Bucks
Charlie Allebach, Jay Godshall, reopening of the Rising Sun Inn,
Dear Friends,
Good morning. Whenever mayors get together, there’s bound to be news. Jay Godshall is the former Mayor of Perkasie where he served for 12 years. He told me that fellow mayors, past and present, were attending the reopening of the Rising Sun Inn near Telford. Last year, Charlie Allebach completed 40 years in Souderton as a councilman and mayor. He performed over 2,400 weddings during his tenure. John Reynolds and Jay Stover, the present Mayors of Souderton and Telford, were attending as well.
I’ve known Allebach and Godshall for years. We often talk about municipal consolidation and the frustrations of dealing with more than 2,600 municipal governments in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia is one of the 2,600; so are Ivyland, New Hope, and Quakertown boroughs. I’ve argued for years that the plethora of Pennsylvania’s municipalities makes it ideal for developers who know how to divide and conquer.
It turned out that the mayors were attending a fundraiser for Grandview Hospital.
The new owners charged each patron $25 and gave the proceeds to the hospital. I called Dave Alderfer, Grandview’s Director of Development. He told me that the event attracted about 125. “We haven’t done a lot of things like this,” Alderfer began. “But it was a nice partnership. The Rising Sun Inn wanted to introduce its new ownership to the community and benefit the hospital at the same time.”
Godshall spoke highly of the new chef, Fred Duerr, who is one of the owners of the 1739 inn. Duerr worked with Chef Tell. “They’ve got a winner here,” Godshall observed. He was impressed with another owner, Gary Schuler, who raises a herd of 65 buffalo nearby. “Schuler was slicing pieces of buffalo for the diners,” Godshall said. “It was very tasty.”
Jay and Diane Godshall are in their early 70’s. Their daughter lost a battle to Multiple Sclerosis so the Godshall’s are raising their ten-year-old grandson. Jay praised the Boys and Girl’s Club of Souderton, a mainstay for their grandson. “The club attracts between 300 and 400 daily,” he told me. Bravo, Boys and Girl’s Club!
Did you ever consider merging Perkasie with Sellersville? I asked him. “Perkasie is a nice town,” Godshall replied. “There are more churches than bars! Yes, you can merge some municipal services. Pennridge now has a consolidated police force.
“But merge the two municipalities,” he continued? “That’s a different story. They [the municipalities] don’t want to give up their identity…their fiefdoms.” I wasn’t surprised.
I turned to Charlie Allebach. As usual, he had an interesting take on the subject.
“Jay Stover [Telford’s Mayor] and I would merge Souderton and Telford tomorrow if we could,” Allebach began. For decades, he’s been a proponent of consolidating the six municipalities of the Indian Valley School District into one. “I’d call the combined municipality Indian Valley,” Allebach added. “There are 41,000 people in a 49 square mile area, which includes Franconia, Upper, Lower, and Salford Townships, plus Souderton and Telford boroughs.
“There are 32 elected supervisors and councilmen in the six municipalities,” Allebach continued. For example, if the six could agree on two representing each municipality, a council of 12 would be the result. He believes that it would be easier to find qualified candidates in a new streamlined structure.
“Pennsylvania’s municipal governments are so fragmented,” Allebach added. “Of the 961 boroughs, 800 have populations of 5,000 people or less; 400 of them have one thousand or less.”
Allebach led efforts to consolidate Indian Valley municipalities three times…all of them unsuccessful. Even a regional police force couldn’t pass muster. He told me that Charles Bold, a social studies teacher in the Indian Valley school district, conducted a survey of 150 Souderton and 100 Telford residents in 1967. Bold’s students worked on the project. And the result? “It was mixed, with 76 percent of the Souderton respondents in favor of merging the two boroughs,” he said. “But only 36 percent of the Telford residents supported the idea.”
What prompted the legislature to consolidate 2,600 school districts into 501 during the 1950’s, I wondered? And why didn’t the legislature finish the job and merge the municipalities at the same time? There is no satisfactory answer.
“It will never happen unless the legislature mandates consolidation,” Allebach told me. He’s undoubtedly correct. Allebach also reasons that if municipalities merge, the old identities will remain, just as Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, and Roxboro do, but are part of Philadelphia.
I remember asking Governor Rendell that same question back in June. “Is reducing the number of municipalities on your agenda for your second term,” I asked.
“Absolutely,” he replied.
We’ll just have to stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith