2021 Articles
Names, names, names
An essential element of your local newspaper 50 years ago, when I first started at the The Mercury, was people’s names. People love to read their own names in print.
Lost Pottstown in last 50 years
Last week we reminisced about the stores that filled High Street at Christmastime five decades ago. Nearly all those stores are gone, but the buildings remain. Unfortunately, Pottstown has also lost some of its most distinctive buildings. (2021-12-30)
Christmas in Pottstown 50 years ago
What I miss most about the Pottstown of yore at Christmastime is its thriving downtown stores.
Redolent Christmas ads
Something else I miss at Christmas is the dozens of small ads for the locally-owned stores and businesses that festooned the newspaper’s pages.
Police officers are expensive
Infrastructure costs a lot to maintain, but the big spending goes for employee salaries and benefits.
By far the largest portion of the Pottstown general fund goes to the Pottstown Police Department.
Salary schedule facts
The Federation of Pottstown Teachers will begin negotiations with the school district in January for a new contract starting in September 2022.
Where your local taxes go
Pottstown local government services cost a lot of money: About $111 million will be spent next year, not including federally funded bus service and grants received.
Long term projects and costs
Earlier this fall, the borough and school district laid out their planned infrastructure spending over the next 10 years. Regrettably, none of it will go for green infrastructure.
It's all unnecessary
When Dr. Jonas Salk developed a polio vaccine in 1953 after six years’ research, millions of parents willingly submitted their children to testing in 1954. Today, polio has been eradicated in the United States.
A better way to hold public meetings
Tonight the Pottstown School Board will conduct its first in-person meeting since a school board workshop in July. But I hope that next week, we’ll go back to virtual meetings
Volunteers plant trees at park
Pottstown residents Eileen Faust and Ed Walker teamed up with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and students from the University of Valley Forge Sunday to plant 11 trees at Pottstown’s Riverfront Park.
The Complex better than ever
Three years ago, Pottstown area entrepreneur Charles Gulati rescued the Pottstown YMCA from closing when he bought the 50-year-old Y building on North Adams Street, spent millions renovating it, and created “The Complex.”
They're all over town
Hobart’s Run has recently upped its game and extended its outreach. The ubiquitous trash bins have been its most successful project.
A winning idea
Pottstonians are sick and tired of trash all over town, and the people at Hobart’s Run have galvanized them into action. With a simple little thing like a free trash bin.
"Improved" land
In John Potts’s day, Pottstown was virtually 100 percent forested. Since then we’ve removed nearly all of those trees for buildings, roads, and most egregiously, parking lots.
Green infrastructure lacking
In the last 20 years, the Pottstown School District has spent $78 million on bricks and mortar projects and practically nothing on green infrastructure.
As talks go on, so do emissions
A U.N. science panel says we must cut greenhouse gas emissions, now, or face irreversible catastrophe. Is everything beyond us, or are there some small steps we can take in Pottstown?
Drawdown
Climate change is so immense, and the international cooperation needed so unprecedented, that most people throw up their hands and say, “There’s nothing we can do.” But there’s plenty we can do, including right here in Pottstown.
Cameras everywhere
Internet-connected home security cameras like Google’s Nest and Amazon’s Ring can be purchased inexpensively, and their use has soared.
State of surveillance
With the proliferation of private and government security cameras, it’s safe to say nearly everything in Pottstown is being recorded as people go about their daily lives.
Electronics revolution
Many technological improvements that affect everybody can’t be measured in dollars. Consider the television, which has transformed American life since the 1950s.
The erosion of trust
The internet has not only diminished broadcast news, it has also crippled local newspapers, which for the most part deal in facts. At a time when people are statistically safer than ever, they are more suspicious and disrespectful than ever.
PECO removes High Street trees
It didn’t take PECO long to remove some of Pottstown’s oldest and loveliest trees on High Street last week.
Pottstown schools to green their parking lots
In keeping with the sustainability plan the Pottstown School Board adopted with Pottstown Council in 2018, the school district plans to plant more than 500 shade trees where they’ve needed most — in and around its 14 parking lots.
