I still have questions about the curious case of Paul Summers.
He’s the longtime Upper Darby GOP loyalist who got caught forging signatures on petitions for then candidate Pat Meehan in the 2010 7th District Congressional race.
He ended up falling on his sword, pleaded guilty and was placed on probation.
That didn’t stop him from landing on his feet. He managed to score a new job with a non-profit in Media called the Center for Resolutions. It used to be called the Community Dispute Settlement Program of Delaware County Inc. It gets the bulk of its funding from the county.
You can read all the details here.
Summers was a product of the old Upper Darby regime. To say he was loyal to the legendary, late Upper Darby GOP boss John McNichol would be an understatement. He once famously quipped that he would run through a wall for McNichol.
Meehan probably wishes he was not quite so zealous. The petition flap caused an uproar in a tight race vs. state Rep. Bryan Lentz that Meehan eventually won.
John McNichol lived and died with a sense of loyalty that is rarely found anymore. We didn’t always see eye to eye on things, but I still admired the guy. And respected him.
McNichol stuck with Summers, even through the ugliness of the forgery charges.
But McNichol tragically died last winter.
I’m told that Summers does not exactly have a lot of benefactors left in the Delco GOP. So how did he wind up with this gig?
It is not a county job, even though the agency does get some county money.
I find it hard to believe that either Council Chairman Tom McGarrigle or party boss Andy Reilly knew that Summers had picked up this new position.
Regardless, it makes the party look bad, and it only reinforces an image a lot of people in this county have of the party that has ruled the courthouse for decades.
They take care of their own.
I was expecting a lot of backlash when the story hit yesterday. There were lots of comments posted on the story on DelcoTimes.com, but I did not field one call from an official to complain that we were again showing our bias, that we had it in for the local GOP, which is honestly what I expected.
In fact, the few people I did come in contact with during the day were happy to see the story hit print.
You can read our editorial on the situation here.
Wonder if I’ll get any calls today?
Comments