Saturday, May 14, 2011

THE TRUE MEASURE OF LOYALTY

Loyalty is one of the most prized traits of mankind. I first learned about the true measure of loyalty while flying for the U.S. Marine Corps. The most crucial component of loyalty is trust, for without trust there can be no loyalty. There can be no higher level of trust than to put one's life in the hands of others. Conversely, when others put their lives in your hands the level of their trust in you is at its utmost extreme. I was tasked on a daily basis with certifying that aircraft that would be transporting 40 to 50 people were indeed safe to fly. Before every flight I was required to sign in ink a statement attesting to the airworthiness of each aircraft. Those who flew on those aircraft had an implicit trust that I would do my job 100 percent.

One morning I arrived at the flight line to find that the maintenance officer was frantically searching for me. The maintenance chief bellowed that I would be going to Leavenworth. He went on to state that I had signed off an aircraft safe for flight, which went as far as the taxiway before suffering a catastrophic failure. The enormity of the moment caused me to fall silent. My brain raced to find answers as to how I could have let this happen. Some fifteen minutes passed before I could even stammer the words "I did not sign off that aircraft". My statement was met with an incredulous glare and the logbook thrown in my face, which appeared to have my signature on it. Once again I fell silent and thought to myself, "my God what have I done". I was 21 years old and apparently through my negligence 40+ lives were put at risk and I would now be heading to Leavenworth. After a few minutes I quietly stated that I had not done the preflight check for that aircraft. This statement prompted the enraged maintenance chief to scream at me, "obviously you didn't, so why did you did sign it off". I looked down at the logbook again and then realized that although it was my name, it was not my signature. The investigation widened and it determined that a certain third shift supervisor failed to have the correct number of planes ready for the morning launch. Instead of taking the heat for his mistake, his solution was to pick a plane off the line then simply sign the logbook with my name attesting to its "safe for flight condition".

I had known this man for over a year and a half, he was a friend, and appeared to me to be an honest and loyal Marine. It was at that precise moment I truly realized that my loyalty to this man had to end. For the greater good I had to choose loyalty to principles over loyalty to a friend. He was stripped of rank, sent to Leavenworth for one year, and eventually dishonorably discharged.

Some of you may have been faced with similar decisions in your lifetime. This election may force you to have these same feelings. Search your soul and ask yourself this question. Which is more important, loyalty to the principles of honesty and truthfulness or loyalty to an old friend?

I am sure that if you search your soul and even feel it in your heart, you will choose correctly.

Former U.S. Marine Thomas Helwig

Friday, May 13, 2011

Dear Republican Neighbor

Some weeks ago you may have seen a letter from two of the candidates running for Township Supervisor in the Republican primary.

They have made several statements about their candidacy and their political positions. As Republican Committeepersons in West Vincent Township, we would now like to shed light on some of their statements and positions.

David Brown and Kit Trolier stated in their letter that they are “independent and unaffiliated” with the present supervisors. While this may be legally and technically correct, they are avid supporters of the three current Supervisors Ken Miller, Zoe Perkins, and the Democrat they appointed Clare Quinn. The real facts are that Zoe Perkins is the chairman of Good Government for West Vincent, the organization that is backing their candidacy.

When residents asked why Ken Miller had not paid his taxes in 10 years, both Brown and Trolier stood up and cheered the fact that he had not done so. They vocally supported the position that was put forth by Zoe Perkins that “it was a personal matter”, and as such it was of no concern to any of the other tax-paying residents.

Brown and Trolier have also stated their position that there is nothing they can do about the extremely high Owen J. Roberts school taxes. Once again, while this may be technically and legally correct, there were things that they could have already done. Members of the Republican Committee need to actively work with the school district to keep taxes down. For instance, both Missy and I have attended many meetings related to the District. David Brown and Sue Miller, Ken Miller's wife, are the other Republican West Vincent Committeepersons; they should have attended those meetings too. They did not. They didn’t attend the caucus to vet the School Board candidates. Missy and I were there, and we both contributed greatly to the vetting and endorsement process. With Missy and my effort the Republican Committee voted to only endorse candidates who expressed a determined fiscally conservative approach to being a school board member. Not only did Brown and Miller not show up, neither Brown nor Miller sent any proxy votes for candidates. David Brown could not perform the small but important job the voters entrusted him to do now, and he wants us to trust him to fill a larger role.

The Owen J. Roberts School Board held a Public Planning meeting on April 26, 2011 concerning capital expenditures. Neither Candidate David Brown nor candidate Kit Trolier attended this critical meeting. Owen J. Roberts school taxes will be going up this year 2.48% that translates to approximately $300 per household. Unless the proper action is taken, the coming years School tax increases will make this year's look small. Think $1,000 plus.

Simply put, they have not done as they said they would do, and that is, “What we can do we will do to help.” They couldn't even be bothered to attend critical meetings let alone offer any positive suggestions at those meetings. Other candidates running for supervisor of West Vincent Township were at the meeting and did offer suggestions to help keep taxes under control.

The simple fact is that neither Brown nor Trolier care about school taxes or, for that matter, any other taxes that you and your families will have to be paying. In fact, Brown and Trolier voiced no opposition when the current supervisors raised Township taxes 13.58% this year.

On May 17th. please vote for Richard Malasics and Maria Holderness
for Township Supervisor

After all, it's your tax money!

Missy Bertolami and Tom Helwig Republican Committeepersons, West Vincent Township