The oversimplified message
The best approach in an overcommunicated society, experts advise, is the oversimplified message. But oversimplification is usually misleading.
Fair funding for boroughs
We constantly hear about fair funding for needy school districts, but nothing about fair funding for needy boroughs.
Still in denial
Pat Sundstrom Field has flooded three years in a row, and it’s only going to get worse. Inevitably, a new field will be needed on higher ground.
Flooding can't be wished away
Major repairs to the existing stormwater system will cost about $14 million over the next decade or so.
Doing our part to preserve nature
Pottstown resident Ron Richael is one of our region’s top environmentalists. He’s demonstrated you don’t need millions of dollars or huge swathes of land to preserve and protect our natural world.
School board reneges on deal
In 1990, the school board unilaterally walked away from a deal it had made in 1962 with the borough. “We shouldn’t be in the recreation business,” the school board said. "Either the borough can take over the parks and recreation department or there won’t be one."
The library: education for all
Thanks to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund passed by Congress, the school district has received a one-time windfall of nearly $14 million. Can we use some of those funds to support the library?
Pottstown Library 100 years old
The Pottstown Regional Public Library, now celebrating its 100th anniversary, had its origins with a women’s civic organization called the Century Club.
School board, borough make a deal
Pottstown Council and the Pottstown School Board passed resolutions supporting the Pottstown Library Board’s quest for the post office building. But the feds wanted more:
First Beech St., now High St.
Having denuded parts of Beech Street, PECO will now move to High Street, Pottstown’s showcase street, to remove venerable old trees between Keim Street and Rosedale Drive as it installs new poles.
PECO to remove more trees
PECO’s insistence on removing decades-old trees on High Street, our showcase street, shows no regard for Pottstown’s environment, appearance and quality of life
Traffic calming installations needed
A fatal car crash on Queen Street near Madison Street Aug. 3 weighed heavily on Pottstown Council members at their meeting last week.
Time to tame speeders
Discussing a recent traffic fatality caused by speeding earlier this month, Pottstown Council President Dan Weand has called for installing speed bumps on residential streets as they do in Jenkintown and other progressive towns.
There's no going back
A 1969 fire in the heavily polluted Cuyahoga River, which bisects Cleveland on its way to Lake Erie, led to a major cleanup of the waterway. Climate change is different. The flooding, heat waves, wildfires and droughts such as we’ve seen in recent weeks are now baked in the climate.
Putting words into action
At the upcoming meeting of Pottstown Council and the Pottstown School Board, I hope we will focus on the joint Sustainability Plan, which Council and the School Board passed in 2018. With the impacts of climate change becoming more evident every day, the plan is our roadmap to help preserve our part of the planet.
3 billion birds lost since 1970
A mysterious illness is killing birds in southeastern Pennsylvania. This is the latest manifestation of a troubling trend: According to a 2019 study by Cornell University, the U.S. and Canada have lost 3 billion birds since 1970 — that’s one quarter of the total bird population.
The road less traveled
Pennsylvanian Rachel Carson's warnings about pesticides poisoning the planet inspired a grassroots environmental movement that led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. Her warnings are more relevant today than ever.
Basic education
My wife attended John the Baptist Parochial School in upper Bucks County for grades 1 through 8. The school had just four classrooms, which meant grade levels were merged: 1-2; 3- 4; 5-6; and 7-8. For all eight years, my wife had at least 50 classmates in her classroom, taught by one nun.
Top Pottstown school retirees
With the current teacher shortage, the possibility of hiring retired teachers has been discussed, which is difficult because of legal issues. But getting retirees back in the classroom would be virtually impossible in any case because their pensions are so generous.
The woman who planted trees
Wangari Maathai successfully preached “self-help” and by 2004, when she won the Nobel Peace Prize, Kenyan women had planted more than 30 million trees. That figure is now up to 51 million trees. We can all learn from her example in Pottstown.
Some ash trees have been saved
HIGH STREET ASH TREES treated by Trees Inc. are thriving. MIDDLE SCHOOL ASH TREES treated by the school district are thriving. But the Pottstown Parks Department has cut down some 80 ash trees in Riverfront Park as a “preventative” measure.
