Halloween Spirit and Higher Standards

Swarthmore Borough Council voted to allocate $175 from the general fund for prizes in the borough’s Halloween House Decorating Contest. At the October 13 legislative session, four council members voted in favor of the allocation, while council member Jill Gaieski recused herself and council members Ross Schmucki and Betsy Larsen voted no. 

Larsen expressed concern about money being attached to the contest, which is cosponsored by the Swarthmore Recreation Association and Swarthmore Town Center. Schmucki had misgivings about using government money for this purpose, although borough solicitor Robert Scott pointed out that “borough code does authorize [council] to appropriate money from the general fund for civic celebrations and holidays.” Gaieski, co-owner of a Swarthmore restaurant, recused herself because the prizes might support the local business community. 

The General Government Committee will decide at their October 19 meeting precisely what form the prizes will take. 

An Apology

Planning and Zoning Committee Chair Betsy Larsen said that council had not adequately responded to concerns expressed by North Chester Road residents at the council’s October 5 meeting about subdividing a property in their neighborhood. She said council should have acknowledged the residents’ complaint that an unnamed council member had disparaged their neighborhood at a September 24 Planning and Zoning Committee meeting.

A handful of residents had been attending council meetings for months to express their concerns about a potential subdivision at the northernmost point of their block. At the October work session, residents said that a member of council had insinuated that the neighborhood’s proximity to Baltimore Pike and the Mattress Factory made the subdivision less of a problem than if it had been proposed for somewhere else in Swarthmore. 

At the October 5 work session, council president Mary Walk addressed the concerned neighbors, saying, “I understand what my fellow council member said at the committee meeting. The fact remains that we do abut Baltimore Pike, Springfield Township, and many commercial properties.”

Although the comment made at the Planning and Zoning Committee meeting was discussed at length at the work session, the council member in question was intentionally not named. Jim Foggo, a North Chester Road resident, later said, “I deliberately left [their] name out. I wanted that person to think twice. I’m not looking to publicly name [them]. That is not civil.” 

At the legislative session, Larsen urged council to be mindful of what she termed their biases, and said she hopes that members will take this experience as a warning to hold themselves to a higher standard of conduct.

“It isn’t really my apology to make,” Larsen said. “But, as the committee chair, I take responsibility that it occurred in my meeting. And so I would like to issue, belatedly, an apology to those citizens for the offense and disrespect they experienced.”

View this or any other Swarthmore Borough Council meeting.

The next council meeting is Monday, November 2, at 7:30 p.m. Details on the borough’s website.