The attorney representing the Chester County Republican Party argued that an “innocent mistake” led an endorsed candidate for Pocopson Township supervisor to file an inaccurate nominating petition.
At a hearing in Chester County Court challenging the petition – as well as its amended version – Michael S. Gill told President Judge Jacqueline C. Cody that Alice J. Balsama erred when she wrote that she was seeking a six-year term on the Pocopson Township Board of Supervisors, an error that she sought to correct in an amended filing that the judge approved on March 20.
Gill explained that Balsama was endorsed by the Republicans to fill a second Pocopson vacancy for four years of an unexpired term. “There has been confusion, self-inflicted,” Gill said. “Ms. Balsama never intended to run against another endorsed Republican.”
But attorney John S. Carnes, who represents Barney Leonard, the current Pocopson Township supervisors’ chairman, said Balsama misled the court, and Cody ultimately agreed, rescinding her approval of the amended petition. Leonard, a Republican who was not endorsed by the party, is also seeking the unexpired four-year term.
Carnes pointed out that Balsama modified her petition on the date set as the deadline for challenging it, giving Leonard no opportunity to respond to its inaccuracies. Carnes said the amended petition incorrectly asserted that “no other Republican was running for the four-year term” and that no one offered any objection to the amendment, statements that were both false.
In court, Balsama testified that she originally thought she was seeking a six-year term. During cross-examination by Carnes, she said she didn’t know that Leonard was a Republican or that he was running for the four-year term. When questioned again, Balsama acknowledged that she did know both facts; she said the witness stand made her nervous.
The judge interjected that Balsama, who had just told two lies, had an obligation to tell the truth. “No more lies, ma’am, or you’re going to be in contempt of court,” Cody said.
After listening to argument from both sides, the judge took a brief recess before issuing her decision to reverse her earlier ruling, which she said was based on inaccurate information. The judge also ordered the Republicans to pay Carnes’ legal fees, and gave him a week to submit bills.
“I’m very pleased with the ruling,” Carnes said after the hearing. He said he hoped that the billing issue could be resolved without further court intervention. “We may work this out,” he said.
Gill was not available for comment, but Valentino F. DiGiorgio III, the head of the Chester County Republican Party, said the party would be examining its options, including the possibility of having Balsama run as a write-in against Leonard. Under that scenario, the other endorsed GOP candidate in Pocopson, Elaine DiMonte, would run opposed for the six-year term.
(6 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
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I am a Republican Committeeman for Pocopson Township, Chester County, and I attended and testified at the hearing on Friday. It was truly sad to see what happened in court the other day, since most of it stems from a typo in the petition that was filed in court a few weeks ago. You have to know the history of the problem here before you can understand what happened in court last Friday.
In Pocopson, the Republican Committee interviewed three candidates for the board of supervisor’s positions, and we selected two of those folks to run as endorsed candidates. One is Elaine DiMonte and the other is Alice Balsama. The third candidate, Barney Leonard was appointed to that position in May of 2014 by the current Pocopson Twp. BOS. In his first six months in office, he voted to dramatically increase the earned income tax on our residents by 150%. Recently, he hired a professor from Lafayette College to conduct a study over converting to a township manager style of government, even though we only have 6 township employees. The contract also has a clause that pays the study group even more money if we use them to hire a manager. Mr. Leonard has stated publicly that it was an efficiency study, but that is not what the contract states. I did a RTK request, and can provide a copy of the contract to anyone who would like to see it. During our interview, he admitted that someone else advised him to become a Republican or he would never be elected. Mr. Leonard then changed his registration to that of a Republican in June of 2014. His views on spending money and raising taxes concerned us greatly, therefore he was not selected to run as an endorsed candidate. Even with that being the case, I still emailed Mr. Leonard with all the filing deadlines because we believe that anyone who wants to run for office in Pocopson has the right to do so.
After the two endorsed candidates filed with Chester County Voter Services, it became apparent that our two endorsed candidates were now running against each other, and this was never our / their intention. We then sought assistance from the party in getting this corrected, which meant that we had to go to court since voter services would not allow Ms. Balsama to amend her petition. All supervisor terms are for 6 years, which is why it was filed with 6 years written on the nominating petition. Due to the fact that postiion was for the remainder of a 6 year term, it should have read 4 years of a 6 year term. The instructions that came with the petition were ambiguous and did not differentiate between the two. Even voter services advised me that our supervisor terms were for 6 years when I called them.
After the court allowed Ms. Balsama to switch to the correct slot on the ballot, Mr. Leonard then filed in court to have her removed from that position. His allegations where that it would hurt him if she were allowed to run against him, which is true since it must be nice to be able to run with no opposition whatsoever. We have never done anything to exclude Mr. Leonard or anyone else from the ballot, as we believe that his record will not bode well with the taxpayers.
The one word mistake in our original court filing, which was that there was no other “Republicans” running instead of “endorsed Republicans”, was a de minimis mistake that was taken out of context. Our belief is and always has been that the voters should be allowed to choose among those who want to run for office. Eliminating those options by using the court system to rid you of your competition is just wrong in my book. Ms. Balsama has been treated unfairly for wanting to help make her community a better place for all of us. No wonder no one wants to serve anymore, especially when good folks are treated badly just for trying to make a difference. The voters are not dumb, and I fully believe that they will remember this come Election Day.
Sean C. Rafferty
Republican Committeeman
Pocopson Township
This is an example of why politics does not belong in municipal elections. It is hard enough to find citizens willing to serve in unpaid or low paid positions without having to put them through things like this. Decisions made by township supervisors have direct effects on the residents. Let the people decide who is best suited for the position by holding an open primary where all registered voters can choose among all candidates based on their qualification for the position.
I think you make a really good point Holly. However, it’s pretty dirty when the only way you can win an election is to eliminate your competition by having them removed from the ballot in court. Ms. Balsama is a decent, hard working woman who wants nothing more than to serve her community now that her children are grown. She has years of experience in the insurance industry, and would bring a fresh perspective to the board. If she lost the election fair and square, I know she would handle it like a lady. Using the court system to kick her off of the ballot shows that the Mr. Leonard is not all the confident that his record will convince the voters to support him. A 150 percent increase in the EIT, and his study to hire a township manager is not helping him very much. All of this in his first 6 months in office. In the end, I think the voters will support Ms. Balsama for having the intestinal fortitude to stand up for what is right, even when she has been dealt an unfair hand by Mr. Leonard.