Why not a meadow?
Why are we spending taxpayer dollars for a park that's closed to the public? Why isn’t this land being converted into a meadow? Meadows are more cost effective and environmentally sound than grass.
Our moral obligation to Pottstown
We can no longer take the well-being of the planet for granted. We need to promote the narrative of human beings as stewards of the earth. And a sense of responsibility for the planet begins with the buildings and streets that are our home.
Pottstown teen enjoys unique education
Laighna Will lives just a block from the Pottstown High School—Middle School complex, but she’s spent the last four years boarding at the Milton Hershey School in Dauphin County, the nation’s wealthiest private school.
Hershey school fosters relationships
The Pottstown School District doesn't have anywhere near the resources of the Milton Hershey School. But one thing Pottstown can model from MHS is relationship- building. The more students are together in small groups, the more they gel as a family.
PHS grad issues tour de force
Aside from marriage and child birth, Beth Ann Kersten’s most rewarding experience has been her recent publication, “The Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory Manual,” which she hopes will be adopted by colleges nationwide.
$1/2 million house
on High St.
Pottstown home renovators Robert and Paula Bickelman are continuing to raise housing standards in Pottstown.
Habitat's first new house
For more than 20 years, Genesis Housing Corp. and Habitat for Humanity have been renovating houses in Pottstown for low income residents.
Learning thwarted by bureaucracy
What's the most important thing young children learn when they begin school? According to educational psychologist Sylvia Diggory, it's to forget -- forget about the personal learning programs they developed as they figured out how to walk, talk and understand their world -- and assume the role of pupil in the school bureaucracy.
Public education: cost no object
School districts must submit voluminous plans to the Pennsylvania Department of Education covering more than 80 topics. School costs is not one of them.
Pandemic is changing paradigms
The last day of school is only a week away, and Pottstown administrators are still not sure what classes will look like next fall.
Rich man's epiphany
LONG AGO, I WAS captivated by a seductively intuitive idea, one many of my wealthy friends still subscribe to: that both poverty and rising inequality are largely consequences of America’s failing education system. Fix that, I believed, and we could cure much of what ails America.
Grist for the bureaucratic mill
The Pennsylvania Department of Education likes to keep close tabs on the state’s 500 public school districts. In addition to a score of data sets submitted annually to the state, Pottstown is now developing a three-year comprehensive plan that will go into voluminous detail to demonstrate the school district is complying with all state regulations.
School districts will do it all!
The Pottstown School District is beginning a year-long process to develop a three-year comprehensive plan to ensure all students succeed. Every district in Pennsylvania is required to do such plans, which are enormously complicated and loaded with educational jargon.
These detailed plans assume that no matter the students’ circumstances or backgrounds, the school district can solve their social, emotional and academic problems so they can all achieve to state standards.
High quality leadership
By far the most important government officials are the superintendent of schools and the borough manager, because they control the spending.
Take a seat at the Pottstown library
Visit the Pottstown Regional Public Library 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday for a used book sale and to view antique wooden chairs decorated by local artists.
Annual benefit of trees: $300,000
This is the time of year trees and greenery are most appreciated. Streets and parks fill with walkers, joggers and bicyclists enjoying the outdoor transformation from brown to green.
PECO mutilates, removes trees
Providing electricity to densely populated towns like Pottstown is far less expensive, per capita, than servicing the low density suburbs. Considering all the money PECO saves, PECO should protect our trees, not mutilate or remove them.
Converted factory fully leased
The conversion of the 19th century Meyerhoff Shirt Factory at Charlotte and Cherry streets, part of the Hanover Square housing development, is now complete, and all 27 of the 2- bedroom apartments created have been leased.
Bringhurst homes are sold
For more than 130 years, the Bringhurst Trust provided affordable housing to needy families in 16 brick half double homes built on Laurel Street in 1877 with funds left in the will of Wright Bringhurst, who died in 1876.
Fire fatalities down sharply
Since 1979, fire fatalities nationally have dropped by two-thirds, from 35 deaths per million people in 1979 to 12 deaths per million in 2007.
