The High Price of Solicitors (not the kind that knock on your door)
Without evidence, the Parkside GOP is insinuating the Democratic council members hired Rudolphe Clarke in exchange for a campaign contribution. We did not receive a donation from Rudolphe or Clarke, or any of their employees. I decided against publicly sharing a list of our donors here given their penchant for cyberbullying.
One could also insinuate that the GOP majority on Parkside council in the Fall of 2021 opted to hire DWD Contractors, owned by former Delaware County Councilman and 2022 GOP gubernatorial candidate David White, instead of pursuing other bids, for nearly $35K to "fix" the police department air conditioning unit (in the winter) in exchange for a campaign contribution. They sure did a bang up job.
It is common practice for a party majority to select professional staff they can trust. Reorganization meetings take place all over Pennsylvania where new political majorities appoint new staff. Only in Parkside will you see the minority party continuously whining about it.
How can Democratic voters have faith in Solicitor Wills’ impartiality given his history of sitting idly by while the GOP majority broke the law:
He offered to write a letter to the Governor “pro bono” in an attempt to circumvent the will of Parkside voters and remove duly elected officials over ‘decorum’ breaches and personal tweets. I have to believe he knows that you can’t just remove someone from office because you don’t like them.
He sat in council meetings where council members voted on motions and budgets where a conflict of interest existed and never advised them to abstain.
He sat there while councilmembers repeatedly violated the Sunshine Act by failing to give residents an opportunity to comment on agenda related items. The Call to Citizens for Agenda-related items was only added when Councilman Sweigart suggested it in the February 2020 meeting. It was former solicitor Peter Amuso of Rudolphe Clarke who put an end to council member’s voting on motions added on the fly during the course of the meeting, a practice common under the former GOP majority. In adherence with the Sunshine Act, residents are finally given the opportunity to comment before a vote.
Let’s not forget he sat there while then-Council President Shirley Purcival took it upon herself to impose additional fees and insurance requirements on a children’s event when the borough code itself does not require it and instead of telling her she couldn’t, he lectured me on the importance of having insurance.
In all his years of experience, Mr. Wills never bothered to inform the GOP-led council that PA Borough Code requires a motion or resolution to appoint professional staff. He never bothered to inform them that while Parkside Borough is technically allowed to hire council members as employees, PA Ethics Laws require the hiring process to be open and transparent.
And yes, Rudolphe Clarke’s bills were significantly higher than Mr. Wills’ but instead of the half-truths offered you by the Parkside GOP, keep this in mind:
Solicitor Wills’ bills were lower because he charged by the hour, and under the GOP-majority, only the Council President and Vice President were permitted to send inquiries to him.
Rudolphe Clarke’s bills skyrocketed due to the hourly cost charged to review and redact massive amounts of emails requested with Right-to-Know requests by former councilman and current council candidate Dominic Capobianco’s wife.
I know what you’re going to say. Hey Kyle, didn’t you submit a bunch of Right-to-Knows too? Heck yeah I did. The difference is that most of mine involved records that didn’t require redaction and should’ve been public already. The RTKs I submitted were also in regards to financial payments and rooting out corruption (see Capo’s Handyman Services). Mrs. Capobianco’s RTKs were largely an attempt to figure out who was submitting RTKs about her husband. Now we know why.
There’s no ulterior motives here. We just wanted a kinder government with more transparency and less cronyism. We’re working on it. It’s been difficult and if you’ve watched the meetings or spent any time on Facebook, you know it’s a constant onslaught of accusations, insults, and outright lies. Help us continue our work. Vote.
