Tensions High at Chester Act 47 Meeting

Chester residents did not respond positively to the announcement that the city will continue to operate with state assistance for three more years, despite what consultants said was “significant progress.”

Act 47 mandates that Pennsylvania has a responsibility to assist state municipalities that are in severe financial distress. The Department of Community and Economic Development declared a state of financial distress in Chester in 1995 and hired Econsult Solutions, a Philadelphia-based consulting firm, to draft a recovery plan. This is the fourth extension the city has received.

Residents gathered at a public meeting Tuesday night to hear about the future of Chester under Act 47. Several residents voiced their displeasure and concern after the presentation.

Clarence Terrell (center) and other Chester residents sign in at Chester City Hall before the meeting. “I don’t have high hopes,” the retired maintenance worker said. “Especially not if the administration speaks. They don’t tell us anything.”

Econsult Solutions representatives Robert Jaeger (far left), Shelly James, Steven Mullin and Dan Connelly before the presentation. Chester “narrowly missed” being released from Act 47 status and will operate under an extension until 2021, with quarterly financial audits and reviews, Mullin said.

After the Econsult presentation, a microphone was set up for questions. Chester resident Alonzo Berton (left, center), who also owns properties in the city, asked why the city was not investing in waterfront properties. Jaeger, right, referred Berton to a copy of Econsult’s presentation, which detailed the city’s future investment plans. Property investment was not on the list.

“Why has the city not been audited neither last year nor the year before?” Clarence Terrell (left, center) asked the panel, referring to presentation figures saying that Econsult has not audited Chester’s 2016 and 2017 financial reports. Mullin replied that Chester hasn’t caught up with their audits yet. “Really?” Terrell replied. “Since 1995? I find that unlikely.”

The panel did not respond to lifelong Chester resident Jaclyn Duncan, who did not use the microphone to address the room. “You have this plan all laid out,” she said. “But where did all these debts even come from? Why is the city in distress? Why are we doing this?” She turned to Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland and members of the city council, who sat in the front row. “When y’all go to the roundtable, I hope you think about what you’re doing,” she said.

Jaeger, left, and Mullin shake hands after the meeting. “We understand the residents’ dismay,” Mullin said. “Hopefully they can understand that we are doing our best, that the administration is working just as hard as we are. We don’t want to lay down the law here, so to speak, and I think residents don’t get that. We want to find solutions that work for everyone. We’re just making suggestions.”