Democrats gain ground on sprawl

In the last four presidential elections, the Republican redoubts of Montgomery, Delaware and Bucks Counties fell to the Democrats as suburban voters continued to rebel against the national GOP's rightward shift.

Only Chester County stayed loyal.

Now, a distinctly local issue threatens allegiance to the GOP: sprawl.

Republicans who have held onto the county courthouse for 148 years are in a brawl this year as Democratic challengers for county commissioner in the Nov. 6 election say that the Republicans have done too little to stop Chester County from being chewed up by development.

Indeed, an anti-sprawl Republican came within 1,000 votes of defeating a party-endorsed candidate in the May primary for commissioner.

The internal split in the ruling party illuminated by that insurgency, and recent local Democratic gains of two state legislative seats give party leaders hope this might be the year they take the courthouse.

"The county Republican Party has always been so dominant, this is the first time I'm confident we have a chance of getting a majority," said Chester Democratic chairwoman Michele Vaughn.

The Republican candidates tout their record of good fiscal management, including a AAA bond rating, a Justice Center under construction that is running below projected costs, and a low county tax rate.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," said Terence Farrell, the county's recorder of deeds, who is running on the GOP ticket with incumbent Commissioner Carol Aichele.

Aichele said there would be no county tax increase in the coming year and was confident voters would not punish the Republican commissioners because of discontent with the Bush administration. "People should vote for the person they know and trust to do the job," Aichele said.

While the Chester race has not had the rancor of campaigns in neighboring counties, one-party rule is an issue there as well. "For fiscal reasons, people should vote for us so that we can give Chester County government a 148-year check-up," candidate Bill Scott said.

"The county needs a new set of eyes," said his running mate, Kathi Cozzone. "Bill and I want to implement long-term strategic plans."

Over the last two decades, thousands of acres of Chester County farmland and forest have been paved over for homes and businesses. Roads have become crowded, and bucolic landscapes have disappeared.

While the county has responded with a farmland and open-space preservation plan, continuing development has kept the issue in front of voters.

The Democrats have pledged to spend $25 million yearly to acquire land and development rights for preservation, and say they would provide the "leadership" to enforce the county's master plan, Landscapes, which designates urban centers as the location for future development. Saying that the GOP team is too tied to development interests, the Democrats also want to require municipalities to band together to regulate developments.

In response, the GOP team upped the ante from a promised $15 million annually for open-space initiatives to $20 million. The candidates said last week they would spend even more if voters approved a proposed 2008 referendum.

Aichele said that anything larger than $20 million could require a tax increase, so letting voters decide is "responsible." County spending on open space is down from $22 million a year in 2002.

That decrease helped inspire environmentalist Republican Sandy Moser's insurgent campaign for commissioner in the spring, in which she argued that sprawl increases local taxes. Moser nearly cost Aichele the party endorsement at the county convention, then came close to a primary upset.

"This is where the voters are - they're fed up with traffic and sprawl," Moser said. "As Republicans, we have lost a lot of voters because they don't see the Republican Party addressing these kinds of environmental issues."

A recent study by the GreenSpace Alliance, a project of the regional planning council, estimates that 486,000 acres in Chester County remain vulnerable to development.

Whatever the causes, the Republicans have slowly been losing ground in Chester.

In 1998, Republicans had twice as many registered voters as Democrats there, but the advantage has narrowed to 51 percent Republican (156,373) and 31 percent Democratic (95,153), as of the May primary. The fastest-growing segment of voters: independents.

For all that, the county has stayed Republican in presidential elections, though Democrat John Kerry captured just under 48 percent of the vote in 2004.

"Chester has been the toughest nut for the Democrats to crack, though things are trending in their direction," said John Kennedy, associate professor of political science at West Chester University. He suggests that might be because it is the "most rural" of the suburban Philadelphia counties.

"There's obviously a lot of growth, an influx of new people, but when you get out into the far western reaches of the county, you're closer to Lancaster [County]. The area is very conservative socially."

Democrats do have momentum: Last year, they won two state legislative seats long held by the GOP. Former County Commissioner Andrew E. Dinniman won a special election in the 19th Senate District, defeating Aichele, and Barbara McIlvaine-Smith won the 156th House District seat after a recount, giving her party control of the state House.

Democrats have posted gains in municipal boards as well, and the party has tripled the number of committee people it can field on election days, to 375.

"We have an organization that's competitive with the Republicans on a grassroots level," Vaughn said. "The Democrats are on the rise; we have a lot of energy."

Her counterpart, Republican Chairman Joseph "Skip" Brion, said that the GOP believes voters will reward Aichele and Farrell for the party's competent leadership.

"Through all the years of Republican leadership, we may have spent a lot of time governing and not enough on the retail politics - taking it for granted that people know we're doing a good job," Brion said. "This year, we're working hard to get our message out."

DEMOCRATS

Kathi Cozzone: A 45-year-old corporate financial manager from Uwchlan Township. She was a relative unknown when she ran for county controller in 2005, nearly upsetting a GOP veteran. She says her accounting and management background would be an asset.

Bill Scott: A 62-year-old lawyer who served eight years on the West Chester Borough Council, two as president. A Vietnam veteran, Scott also worked at Legal Aid, an experience he credits with valuable insight into health and human services operated by county government.

REPUBLICANS

Carol Aichele: A Malvern resident seeking her second term as commissioner after serving six years as county controller. Aichele, 57, a former member of the Tredyffrin/Easttown school board, has also played roles in state and national politics.

Terence Farrell: A 60-year-old resident of Lower Oxford Township, serving his second term as recorder of deeds. Farrell, a former real estate broker and video production company owner, stresses his record in fostering efficiency in the recorder's office. EndText