Upper Gwynedd-6 Democrats - What's on the ballot for the primary on 05/18/21, and more
What to know for voting, and other tidbits of PA and North Penn political gab
Local North Penn/Upper Gwynedd news you may have missed, and may want to know before voting in the primary on Tuesday, May 18, 2021:
Here is what the ballot will look like for Democrats in Upper Gwynedd-6. I’ve added blue circles for the candidates, and answers to the questions, recommended by the Montgomery County Democrats.
What Does the Primary Ballot Look Like?
The most confusing part of the ballot are the Republican candidates for North Penn School Board candidates who are cross-filed, therefore appearing on the Democratic ballot. - The ability for candidates to cross-file in races like School Board is a holdover from mid-century 20th century America, when your party didn’t influence how you voted in a purely public servant position. The Democrats are also the incumbents, Christian Fusco, Tina Stoll, Jonathan Kassa and Al Roesch.
It’s particularly important to avoid the cross-filed Republican School Board candidates in this primary because the Montgomery County Republican party has had a mass exodus of moderates since 2016. The local Republican party has been subsumed by Trump acolytes. People who believe in the “freedom” of our kids not to wear masks in school have won the day among Republicans. Tina Stoll says these candidates can’t even be bothered to attend the entire virtual school board meetings, dropping out after an hour of a two-hour meeting. Additionally, these Republican candidates had the gall to ask School Board Superintendent Curt Dietrich for a webinar about what the role of a School Board member is. (He declined.)
Although you may not think these Trump-era Republicans can do much damage as School Board members, don’t forget that many local politicians — even ones that make it all the way to the halls of the U.S. Congress — started out building a constituency on a local School Board.
Local Political Interest
PA Supreme Court
Redistricting: PA Losing one US House Seat soon - Scramble to appoint a legislative redistricting board ends up at the PA Supreme Court
I want to point out that this is the second time the PA Supreme Court - which us Democratic voters “turned blue” in a “boring” off-year election in 2017, has saved PA from havoc. The first time was by its ruling that the gerrymandered districts of Pennsylvania were, indeed, gerrymandered, thus paving the way for redistricting. The lines of our district were re-drawn and we now have a Democratic Congresswoman in U.S. Representative Madeleine Dean.
Now this year the same Democratic-led Pennsylvania Supreme Court will weigh in to select a Chairman for the PA Legislature’s appointed Redistricting Board. The results of 2020 Census mean that Pennsylvania will lose a U.S. House seat. The resulting larger districts will have to be drawn soon. The PA Legislature couldn’t decide on a Chair for the redistricting board, and so that task falls to the PA Supreme Court.
If you did not vote for Democrats in that off-year election in 2017, Pennsylvania would be a very different place. We would be back to the bad old days of a U.S. Congressional district that was, in 2016, called the 7th most gerrymandered U.S. Congressional district in the United States, and had been described as “Goofy kicking Donald Duck” because of its odd shape, guaranteed to make a Republican win for life.
Here’s an Inquirer article about the Supreme Court decided on the redistricting Board chair at this link.
Upper Gwynedd Commissioners Looking for Citizen Feedback to Help Develop the Master Plan
How do you use the local trails and sidewalks? Where would you like to be able to walk or ride your bike in Upper Gwynedd? See what the Commissioners have planned, and fill out the survey about your walking habits, and how you think the plan for Upper Gwynedd could be improved at this link. Survey responses are due June 1, 2021.
Scientists say PA will be 6 degrees Farenheit hotter by 2050.
This projected number has been moved up slightly since the last projection was done in 2015. This number should shock everyone into action, since it will mean more droughts, stronger rain events, and gushing rain that creates intense flooding. You can read about it at this link.
Bizarre gas tank explosion at Wawa on Route 202 that enveloped and destroyed a half-million dollar car.
Photo credit: Bob Kelly of North Penn Now
McLaren supercar destroyed in grizzly explosion of a gas tank at the Wawa on Route 202 on April 25th. Read about it here.
Grocery Store coming to the long-shuttered Super Foodtown Location on Broad Street in Lansdale
Read about it at the article below:
Grocery Store Coming to Lansdale Borough, Possibly by End of Year
Racially-Motivated Fight Among Students at North Penn High School and the Subsquent Action of Security Guards Goes Viral: Sparks Student Protests and Attracts National Social Media Attention plus a statement from the NAACP
See article about it here in The Reporter.
And, if you haven’t yet seen the cell phone video of the fight at North Penn High School, see it here from Channel 6 Action News.
Upper Gwynedd-6 Democrats - What's on the ballot for the primary on 05/18/21, and more
Could Madeline Dean lose her district and have to run against an existing democrat representative in next year’s primary because of redistricting?