When E. Jean Krack became the Borough Manager in 2008, we had great hopes that a competent manager was on his way into town and we would stop the 2 year cycle of firing and hiring managers. Some of us believed that some of the dynamic features of the attempted Coatesville revitalization (and none of the devastating failures) would kick start some of the stalled progress in Phoenixville. I am very skeptical that Mr. Krack will be able to distance himself from his Coatesville tenure.

It is pretty well known that the problems that Coatesville has faced over the years, its downfall from prosperous Steel town to depressed ghost town, have come because of 2 factors that are quite intertwined. The first is the scaling back of the Steel industry and the loss of jobs. The second issue is the building of a federal housing project on Oak St. in the late 1960's. Oak St was a blight and a nuisance for the city for nearly 40 years until it was eventually redeveloped under the Hope IV probram into a townhome development.

If Mr. Krack has seen the problems associated with public housing, why then does he persitst in pushing through public housing in Phoenixville? Why would subsidized housing in the downtown be a good move for the business district? Low income seniors, I would imagine, don't have a lot of disposable income to spend for the duck confit special at Marley's across the street. He speaks at meeting like there is no reason for anyone to question this project. Why? He refuses to acknowledge an property ownership issues though it isn't supprising since he was part of the administration in Coatesville that ripped through $3 million in legal fees trying to seize the Saha property.

Most puzzling of all is his almost oouright endorsement of the new Fairview Housing Project on the North Side. This is going to be a privately built and publically subsidized housing project to cater to low income residents. It is to redevelop the rat hole that Fairview has become under the leadership of Rev. Donald Coppedge and his niece Tanya Mitchell-Westin. Krack loves the concept of expansion of the housing on the North Side. Our North Side will be just like Coatesville's south side. Krack is obviously guiding this project into a smooth landing, meeting with the applicant frequently. As you may remember, the fight with this project is the saving of the St Johns UCC Community Garden. Krack is seeing to it that the garden is reduced in size, moved back, and that the public housing takes the whole site.

Whose side is Council and Mr. Krack on? We are getting a clear picture that E. Jean Krack was cast in the same mold as Don Edwards and Anthony DiGirolomo. I guess it could be the job that creates opportunities for authoritarian action that goes against the will and rights of the residents. Therefore anyone taking that job will last 2 years until a new Council comes in and fires the Manager. I don't think this will turn out any differently.