saturday night…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141110/pottstown-police-seek-2-men-in-connection-with-weekend-shooting

November 12, 2014

Berks officers assist in pursuit of bank robber in Pottstown

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “A routine training mission turned into the real thing for a K-9 officer and his four-legged partner from Berks County…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-berks/Local/berks-officers-assist-in-pursuit-of-bank-robber-in-pottstown/29683696

November 12, 2014

Former Pottstown business owner admits fleecing clients of more than $30K

“Brian Warren Patrick, 35, who once owned Affinity Property Management and Realty, 221 E. High St., was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to three years of probation after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of deceptive business practices and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received in connection with incidents that occurred in 2013…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141112/former-pottstown-business-owner-admits-fleecing-clients-of-more-than-30k

November 14, 2014

Suspect in Pottstown shootings apprehended by CMERT

Pottstown >> “Pottstown and North Coventry police called CMERT on Thursday morning to apprehend the man who allegedly fired a gun at a man on North Evans Street last week. Skyler Vollmuth, 19, of Pottstown, was arrested on assault charges stemming from a Nov. 6 incident…”

http://www.dailylocal.com/general-news/20141114/suspect-in-pottstown-shootings-apprehended-by-cmert

November 16, 2014

Complaints about crime on the rise again in Pottstown

“On a cold Saturday night in Pottstown, three people came upon one another on King Street. At least one of them had a handgun and shots rang out just after 11 p.m…”

http://readingeagle.com/news/article/complaints-about-crime-on-the-rise-again-in-pottstown

November 22, 2014

Shots fired call leads to drug arrest in Pottstown

Pottstown >> “A borough man has been arrested on drug charges after police were dispatched for a report of shots fired.  Alante Jones, 21, of Pottstown was arrested Friday after police reported to the 300 block of Jefferson Avenue at around 2 a.m., according to court documents.”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141121/shots-fired-call-leads-to-drug-arrest-in-pottstown

 November 30, 2014


2 people wounded, 3rd robbed in related acts of violence in Pottstown, police say

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “Police are investigating the shooting of a man in Montgomery County. Several witnesses reported hearing shots fired around 7 p.m. Sunday in the area of Rowan Alley and Franklin Street in Pottstown…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Local/at-least-one-person-shot-in-pottstown/29993950

November 30, 2014

One injured in Rowan Alley shooting

Pottstown >> “One man was shot Sunday night in the 300 block of Rowan Alley. Pottstown police were called to a shooting near N. Evans Street, between Chestnut and Walnut streets shortly after 6 p.m. A Medivac helicopter was called to the scene and airlifted the victim to the hospital…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141130/one-injured-in-rowan-alley-shooting

December 1, 2014

Multiple Pottstown shootings, robbery, have police scrambling

POTTSTOWN >> “Police believe a wild Sunday night of three shootings, with two victims, and one armed robbery are all related. Police are withholding the names of both shooting victims as the investigation continues…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141201/multiple-pottstown-shootings-robbery-have-police-scrambling

December 1, 2014

Police investigate death of woman inside Pottstown home

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “Police are investigating the death of a woman in Montgomery County as a possible homicide. The woman’s body was found Monday morning inside a home in the 500 block of King Street in Pottstown, said police, who have not released any additional information…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/police-investigate-death-of-woman-inside-pottstown-home/29999934

December 2, 2014

Police: Car involved in deadly crash was stolen

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “The woman who died when a car slammed into a building in Pottstown on Thanksgiving morning was in a stolen vehicle, police said…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/police-car-involved-in-deadly-crash-was-stolen/30024850

December 2, 2014

Pottstown man arrested with 273 bags of heroin, cocaine

Pottstown >> “A Pottstown man is facing drug charges after police responded to a call of shots fired on Sunday.  Ian Shawell, 21, of Pottstown has been charged after police found him allegedly in possession of numerous bags of drugs while responding to a call for 20 shots fired, according to court documents…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141202/pottstown-man-arrested-with-273-bags-of-heroin-cocaine

December 8, 2014

Hit and run destroys garage in Pottstown

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “Pottstown Police are investigating a hit-and-run crash that destroyed a garage. It happened around 8 p.m. Sunday on Lesher Alley, near the intersection of Washington Street.”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/hit-and-run-destroys-garage-in-pottstown/30110910

December 8, 2014

Man charged in shooting death of woman in Pottstown Suspect, 2 cousins also charged in pair of armed robberies

NORRISTOWN, Pa. – “Police have arrested three men in connection with a crime spree in and around Pottstown, and one of them has been charged with murder. Authorities on Monday announced the arrest of Derrick Jackson in the deadly shooting of Lori Marie Sheridan inside Sheridan’s apartment in the 500 block of King Street on Dec. 1…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Man-charged-in-shooting-death-of-woman-in-Pottstown/30120560

December 9, 2014

Pottstown: Man charged after dragging woman into garage

Pottstown >> “A Boyertown man has been charged after allegedly throwing a woman to the ground and dragging her inside a garage.  Jorge Green, 39, of Boyertown was arrested after police responded to a disturbance on Isabella Street, according to court papers…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141209/pottstown-man-charged-after-dragging-woman-into-garage

December 10, 2104

Lower Pottsgrove cops snare pair with mobile meth lab

Lower Pottsgrove >> “A Boyertown woman and a Pottstown man have been charged after police investigated a suspicious vehicle parked in a parking lot on Industrial Highway and found a mobile methamphetamine lab inside…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141210/lower-pottsgrove-cops-snare-pair-with-mobile-meth-lab

December 18, 2014

Pottstown clergy rally for peace

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “Another local community rallied Thursday night against violence. At least a dozen pastors came out to lead a group calling for unity in Pottstown, Montgomery County. The group said it’s concerned with the level of violence that the community saw this year…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/pottstown-clergy-rally-for-peace/30309042

December 22, 2014

Reward offered in assault of mail carrier in Pottstown

Pottstown >> “A mail carrier was assaulted Saturday evening by one or more teenagers as he was delivering mail, police said Monday.  Nothing was taken when the 60-year-old victim was accosted around 5 p.m. at the intersection of Beech and North Franklin streets, according to police.  The mail carrier was walking west on Beech, crossing Franklin, when he passed the group of teens, police said…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141222/reward-offered-in-assault-of-mail-carrier-in-pottstown

December 23, 2014

Pottstown woman arrested on prostitution charge

“Police charged 29-year-old Felicia Rachel Ford-Bey of Pottstown after a plainclothes officer was solicited by Ford-Bey at King and Franklin streets, police said. The officer was sent to follow up on a report that a female was suspected of prostitution in the area at 10:56 p.m. Friday, police said.”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141223/pottstown-woman-arrested-on-prostitution-charge?source=most_viewed

December 26, 2014

Man shot in Pottstown on Christmas Eve

“A man told police he was driving through Pottstown on Christmas Eve when he was shot in the leg, authorities said. The man was not identified by police. Pottstown police gave this account: There were reports of shots fired about 10:30 p.m. in the 300 block of Walnut Street, and officers found spent casings and damage to a parked vehicle…”

http://readingeagle.com/news/article/man-shot-in-pottstown-on-christmas-eve

December 26, 2014

Pottstown Police investigate shots fired near Jefferson Street

Pottstown >> “Pottstown Police responded to a report of shots fired at around 1:30 on Friday in an alley behind Jefferson Street between Franklin and Evans streets…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141226/pottstown-police-investigate-shots-fired-near-jefferson-street

December 26, 2014

Pottstown man charged in assault, threats

Pottstown >> “A Pottstown man was arrested Wednesday after police received a report of a disturbance on Queen Street.  Shimell Grosvenor, 36, of Pottstown was taken into custody after allegedly assaulting a woman and leaving in her car…”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20141226/pottstown-man-charged-in-assault-threats

December 28, 2014

Man eludes Pottstown police during dramatic chase

POTTSTOWN, Pa. – “Police in Montgomery County are searching for a man they say led them on a chase in a stolen vehicle Sunday evening…”

http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/man-eludes-pottstown-police-during-dramatic-chase/30434996

This is not an inclusive chronology.  Property crimes, auto thefts, as well as other violent / non-violent incidents can be researched at Crimemapping.com

Many thanks to a life-long area resident and friend for his time and research for this post.

