2006 News
September 29 , 2006
Bucks County Commissioners Chairman Declares the State of the County is "Great"
As the first batch of leaves wafted from the trees behind Doylestown’s Waterwheel Restaurant and Country Inn this morning, Bucks County Commissioners James F. Cawley, Esq., Charles H. Martin and Sandra A. Miller delivered their annual “State of the County” breakfast speeches to members of the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce (CBCC).
“Two weeks ago, at the Lower Bucks Chamber of Commerce, I declared the state of the county to be ‘very, very good,’ “ Chairman Cawley told the gathering. “In fact, that is no longer accurate. The state of the county is great.”
Addressing the theme of emergency preparedness, Cawley insisted that the “watchword for county government is ‘vigilance.’ ”
Pinpointing regional cooperation through ventures like the “Ready Bucks” program, which can be accessed through the official county website, www.buckscounty.org/readybucks , Cawley called on Bucks residents to accept emergency preparedness as an individual challenge.
Cawley credited county Emergency Management Director John Dougherty and Chief Operating Officer/Managing Director David Sanko for their vision and leadership in shepherding intergovernmental preparedness planning.
“We have to constantly look at new threats and find creative ways of planning,” Cawley added.
After the chairman yielded the microphone to Commissioner Miller, she delivered a detailed account of the county’s BUCKS VOTES educational program. The program is specifically tailored to reach as many of the county’s registered voters as possible. In the lobby of the Waterwheel banquet room, Consumer Protection officials/BUCKS VOTES trainers Michael Bannon and Richard Gidlewski gave attendees a hands-on opportunity to test the Danaher ELECTronic 1242 machines.
“This is a county-wide effort to educate the public,” Miller noted. We are involved in a partnership with the League of Women Voters. We want to ensure that anyone who’s interested in trying the machines before Nov. 7 has had that opportunity by Election Day.”
Martin rounded out the program by addressing the county’s aggressive open-space and agricultural preservation efforts. He trumped the Sept. 20 preservation of 127 acres in Wrightstown Twp. through the county acquisition of the Dana Stott-Cohen Farm, also known as Kings Oaks.
“We have 60 farms on a prioritized waiting list,” Martin said, reiterating the county’s goal of preserving 10,000 farm acres by the end of 2007 (presently, almost 9,200 acres have been protected in perpetuity). “We want to preserve every single farm that wants to be preserved. I think that’s a great goal.”
The breakfast concluded with a question and answer session during which one attendee praised the commissioners for their work with the Community Alert Network, which notifies residents in flood-plain areas of impending danger.