Exeter, United.
"The more you tell lies about me, the more we'll tell the truth about you."
In my Opinion, As an Elected Supervisor of Exeter Township: I fully acknowledge the existing concerns surrounding our escalating water costs. Unfortunately, due to the industry's heavy governmental regulation, our direct control over these costs is minimal. In 2019, I submitted a detailed 63-page document advocating against the sale of Exeter's sewer plant. However, at that crucial time, participation from our residents was noticeably sparse, with only a handful of individuals offering support.
The primary reason for the plant's sale was rooted in years of financial mismanagement by our township supervisors. They, unfortunately, drove us into a position where the only option left was to sell our most significant and profitable asset owned collectively by our community. Alarmingly, history seems to be repeating itself, as the same financial mismanagement appears to be resurfacing. For example, we are budgeting for our golf course to incur a loss of $400,000, and our banquet business, a for-profit venture, is being subsidized, causing us to lose another $100,000. In the board of supervisors held on Monday, July 10th, four supervisors, our solicitor, and our short-term manager censured me, alleging disruptive behavior in meetings, which is categorically untrue (please refer to the video footage). They also claimed I was consuming excessive staff time by asking pertinent questions and seeking information. As a representative of this community, I believe it is my duty to work tirelessly for you. To succeed in this mission, I urgently require your continued support and active involvement. The handling of our township's affairs by these unaccountable individuals, whom I regard as inexperienced, has resulted in the mockery of our local government. They have perpetuated false accusations and have essentially controlled our township for a year now. Key questions that need answering include:
These costs could have been averted since 2019, but were instead met by the sale of our sewer plant. I urge you all to consider the implications of these decisions, for this is your hard-earned money.
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Here's My Opinion as An Elected Supervisor of Exeter Township: A year ago, Gardella, Bell, and Vollmer engaged in a series of deliberate lies, publicly accusing me of sexual harassment against an employee. They were fully aware that these accusations were baseless and motivated by retaliation from a disgruntled employee. This employee sent an email the day after I took office. Further, a thorough investigation conducted over the course of a month, which included numerous testimonies from employees, cleared me of any wrongdoing. Despite knowing the truth, Gardella, Vollmer, and Bell still censured me, while Schnee took no action. They all participated in spreading these false allegations for political gain, and Schnee potentially for financial motives. Throughout the past 12 months, Gardella, Vollmer, and Schnee utilized these fabricated lies and the censure to continuously harass and defame me in public meetings and online. They employed various methods, including exploiting the township website, Facebook page, and providing false information to the Reading Eagle, with the malicious intent of damaging my reputation and character. Gardella, Vollmer, Bell, and Schnee intentionally concealed the investigation report, as its release would have exposed their deceitful scheme. It was only after parts of the report were brought to light by Jerry Geleff and The Exeter Examiner, followed by an anonymous individual publishing the entire report, that the false accusations of sexual harassment miraculously ceased. In the meantime, armed with absolute power and a majority of votes, and with Schnee's complicity, Gardella, Vollmer, and Bell continued their campaign of harassment, passing one motion after another to unlawfully impede me from fulfilling my supervisor duties. They managed to turn the entire township staff, including the township supervisor, against me, despite my never having set foot in the township offices. I was officially prohibited from entering any township office and subsequently prevented from communicating with any township employee. Whenever I requested information crucial for my supervisor responsibilities, such as invoices, bills, or budget reports, they deliberately delayed or outright denied my requests, using false claims of confidentiality. Eventually, they compelled me to resort to right-to-know requests, further obstructing my understanding by intentionally slowing down the process. Even with these requests, the documents were returned to me heavily redacted, rendering them incomprehensible. Later on, I was forced to channel all my questions and document requests through Gardella, who maliciously and passively denied nearly all of them. Bell exhibited the same unprofessional behavior. Schnee's electronic communications were not only unprofessional but also filled with passive-aggressive language, which amounted to fabricating additional lies for the record. In