Click HERE to read the report.
(Amounts are NOT certified. Total due is subject to change. Interest accrues monthly on the first day of a new month.)Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Monday, November 1, 2021
Todd Burgard wants your vote, but does he deserve it?
Todd Burgard is a big spender. He likes to spend taxpayer money, YOUR money. Since being seated on council in 2018, he has voted to spend millions on every big (and small) ticket item that's come before council - everything from the REVOLVING LOAN FUND to the MASSIVE TAX HIKE to the $1.5 MILLION purchase of the former McGinness airfield. One thing Burgard is not, is a fiscal conservative. Here are just a few examples of his votes:
• In 2018, Burgard voted to authorize $1.5 million for the infamous REVOLVING LOAN FUND. Residents might remember that this program was set up to lend taxpayer funds to private business. Burgard's close friend, landlord Don Murphy, was the ONLY beneficiary of the program, having received $250,000. [NOTE: Murphy subsequently paid off his loan.] Interestingly, a request from another applicant, Eberly Myers, was denied. (Eberly Myers is the company currently constructing the apartment building at the bottom of Locust Street - and was finally able to do it without borough funds.)
• AT THE VERY SAME MEETING (February 12, 2018) when he voted for the revolving loan fund, Burgard also voted to spend $347,000 for 60 streetlights for an unnecessary borough lighting project. (It was Cleon Berntheizel's vanity project.) Burgard was expecting money from a grant to help pay for the project, but the grant never came through. The lights were therefore never installed and are currently sitting down at the borough sheds, where they've been for the last few years. That's not all bad, though, if you consider installation of the lights was estimated to cost another $400,000, which Burgard would no doubt have voted for.
• In 2018, Burgard voted to raise municipal taxes by 21.2%.
• Spending was so excessive in the Kelly Murphy-Cleon Berntheizel era (of which Burgard was a part) that in 2018, former borough manager Rebecca Denlinger scolded council about their "plan" to keep on spending and then to raise taxes. Click HERE to hear the audio clip. All in all, council overspent by $2,087,426 in 2018, Burgard's first year in office.
• Earlier this year, Burgard voted to give a custodian a $20,000 raise (a 50% raise)!
• Burgard voted to spend $1.5 million for the former McGinness airfield. (And that's just the beginning of the spending that will be required to develop the property.)
And that's just the financial end of things. Add these items to the mix:
• In 2018, Burgard participated in an unlawful "behind closed doors" vote, triggering a stern warning from the Lancaster County District Attorney's office. Click THIS LINK and scroll down to the November 12 audio clip to hear Sharon Lintner (before she was on council) question then-council president Kelly Murphy about the secret vote. In the audio clip, Murphy struggles to justify the vote. Here's what the DA said in a warning letter to council, dated December 12, 2018:
“now that you have been notified of the unlawful nature of the vote, upon complaint of a subsequent violation we will initiate an investigation of the Sunshine Act violation as it would have been done with full knowledge the action was unlawful.”
• In 2019, council (including Burgard) ignored a petition from over 1,160 citizens demanding repeal of the revolving loan fund and tax hike. The fund program was finally repealed, however, under pressure from residents. The tax hike that Burgard voted for remains in place to this day.
• Also in 2019 - during Burgard's term - Heather Zink filed a complaint against council for again violating the Sunshine Act.
• At a 2020 council meeting, Burgard tried to deflect from his own tax hike by pointing the finger at school taxes. (At the next meeting, however, school board director Lauren Von Stetten scolded him, causing him to apologize.)
• In 2020, Burgard voted against a HARB recommendation and allowed his friend, landlord Don Murphy, to use composite material to replace a broken railing on Second Street. (Leo Lutz, who supposedly supports historic preservation, cast the deciding vote allowing the composite.) The decision caused all HARB members to resign on principle, leading to the current "HARB-lite," on which Lutz's son was installed as chairperson. (By the way, the composite material was never used. The railing remained broken for well over a year while Murphy still owned the property. To this day, the railing has not been replaced, even though Lutz had said it was an urgent matter.)
Now Burgard is running for a council seat again, and he wants your vote - but his record doesn't justify returning him to office. It's been said that actions speak louder than words, and Todd Burgard's actions are deafening.
• At a 2020 council meeting, Burgard tried to deflect from his own tax hike by pointing the finger at school taxes. (At the next meeting, however, school board director Lauren Von Stetten scolded him, causing him to apologize.)
• In 2020, Burgard voted against a HARB recommendation and allowed his friend, landlord Don Murphy, to use composite material to replace a broken railing on Second Street. (Leo Lutz, who supposedly supports historic preservation, cast the deciding vote allowing the composite.) The decision caused all HARB members to resign on principle, leading to the current "HARB-lite," on which Lutz's son was installed as chairperson. (By the way, the composite material was never used. The railing remained broken for well over a year while Murphy still owned the property. To this day, the railing has not been replaced, even though Lutz had said it was an urgent matter.)
