I believe Casaday and Wickstrom are gone by choice.
Why they would vote on such a divisive issue which stands no chance of approval even by the next school board (and borough council) election - who knows.
Dan Cassidy, Theresa Thorton Johnson, Betsy Ruch, and Jan Potts are all outstanding and dedicated people.
Josh Gould is highly regarded by Henry Wagner. They have agreed they should work together to make this a different community. Who knows what else can happen with this combination of vision and action from a school board and municipal government working hand in glove. Henry and Josh - go!

Now that this part of the library expansions plan has played out we can start the civil suits against the school board members & borough council members that voted for it.

Do I hear any local lawyers volunteering their time?

Good luck with getting a free lawyer. Why would one volunteer? And how about the old axiom, you get what you pay for. Those opposed to this insane plan need to get out their check books. Opposition funding is also a litmus test for those promoting the plan. If the opponents are willing to spend lots of money to defeat the plan then maybe it's worth taking another look. With a volunteer you've got nothing that says you're serious or invested enough to go the distance. I'm told the Hospital's neighbors spent tens of thousands of dollars getting the few concessions they got. Was it worth it? You'll have to ask them. You need to be willing to put your money where your opinion is or be railroaded in a direction you'd prefer to not go.

And, I'm not a lawyer but do know when you should engage one.

Richard Breur will you come out and play.Seems like an issue that you would gladly like to take on.I know out of the 10 council and SB members you have got to have disdain for at least 9 of them.HELP US PLEASE!

I don't think Richard would come out and play for free even though he is aware of 'illegal' sale of 2nd Ave, changes of zoning (spot zoning), etc.

Anyone want to start a "Stop the Library Fund"?

It may hurt, but I got $50 to put into it.

Now that PASD owns a part of 2nd Avenue is the Borough going to charge them for snow removal, street sweeping, street repairs, etc?

If not, why not? They don't do it for other private roads or roads in developments until they are turned over to the Borough.

Perhaps PASD plans to block the road even if the Library plans are not approved just to piss of those who are against the plans?

Hey - how about toll gates? Maybe if we pay to use it the school taxes will come down.

I'm in for $50

ET -

With your fifty and Ed's fifty, you both bought about 20 minutes.

I'll throw in $100.Mike & Wally you guys in? Thats two hundred.Amazing how this stuff grows on the internet.ET maybe you can hold the contributions so it is all in one place.Have to use a bank other that Phx Bank & Trust. THEY ARE FOR THIS RIDICULOUS IDEA.Oh yeah,Bill & Karen ,you're included also.

Regarding the efforts to change the direction of the current library plans, please visit my blog at http://karenejohns.com for background information by typing "Phoenixville Library" in the search engine at the top of the page.

If you have a desire to join the challenge to this particular concept plan, and are willing to help, please contact me at karenj97@comcast.net

Thank you!

In today's uncertain economy, I am not sure of what my income will be for the coming year and do not know what work I as a native born middle aged American male will be able to get in this country. I'll ask my neighbor to kick in a little something but as an aging single woman with a frozen social security income, I don't think I'll be able to get much. She says the taxes have gone up again this year and she can't budget for this.
So I'm in for $10 for now on this one, but at .6 cents per foot for borough property...Didn't the borough get Bridge Street downtown from PennDot a couple of years ago. At .6 cents a foot I'd like Bridge from Majolica to to Columbia Station. In the middle of the street I'll put a bookstore, a coffee shop with free internet access, a place for people to meet of all different age groups. There are a couple of trees on Main Street and which my property will butt up against but not go into. I will also not invade Renaissance Park but I think the concept of incorporating that park is brilliant if I do say so myself and of course there's also the Children's Plaza down there which has been just crying out to be the child bride of this concept of mine which I just pulled out of the air a couple a minutes ago and which you can ask me about any time and yes I did try to buy streets at other locations but those people must have gotten wind of my idea and said do you know what a reasonable and fair price for that would be - or they said I was out of my mind or just really stupid. Parking? you ask. Well I'm sure we can find someone with the authority to handle all that. I will be mailing out envelopes requesting area residents to contribute to the legal fees for this project. But remember when you get the envelope that that money is not for lawyers for a ridiculous project, it is so that we have a place where people can meet, gather information, have a coffee, get a book or cd and look out and see a park.

So I see we have what....$210???? Looks like you folks need to start reconciling the Library getting their way. Even a moderately priced attorney will charge $175 an hour. You'll barely get off the phone with a first call and have spent your entire defense fund. You will need thousands......yes, I said thousands. Either step up or give up. You'll not have a snow ball's chance in hell without a lawyer and money to pay one.

A resident of First Ave directly affected by the traffic the way it is proposed called me and pledged $500.Maybe we need pretzel jugs in the stores and restaurants to get this thing moving.Obama did the internet thing why can't we.

No one is collecting anything at this time, Anonymous 6:35.

You'll be alerted when you can donate.

The comment made by June 27, 2009 6:35 PM is probably the best, most honest, most truthful we have heard on this issue. Translation follows:
'F you people in your stinky little rowhomes. If you were worth anything or knew anything you'd live out here in Schuylkill township were you could afford you're own damn trees and park-like private property. We can use the system, send out envelopes asking for money to pay for lawyers using some cover story, while you can barely pay the tax increases we dictate to you. Ha Ha Ha. Losers! The sun set on you people a long time ago - you just haven't noticed it yet'

Must be a PHX grad.It is" where you could" not were.... and "your own damn trees" not you're...
maybe you should use the library to learn how to write.Use your wealth and put the library in the old Schuylkill School and stay out of town.

People who get pedantic about grammar on blog comments need to step back and consider whether they're being helpful or jejune.

And yes, I went to an area public school.

Ask the school board members if they know what pedantic and jejune mean.I'll bet any money 7 out of 9 won't.I went to Private School.I admire your use of the English language tho.

I wasn't sure I remembered the definition or the significance of the word "jejune" so I went to dictionary.com and looked it up. Being in an etymological frame of mind - maybe because of that fly thingy picture (Gregor Samsa awoke to find himself a giant cochroach... but close enough) and I always confuse the study of bugs with the study of word origins - I checked out "concept". "Concept" has its origins in the Latin "concipere" which means "to seize". So for all of you who thought WTF is this "concept" and why do the keep repeating this lame word, it is because "to seize" is the perfect "concept" for this "concept".