Putting together my last post, a chronology of crime in Pottstown in 2014, was much more difficult than I’d anticipated.  It tugged at my heart and filled me with sadness.  With the help of a friend, who has lived his whole life in the area, I forged ahead as memories of better times in the Pottstown area were not far from my friends own heart.

Many comments from Facebook acknowledged that the chronology was an emotional and  disheartening enumeration for them as well.

Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war.

Donald Trump

Toward the latter part of 2014 Police Chief Drumheller has been speaking to council and (most importantly) to residents, at monthly council meetings…. he’s communicated with the press about his plans as well.

He announced that he is reorganizing the department for maximum efficiency in 2015 and is actively exploring possibilities for video surveillance systems in various locations in town.  The Chief has asked the community to participate in these efforts – THAT IS KEY –  Chief Drumheller is setting the best example of leadership I have seen since I’ve lived in Pottstown.  But…

The battle with crime, violence and mayhem in Pottstown will not be won by the efforts of one leader and area law enforcement alone.

The leaders of this town, the leaders of surrounding areas, the county officials, the state, the citizens, the businesses, the schools, the non-profit organizations, the churches, the press  – ALL OF US –  have an opportunity to learn and grow from the experience of 2014.

I BELIEVE WE CAN RESOLVE to work together and make every effort to understand each other in the coming year and beyond.  Put one foot in front of the other.

Not one of the entities listed above can make that happen in a vacuum, it will not happen without a tacit agreement from every one of us to accept responsibility to communicate openly and honestly, with the greater good of Pottstown – – our primary motive.

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you.  In between, the leader is a servant.

                                                                                Max DePree

There has been a lot of good information shared among residents and non-residents alike on Facebook this past year.  This  September 2014 article, written by Barry Cassidy for the 422 Business Advisor, was posted to my timeline:

clik >>> Can Something Be So Bad It Is Good?    In the following excerpt, founded on years of experience and wisdom,  Barry said:

“When housing deteriorates, how can the neighborhood turn it around? The government cannot make the only effort toward revitalization. There is a need for a public private partnership to effectuate change.

Citizens have to be an active part of the process. People usually get involved in the process by complaining about the conditions of their neighborhood and seemingly become involved in the public sector merry-go round. Of course, it is just the process at work as there are rules and regulations. It is an understanding of the process by the residents that make the process effective. If there is mistrust or misunderstandings between the groups, a public private partnership will never work.”

My New Year’s commitment, (I don’t do resolutions just to break them):  I am going to follow in the leadership footsteps of Police Chief Richard Drumheller, (Pottstown’s very own Dancing Guy/video below) **with all due respect**

- I will go straight to the source:  organizations, businesses, schools, the press, government at the local, county, state and federal levels to ask hard questions when they arise, to share ideas and to listen.   I will do my best to learn the lessons of the past year, keep an open mind to give everyone the opportunity to speak from their own perspective.

- I will continue to blog and share information and ideas, to expose those who take advantage of the taxpayers and the vulnerabilities of Pottstown, (ie:  particularly rapacious income investors, property managers, etc).  I will press forward with the People’s Video Project on Youtube and remain active on Facebook where ideas, vital connections with the community, (and other communities), are fostered.

- I will maintain trust and confidence in every effort put forth by others to work toward better understanding and to create a better story line for Pottstown.

-  In the spirit of co-operation, I will do my part to foster goodwill but the truth will always prevail.  As a member of Citizens Action Committee for Pottstown I will encourage participants and Facebook friends to extend the same effort to create a space for all of us to begin to forge a public private partnership that is founded in trust and honesty…

In lipstick, on my bathroom mirror, (as a reminder), I  have written this time honored aphorism, courtesy of the wisdom of the great Albert Einstein:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  

Please think about that statement and…

Ask yourselves if you can make a commitment, in the new year, to take the first step to foster communication with one another and help forge a strong public/private partnership.

Here’s two interesting reads on leadership that have made it into my favorites this year:

http://improvingpolice.wordpress.com/2012/12/13/principles-of-leadership/

http://www.governing.com/columns/mgmt-insights/col-cities-making-citizens-part-of-government.html

Happy New Year Friends.

Please enjoy my favorite quick lesson in leadership:  Dancing Guy….

Believe it!! 

Tonight:  Wednesday, January 7, 2015 Borough Hall 100 High St. 3rd Floor  7 PM

Mark Kubricky will be in town today to present the findings of the initial study which is an inventory of all borough housing by type.  By using other data sources to identify the cost of providing municipal services to each property type…

We anticipate the borough and taxpayers will learn that poorly managed rental housing is costing taxpayers significantly more than we can afford and a lot more than well managed rentals and homeowner properties.  

Last August, journalist Evan Brandt with the Pottstown Mercury, spoke with Mark Kubricky of the Better City. US, headquartered in Odgen, Utah.   The Better Landlord Program is a development of Better City. US that provides time-tested solutions for landlords who choose to attract better tenants and manage their properties efficiently and expertly.

Evan noted in his article:

“More than 40 percent of the borough’s housing is rental units, and fully 17.2 percent of all Montgomery County’s public housing vouchers are used in Pottstown, which has only 2.8 percent of the county’s population.”

“You get the towns with the least economic opportunity, the lowest number of good-paying jobs and they get the most vouchers,” Mark Kubricky, director of development for Better Landlords, told The Mercury in August.”

“And, as a result, the neighborhoods deteriorate, homeowners can’t get the full value for their home, so they cut it up into rentals to try to get their money back out of what is likely their largest investment and what you get more is more rentals.”

“The idea is to try to stop the downward spiral,” he said.

click to go to Evan’s article: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/

The program helps to eliminate CRIME that is associated with neglected rental properties.  In Ogden Utah, where the program was first implemented, the Ogden City webpage sites:

“In its first year of the program, landlords who diligently followed the guidelines also saw a reduction in crime at their properties—in fact, 11.6% reduction in crime, according to reports.”  

click to go to the Odgen website:   http://www.ogdencity.com

The Utah Apartment Association endorses the program and teaches classes, promoting balanced relationships between tenants and landlords.  Once implemented the program is known as The Good Landlord.   Landlords report better incomes and better outcomes while their properties increase in value.

click to go to the Utah Apartment Association website: https://www.uaahq.org

Last year, I personally spoke to mayors and managers of towns and cities in the U.S. who have implemented the Better Landlord Program, each of them touted the virtues of the program in their communities.   Crime reduction was at the top of their list of benefits!! Benefits to the local governments included:  better time management, better use of personnel and wiser use of Police and Codes services <<<that was paramount with each official.

BETTER LANDLORDS/BETTER CITYS  CAN  be a game changer for Pottstown.  We all want to feel safe and to enjoy our homes and businesses.

Please get out tonight and join your neighbors for the presentation. Show your support for a BETTER POTTSTOWN!

That’s a rare sighting in this little borough.

