With the November general election three weeks away, the Chadds Ford Republican Party began rallying the troops behind county and local candidates during its annual luncheon.

The party’s urgency to get the voters to the polls was made clear when tax collector and party executive committee member Valerie Hoxter said of the election: “It’s not going to be a squeaker, but we have to act like we’re going to lose so we don’t.”

While candidates for Delaware County Council, sheriff, registrar of wills and Court of Common Pleas judgeships were on hand, the major focus was on races for school board director and township supervisor.

Carolyn Daniels, running for school board, spoke only briefly and left the event early. Most of the discussion, however, surrounded Frank Murphy and his race for supervisor against Democrat Rhona Klein.

During a question and answer session, one person said he knew nothing about Klein while another said a win for her would be “disastrous.”

Murphy declined to criticize his opponent, saying he would rather discuss his objectives.

He said he has three primary reasons for running: development, volunteers and communications.

Much like the supervisor he hopes to succeed, Deborah Love, Murphy said he wants to improve the level of communication between township government and the residents of Chadds Ford. He suggested the possibility of setting up a communications center through which there could be e-mail based discussions on agenda items that the board would be considering.

He also suggested the possibility of a podcast replay of some sections of the supervisors’ meetings. Those podcasts could be put on the township Web site or e-mailed to people.

Murphy said he would like to see the municipal building become more of a volunteer center where residents could gather to address issues. He said there are many good volunteers in the township, but wants to see more people volunteer for projects.

But leading his list of concerns is that of development in the township. The best approach, he said, is to “look at the township from 10,000 feet up.”

He explained that development plans should be reviewed, not just individually, but in connection with each other and that decisions should be made by envisioning how the township would look in another 10 years from that

10,000-foot altitude.

Daniels gave a short address saying she is thrilled to be the endorsed candidate for school board and acknowledged her bid against Leticia Flores DeWilde “will be a tough race.”

She added: “I’m all about the community…I want to put balance back on the board and continue [the district’s] excellence.”

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