A leap forward in human health
Here’s another leap forward in human health that is taken for granted today: Adult cigarette smoking has dropped by nearly two-thirds since 1964.
Education spending perspective
As measured on a global scale, a national scale, or a state scale, Pottstown is spending more per pupil than the vast majority of public schools anywhere.
The Myth
There’s a myth that underlies discussion about Pennsylvania school districts serving low income populations. The myth is that K-12 schools alone can pull substantial numbers of students out of poverty, if they just spend enough money.
Taking trash pick-up to the next level
Trash pick up in Pottstown has improved greatly with the introduction of wheeled bins. Now it’s time to go a step further and use professionals with the right equipment to clean up the street trash that
accumulates on our major streets.
Encouraging historic restoration
One of Pottstown’s greatest assets is its historic architecture, most dating to the Victorian era, with ornate gables, eaves, spires, porches, and windows of all sizes and configurations. These buildings are charming but costly to maintain.
Crime continued to decrease in 2020
Crime was down in Pottstown last year, for the seventh year in a row. In fact, serious crimes are half what they were in 1997, the year crime peaked in Pottstown, and the lowest they’ve been overall since 1973.
Part 2 crimes are also down
On Tuesday, we reported that Part 1 crimes were down last year for the seventh year in a row. Today’s chart shows that less dangerous crimes, known as Part 2 crimes, are also down.
Which violation is the worst?
Pottstown code officers have a lot of discretion when it comes to interpreting and enforcing the building and property maintenance codes used in Pottstown.
It wasn't a code issue
The existing building code gives code officers discretion to determine how the intent, if not the letter, of the code will be achieved, especially for historic buildings.
A good reason for zoning
Next week, a request to open a gun repair and sales shop in a residential neighborhood of Lower Pottsgrove Township will be heard by the township Zoning Hearing Board.
What we can control
At a recent Zoom meeting sponsored by Pottstown Area Industrial Development Inc. (PAID), various initiatives to encourage economic development in Pottstown were discussed.
Could it happen?
Pottstown Hospital is arguably the borough's greatest asset, providing full medical services within minutes of every Pottstown home.
Could it close?
Employer, employee listings for 2020
Each year for the last five years, I've published a lsit of Pottstown's top 25 employers. Unfortunately, the lists have shown a lot of turnover in employers and obvious inaccuracies.
Housing prices continue dramatic rise
More people are discovering Pottstown’s merits. The median price of a Pottstown home has increased nearly 50 percent in just the last four years.
Wide variety of housing in Pottstown
Here is a sampling of the 429 houses that sold in Pottstown last year:
Charter school boondoggle
Now that all school districts have developed their own virtual programs, and have experience running them, is there any justification left for cyber charter schools?
Big Brother wants plans
The Pennsylvania Department of Education is insistent on plans of all sorts. One thing is clear. With each passing year, public education has become more bureaucratic, cumbersome, and costly, with very little to show for it.
Special ed enrollment soars
Special education enrollments and costs have been steadily increasing for decades, beginning in 1975, when landmark federal special education legislation revolutionized the education system.
20 students=$2+ million
There is no “cap” on how much money a school district must spend to meet an individual student’s needs.
Staying virtual into the spring
Last week, the Pottstown School Board voted 6-2 to extend virtual learning at all grade levels through the third marking period in April.
Virtues of virtual
Even after the pandemic ends, more and more work will be conducted virtually, both in education and the business world. We’d better learn to master it.
District expands meadows
Last fall, Applied Ecological Services planted meadows at the high school and at Barth, Lincoln and Rupert elementary schools. A rain garden will be planted at the Franklin School this spring.
Return on investment?
Pottstown Parks Department has systematically removed the natural woods and understory at Riverfront Park, at a cost of thousands of taxpayer dollars, to be replaced with grass.
Rep. Dean eloquent on PBS
We could all be proud of our congresswoman, Madeleine Dean, who appeared on National Public Television the day after the riot at the Capitol.
Return on investment?
Pottstown spends more on public school education than all other local government services combined.
In Pottstown, school-aged children and youth comprise less than 20 percent of our residents.
