Wally Nunn: You can’t make this stuff up
Reading a recent article in Broad + Liberty about Delaware County’s legal bills brought to mind a good friend, Adrian King Sr.’s, favorite saying: “you can’t make this stuff up”. As I look at the county’s $12 million plus in legal bills since the Democrats took over, I am in awe of the unbounded hypocrisy of our elected officials. I really couldn’t “make this stuff up”
In a debate in 2019, Council Member Christine Reuther made the following statement about the Republican-run County Council “It’s always been a place where to get something done, to move forward in business, you had to know a guy. Well, we’re not guys, and we’re running to change that.” She was referring to the constant charge from the Democrats that the Republican-run Council was corrupt and patronage-ridden. Under Reuther and her fellow council members they increased the legal patronage from $400,000 in 2019 to $4,500,000, a 1,100 percent increase in 2023 — the same year they raised taxes. A coincidence?
Of course, you could argue that the Councilwoman was not being hypocritical and that she was merely saying that she and her friends were going to change the “guy” you had to see to the “gal” you had to see.
My take is that she is a hypocrite – the biggest law firm recipient of Delco tax dollars in 2023 was Ballard Spahr, for a total $550,000. Here is a surprise, Ballard was the former employer of, you guessed it, Councilwoman Reuther. The plot thickens – Ballard has also been instrumental in raising money for the good Councilwoman’s elections.
Gosh, isn’t this what the Democrats were screaming about, the “soft corruption” of county government?
I could go on, and why not? Arguably, the highest elected Democrat office holder in the County is Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon — hold your breath — also a former Ballard employee. How about this for “you can’t make this stuff up” – the Congresswoman’s husband, until recently, ran Ballard and is still a partner.
I pity the firms that got work under the Republicans, they must be wondering “why not me?”
The hypocrisy does not stop with Councilwoman Reuther. On August 29, 2021, in the Daily Times Councilwoman Elaine Schaefer said that Democrats would not need to raise taxes if elected because they would end wasteful patronage jobs at the county level and reform a system of “no-bid” contracts going to Republican donors, friends, and family members.
If we fact check her statement, much of it is true. There are no “no-bid” contracts going to “Republican donors, friends, and family” — they are going to Democrat donors, friends, and family (see above) and with such large sums of money the Republicans would have been embarrassed.
Which leads me to the part of the quote which is not true: “Democrats would not need to raise taxes if elected.” Not only have they raised them, but they will be raising them even further over the next two years. Councilwoman Reuther has admitted publicly to the need for 19 percent over and above what they have already done – my research suggests considerably more than that. I can’t say that all the tax increases will be because of patronage, legal and otherwise. Much of the budget problem is caused by incompetence and the natural inclination of Democrats to spend money.
I could go on with quotes from Councilmen Zidek and Madden and others but I think I’ve made my point. Dante’s Inferno reserved the eighth ring of Hell for hypocrites. I believe we may have some local dignitaries holding reservations.
Wally Nunn is the former Chairman of Delaware County Council.
Great work, full of evidence and goes right to the point Wally! Thanks