Ian Litwin of the City Planning Commission (far right) addresses the Holmesburg Civic Association at the April 2011 meeting.

Two of the three candidates for the 6th District City Council seat went to last night’s Holmesburg Civic Association meeting to address neighborhood and district-wide concerns and answer questions from residents.

Republican candidate Sandy Stewart and Democratic candidate Marty Bednarek each addressed the members before taking turns answering questions. Democratic candidate Bobby Henon was not in attendance.

DROP was a hot topic, but a question about term limits drew the most discussion from the roughly 20 people at the meeting. continue reading »

Sharon Weiseman of Tacony Town Watch make sure the radio signal is working so she can connect to the base operator.

“Ok, do a radio check,” said Paul Costello, president of the Tacony Town Watch, to Sharon Weiseman, his partner for the night. Weiseman is the secretary of the Tacony Town Watch; she responds and the pair start the patrol for the night.

Two other cars are patrolling the streets of Tacony and Holmesburg with Costello tonight. They need to be in constant contact with each other and with the base operator who is stationed at a house instead of on the streets. The base operator will record everything the members of the town watch call in and will call the police if there is suspicious activity.

Weiseman checks in with the other members on the street and the base operator to make sure all radios are working. Then the patrol begins.

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Mayfair Town Watch has moved one step closer to its goal of street patrols by finishing up its member training session, with plans to hit the streets this weekend.

“I think we need to get out there on the streets ASAP, and that’s what this is all about,” President John Vearling said. continue reading »

Mayfair Town Watch President John Vearling at the group's first meeting earlier this month

The members of Mayfair Town Watch covered a lot of ground Wednesday night at their meeting – the third in a weekly series.

Keeping it short so as not to interfere with the first game of the World Series, President John Vearling said he and the rest of the group were happy to welcome Bill Bush and Angel Hartman of Tacony Town Watch. The two gave the newly formed Mayfair organization pointers, and warned members about what they’ll encounter during their patrols. continue reading »