Defeated but Defiant!

With a big voter registration disadvantage and an entrenched incumbent, I knew going into this that I was unlikely to win the election for 7th ward commissioner. But I wanted to raise some important issues and shine a light on how things are done in Haverford Township, and I did that. I wanted to give the voters a choice - between a candidate who took no contributions from people who do business with our township and McGarrity, who has accepted many such contributions. (Note: I spent about $4000 on this campaign, and McGarrity spent about $16,000 as of the last report ending Oct 24, likely to be about $20,000 after final expenditures are reported.) It was a choice between someone who would support the anti-discrimination ordinance, and McGarrity, who fought against and voted against it. It was a choice between a new person with new skills and an old-style machine politician who focuses almost entirely on constituent services.

At the end of the day, I understand that McGarrity is a life-long resident who many people call on him to take care of things – and that wins local elections. Unfortunately, with that narrow focus, many “big picture” things are left undone or are done by other commissioners.

McGarrity is quoted by the Haverford Patch saying I made “false accusations”. Let’s remember two things. I didn’t just make stuff up - I did the work to document the statements I made. I got the public records about McGarrity’s expense reports and campaign finance reports and put them online (see http://www.larrychrzan.com/voterinfo and http://www.haverfordblog.com/.) McGarrity had the opportunity to participate in the League of Women Voters debate, where he could have disputed these facts, and he refused. Tax-paying citizens should be concerned that neither the Delaware County District Attorney nor the past or current Township Auditor have looked into the expense issues that I brought to them almost two years ago. When a citizen / taxpayer raises an issue like this and is ignored, we all are disenfranchised.

Accountability, transparency and making information public and easily available is critical to democracy. Never again will a commissioner in Haverford Township file an expense report to request reimbursement money and think it won’t be looked at by the taxpayers. Never again will campaign contributions be left un-scrutinized in the file drawers of the Delaware County Bureau of Elections.

I’m proud of the campaign I ran and accomplished what I set out to do. I thank the many people who volunteered, contributed, put up lawn signs and voted for me - your support is very much appreciated!