If you happen to be among those Pottstownians who aren’t sure they can get behind the Beech St. Lofts project, a couple things to think about:

Pottstown has only ONE non-profit, community art gallery/school – ArtFusion19464 – in fact, ArtFusion just celebrated TEN YEARS in Pottstown. It’s pretty phenomenal that the gallery/school has weathered their own financial storms and the years long national economic downturn.  It is cause for celebration…

Declining conditions in Pottstown haven’t exactly been a boon to their business either – but again – the art gallery/school is a SURVIVOR!!

The High St. building that ArtFusion has occupied for lo these many years is on the market, FOR SALE. ArtFusion’s future might have lingered in the balance instead…

The vision for the Beech St. Lofts nicely dovetailed with ArtFusion’s own desire to grow, to have more space for the arts, to be accessible to all people, including those with disabilities, (something they don’t have right now).  The gallery board of directors and Housing Visions recognized a commonality….

THE ARTS.

ArtFusion and Housing Visions worked out an agreement that will provide the school/gallery with lots of affordable “flex” space to expand their programs with added gallery space all on the first floor of the renovated Fecara’s building making ArtFusion accessible to all people.

It’s a beautiful concept for ArtFusion and the community.  The rental housing on the floors above ArtFusion will offer artists attractive, light, bright, creative spaces to work and create in a live/work loft-style apartment setting.  Artists are the very kind of low-income renters that we want in Pottstown.  Artists bring a vision, a focus, energy and new ways of looking at life – a breath of fresh air!

As it sits, the building is blighted and growing more so with each day.

Maybe we all have an image of what “low-income” looks like, that’s not surprising, given the circumstances in our borough.  But imagine, for a moment, that most of the worlds greatest artists also lived much of their lives in poverty.  That’s no less true today.  Artists do what they do for the love of art and their contributions to the world are…

Pablo Picasso

The richness and awareness all around us.  The arts are the crayola colors to the outlines of our routine, ordinary lives.  In that regard, artists have never really been poor, and our experiences have never really been ordinary and routine.

When we open our eyes to the gifts artists bring to every aspect of life it only enriches us.  I couldn’t live in contentment without dance, visual arts, music, plays and comedy, books and poetry in my life.

And yes, sometimes the most brilliant creators and thinkers are “differently abled people,” people with disabilities.  Doesn’t mean they can’t be contributing members of a community.

Think:   Stephen Hawking who is not only a brilliant scientist he’s a very wonderful writer. He’s been confined to a wheelchair since 1963 with ALS.

But this hasn’t stopped him from getting a good education, and earning the reputation as a brilliant theoretical physicist. He had opportunities and he seized them.

Stephen Hawking

We need to open the doors of opportunity in our community for the artists and thinkers and builders of dreams and they need affordable, inspirational housing in a supportive arts environment.

What better opportunity have artists found in Pottstown, than the proposed renovation of Fecera’s into the Beech St. Lofts?  We are rife with blighted buildings but this unique vision for Fecera’s is a big step forward in this borough.

There are a gazillion and one examples throughout the nation of struggling little towns that have lost their industry, lost their way in the world, that have been brought back to life – with a purpose – through their support of the artists and the creative class.

The non-profit arts generate revenue, lots of revenue for cities, county’s and states.  In this link, the Maryland State Arts Council announced, in 2012: 

“Maryland’s nonprofit arts sector has a $1 billion impact on the state’s economy and supports more than 11,000 jobs.“

It’s happening in towns all over Pennsylvania and it CAN happen here too.  This is the time and the place to make a fresh start.

No matter what your style Art has something for everyone.

The consensus is in and this project is endorsed with letters of support by a growing number of residents, business, schools, non-profit organizations and so forth.

Council people were elected to represent the best interests of the people in their community and in this process, as challenging as it can be, they will serve that objective best by putting their personal prejudices aside to see things through our eyes, to support this project in unity, to take a risk for the benefits of added tax dollars generated from property taxes and the arts, to follow in the footsteps of community leaders and individuals in Pottstown who support the Beech St. Lofts Renovation.   The people have spoken in one clear and unified voice.

The Beech St. Lofts project has been endorsed by:

The Mercury
The Pottstown School District
Montgomery County
The Hill School
MOSAIC Community Land Trust … and many many more.

Evan’s article in the Merc.  quotes Ryan Procsal, Councilman in the 1st Ward, (where Fecera’s is located).  Ryan has voiced his support for the Beech St. Lofts.   @@@@A hearty thanks to Councilman Procsal!!!!  That’s what “representation” looks and feels like@@@@@

The cohesiveness and harmony that has culminated around this development is a thing of beauty for Pottstown.  Be a part of it and let council know YOU SUPPORT BEECH ST. LOFTS for the old Fecera’s Bldg.

Email, call or talk to your council on Mon. Jan 12th 7PM 100 High St. 3rd floor, click here for their contact information.

****YOU’LL BE IN THE COMPANY OF YOUR GOOD NEIGHBORS****

Tonight at 7PM 100 E. High St. 3rd floor

The Council that YOU elected to represent your best interests has a very important decision to make about the future of the old Fecera’s warehouse.

Council’s decision tonight will indicate their level of support for the Pottstown community’s desire to foster the arts, welcome investments into the borough, create safe, attractive housing and above all….

Support our local community ARTS / EDUCATION Gallery School – ArtFusion 19464 –  and the Historic Renovation of one of Pottstowns prominant, historic buildings.  What better way to say “yes” Pottstown is open for business and we welcome investment in our community!

The $12.5 million dollar Historic Renovation, proposed by Housing Visions, will turn this frog:

As it sits, the building is blighted and growing more so with each day.

Into the Prince that we desire and deserve for our community!!

Rendering of Completed Beech St. Lofts.

It’s been a very long time since Pottstown residents have experienced the cohesiveness and single mindedness of purpose that this project has inspired across all walks of life and it feels sooo good.

The list of endorsements for the Beech St. Lofts is, most of all, a list of stakeholders in Pottstown’s future.  These are businesses, homeowners, schools….the very people who are already invested and deserve to see their investments in their community prosper as Pottstown prospers:

- Pottstown School District (Jeff Sparagana)
– Mosaic Community Land Trust
– Proudly Pottstown (Sheila Dugan)
– ArtFusion 19464
– Olivet Boys & Girls Club: Pottstown Rickett’s Center
– Frank Buttaro, Former Councilman
– Sue Repko, urban planner, author, and founder of Positively Pottstown blog
– Pottstown Citizens (Tom Hylton)
– Amy Bathurst Francis, Community Activist, Buy-Local Enthusiast and – — Pottstown School District elected official
– Hannah Davis, 16-year Pottstown resident
– Courtland and Nancy Smith, Lower Pottsgrove residents
– The Pottstown Mercury
– Montgomery County

RECENT ENDORCEMENTS:
– David Sutton former council member/authority board member

We encourage Council to support this project tonight.

Link to Housing Visions where you can see the results of previous developments and learn about their philosophy.

Values Statement

QUALITY:   We are dedicated to continuous improvement which is reflected in our leadership, implementation, operations and quality standards.

RESPONSIBILITY:   We create value, are empowered to make a difference and are responsible and accountable for our actions.

INTEGRITY:   We are dependable and responsible people committed to being open, transparent, honest and direct in all of our activities.

COMPASSION:  Every business endeavor and initiative should have compassion as one of its objectives. To really solve a problem, there’s no question that cooperation and compassion beat competition.

