CIVIC ASSOCIATION ARTICLES; CHADDS FORD POST 1-18-07

Editorial

The Chadds Ford Civic Association board of directors had an opportunity to do itself and the community proud last week. Instead, the members thumbed their noses at everyone with a sense of fair play and an unbiased understanding of the word nonpartisan.
During the annual board meeting to elect officers for this year, the board voted to re-elect Marc Altman as their president. The action of the board flies in the face of all public comment regarding November's controversial election for civic association board members and the discrepancy between Mr. Altman's words and actions surrounding that election.
The Chadds Ford Civic Association states as its goal to be nonpartisan, yet that statement is empty, hollow and false. The association, at least during the last several years, has been anything but nonpartisan.
During the November meeting when six of 11 board member seats were up for election, there were 10 candidates. Six were Republicans and four were Democrats. Even the board's nominating committee recommended one of the Democrats, Rob Porter, for election.
Mr. Altman made a grand statement about how dedicated he and the board were to ensuring the association become truly nonpartisan.
And when the ballots cast that night, Mr. Porter had won a seat. But the victory lasted no more than a half an hour because Mr. Altman ordered 47 proxy ballots to be counted. Proxies had never before been used by the association and are not authorized by the association's bylaws.
Those proxies only listed the six Republican candidates and it turned out the Mr. Altman had been one of the people handing out those proxies the day before during the general election when people were going to the polls at St. Cornelius Church.
No other story has drawn more reader interest than that, as is evident from the fact that we are still getting letters to the editor discussing the association and its tainted election. Not one of those letters has supported the use of proxies, all have expressed dismay, even those from members of the Republican Party.
Ironically, Mr. Porter is now a member of the board. He was appointed last week because another member, Margaret Moses, resigned.
Upon learning of the results of last week's board vote, one member of the community speculated that to do anything other than re-elect Mr. Altman would be an admission of guilt.
Another person said that the appointment of Mr. Porter was simply an act of appeasement, but called the vote for president "appalling. ...It shows the other board members are spineless. ... Their attitude is 'We own the community.'"
The residents of Chadds Ford Township must ask and then answer some questions for themselves. Is being a member of the civic association worthwhile? Why or why not? Can the association live up to its stated goal of being nonpartisan?
If the answers are "no," then it should be ignored by the community, as it in fact, already is by 70 percent. Of the roughly 1,400 households in the township approximately 420 are members. Perhaps those 420 should rethink things before they pay dues again.

Article

The board of directors of the Chadds Ford Civic Association re-elected Marc Altman as president for 2007. The vote was 10-0, with one abstention.
That abstention came from Rob Porter, a Democrat, who lost an election bid to be board member in November due to actions taken by Altman and others at the time. Porter became a member of the board only seconds before Altman was re-elected because another board member, Margaret Moses, resigned.
Porter was one of four Democrats attending the meeting as ex-officio members. He will serve out the one year remaining on Moses' term.
Altman said Moses resigned because of conflicts with her work schedule. Moses could not be reached for confirmation by press time.
Jill Egan was elected vice president, Kathleen Goodier secretary and Keith Klaver treasurer for 2007.
According to Goodier, the vote for Altman and the others was unanimous, but Porter said he abstained from voting since he was appointed to the board "only 15 seconds" before the vote for officers.
Altman and Porter became virtual antagonist/protagonist during the association's controversial election for board members in November.
Porter had seemingly won a seat on the board when the ballots cast that night were counted, but Altman, at the insistence of former board member Donald Weiss, ordered 47 proxy ballots to be counted.
Proxy voting was never used before in civic association elections, they are not authorized by the association's bylaws and those proxy ballots handed out contained only the names of the six Republican candidates. The names of the four Democrats were omitted.
Altman said the night of the election that he wanted the association to be nonpartisan. Yet, the Chadds Ford Post later learned that Altman had been one of the people handing out the proxy ballots the day before, during the general election when voters were going to the polls at St. Cornelius Church.
When asked at the time if he handed out those ballots, Altman said yes, but only to two of his neighbors he hadn't seen on the street. However, those who told the Post they had gotten the proxy ballots from Altman were not his neighbors.
Following last Wednesday's board meeting during which the officers were elected, Porter said he felt the other board members were uncomfortable and dissatisfied with what went down with the Nov. 8 election.
"No one was pleased with the election. They were all uncomfortable ... Even Marc [Altman,] he said."
He said they spoke about sending a letter to the general membership expressing its discomfort over the election and will hold a special meeting to hear the concerns of members and to discuss new voting procedures.
They also formed a special committee to revise election procedures, said Porter, there is a thought to incorporate the association as a nonprofit organization and the bylaws will be revised to be explicit on whether or not to allow proxy voting.
When asked when the general membership meeting would be held to hear concerns and review proposals, Altman said that it would happen "In a timely manner, when we're ready to talk about the issues."
Altman declined to say what the issues were. "Those are matter for the board," he said.
According to Goodier, "In my opinion, we all left the meeting with a common sense of purpose and a path forward that everyone in attendance showed a willingness to embrace. All those in attendance felt it was important for us to communicate to our community members what our path forward is and that an effort to do so is underway."
Also during the meeting, Democrats Gregg Lindner, John Newport and Matt Wrabley were named as ex officio members to the board, according to Goodier. They will be allowed to attend board meetings but not to vote.