summary, Gardella, Vollmer, Bell, and Schnee have conspired over the past year to systematically defame and harass me in public and on social media. They have retaliated against me by effectively blocking me from any opportunities or access to personnel and documents required for me to fulfill my duties as an elected supervisor. Their collusion has rendered me entirely ineffective and useless in my role as a supervisor. Review full investigation report here. Why are Gardella, Vollmer, Bell, and Schnee subjecting me to this treatment? What is the motive behind their intense hatred, malicious slander, relentless bullying and harassment, passive-aggressive vindictiveness, and the continuous infliction of emotional distress in public, on social media, and through email for over a year? The reason behind their actions is simple: I am asking the right questions about the township's governance and exposing their complete incompetence, laziness, lack of transparency, and their role in destroying the township's finances while promoting unprecedented corruption. Additionally, I have dared to criticize their pet project, the municipal golf course, which is both expensive and unprofitable, benefiting only a tiny fraction of the township's residents. I have shed light on their lack of intelligence, business experience, misguided views on governance, absence of a plan, and their ignorance of fiscal responsibility and budgeting. All I do is calmly and rationally ask questions, and they are terrified of facing those questions. Dear voters, this is the consequence of allowing corrupt, incompetent, unscrupulous, lazy, and, most importantly, incredibly stupid, vindictive, and despicable individuals to attain power through deceit rather than merit. They leave nothing but destruction in their path. And now, as this malicious clique prepares to launch another coup and censure me using new fabricated lies, I have a question for you: what have they accomplished in the past 12 months? They have held complete power with a majority vote, so what tangible achievements can they claim? Here is a short list of top issues Gardella, Vollmer, and Bell must respond to.As they censure me once again, be prepared to witness another narrative, most likely built on psychological projection, in which they will falsely claim that I am creating a hostile environment, solely focused on slandering them and ruining the reputation of our township. They will go to great lengths to propagate this narrative across the township's websites, inundate official meeting minutes with relentless attacks against me, and spread further slander about Supervisor Hughes, calling me the “Trump of Exeter," on platforms like the Reading Eagle and various social media outlets. At this juncture, it becomes essential for you to question how I can be responsible for all these alleged wrongdoings when my access to information has been completely severed, my freedom of speech forcefully suppressed, and my vote as a minority reduced to insignificance, while Gardella, Bell, Vollmer, and Schnee have enjoyed uninterrupted power for over a year. Do you truly believe that all this spectacle and smoke and mirrors will deceive anyone? Let me make one thing abundantly clear to Gardella, Vollmer, Bell, and Schnee: The more you spread lies about me, the more resolutely I will expose the truth about each of you. I will never resign.Dave H. Hughes, BS, CMA, CFM
In My Opinion As An Elected Supervisor of Exeter Township, this Non-Disparagement Clause is an Attempt by Schnee Legal Services to Suppress my Speech and Engage in Retaliatory Action.
The actions of Schnee Legal Services demonstrate a consistent disregard for transparency and public discourse, invoking concerns around potential First Amendment rights violations. The firm appears determined to facilitate the operation of government in an opaque manner, thereby avoiding necessary public scrutiny. Its handling of right-to-know laws further supports this perspective: I am, as a Supervisor inexplicably, required to submit formal right-to-know requests to access invoices and contracts that other supervisors receive promptly, without delay or obstruction. The firm's misuse of attorney-client privilege to encompass non-legal matters also raises significant concerns. This is exemplified by the evident lack of understanding around the application of the attorney work product doctrine within the context of public government. Moreover, the firm has attempted to curtail the First Amendment speech rights of myself as a Supervisor by including a retaliatory provision within its contract. This provision takes the form of a 'non-disparagement' clause, inserted into the firm's contract with the township. The inclusion of this clause appears to be a deliberate attempt to suppress my freedom of speech as an elected official, giving rise to repeated acts of retaliation against me. Any expression by me that is deemed unfavorable by Schnee Legal Services invokes this non-disparagement clause, resulting in a $1,000 fine levied against the township. In effect, Schnee Legal Services is manipulating contractual agreements to penalize freedom of speech, which is a core