   Laws are made of many ingredients and for many reasons and once they are bonified “laws” do officials, who are tasked with enforcement, have the choice to enforce some and neglect to enforce others, kinda like a big, Las Vegas style buffet where you can line up and choose seafood over corned beef, or carrots instead of broccoli?  Can officials pick and choose what laws they would like to put on their plates and leave what they don’t like?

We wonder why the following laws have not been implemented and used to full capacity for the betterment of conditions in Pottstown?  There are many unanswered questions…

You will have the opportunity to ask questions of Assistant District Attorney, Jason Whalley, thanks to the welcome efforts of  life-long resident and local Attorney, Dave Garner, who has organized a community meeting to forge a relationship with the Montgomery County D.A.’s office and to learn how we can work together and what we can do to implement the…

Pennsyvania  Public Nuisance Law, Drug Nuisance Law and The Expedited Eviction of Drug Traffickers Act.

FEBRUARY 16TH @ 7PM BORUGH HALL 100 E HIGH ST. 3RD FLOOR

Below, are a few excerpts of interest.  Please take time to read the details in the link at the end of this post and formulate questions to ask the Assistant D.A. at the meeting.

Why are good, taxpaying citizens in Pottstown forced, year after year, to exercise futility, in reporting drug houses, drug dealers, hookers, johns, junkies and all other associated illegal activities in and around rental properties on their blocks?  

After making complaints, keeping records, calling police, homeowners report having been told:

“The police can’t do anything unless they see the drug”

“The drug dealers might be selling from that house, or in front of it, but they are not on the lease so there’s nothing that can be done”  or…

“We know they are dealing drugs but we can’t do anything about it without  X  Y  Z (fill in the blanks)”

Why have local officials not sought swift retribution to drug dealers and negligent income property owners, on behalf of  beleaguered resident taxpayers?  Does is make sense to tackle the issues, at the source, before they become full blown shoot outs, injury and death?  

Is there not also a definable benefit to leaders of this town by heading off the problems from the get go?

It seems to me that officials do not seek solutions outside of the familiar and that they are not offered unsolicited guidance or innovative legal solutions from the Borough’s legal council, when it’s evident that officials may not even know the right questions to ask.

Looking outside the box is key.  Vetting exisiting laws and using them is key. Education is key.  Spending the necessary time to look around at how other communites tackle the same issues – is key.

We have all expressed fears, at one time or the other, of the potential outcome of  unabated  drug houses operating near our own homes.  We’re concerned, (with good reason),  downright scared really – about the escalation of drug gangs and weapons that could be harbored in run down rental houses.  We know all too intimately about theft and property damage to our own homes, businesses and vehicles by people seeking the products of the dealers in our town.   

We talk, among ourselves, and ask why the negligent owners of these rental properties are never brought to task over the obvious and deleterious neglect and harm they contribute to the community?

Several months ago, an astute Pottstown homeowner brought to the attention of other homeowners a Pennsylvania Law actually, two laws and an “act”  that were crafted to protect the rights of people who can evidence nuisance properties and nuisance drug houses on their blocks.   They are:

Public Nuisances, 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6504, et seq.

Drug Nuisance Law, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 838,1 et seq.

The Drug Nuisance Law is an eye-opener:

We hope you will see the value of attending the meeting on Monday, Feb. 16th and take some time to familiarize yourselves with this information~!  

Here’s the link:

http://reg.abcsignup.com/files/%7B28C5CDFA-B871-4CC5-9AFB-91D00628F4A4%7D_39/34387/Blight_statutes.pdf

In June, 2012  I sponsored a SLUM OPEN HOUSE at 503 King St <click for 1st blog post>

I issued personal, email invitations to all of Pottstowns officials and an open invitation to residents so they could see for themseleves how many low-income people, (including children), in our community are forced to live in slum properties.

501 and 503 King St. are a single house chopped up into decrepit, dangerous apartments owned by POVERTY PIMP KENNETH KAUFMAN.   If 501 King St. rings a bell that’s because in November 2014, a little over three months ago, a woman Ken rented to, in one of the downstairs apartments, was murdered in her bed for a $30 drug debt <click to read Mercury article.

2 1/2 (TWO AND ONE HALF) years since the OPEN HOUSE, incredulously…

Nothing has changed.  Ken Kaufman STILL demands CASH payments from his renters then, his renters only see him on rent payment day.  Cash rents make the taxes a little lighter at the end of the year.  In some cases, if a tenant forgets to ask for a receipt, it can be a tool to extract more money from them as the experienced scum are known to do in Pottstown.

Kenneth Kaufman is a former colleague of Council President, Stephen Toroney, at The Western Montgomery Career and Technology Center in Limerick.  Toroney is retired as of last year but Ken still teaches.   Does Toroney claim to be oblivious to the despicable properties owned by Kaufman in Pottstown?  Yes or No, either answer is unacceptable because the Open House <2.5 years ago> was well publicized in the local press.

If Toroney claims he was unaware, doesn’t that speak for itself?

Evan Brandt/Activist invites Pottstown Council to see poor living conditions in permitted rental:

http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120630/NEWS01/120629312/activist-invites-pottstown-council-to-see-poor-living-conditions-in-permitted-rental

Roys Rants:

http://roysrants.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/an-editorial-follow-up-activist-invites-pottstown-council-to-see-poor-living-conditions-in-permitted-rental/#comments

Robert Senior/Open House Sheds Light On Deplorable Rental Conditions:

http://pottstown.patch.com/articles/open-house-sheds-light-on-deplorable-rental-conditions

Last November the Sanatoga Press referred to Ken as “benevolently” watching his culinary arts students:
http://sanatogapost.com/2014/11/04/career-center-students-wow-diners-monday-buffet/

<Benevolence and Kenneth Kaufman in the same sentence…pardon me while I choke on my egg roll>…

In her own words, Emily shares her story:

Gap in the outside door lets cold air flow into the apartment.

Well, my fiancé and I began to rent from him November 1st, 2014. I was five months pregnant at the time, close to being six. Ken had known that. He had refused to allow us to see the apartment unless we had $1100 cash. I’m only 18, my fiancé is only 20 and Ken took advantage of knowing we needed a place to go asap or we were both going to be homeless. We saw the apartment, and we asked him if the heating source was legal and he told us it was. Mind you, being new to renting we had no idea what we were getting into.

Months have gone by now, and I recently found out the apartment was never inspected. 

Windows are duct taped to curtail the cold air as best as possible.

My son is now here, and the place is getting colder so I decided to check up on Kens name. Found your site, and decided to call out the inspector. He failed, horribly. The stairs are leaning outside, and get this… The space heaters are beyond illegal. There are so many reasons he failed. Ken called to let us know that the apartment is being condemned but doesn’t believe that he should find us a new place to live or give us any money we put forward. Our electric bill is insane and he believes he doesn’t owe us anything because my fiancé broke a door.. A door! He knowingly, willingly allowed two new renters bring an infant into a place that was illegal and is perfectly okay with us now being out in the cold and the place is getting colder.

Precious 2 week old whose mama is hugely worried about his safety.

My son currently has to sleep with me every night because of how cold it is in this apartment, even with the heaters on blast.  I shouldn’t have to be worrying about my two week old son being warm. I blame myself partially for putting him here but at the same time Ken should have followed the LAW and had the place inspected before hand!

The 503 King street address, & we spoke to the inspector when he came to inspect. We aren’t taking the condemnation seriously until we get it verified by the inspector. Which we have yet to hear back from? Planning to call them first thing Monday.

