Yes, the Supervisors DID break the law in the appointment of George Bell

And they knew they did it, too. Here's the proof.

The appointment of George Bell to the Exeter Township Board of Supervisors (BOS) was an illegal act. The BOS, Solicitor Chad Schnee, and Vacancy Board Chair Dianna Reeser knew it was illegal, but proceeded to appoint him anyway.

The Exeter Examiner has obtained the very email it sought in a Right to Know appeal, through a confidential source. The email proves that the group mentioned above worked in a knowingly illegal fashion to appoint Bell.

The email, dated April 22nd, 2022, was sent by Schnee to the BOS of the time, then interim township manager and current Exeter Supervisor Clarence Hamm, and a township employee, whose name will be left out because it is inconsequential to the story. Others listed in the email are board members Michelle Kircher, George Bell, Dianna Reeser, Dave Hughes, and former Board Chair Carl Staples.

The note is sent the day after the surprise resignation of Staples, and preceeded, within hours, the resignation of Reeser, who served on the board at the time. It was sent to all members of the board because Staples and Reeser were still members until their resignations would officially be accepted.

In the email, Schnee cites state law for picking a Supervisor in the event of an unforeseen absence, straight out of Section 407 of the 2nd Class Township Code. Schnee wrote, ”Once Supervisor Staples resignation is accepted (or deemed accepted), the Board has 30 days to fill the vacancy. If, for whatever reason, the Board cannot agree on a replacement, then the Vacancy Board would be charged with filling the vacancy within 15 days after the 30-day period provided to the Board of Supervisors. (My emphasis) The Vacancy Board consists of the remaining four supervisors, as well as a member of the public (Jim Ruoff. who serves as the Chair of the Vacancy Board).”

The illegal action occurred at the January 8th, 2024 meeting held by the Supervisors to pick a replacement for the empty seat, vacated by Board Chair Jack Piho winning a two year term AND a six year term in last year’s election. Piho chose to sit in the six year seat, since he can’t sit in two seats. That left the two year seat to be filled. The Supervisors met on January 2nd for their reorganization meeting, at which Piho was appointed chair. They then set January 8th as the date when a replacement would be chosen, giving potential candidates a mere six days to get their letters of interest and resumes sent.

Looking at the video of the January 8th meeting, at about the 2:33:00 mark, you’ll see the board deadlocked on the vote for Bell, with Kircher and Hamm voting for, and Piho and Hughes voting against. You then hear Schnee say, “I believe” that the VC should be asked for a vote. Even though he knew it was procedurally incorrect and illegal. The vote then turns to Reeser, who casts an affirmative, and illegal, vote for Bell. All of this occurred after Piho gave the instructions as to how the vote  would proceed, which included allowing Reeser to vote. This is another place where Schnee could have corrected him but didn’t. These types of situations are the very reason for the Solicitor to be included in the meetings, to point out procedural errors that can lead to legal problems, and he failed miserably. Was it intentional? This email proves that it was.

This is a CLEAR violation of the law, and it was done with political considerations in mind. It was premeditated, and done with foreknowledge of what the proper process is. Collusion between Supervisors and the Solicitor to put a handpicked candidate in place is proven.

The Second Class Township Code Section 407(c) says:

This is the section quoted by Schnee, nearly verbatim.

Article 35 of the Second Class Township Code provides for the punishment of willful disobedience of any part of the Code:

A search for the penalties of a summary offense in Pennsylvania provides for a fine of up to $1,500 and 90 days in jail.

The Exeter Township Supervisors willfully and with knowledge that they were doing so, broke a state law. They were aided by the Solicitor and the Vacancy Board Chair, both of whom knew better than to do what they did. We now have the proof that they knew what they were doing was illegal and incorrect procedurally. This is corruption, plain and simply, and they should pay the fullest penalty possible. We should be insisting on the start being the immediate resignation of George Bell, Michelle Kircher, Clarence Hamm, as well as Solicitor Chad Schnee and Dianna Reeser. Kircher, Hamm, and Schnee for the conspiracy, and Bell and Reeser because they knew Bell was illegally appointed and did nothing to stop it. Any one of them could have stopped the appointment, and a fair minded and reasonable person WOULD have. But they had a political goal in mind, and proceeded. These people took an oath to uphold the laws of the Commonwealth and they willfully broke one of those laws in the pursuit of political goals through the illicit placement of a Supervisor. There is no question now that this is what happened. They knew what they did was illegal. We should then push for a full prosecution of these individuals under state law.

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