First Weldon, then Crego — is Barrar next?
It was kind of hard to miss, former Penn-Delco school board president Keith Crego doing the perp walk on the 11 o’clock news, his attorney crying foul because he wasn’t allowed to surrender himself away from the prying eyes of the TV camera.
Obviously, I know that Crego is innocent before proven guilty — this is America, after all. But I also know a few more things, too. Crego was the VP of the Aston Republican Party and identified himself as state Rep. Steve Barrar’s campaign manager in 2004 when Crego was at his full power — and saw himself ultimately replacing Barrar in the state house. And while I did a pretty good job of shooting myself in the foot in Aston — having totally misread the township — Crego’s non-stop whisper campaign, which basically amounted to "Mike’s really fat and dresses funny" didn’t help much either. So, I can’t describe myself as a Crego fan.
In my opinion — and that’s all there is, at this point — Crego was dirty long before the whole Quick Start scheme was launched. I had bits and pieces about a phone-system bid-rigging scheme he was tied up with in 2003 and 2004, but never could put all the pieces together. Why go after my campaign opponent’s manager? Source after source kept suggesting that if Keith Crego was involved, so was Steve Barrar — joined at the hip — even allegedly in their social pursuits of the two married men of young women in the bars of Aston. Barrar has denied that allegation, repeatedly, although he has been dogged by stories about his alleged infidelity both in Delaware County and in Harrisburg. An unfair whisper campaign by his political opponents? Possibly. Although the same whispers about Crego turned out to be true.
Frankly, though, one’s personal behavior probably shouldn’t be enough to get people asking questions about whether someone belongs in office — one of the truisms of politics is that politicians screw around, just like journalists do, and probably metal workers, cops, and donut makers. Maybe we should be more shocked when we discover someone not cheating on their spouse. (Which, by the way, would be me. I’m married to a woman who owns a lot of sharp instruments and knows how to use them to painful effect — so while I can’t claim moral superiority, I’d like to think common sense — and the fear of pain — keeps me out of trouble).
But now the questions have to run much, much deeper. Did state grant money end up in this alleged day care scheme cooked up by Crego? Was Barrar an innocent victim of his association with Crego? Or a participant? These are unpleasant, uncomfortable questions. But they must be asked. And we need to have real answers.
In the larger sense, Crego’s alleged behavior is a symptom of a larger problem in Delaware and Chester County: because of decades of political domination, the Republicans feel a little bulletproof, that they can do virtually anything and not be made to pay for it at the ballot box. Let’s not forget the saga of Curt Weldon, who was so out of touch, he thought the law didn’t apply to him — and often defied the president. Joseph "Skip" Brion, the chair of Chester County GOP feels like he can put up virtually any candidate, no matter how unqualified, as a reward for service rendered to the party (usually bringing in money). And to date, the people of Chester County have been unable to do anything about it.
This is the year that changes that. The Democrats have strong, highly qualified candidates — which differ greatly from what the GOP is dishing out: for Register of Wills, they have a housewife; the Democrats have an experienced bank trust officer with vast experience at dealing with wills; for Recorder of deeds, they have a young attorney, with a curious record of police incidents and no experience managing a budget and equipping an office on the taxpayer’s dime, while the Democrats have a candidate who does exactly that for a large school district; they have a sheriff candidate who had no law enforcement experience when she took office, the Democrats have a candidate with 27 years of state police experience — the list goes on, of course, but you get the idea.
The Republicans keep showing that they think they can do pretty much what they want and you, the voter, won’t do anything about it.
On November 6, you have a chance to send a reality check, let them know you will do something about it. Really, you’ll be doing yourself and the GOP a big favor. Because if the Republicans don’t get a wake-up call shortly, how long do you think it will be before we see our very own "perp walk" in West Chester?