It’s back to being a private
citizen for Garry Paul. Paul spent eight years as a Chadds Ford Township
supervisor, eight years longer than he even wanted. He declined to run for
re-election last year and was replaced on the board by Keith Klaver.
While a member of the Sewer
Authority, Paul was pressed into service when former Supervisor Jim Shipley
stepped down in 2003 with two years remaining in his term. Paul said he really
didn’t want the job, but neither did anyone else who the Republican Executive
Committee deemed qualified.
Two years later, when that term
was expiring, he told the party to find someone else to run for a full six-year
term. When no one wanted the job, Paul ran and won.
He said in a recent interview
that even then he knew it would be one and done.
“I was the only one willing to do it. Nobody else was showing
up and I asked [the party] to get somebody else…Everybody has to do what’s
right for them, but I’ve believed all along that, on all levels of government,
it should be one term and out,” Paul said.
He said it’s important to get
new blood and new ideas into the political mix.
There were some trying times
for him and the township during the eight years. Paul said probably the most
trying was the controversial negotiation with Toll Bros. for its development at
the old Girl Scout camp that led to the township getting a new sewer plant that
would take care of the village.
Many people opposed the plan
because it would add more than 100 homes to the area and, they believed, would
put a burden on infrastructure and lead to higher school taxes. Some also felt
that a new sewer plant would itself lead to further development.
Part of the problem, Paul said,
was that many people reacted while knowing only part of what’s going on, but as
supervisor, the job is to make decisions for the betterment of the community.
“It’s a small number of people,
but they don’t understand the whole aspect, they understand just one aspect of
what’s going on and they don’t like that. But, had they had the whole picture
they would understand why, even though they were right in that one little
picture, this was the right call,” he said.
“There were a lot of issues
that came into play. The overriding issue was our responsibility for the
health, safety and welfare of the community and [the state Department of
Environmental Protection] had dictated that we needed to do something for the
village.”
He said there couldn’t have
been a small plant just for the village. The township needed a larger one to
take care of more residences and businesses.
“We had to do what we did and
it was better than having Toll Bros. build their own separate little plant,” he
said, because that plant would still have been the township’s responsibility.
“I would say it was the single
thing that did the most net for the community,” said Paul.
In addition to what Paul called
a well-done and unobtrusive development, the project got for the township the
sewer plant, almost 60 acres of open space (still to be dedicated) and funds to
help get the township out of a financial hole.
“It was the single biggest help
to creating financial stability for the township,” the Philadelphia native
said.
One regret, he said, also
involved the sewer system, that being the second phase of the Ridings project
that led to tapping fees of $15,000. He said he wishes that had not happened
the way it did.
After eight years of dealing
with controversy, Paul said he’s learned that people are basically good.
“If you sit down and talk with
people…you find out that people all around, no matter what side of the fence they’re on, no
matter how they feel about a certain argument, if you can get down and just
talk with them, are just good people. There are exceptions, but they’re rare.”
Difficulties can arise when
people harp on a single issue, but even that can be overcome if you can open
their eyes to other things.
As for himself, Paul said he’s
learned patience over the years and that you can’t treat government like a
business because it’s not one. A business owner can act in certain ways that a
supervisor can’t.
In looking back at his eight
years and two months as supervisor, Paul said he’s proud that he was part of a
group that has brought the township to a point where it’s in good financial
shape, where there is “zero debt and a township building and sewer plant that
are bought and paid for.”
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