We showed him what was wrong when we moved in and the inspector took pictures and notes. Said there’s no question why he didn’t have it inspected, because there was “no chance in hell he would have passed”

I was sleeping when the woman downstairs was killed and all Ken had to say to me was “oh she was on her way out. If you know anyone who needs a place I’ll give you $50″ 

We are still here, only because we have $0 to our name at the moment;
We aren’t leaving until we know for a fact by Charlie Weller that the place is being condemned.

Ken had the nerve to say “you guys brought this upon yourselves”  We have space heaters but we’re constantly resetting the power box and we’re not even close to being warm. I shiver in my bathroom, afraid to shower because of how cold it is. Having to wear hoodies and sweat pants and have my son in bed with us in worry of him not being warm enough.

As I put the finishing touches on this blog post it is 5 degrees in Pottstown / feels like -18 degrees and I am concerned for this young family with a new baby, anybody with a heart should be.  Anybody who can DO SOMETHING to protect these people – should be doing it. 

Ken Kaufman? He is a heartless, money grubbing bastard and, at this moment, I’m not sure I can honestly say that the Pottstown administators and some employees have proven themselves to be much different than Kaufman.  THIS HAS TO STOP NOW!!!!!!   How do you look at yourselves in the mirror? 

If the borough continues delaying the end of the greedy tyranny of Kenneth Kaufman, (and others like him), they condone his abuse of his renters, his properties, the good neighbors and taxpayers of Pottstown then there is plenty of blame and shame to go around.

# 1 issue on the table NOW and council people THAT MEANS YOU too.  IF that newborn baby <or any of the children in the comment below> are harmed due to the untenable conditions of that rental property  – –  the responsiblity lies on all of your shoulders.

In response to the plight of this young family, I received the following information from “Nucki”  William Heuer has been on my radar for some time now, question is:  Why isn’t he on the borough’s radar and why are people ignored by officials?  There are painful consequences for children who live in these enviromental waste sites thru no choice of their own and the onus is on local government to take right action now.

My landlord is William Heuer, I feel for these ppl because I too am in similar situation, I have three children about to be out in the.cold as well. I have gone to L&I and council numerous times since June 2014 begging for help,and they have done nothing! The place I live didn’t pass inspection but they allowed him to rent it anyway,and even though the place has many violations the borough does nothing to enforce the citations on the landlord. They have lied and continue to cover for this landlord and his shenanigans . I had to recently call health department because of mold my youngest sons disabilities are intensely aggravated by presence of mold, I explained this to borough and that also fell on deaf ears. The point is simply that this borough could care less about the tenants and their rights…mine have been violated and I plan to seek justice.

HOW’D THE MEETING GO WITH THE ASSISTANT MONTCO D.A.’S AND THE PPD ON FEB. 16TH?

Just dandy.

See for yourselves.   Here are the videos from Citizens Action Committee for Pottstown, Evan Brandts tweets/storify from the meeting and the Mercury’s article…can’t say it didn’t get good coverage!

The organizers are looking for feedback from the residents that attended.  If you’ve got something to say as the next “action items” are developed, send it in an email to:

ptownadvocates@hotmail.com

They’ll keep you in the loop moving forward. 

Thanks to Kevin Steele and Jason Whalley from the D.A.’s office for meeting with the group.  Appreciate the representatives of the PPD and borough for taking their time to be there.

Just a quick word about “apathy” it’s a two way street folks.  One elected official, Sheryl Miller, Councilwoman in the 3rd ward and Council Candidate in the 4th Ward, Ross Belovich, made time in their busy lives to be there.

GRATITUDE TO FORMER COUNCIL PRESIDENT DAVE GARNER FOR LEADING THE WAY & ORGANIZING THE EVENT. 

VV CLICK LINKS VV

Pottstown citizens urged to help fight crime

https://storify.com/PottstownNews/criminal-discussion?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=publisher&utm_campaign=embed-header

Craigslist SCAM

I think most of you are savvy enough to detect the big phony bologna in the response that a couple received while looking for a rental home in Pottstown.  This morning I was alerted about this SCAM by the couple that responded to the ad.  I looked up the real owner and contacted them to let them know.   The house is listed for sale not for rent and the owner was aware of the scam.  

KEEP YOUR EYES WIDE OPEN FRIENDS

Hello,

Thanks for your email, I personally own the house, we want our property to be well taken good care, and there are some Precaution in which i do give out to tenant willing to rent my house which brings about safety of a home, so please don’t be offended. But if you are still capable of renting my house the precaution goes this way…

You must keep my house clean including the surrounding, you must know the way in which you use the stove so as to avoid fire outbreak, you must not disturb the neighbor. We decided to rent out the property due to our transfer to (West Africa). My Family and I just traveled to Nigeria for a program Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education with Dove Christian Fellowship International on a Missionary Work, so we are renting it out since we need someone to take good care of the property on my absence and the house will be available for a period of 5 years. The program is taking place in four major countries which are Uganda, Japan, Haiti and Nigeria. Have this in mind you must know the kind of person that i am. Nevertheless i am giving you this Precautions because of what corresponded between me and my last tenant. The keys and documents are with us here in West Africa … so i will need to ship them to you
before you can occupy the house but you can drive by the house anytime to take a look.

I want you to understand that I spent a lot on my property that you have requested to rent, so I will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this house and would want you to treat it as your own because cleanliness they say is next to Godliness. It is not all about the money to be paid on rent or spent; it is all about a good maintenance culture which I want you to adopt on the property. I want you to keep it tidy all the time so that I would be full of smiles whenever I come and above all, a good, strong and tight relationship between us when I come for a check up. Please one more thing, I wouldn’t like to have any benefit of trust in you because I want to stand in your words that the property would be well taken care of all the time. I believe you have see how lovely it is if from only the pictures you saw in my posting compare to the 100% comfort to be derived from it as you are an occupant.

We will be away for a while that is why we made up our mind to put up our house for rent to whom ever that will take good care of it. Please i want you to note that i spent a lot on my property that i want to give to you for rent, so i will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this house and want you to treat it as your own.

Address: 546 Spruce St, Pottstown, PA 19464

Pets are Welcome!!!
Rent: $700
Security Deposit: $700
Living Building Square Footage: 1,623
Number Of Bedrooms: 3
Number Of Bathrooms: 1

SO IF YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTED I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE RENT APPLICATION FORM BELOW:

RENT APPLICATION FORM.
Name (First name/ Middle name/Surname ) : __________?
Phone numbers (home,cell and office line ) # :__________?
E-mail :__________?
Best time to call :__________?
Marital Status:__________?
How many proposed occupants :__________?
List all in addition to yourself including approx age :__________?
Present Address :__________?
City/State :__________?
Will you have pets :__________?
Please describe Breed, size :__________?
Personality of pet :__________?
Preferred move in date :__________?
Intended length of lease:__________?
Do you agree to pay the payment before you move in:__________?
Earliest possible date of deposit payment:__________?
Length of previous tenancy :__________?
Present occupation :__________?
Are you a section 8 applicant
Do you work late night :__________?
Do you smoke :__________?
Do you drink :__________?
Send your picture or family picture __________?

Please feel free to ask any questions you do not understand and i will be looking forward to receive your email as soon as possible. As i am not around to show the inside, you can go check out the house and the neighborhood from the outside and get back to me if you really like it for more information. Please respond ASAP.

I hope to read from you with more information. Thanks for the time and energy writing me, My regards to your family. For more inquiries, Here is my cell phone number which i roamed so i can receive international calls, call or text me ASAP +1 (701) 404-7085

Best Regards.
David I Stout & Patricia E.

Yesterday is history, Tomorrow’s a mystery, TODAY’S a GIFT, that’s why it’s called the present!

