October 16, 2023

Eric and Phil share an interest in history and historic preservation. And there are some great lessons from history that could help in understanding our present situation in Upper Allen. One such lesson is how the downfall of “Boss Tweed” of Tammany Hall came about.

Enter Thomas Nast and his famous cartoons that were published in the New York Times.

The formation of political rings is not uncommon and can occur when the same group of individuals go unchallenged and are re-elected term after term. In Upper Allen, the (entire) board now has a combined tenure of 93 years.

The only thing the public can “do about it” is to vote the incumbents out of office – or hope for media exposure and investigation by higher authorities.

More information on Thomas Nast can be found at :

https://thomasnast.com/

Here is an excerpt:

“America’s best-ever political cartoonist is renowned for creating the Republican Elephant and popularizing the Democratic Donkey. He also created the modern images of Santa Claus and Uncle Sam, influenced five victorious Presidential elections, and satirically commented on seven administrations. Nast’s star shown brightest during the Civil War and Reconstruction — when he had virtually no competition — and continued through the first decade of the Gilded Age. Nast’s most memorable victory — bringing down New York’s corrupt and entrenched Boss (William) Tweed and his Ring of thieves in 1871 — was achieved through informal collaboration with The New York Times. The paper extolled Nast, capturing the essence of the cartoonist’s power and influence.”

Our homepage photo was taken at the Glen Allen Mill in October, 2023. Above is how the Mill looked ca. 1879. More information on the Mill can be found at

https://friendsofthefarm.org/the-glen-allen-mill/

Here is the petition Phil created to Save The Yellow Breeches Historic District (this District includes the Mill):

https://www.change.org/p/save-the-yellow-breeches-historic-district-on-mccormick-road

There is an Upper Allen Township Community Group Facebook page with 3.6K members that is now being manipulated for the political benefit of incumbents seeking re-election. The page is administered by Niccole Drabenstadt.

This “community” page features posts in favor of incumbent Jim Cochran while removing posts, limiting comments, and declining posts by challenger Eric Fairchild.

Note how a simple 10 year comparison of UAT taxes to Hampden Township taxes is now being labeled as “group rules broken”.

This isn’t just unfair to Eric; it is unfair to all residents and voters who are being led to believe they are viewing a true community page.

Unsuspecting people are being deceived and manipulated in an attempt to influence the November 7, 2023 election.

Screen shots of affected posts are shown below.