tenet of democratic governance. ——————————-- Below is Schnee’s Non-Disparagement Clause in his Schnee Legal Services Contract, specially designed to suppress my Speech as a Supervisor and to retaliate against me when Schnee doesn’t like what as an elected public figure I might say. Non-disparagement: You, on behalf of the Township, its public officials and employees, agree to not disparage or make any defamatory or slanderous statements about this firm and/or Attorney J. Chadwick Schnee, Esq. through any means, including but not limited to social media postings, conversations or written materials. Any violation of the non-disparagement provision of this Agreement shall entitle the other party to bring a legal action for appropriate equitable relief as well as damages. In addition to any other rights or remedies available at law, in equity, or by statute, the parties consent to the specific enforcement of the non-disparagement provision of this Agreement through an injunction or restraining order issued by an appropriate court, without the requirement of posting a bond. Further, we agree that this firm may assess an additional fee up to $1,000.00 per violation, up to an annual maximum of $10,000.00, of the non-disparagement provision of this Agreement. ———————————-- While it's not unusual to encounter non-disparagement clauses in the private sector - particularly as stipulations tied to severance packages following involuntary termination of employment - such provisions are decidedly uncommon as mechanisms to regulate the speech of public officials. In the present circumstance, the non-disparagement clause imposed by Schnee Legal Services is characterized by excessive breadth. This overreaching provision is virtually guaranteed to attract substantial judicial scrutiny, as it appears designed to stifle criticism from a particular public servant in their professional role - specifically, myself in my capacity as Supervisor. It is widely perceived as an attempt to curb public discourse and could, therefore, be considered a challenge to the principles of democratic governance and transparency. Upon reviewing the aforementioned contract from Schnee Legal Services, it is evident that the firm exhibits a pronounced discomfort with my online public commentary. In fact, the persistent focus on my digital remarks suggests an intense fixation, potentially driven by fear. It's clear that the firm's reaction is not merely defensive, but has taken on a patently retaliatory quality. The nature of these retaliatory actions seems to bear no connection to any personal or private affairs. Rather, they are intrinsically tied to my responsibilities and obligations as a public servant. The threats issued by Schnee Legal Services can be interpreted as efforts to obscure government transparency and accountability. Furthermore, these actions raise serious concerns about potential ethical breaches, suggesting that Schnee Legal Services may be engaging in practices that are not only inappropriate for a solicitor, but arguably corrupt. READ THE ENTIRE MISLEADING ARTICLE HERE. Have you seen the WFMZ report on Monday 6.26.23 Board meeting? Written by Gregory Purcell
WFMZ.com Reporter: What I saw in the room was the WFMZ reporter actually attending the meeting and what a hit piece they did on me. No mention of the issues I raised concerning $327,000 written to the wrong vendor, the late charges for paying another invoice late, the early payment (by more than two weeks) of $45,000 to our Solicitor. (Contract specifically states payment on 6.30.23 but we payed on 6.12.23) Contract states "on or before 6.30.23". but why pay so early?) Bell unilaterally threw me out of the meeting, instructed the Chief of Police to remove me. A break was ordered by Bell in order to facilitate my removal. I discussed it with the Chief, Bell put him in a difficult situation, Our Chief is a really good guy and I did not want to put him in this difficult situation. I came back and read a statement regarding what I believe is a concerted effort to silence me and to make the environment so toxic ( and it is) to persuade me resign as so many were "forced" to resign before me when you refuse to conform and support what "they" want you to do. The WFMZ article is so biased and one sided it is not representative of what occurred. For example this part of the WFMZ article claims George Purcell wrote: "Supervisor David Hughes was expelled from the meeting by Chair George Bell and Police Chief Matthew Hawley after he refused several requests by Bell to cease speaking so the meeting could return to the agenda. Hughes was later allowed to return when Bell said he intended only for Hughes to be removed for the vote on expenditures, not the entire meeting." The vote on Expenditures was conducted before Bell went rogue, look at around 28:35 minutes of part1 of the meeting the vote was taken after I questioned issues with the payment, including a check for over $327,000 written to the wrong vendor, a late charge incurred on another invoice for late payment and the very early payment of $45,000 to our solicitor due 6.30 but paid on 6.12. but before they illegally expelled