There’s NEVER an excuse for landlords in Pottstown to rent to convicted drug felons or people who cannot evidence a pay stub from a job, SSI or SSD.   I have even heard some landlords claim that their apartments will sit vacant for months until the right person (s) come along that have their act together enough to have stayed out of prison.  This post is inspired by a conversation on FB on Crime in Pottstown…

A smart landlord plans for vacancies and understands the potential ramifications of renting to anyone with a pocket full of cash and no background check or pay stubs.

BIG problem is – – in Pottstown there have been NO ramifications for landlords that avoid due diligence but there are plenty of ramifications for other property owners INCLUDING good landlords who often can’t keep good renters because of the crime and filth all around them.

Having said that, I can almost hear the battalion of (land) lords <many who affiliate with the Western Montgomery County Real Estate Investors Group, among other notable property management and real estate companies in the area> planning their next council brow-beating session when the topic of better ordinances and supervision of rentals is on the horizon again ** complete with not-so-veiled threats of lawsuits against the borough**  yawn.  

But again, council backs down…why?  We want the issue of rental housing to remain front and center in councils minds and actions. 

Starting at about 9:44 with other comments mixed in, LANDLORDS WHINE TO COUNCIL:

You can see all the videos <including more LL whining and threats of lawsuits against the borough> on the Citizens Action Committee for Pottstown’s Youtube channel. 

Comments on Facebook from good renters and good landlords indicate that THEY have no problem with annual inspections.  So WHO has a problem?  Could be (land) lords that are the very people that “fly under the radar” and they like it that way.

There are plenty of working poor in Pottstown who need a break.   Decent housing, manageable rent payments and a landlord that gives two hoots about their property, the tenants and the community.

Landlord ignorance is not an excuse for renting to drug dealers and other criminals, nor is greed a reason. 

FREE BACKGROUND CHECK

HOUSING LAW IN A NUTSHELL 

The Nation’s Fair Housing Law protects 7 classes of people:

Race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin.  <<<Note:  drug dealers are not among the protected class of people in the nation, state or even Pottstown (although you’d be wondering if Pottstown has seceded from the union given the # of drug houses allowed to proliferate here).

In addition to these protected classes, Pennsylvania offers legal protection based on:

ancestry
age (40 and older)
use of guide or support animal
status as handler or trainer of guide or support animal.  <<<Note:  convicted drug dealers are NOT protected in PA, or any felon for that matter. 

In combination with what we hope will be a more aggressive effort by the Montgomery County D.A.’s office to hold accountable the extractive, negligent income investors who rent to convicted drug dealers, and other criminals.  We, the community of homeowners, businesses, good landlords and good renters, are going to keep this issue front and center in Pottstown and…

council has a big-big role to play in this too because while the PPD is stepping up their game, why should council continue to accommodate bad landlords or even allow more negative investors into the community?  

Below is a link to the Mercury’s coverage of the most recent drug house raid in a RENTAL house VV   Good work PPD AND residents who inform the police about the drug houses in their neighborhoods.

We are doing our part and the PPD is doing their part…there can be no excuse for the borough to let the rental housing slide any longer.

IMPLEMENT THE BETTER LANDLORD PROGRAM…WITHOUT DELAY.

And, consider that it’s way beyond time for council to figure out how to ENFORCE the Charge Back Ordinance as suggested by councilwoman, Sheryl Miller, because, as I have learned recently … even though a landlord might resist paying the $100 fine, the violation CAN give L&I the legal right to pull the license (if there is one). But, either way, the borough can refuse to let a probelmatic landlord continue to rent their property if they are unwilling to pay their fines.  That’s a powerful tool USE IT. 

Police searching for suspect from Pottstown drug raid

433 HIGH ST. / 433 BUTTONWOOD ALLEY (BACKSIDE).  THE OWNER OF THIS PROPERTY LIVES LESS THAN 1 MILE AWAY IN THE COZY ROSEDALE NEIGHBORHOOD.

CLEARLY, THE OWNERS HAVE NOT BEEN HELD ACCOUNTABLE BY THE BOROUGH FOR A VERY VERY VERY LONG TIME.   THIS CREEPILY DANGEROUS BUILDING IS A REFLECTION OF THE TURMOIL IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 

My neighbor, Larry Hespeth, posted these photo’s and comments on Facebook last week.  His home is across the alley from this and I can assure you this place is as scary as you think it is from the photo’s  – wish we could make “scratch and snif photo’s” – so you could have the whole experience including the stink.  But you can drive over and smell for yourself.   

KEENAN HARP TOOK A DRIVE BY AND HERE’S WHAT HE HAS TO SAY ON FB TODAY:

“Drove past it today. Let me tell you something, my wife is from Detroit and I have seen better looking properties there then This dump in Pottstown. Just disgraceful. What would the people from the past say about how terrible Pottstown is now. They would roll over in there grave.”

Keenan created this masterpiece!!

LARRY LEFT THIS DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING ON FACEBOOK …

“THE REAR OF THIS BUILDING IS ROTTING AND FALLING TO THE GROUND < THE BACK IS PRIMARILY COVERED WITH OLD PLYWOOD>. THE ELECTRICAL SERVICE IS ALSO COMING TO THE GROUND. I WILL POST PICS WEEKLY. CAN’T GET ANY HELP FROM THE BOROUGH. THERE SHOULD BE SOME TYPE OF EMERGENCY THIS BUILDING FALLS UNDER!”

435 HIGH ST. / BUTTONWOOD ALLEY (nastly little bodega no dumpster)???

 “DEAR POTTSTOWN PA, I NEED TO KNOW. DOES THIS STORE PAY THE SAME TRASH BILL I DO, OR SHOULD THEY BE REQUIRED TO HAVE A DUMPSTER? I GUESS THE BLUE RECYCLE CAN IS IN THERE SOMEWHERE!”
Larry Hespeth

These photo’s were posted on FB on Feburary 19, 2015 by our good neighbor, homeowner, Larry Hespeth. 

 Pottstown Homeowner At Large has this to say, today, on Facebook:

435 HIGH ST. / BUTTONWOOD ALLEY (commercial proeprty but no dumpster)??The question of the day kids is WHY?The question today, asked by Pottstown Homeowner at Large on Facebook, is this:The question today, asked by Pottstown Homeowner at Large on Facebook, is this:

“Why is it that homeowners in the borough continually get slapped with silly violations, such as “indoor furniture” on a covered front porch, peeling paint on window sills or a pile of grass clippings kept behind a garage for compost when all the while 433 High Street seems to be A-Okay with the borough? Check out the pics.

The rear of the building is literally falling apart. It is both a safety and health hazard yet it’s been this way for quite a long time, even after it’s been reported numerous times. Why?

It was reported that the 3rd floor is full of pigeon shit and the basement had standing water in it. AND, when someone actually wanted to purchase, rehab and open a business in it the Borough shot down the idea because the 2 apartments that were part of the plan required 2 parking spots each. No, sorry. We’re just going to let it go. Why?

The owners of the building are Regesh and Amita Patel, former owner/operators of the East end 7-11 and current residents of the Rosedale section. Why is it that these folks aren’t held responsible for this total POS?

Which actually leads to what might be a bigger question. WHO?”

• We are homeowners, businesses, moms and dads, some of us are public employees, (past and present), and social service providers, we represent churches and other non-profit organizations and you will find us on Facebook.

  Facebook has become a “town hall” of sorts, for residents and public employees, past and present.  It is there, on multiple pages and timelines, (or in private messages to one another), that people discuss declining conditions in the borough and, increasingly, the low morale that is shared by people from all walks of life in Pottstown.