Now Burgard is running for a council seat again, and he wants your vote - but his record doesn't justify returning him to office. It's been said that actions speak louder than words, and Todd Burgard's actions are deafening.
MAKING A CAREER IN THE BUSINESS OF SECOND CHANCES: A Q&A WITH CHRIS DREISBACH
Chris Dreisbach
As the owner, executive director or leader of more than half a dozen businesses and initiatives in Lancaster County, Chris Dreisbach is quickly becoming a household name.
Dreisbach says he has dedicated his life to advocating for and serving those struggling with substance addiction and homelessness and those reentering society post-incarceration. He is best known for his work with Second Chance PA, a program that provides addiction treatment professionals to join police officers for substance abuse-related calls.
MORE: HERE
MAYOR AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT BASH COLUMBIA WITH ATTACKS ON SCHOOL DISTRICT
Leo Lutz, perhaps the most divisive mayor in Columbia's history has really stepped in it this time and has sunk so deep into the septic tank that he might never get out. Lutz recently had published in Lancaster Newspapers a hatchet-job attack letter criticizing Columbia School Board Directors, administrators, teachers, and staff. In doing so, he has ripped this town wide open worse than it has ever been. And now, to add insult to injury, council president Heather Zink has followed him in.
Similar to her mentor Lutz, Zink has posted a similar letter on Facebook attacking the school district. And like Lutz's letter, this one is full of cherry-picked, out-of-context allegations. But perhaps the most damning part is that the letter is unattributed. That's right, no one signed it. Zink probably didn't write it, but she knows who did and she isn't telling. The most she'll say is that it was sent to her by Robin Gamby and was written by "a group of people that have really looking at what is happening" [sic]. Whether or not they're "looking," the writers are cowardly for not backing their statements with their names, and Zink, as a public official, is irresponsible for reposting it. An unsigned letter is a letter that should be dismissed.
Lutz most likely had a hand in this second letter, because he's still burning about the board's dismissal of his personal friend Tom Strickler, Columbia's former school superintendent. And in Lutz's eyes, even tearing the town apart is worth it to settle an old score.
Recently, Zink threatened to discontinue council meeting livestreams, because she thinks citizen comments hurt the town's image, but what she and Lutz have done has trashed Columbia's image beyond repair and ripped the town apart.
Lutz and Zink need to get their own houses in order, that is, handling borough operations instead of bashing the school district. If they are so dissatisfied with how the district is run, then they should have vacated their respective positions and run for seats on the board. They've complained publicly but have not offered any remedies or solutions to their complaints. There is an old adage that says, "Columbians love their town but hate each other." That has never been more evident than now with the statements from Lutz and Zink.
Joe Lintner
Columbia Spy
Similar to her mentor Lutz, Zink has posted a similar letter on Facebook attacking the school district. And like Lutz's letter, this one is full of cherry-picked, out-of-context allegations. But perhaps the most damning part is that the letter is unattributed. That's right, no one signed it. Zink probably didn't write it, but she knows who did and she isn't telling. The most she'll say is that it was sent to her by Robin Gamby and was written by "a group of people that have really looking at what is happening" [sic]. Whether or not they're "looking," the writers are cowardly for not backing their statements with their names, and Zink, as a public official, is irresponsible for reposting it. An unsigned letter is a letter that should be dismissed.
Lutz most likely had a hand in this second letter, because he's still burning about the board's dismissal of his personal friend Tom Strickler, Columbia's former school superintendent. And in Lutz's eyes, even tearing the town apart is worth it to settle an old score.
Recently, Zink threatened to discontinue council meeting livestreams, because she thinks citizen comments hurt the town's image, but what she and Lutz have done has trashed Columbia's image beyond repair and ripped the town apart.
Lutz and Zink need to get their own houses in order, that is, handling borough operations instead of bashing the school district. If they are so dissatisfied with how the district is run, then they should have vacated their respective positions and run for seats on the board. They've complained publicly but have not offered any remedies or solutions to their complaints. There is an old adage that says, "Columbians love their town but hate each other." That has never been more evident than now with the statements from Lutz and Zink.
Joe Lintner
Columbia Spy
RETTEW REPORT NOTES UNACCEPTABLE LEAD LEVELS AT THE QUARRY
Columbia Borough Council President Heather Zink wants to make the quarry area on the former McGinness airport property into a park, but Phase II of the 2017 Rettew study states that the lead levels there are almost 10 times the permissible limit. (The quarry also contains various other substances). No wonder the report was suppressed until after the borough purchased the property.
Ironically, the borough is currently touting a Lead-Free Families program.Columbia man shared child porn online: police
A Columbia man has been arrested after he was found sharing child pornography online, according to state police.
David Henry Bowersox Jr., 60, was charged with disseminating photos of child sex acts, three counts of child pornography and two counts of criminal use of a communication facility.
A state police Central Computer Crimes Unit investigation determined Bowersox was sharing pornographic images and videos of children on the internet, police said in a news release.
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