Hmmm, nothing takes the joy out of my morning coffee and perusal of my local paper than having to look smack dab in the face of the King of Eminent Domain, does it?
Image courtesy of the creative folks at http://writemarsh.blogspot.com/

Well, today there is a story in the paper about Ken Davis getting the "Emerald Necklace Award for Open Space Preservation". Ok first of all, Emerald Necklace as a term makes you think of other kinds of necklaces with a negative and filthy dirty connotation. Second of all, this award seems so politically motivated, doesn't it? Thirdly, Mr. Davis was a commissioner, yes, was head of Montco GOP, yes, but has since left those duties. It's no secret that he abdicated his commissioner's chair because he would have gotten voted out over Ardmore and Eminent Domain, is it? And it's no secret he was blamed for fractionalizing of the Montco GOP, is it? But the thing is this, what this man did when he accepted his award recently was extremely distasteful: he for all intents and purposes dissed Commissioner Jenny Brown who is the current commissioner of Lower Merion Township's 2nd Ward. That was totally and utterly classless and petty, but what did I expect out of someone with the couth of a toadstool? That was very BAD FORM. He couldn't resist the urge to exercise a bully pulpit and accept his award in the gracious manner in which it was politically intended, could he?

Well Mr. Davis, you are no Ms. Brown and thank the stars in heaven above for that. As a matter of fact, you can't hold a candle to her and are you just jealous because her constituents actually love her? I used to feel sorry for you because you were King of the Heap but a few short years ago and have since fallen down and can't get up, but now I just can't understand why you can't gracefully leave the party so to speak? Or if you are going to accept an award, don't use your Grammy time to swat at the Commissioner who now is responsible for your ward, ok?

And this Gladwyne Trail smells anyway. Like let's start with the "consultant", ok? Taxpayers are paying for him and is he the ONLY consultant that can do these things? Why is he the one size fits all consultant for Montgomery County? Why is it when he shows up at Lower Merion Township public meetings, he can't seem to answer many basic questions? When it comes to things like this, should people wonder if that new unit formed in Montco might wish to take a peek at Lower Merion? Otherwise known as "The Kingdom"?

Here, read it and gag:
Davis' efforts to preserve open space earns him an Emerald Necklace
By Cheryl Allison

Ken Davis was in a familiar place again recently - at the front of Lower Merion's board room.This time, though, the former commissioner and board president wasn't there because of the work he did over 15 years in that chamber.

He was there because of the work he has done outside the municipal building's walls, helping to protect and enhance the township's green and open spaces.

Davis, of Gladwyne, was honored this month with Lower Merion's Emerald Necklace Award for Open Space Preservation. The award was created in 2006, to recognize citizens who contribute to the township's open space goals, and perhaps inspire others to participate.

In presenting the award, Davis's former colleagues and successors on the board of commissioners specifically highlighted the work he has done as the citizen co-chairman with Commissioner Phil Rosenzweig of the township's Ad Hoc Open Space Committee.

It was this committee, over the past year, that was charged with looking at the township's ambitious new Open Space Plan and identifying projects for potential funding through Montgomery County's Open Space Program.

In approaching the task, board President Bruce Reed said, the committee's "central focus," in a time when land values are high and funds limited, is to find projects that would "qualitatively expand the township's open space network" by "linking existing parks, schools and institutions together." Another key goal was to find ways to access the Schuylkill River to increase opportunities for public recreation....Some years later, Montgomery County began work on a second open space bond issue. Davis served on its committee to write a new Open Space Plan. In a multi-year process, he also chaired the Lower Merion board's Open Space Committee, producing the plan that is now guiding open space decisions. It is that plan that highlighted the potential for creating a trail on the western bank of the Schuylkill along Lower Merion's seven miles of riverfront and beyond.

A feasibility study is under way for a trail extending to Valley Forge National Historical Park, now to be completed before the end of the year. It has generated some controversy, particularly, as it happens, in Davis's old ward. Some residents are concerned about the safety and expense of building any type of trail through Gladwyne.

It's a point on which Davis said he and his successor in Ward 2, Commissioner Jenny Brown, "have different views."....The head of a lobbying practice, Duane Morris Government Affairs, within the Duane Morris law firm, Davis served as chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Committee for two years after leaving the Lower Merion board in early 2006. He continues as chairman of the Montgomery County Revitalization Board.

Even in that function, he draws a connection to open space preservation. "We're trying to make the older boroughs more attractive so people will move there," and not sprawl into undeveloped land farther out, he said.

Was he surprised that his old board, now predominantly Democratic, voted to make him the latest Emerald Necklace honoree? At the award presentation, he joked that, given some recent party clashes, it was probably a split vote.

But, more seriously, when it comes to the importance of preserving open space, he said, "It transcends politics."

What a bunch of hooey. If they were going to give an Emerald Necklace Award, they should have given it to the volunteers who have cleaned up that Bala Trail - like those boy scouts. Given it to the people who literally, not figuratively got their hands dirty, eh?