  Facebook is a barometer of the inexplicable inability of local government to address the very serious problems each of us face on a daily basis.  The problems have only worsened over the past 17 years of  Steve Toroney’s presence on counil and….

  The decline has accelerated since council chose Mark Flanders, the former Police Chief, to become Borough Manager in November, 2012.

  We may not understand the reasons for the systemic failure of our borough to make a course correction but, we are seeking answers, unprejudiced by politics and friendships and cronysim.  We are looking outside of the confines of our predicatment to quantify the disconnect between borough hall and conditions in the community that are worsening by the day, (save for crime and the PPD’s recent efforts).

  Good residents express the feeling of  “being held hostage” to the negligence of the local government.

  We know that some officials of the borough keep an eye on Facebook and that sometimes residents posts and photo’s are mysteriously removed and that has caused added consternation for residents who want to know who is censoring them.  Then there’s a question of  “malfeasance”, (as a commenter on facebook put it), among some officials in Pottstown and Montgomery County.  

• Slumlords and their tenants have been on my radar for many years.  People report that they are harassed and threatened by income property owners when they are told, by neighbors, of the problems on their properties.   Or, neighbors are harassed when their tenants whine to the landlord that the homeowners (and other good neighbors) keep calling police on them.

  There are some people in Pottstown who fear speaking up because of retribution not only from slumlords and renters but from the borough itself.  These folks can evidence such behavior.

  The issues of slumlords, blighted properties and nasty renters or renters who are marginalized, (living in slum properties) are foremost in our day to day existance. Time and again, year upon year, we watch as officials back away from taking strong measures to hold income property owners responsible.  We continue to pay for their abuse of municipal services  while we go without the bare essential services > and even those are in decline.

  We find no logic in the borough’s *seeming* impotence in this troubling pattern of abuse that we experience on a daily basis.  NO AMOUNT of communication with officials, on our parts, makes one hell of a difference.  Mostly, we never get responses from them at all.

  Borough officials recently negotiated a new trash contract and YET a permanent solution to the profound occurances of illegal dumping was not on their radar???  Why??   Along with that the firing to two employees, known as the Clean and Lien guys, who at least kept somewhat of a lid on the trash and neglect is, at best, perplexing  given that they were highly visible in the community and….

  THEY DID THEIR JOBS VERY VERY WELL.

  If you drive by  – today –  377 N. Charlotte St., (owned by slumlord, Essam Schedid of Pottstown), you can see these conditions.   The tenant, Tracey Accor, moved 1/2 block away to 455 N. Charlotte St. owned by absentee landlady, Marie Matichak of Blandon, Pa who has neglected to have an inspection and obtain a rental license, according to the results of a Right to Know that was submitted to the borough.  Neighbors report on FB that Tracey, and her band of misfits, have already broken out the front door window, in only a few short weeks of living there. (They broke the big plate glass front window at 377 which sported a carboard box for months).  But it was work as usual in borough hall, not one person ever noticed???

  Click to view slideshow.

   On Facebook, yesterday, a nearby neighbor of this property asks:

  “How would you like to live here? This is the trash the landlord next door has been putting out over the last two weeks. He’s upset that they didn’t take the large pile of broken furniture because it wasn’t bundled. He bought a sticker and everything! Sorry, Sam, but I’ve only seen one sticker, a week ago. It was for the couch. They took it, but not the love seat he put on top. He called the borough and Mascaro came back and took that too, without a sticker. The wood pile is from this week. The chair that is in today’s photo was put out by the tenants back in July. The pictures are all dated. I reported the chair (and mattress) and Sam made the tenants take it back inside. Mascaro took the mattress and also another one recently. Now, Sam expects it to be taken again for free. There is still a giant TV and other stuff on the upstairs back porch. Seems a dumpster should have been ordered!”
  

  Neighbors and a previous landlord can evidence piles of police calls, arrests of people found in her rental (s), constant nuisance calls, and overcrowding by people who should not have been living in her voucher housing.  At long last, Tracey has lost her voucher which took over 2.5 years of monumental efforts by neighbors and a landlord that I began to chronicle ON MY BLOG IN APRIL, 2013 and again in March, 2014

  You can learn more about the plight of Tracey’s neighbors, (our shared plight in Pottstown), in this blog post by historian and author of  The More Things Change, Michael Tolle, who put this new post up on Facebook last week.  Our problems are calling the attention of people as far away as California and STILL we have no recognition or communication or help from local officials and reluctantly from MontCo Voucher Housing.

  Former councilman in the 6th Ward, Jody Rhoads, has been outspoken about the tribulations of residents in Pottstown, for many, many years.   Now, he and his wife are experiencing, first hand, the horror of an abandoned, disintegrating home, attached to their own home of 35 years.

  The Rhoads’ maintain and take good care of their home, as most homeowners here do, but the declining conditions of the house next door, 166 S. Roland, is taking a toll on their own home, their sanity and their property value.  There are far too many circumstances like this in Pottstown.
  
  
  The simplest of things, like clearing a walkway so elder neighbors, (and others) can safely walk down their blocks are epidemic – ignored by the borough.  Overcrowded homes chopped into multiple badly managed rentals and a lack of parking makes it impossible to avoid walking to or from your home after a snow storm.

  Email after email after email with the License and Inspections Dept., that Jody shared with me, have netted him little attention to the problems and NO RESOLUTION.   He has taken responsibility and contacted the property management company for the bank, Safeguard Properties, to no avail.

  Then there’s Shanicqua Suber and her children.  Shanicqua is a strong woman, a mother who cares about the safety and well-being of her family.  She’s stranded, according to her comment that I posted on this recent article on Golden Cockroach:  Slumlord Kenneth Kaufman
  

  Shanicqua said it best at last June’s council meeting, (as did every other resident who spoke).   She arrived at the meeting of her own voliton, unaware of other community members reasons for being there:

  Far too many women and children in our community are victims of negligent property owners… yet, we see officals back away.

  We have no advocacy from our officials, even when it would seem that getting on the horn to contact these negligent banks, like Bank of America, that own 166 S. Roland St., or – better yet  – advocate for an  ordinance as has been written by officials of  Youngstown, Ohio.

  A New Strategy To Make the Banks Pay

  “In early 2013, the city passed legislation requiring any entity initiating a foreclosure process—be it a bank, mortgage servicer, lender or individual—to post a $10,000 bond the moment the house becomes vacant (or immediately, if the house is already vacant).”

  People here are weary of being ignored and lacking communication from the very people we NEED to hear from, borough officials, I guarnatee the people of Pottstown are done beating their heads against a brick wall.

   

While Council contemplates the lint in their belly buttons.

Should You?  Heck, ask Dave Woglom, Dave knows the answer.

In the chaotic demise of the Land of Potts, we venture boldy, tip-toeing through the illegal dumps, sliding across the unkempt, icy sidewalks as the rank odors of wet, moldy decay from bank owned / investor owned properties waft through the air and…

WE THINK TAXPAYERS SHOULD HAVE THEIR EYES WIDE OPEN FOR THE POTTSTOWN ADVENTURE THEY NEVER SIGNED UP FOR…

Let a little sunshine in !!!

While public employees espirt de corps circles the drain, under Mark Flanders leadership, our confidence in local government and council’s  prowess has already circled, gone down the drain and leaked out the other end into the gutter along with the regular occurrences of raw sewage.

Dave Woglom of the Meyner Center’s presence was felt prior to and on Nov. 13, 2012 when Borough Council anointed Mark Flanders, king for a day – your new Borough Manager.

