Democratic Township Council candidate Mike Powers said he didn’t see the fliers before they were distributed.
By: Lea Kahn
Michael Powers and Mark Sebastian, the Democratic Party nominees for Township Council, claim in a campaign flier that Democrats initiated the preservation of the Drexel Woods and Carson Road Woods properties for open space.
The flier also claims that Republican Township Councilman Rick Miller who is seeking re-election with Township Councilman Mark Holmes "voiced strong opposition to the purchase of Drexel Woods."
But when The Ledger reviewed those claims, it discovered that neither party could claim full credit for preserving the Drexel Woods tract. Nor was there evidence that Mr. Miller opposed the purchase of the 37-acre parcel on Drexel Avenue.
However, Mr. Powers said he did not see the flier before it was distributed. He said the flier should have explained that Mr. Miller voted against a proposal, offered by Republican Councilman Tom Meagher, to add a line item for open space preservation in the 1996 capital budget.
Since 1991, Democrats and Republicans alike have tried to preserve the Drexel Woods property. Control of Township Council has changed hands from Democrats to Republicans to Democrats in the past 10 years.
The Democrats controlled Township Council until 1992. For the next four years, it was controlled by Republicans. In 1996, control was handed back to the Democrats.
In 1991, the all-Democratic Township Council unsuccessfully sought a state Green Acres Program grant to buy the Drexel Woods property. The land belonged to developer Edward Bialas, who had been seeking to develop the land since 1984.
In 1994, the all-Republican Township Council reviewed a list of potential sites earmarked for preservation. The list, which had been prepared by township officials, included the Drexel Woods property. Mr. Miller was elected to the council in 1993.
In December 1995, the all-Republican Township Council agreed to authorize an application to the state Green Acres Program to preserve the Drexel Woods property. Mr. Miller said he would support it, but that he would reserve final judgment until he could find out how much it would cost.
Township Council had been asked by Township Councilman-elect Tom Wilfrid a Democrat to apply to the Green Acres Program for money to preserve Drexel Woods by the Dec. 15, 1995, deadline. Mr. Wilfrid served on the council from 1996 to 1999.
There is no record that Mr. Miller opposed the purchase of the Drexel Woods property. Mr. Miller voted to buy the parcel in 1997. He was one of two Republicans on the Democratic-dominated Township Council at that time.
Mr. Miller also voted in favor of seeking Green Acres Program money to buy the Carson Road Woods parcel in 1997 a move that failed because of changes in the way the program was administered. The 186-acre parcel, located off Carson Road, had been threatened by development since 1986.
When the Democratic-dominated Township Council revived the plan to buy the Carson Road Woods property earlier this year, Mr. Miller supported it. But he had to abstain from voting on the acquisition because his Carter Road home borders the tract. He moved to Carter Road recently.
Mr. Powers, a Democratic Party candidate for Township Council, said Tuesday that the flier was prepared by Lawrence Township Democratic Club President Joseph Cermele in August. He said he did not see the flier before it was printed and distributed.
Mr. Powers said the campaign rushed to put together the flier to have something to hand out at a community meeting at the Veterans of Foreign War Post 3022 to discuss the fate of the Trent Motel. That meeting had been called by Mr. Miller and Mr. Holmes.
The flier should have explained that Mr. Miller voted against a proposed amendment to the 1996 capital budget that would have included a line item for spending for open space and farmland preservation in general but not the Drexel Woods property specifically, Mr. Powers said.
Records indicate that Mr. Miller did vote against the capital budget amendment.
"In the rush to put the flier out, people thought Rick voted against Drexel Woods, when really it was more a vote on the budget item of open space preservation. When Drexel Woods was approved in 1997, Rick voted with the rest of the council to support spending money on it," Mr. Powers said.