me. Looking at this meeting and previous meetings you will see and hear numerous times where various board members and our manager interject into the meeting discussions without recognition from the Chair. Why , as I was attempting to get a clarification regarding a missing element not included in approvals would be an act of disrupting the meeting? To the point that Chair George Bell unilaterally took action to remove me from the meeting. The article is further misleading because the claim I was allowed to return later was not an option. The Chief walked me out the front door, we discussed the issue, I got into my car and drove home. When I got home I began listening to the meeting and the claim I was not removed was an obvious attempt to cover up their egregious behavior. I walked back in, sat in the audience and listen to them approve KMS to do our budgeting at a ridiculous hourly rate. A firm that our Manager has very close ties to as a former employee of theirs earlier this year , a firm we paid $9,500 to have the right to hire her as manager. Look at the video, If you can hear me I said to Bell, "I am here as a citizen, I have no intention to disrupt your meeting" What did he do next? Look at the video...he invited me to sit at the table, unilaterally as the dictator he is.....invited me to attend a meeting that he never should have been able to expel me from to begin with. I should have been allowed to express my concern before he rudely talked over my attempt to ask a point of reference regarding the agenda item for "APPROVALS" and that question was " Why are we no longer reviewing the treasurers report and approving it subject to audit?" (As we did for years) I RETURNED on my own volition to return to this meeting. The expulsion was meant to be permanent. How do we/you know this....WATCH THE VIDEO AND WATCH AS THEY WAIT FOR ME TO PACK UP MY COMPUTER AND MY PAPER WORK......DO YOU REALLY THINK GEORGE BELL'S CLAIM : "Bell said he intended only for Hughes to be removed for the vote on expenditures, not the entire meeting." IS THIS A VALID OBSERVATION REPORTED BY THIS VERY BIASED REPORTER? It is unfortunate that the reporter George Purcell has been reporting only one side of the issue, in my opinion incredibly biased. In my Opinion, As an Elected Supervisor of Exeter Township: George Bell, a certified financial advisor with Fidelity Investments is showing off his leadership skills again! As he begins taking full control of the township. The township if you don't know is in a downward spiral....it is chaos within the administration. Information is once again not so easy to come by, finding light escaping from a BLACK HOLE would be easier than obtaining answers in the township. It is obvious who is in charge with these recent emails: George Bell and Mary/Betsy McBride. The new Director of Golf just confirmed that above. We don't need five supervisors when one will do, right? WHAT ARE THEY HIDING ABOUT THE GOLF COURSE? IT IS PROJECTED TO LOSE $400,000 AND THE CLUBHOUSE IS PROJECTED TO LOSE $100,000 FOR A TOTAL OF $500,000.
In my Opinion, As an Elected Supervisor of Exeter Township: The RCC is budgeted to lose $500,000 this year. I want to understand why and find if if there is anyway to reduce this loss. This is only on operating income alone. Another approximately $900,000 in depreciation and debt service payments are in addition to this loss.
I have questions, so I went up to the RCC to formerly introduce myself to the new Director of Golf on Sunday June 19th at approximately 4:30 pm. I was told he left at 3:30, ok, no problem, I asked for his phone number and the young man behind the counter provided it. I called the Director of golf and left a message asking him to call me at his convenience. The two letters above are the results of my attempts to get some questions answered and introduce myself to our new Director of Golf. From: Ted Gardella
Dave - We are still operating under the communications motion. I will research theses invoices with Betsy, and respomd based on that review. Ted Theodore (Ted) Gardella Exeter Township Supervisor Please note that email sent to and from this address may be subject to the Pennsylvania Right to Know Act and may be disclosed to third parties. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mary McBride <betsy@exetertownship.com> Sent: Thursday, June 8, 2023 11:22 AM To: Ted Gardella <tgardella@exetertownship.com> Subject: FW: 6/12 AGENDA - BOS MTG DISBURSEMENTS Betsy McBride Exeter Township Manager Please note that email sent to and from this address may be subject to the Pennsylvania Right to Know Act and may be disclosed to third parties. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David Hughes <dhughes@exetertownship.com> Sent: Thursday, June 8, 2023 10:10 AM To: Mary McBride <betsy@exetertownship.com> Subject: Re: 6/12 AGENDA - BOS MTG DISBURSEMENTS Dear Mary, Please provide the invoices/documents supporting the list below: Thank you, DHH ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RHM/RCC RESULTS AS OF 5/8/235/7/2023 In my Opinion, As an Elected Supervisor of Exeter Township: The CPA for the township provides a valuable service, they are responsible for assuring and forming an opinion on our financial statements (prepared by our employees) that they can be relied on because they are formulated following GAAP: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. I am a CMA, (Certified Management Accountant) I am trained and experienced in evaluating the financial information contained in the financial information of the township. I look at it from a business/operations point of view which can differ significantly from GAAP requirements. You will often hear the term"NON GAAP" used indicating deviating from the GAAP. This often is the case when you evaluate the results. This is not audited financial information. It is compiled from financial information obtained from township documents available to the general public. Let's look at the information I am providing you above. It represents all the information currently available to you and myself. (public record) The top portion are all the amounts our FUND 10 ( The clubhouse fund) has received since the beginning of our arrangement with RHM LLC. It includes the amount they will transfer this Monday 5.8.23 and you can see since inception we, the TAXPAYERS have received $38,451.68. You can see I have provided the source of this information, it is public and you can find it on EXETER TWP website. The next section are the amounts that we have paid to RHM LLC, $172,831.73, 4.5 times the amount the TAXPAYER received. I provide the source of this information just as I have for the amounts we received. (our %). The. source of this information is the check runs also referred to as the check distribution which is part of every meeting. I have provided the date of each check run and the total of all the invoices listed in that check run. You can find this report by going to the AGENDA for the particular meeting and you will find it listed as one of the reports. As you can see, including the amount we will approve to pay RHM LLC on May 8, 2023 ($58,307.61) the total since our agreement with RHM LLC is $172,831.73. The last line on this report is the total amount of cash that has flowed into our municipal accounting process (does not include sales tax, a later discussion on this will follow) The total cash flow from all of the amount from October 2022 thru April of 2023 is $211,283.41. (7 months) This amount is the addition of the money shared with you (the taxpayer) $38,451.68 plus the amount you paid RHM LLC in the amount of $172,831.73. This is everything. that is recorded on our municipalities BOOKS. You can see for yourself in the far right column the percentage of participation in the cash coming thru our RCC EVENT account. It is clear, at least to me, that we are receiving only 18% on average.THEY GET 82%! You will hear excuses for this but don't believe them. The taxpayer( represented by the Supervisors) have struck a terrible deal and in my opinion (all of this is my opinion by the way). YOU DECIDE SINCE YOUR TAXES ARE SUBSIDIZING THE RCC TO THE TUNE OF APPROXIMATELY $1,500,000 ANNUALLY.
1. On MAY 8, 2023 the Board of Supervisors will deliberate extending a requirement where I have had to route all communications and requests for information to another supervisor (instead of requesting from the manager or department heads directly) They decided that all communications (except for those who call themselves liaisons) must be routed through Supervisor TED GARDELLA. Below are examples of what happened with my requests for information that I felt I needed to do mt job properly: 2. On April 10, 2023 the four supervisors passed this motion. The only supervisor who was not a liaison, you guessed it, ME. PLEASE NOTE: the motion is about ROUTING -- has nothing to do with allowing or denying access, It says nothing about Supervisor Gardella approving or denying access to information necessary for any supervisor to do the job they were elected for, yet THIS IS WHAT GARDELLA DOES: DENY ACCESS and of course uses phony irrelevant reasons. Read closely the following correspondence :
My request was not for any document, it was related to a supervisor who has indicated on his SOFI (Statement of Financial Interests, a required legal document that all supervisors must report every year) that he conducts four businesses out of his residence. I asked verification, no documents, just a verification that permits exist for the supervisor to conduct these businesses in a residential area. One business is the manufacture and sale of guns. Note: reference to the 4.10.23 motion and I must contact TED GARDELLA directly. A supervisor controlling what another supervisor can see or do. All perpetrated by Bell and Vollmer. Proof of the Township managers compliance and refusal to provide requested information to a supervisor. Information was not provided, I asked for the Appraisal values obtained from the appraisal... Most recent for the 5.8.23 BOS meeting please note invoices for RHM are redacted. The RED are comments from TED GARDELLA ABUSE OF POWER IS A FELONY, In time we shall see whether Gardella, Bell and Vollmer's qualified immunity stands in front of that ... or not ..... The above blog and analysis is solely based on my opinion.