Dave Woglom had…no…. he STILL has his fingers in the middle of the Pottstown Pie, as we are learning, he’s positioned now as a kind of mentor to Flanders, why?….

Dave Woglom has a long, disreputable history in Quakertown, Pa.  YET…he has been chosen, and paid, for his guidance on issues of phenomenal importance to this community.

- THE FIRE COMPANY MERGER, and…

-  As we have recently learned, WOGLOM WAS HIRED TO CONDUCT A MANDATORY PUBLIC EMPLOYEE MEETING??

This is a quote from a former public employee:

 “THE MEETING WAS ABOUT GETTING ALONG WITH THE BORO MGT. WE ALSO HAD A MEETING WITH AN ATTORNEY THAT REPRESENTS BOROS AND WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU TRY TO SUE THE BORO. THIS WAS ANOTHER MANDATORY MEETING.”
 

Really Pottstown Council ??  What’s up with the “what happens if you try to sue the boro” meeting?   Was that based on a recognition of the tumultuous working conditions?  A preemptive strike?   Seems that there is a whole lot of useful things employees could be subjected to like,  Building A Sense of Teamwork.

It’s not even a lack of credentials but the kind of credentials that had Quakertown employees running for union cover.  Dave Woglom cost their taxpayers $31,000 in pay off <in the end> so Woglom wouldn’t sue Quakertown when their council, (22 years later), caught on to his already very costly modus operandi.

We see some of the same kinds of expenditures now in Pottstown too.

TELL US YOU’RE NOT THAT DENSE PTOWN COUNCIL?  NO….SHOW US INSTEAD.

What do you say, (do you even know), about the agreements that Pottstown employees were mandated to sign, by the borough manager?  Agreements that prohibit them from discussing borough business with council people and residents?  And why have they been told they must divulge their romantic interest in co-workers for the borough managers discernment?

Who would even conceive of the idea – let alone clandestinely, (over a weekend),  place a GPS tracking device on the clean and lien boro vehicle?  Then, rely on the unreliable results TO FIRE THE CLEAN AND LIEN GUYS? Unspeakably slimy.  WHO DID IT ????   Dave Wogloms ideas? Yeah that’s the ticket. We’ll blame Dave.

From what I’ve garnered, this whole gps idea is treading on delicate territory from a legal perspective.  It would seem advisable to have a policy in place that states the type of information a local government is aiming to glean but….. never never is being sneaky about it recommended.   I just don’t think taxpayers can afford a lawsuit apparently, at one time, Flanders didn’t think so either, that’s why he held the employee meeting about why not to sue your employer.  

THE COMMUNITY OF CONCERNED TAXPAYERS ARE SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS WITH INCREDULITY On Facebook…

READ ALL THE POSTED ARTICLES ABOUT DAVE WOGLOM AND ASK YOURSELVES, WHY DAVE WOGLOM?

“The sad fact is, under the current “strong manager/weak council” form of government, the borough manager has wide-ranging powers. Perhaps too wide for one person, which is why only eight of the state’s 961 boroughs choose this system. So much is riding on the judgment and ethics of that one person, who is not even elected by the citizens, and not directly answerable to them. Quakertown is a perfect example of the dangers of trusting the wrong man.”

clik>Illusionist David Woglom Makes His Problems Disappear The Free Press June 1, 2006

clik >Council to discuss borough manager

clik>Quakertown official says meeting is result of Woglom’s “slip-ups” Woglom gets severance deal

WOGLOM’S WOES

Quakertown Borough Manager Dave Woglom has come under fire over several matters:

2006: Purchase of approximately $8,000 worth of reflective tape for speed humps, questions raised about use of proper bidding process.

2006: Unaware of loophole in contract with bulk electric supplier, forced to pay 7.1 percent more than expected in 2006 and 4.5 percent more in 2007.

1990s to 2006: Purchase of supplies from companies with ties to two borough council members.

2005: Borough employees attempt to unionize, citing Woglom’s management style as a prime reason. Vote fails 18-to-16, but new push to unionize is under way.

2004: Council agrees to $800,000 settlement with Bucks County Water & Sewer Authority for overcharging authority from 1994 to 2003.

2003 and 2004: Improper award of $30,000 in contracts for borough projects, violating state bidding laws.

22 years in position of Borough Manager for Quakertown to get a clue.

WE DON’T WANT WOGLOM’S WOES TO BECOME OUR WOES!!!!

Consider this:  Forbes 15 Ways to Identify Bad Leaders

 2. When leaders fail to lead themselves:

A leader who lacks character or integrity will not endure the test of time. It doesn’t matter how intelligent, affable, persuasive, or savvy a person is, if they are prone to rationalizing unethical behavior based upon current or future needs, they will eventually fall prey to their own undoing. Optics over ethics is not a formula for success.

DO NOT CHEAT YOURSELVES OUT OF READING THE ENTIRE 15 WAYS…And rely on your OWN POWERS OF DEDUCTION.

 SLAM THE OLD DOOR TIGHT.   THAT’S ALL WE ASK.  NO…

ONE MORE QUESTION:  SINCE TAXPAYERS PAID FOR THAT BULLET PROOF THINGY FOR FLANDERS OFFICE,  WHY THE SHAKEDOWN OF BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTS WHO ARE NOW CHARGED AN AMENDED FEE OF 140 BUCKS A YEAR TO HAVE A SECRUITY SYSTEM ON THEIR PROPERTIES?

IN POTTSTOWN, SECURITY IS NOT A LUXURY LIKE….SAY….BULLET PROOF OFFICES…NEW CARS, FANCY WHEELS, IPADS….GPS …. …. ….. EXTENDED VACA TIME….FLEX HOURS….A HANDSOME SALARY….AN ASSISTANT

@@ TOSS US A CRUMB AND SEE HOW APPRECIATIVE WE CAN BE @@

In case you’ve just dug out from under an iceberg and none of the fire company merger news has crossed your radar, I’ve included some recent links in this post.

Why the rush to merge Pottstown fire companies?

clik^^

100 E. High St. 7 pm 3rd floor Borough Hall Pottstown be a few minutes early to sign up to speak.  YOU MUST SIGN UP.

Phillies Fire-Co

Good afternoon all, Just a reminder that tonight at 7pm, there is a meeting at Borough Hall. We are asking the Citizens of Pottstown to come out and show support for the Phillies Fire Co. If you would like to voice your concerns , this is the time. All speakers must sign in. Certain members on Council, and other members of the Borough want to shut the Phillies Fire Co. Down. It seems as they don’t care about the potential higher insurance rates for homeowners, and possibly an increase in taxes if the Volunteers go away. We are asking for everyone’s support. Have a safe day. ‪#‎supportthephillies‬

More Merger Mania <clik Evan Brandt digital notebook

“Saving money has been touted by Borough Council Stephen Toroney as a major reason to push for consolidation.

The borough paper also argues “consolidation will provide the opportunity to reduce redundancy in purchasing.”

But there has been no formal financial analysis to identify what purchasing is redundant or how much money might be saved at the outset or in the long term, Yerger confirmed.”

The position paper — the latest in a long history of consolidation studies undertaken by the borough — was penned by David Woglom, associate director for public service with the Meyner Center at Lafayette College.”

Feb. 19th Mercury News  << clik

^^ That information on its own is enough to provoke a stance of NO CONFIDENCE  in Borough Officials who have placed their confidence in Dave Woglom (see Monday’s post) <<clik  Roy’s Rants links to this blog, with his commentary. 

The chaos and confusion this borough government can conjure up is rivaled only by their skillful avoidance of the end results.  Well…