Halfway through his first — and what he promised would have been his only — term in office, Keith Klaver has resigned from the Chadds Ford Township Board of Supervisors.
“It’s for health reasons,” Klaver said. “I have to deal with a lot of things in the next three or four months, and I can’t do both.”
He said he has a lot of regret over resigning before the end of his term, but said he appreciated the opportunity to be supervisor and work with those with whom he served.
“It was an honor and a privilege,” he said. “The more important point is how much I appreciated the citizens and volunteers of Chadds Ford who have helped to accomplish so much in our township in the last three years.”
The announcement came during the township’s reorganization meeting on Jan. 5 during which Frank Murphy was elected supervisors’ chairman for 2015 and George Thorpe was elected vice chairman.
Murphy and Thorpe now have 30 days to appoint a replacement for Klaver. However, that person will only have the appointed position until there’s a new election.
Republican Party leader Mary Kot said Klaver’s resignation means there will be two supervisor positions on the ballot this coming November. Thorpe’s term ends this year and state law requires an election for someone to serve the remainder of Klaver’s term, which expires in 2017.
Thorpe said Klaver’s resignation is a “great loss of a very knowledgeable and thorough person. He’s always possessed kindness and thoughtfulness in his dealings with everyone and always tried to resolve problems and issues so that everybody was a winner…He was always very loyal to Chadds Ford.”
Murphy said the word that best describes Klaver is “gentleman.”
“What Keith brought to the board was a sense of civic duty, which really directed all of his efforts. He was so concerned about the welfare of the township and the residents,” he said.
Murphy went on to say that Klaver’s knowledge of the sewer system and his recognition of the impact of that one piece of infrastructure on the daily lives of residents was of vital importance.
“Having him there with that knowledge and that concern was a great experience,” Murphy said.
Former Supervisor Deborah Love said Klaver “always did his homework.”
“Having been in office for a term and a half when he came on board, it was great working with someone who had fresh eyes,” Love said. “I felt he always had the public interest at heart. He always did his homework; he didn’t just respond to what he heard, but always investigated the issue before making any decisions. We didn’t always agree, but I always appreciated his approach.”
In addition to serving as a supervisor, Klaver has also served on the township Sewer Authority and Planning Commission.
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.
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