In my Opinion, As an Elected Supervisor of Exeter Township: The following is from Exeter Dictator Gardella today -- honestly this so concerning - this imbecile needs professional help! (and probably medication). The original email I sent to McBride requesting information to actually do my job (something none of Gardella and his Illiterate candidates Bell and Vollmer are incapable of) can be read here. Dave - Per the motion passed on 4-10-23, any request from a supervisor other than those dealing with liaison responsibilities for admin staff response is to be routed through me. Since you have no liaison responsibilities (note that these roles were removed from you in your role as supervisor when the board passed the resolution to censure you in June of 2022.) You can make any request for information, and I will evaluate it with the appropriate staff and respond. This does not represent any limitation to your duties as a supervisor, as I will respond to all of your requests for information. With respect to your requests below: 1 Calendar of events for the RCC - As per the RHM agreement, this is a mandatory requirement. It is not mandatory that this calendar be provided to you. Our admin staff are working closely with RHM on events, and you can certainly go to the website, www.readingcoultryclub.com and click on the events tab to see upcoming events. To suggest that you MUST review this calendar would be to suggest that you should be involved in the day-to-day management of the township, which is not your role as supervisor. 2 One-year contract for the Township Manager for 2023. You may file a Right to Know Request for this contract. The contract was approved at a previous meeting by the board majority. You have had access to the contract since the January 23rd meeting, as well as the placement agreement with KMS since the February 13 meeting. These documents have been provided to you as well as to the public. To continue to imply that you do not have access to these documents is false. 3 Copies of contracts executed by RHM on behalf of Exeter Township. You are not entitled to the contracts between RHM and their customers. They provide invoices to us as required by our contract. 4 Solicitor's invoices from the 4/10/23 meeting for Tucker and partial for Schnee legal service, without redactions. Your request for unredacted invoices has been answered. Due to your previous violations of the Board's Attorney Client Privilege, and upon advice of counsel, you have been provided with the partially redacted invoices to ensure that you will not violate privilege again. See the video from the 4-10-23 meeting if your memory needs to be refreshed. 5 Treasurer's Report - Kindly provide a report for the period ending 3/31/23. This report can be generated at any time. This will be provided to you at the same time that it is provided to all supervisors, in time for our next meeting Theodore (Ted) Gardella Exeter Township Supervisor Here's my unapologetic response: absolutely do not let a bully roam free, particularly when they're plagued by power-hungry, delusional fantasies and glaring mental inadequacies. Once again, that pathetic, delusional narcissist of a supervisor, Ted Gardella, is on a power trip! He's single-handedly denying an elected official the information they have every right to, thinking he's somehow enforcing his useless motion from Monday. This is a clear violation of the law and utterly unenforceable! You better believe that his disgusting harassment and bullying won't break me, you insufferable idiot! I WILL NEVER RESIGN. I'll keep exposing your sick, twisted games, retaliation, malicious slander, and harassment for the entire world to witness. Just try and stop me! I DO NOT USUALLY SPEAK SO HARSHLY OF ANYONE. YET HERE WE ARE: ENOUGH OF THE SICKOS. Above, I was asking for information that I feel I needed to review as part of my job as Supervisor (again, you can read the original email I sent this morning here). What Bell and Vollmer are allowing to happen is an insult to our whole community. I hope you feel as I do and act accordingly: the motion Gardella refers to above was specifically designed to affect only me. Twisted and despicable attempt to destroy democracy and educated, reasonable debate. Please support me in my efforts, I told you when I asked you for your vote in 2021 that I would not abandon you when they attacked me...I have kept my word, now I need your support! Dave Hughes. "The more you tell lies about me, the more I'll tell the truth about you" Reminder: SUPERVISOR DAVE HUGHES IS NOT A CANDIDATE. I AM ELECTED AND IN OFFICE UNTIL 2028. Let's Chatdhughes@exetertownship.com
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