Lansdale Councilman, Subject of Write-In Campaign, Addresses GOP Criticisms

Lansdale Borough Councilman Dan Dunigan, a Republican who was ousted in the Primary in Ward Three, is the subject of recent write-in campaign for Tuesday's election in Lansdale.
On Sunday, the Lansdale Republican Club criticized Dunigan's write-in campaign on its Facebook page, calling it a "red herring." The Club then throws its support behind Republican newcomers for the two open ward seats, Pete Schmitt and Cory Brown.
"Many residents here in the 3rd Ward received Councilman Dunigan’s leaflet that touts his accomplishments and encourages the voter to 'write him in' for Council. His claims are more than a little misleading," stated the post.
The Club claims Dunigan is falsely claiming balanced budgets, A+ financial ratings, state-level fiscal awards, more than $1 million in yearly new revenue through partnerships and more than $50 million privately-invested in Lansdale.
"The yearly Budgets in Lansdale have always been balanced. They have to be in order to be passed. Lansdale has had an A+ financial rating since 2004, well before Mr. Dunigan’s tenure as Councilman," stated the post.
"Lansdale has received the State Accounting Award for 14 years in a row. Merck invested in Lansdale’s Wastewater treatment facility because Upper Gwynedd and Towamencin Townships declined to partner with Merck," it continued. "Fifty million invested in Lansdale? Not so fast. The Madison Parking Lot apartment complex is turning out to be a 'bait and switch' project with no parking garage and no SEPTA garage."
The Club claims Dunigan is ignoring the residents and urged voters to ignore his party rhetoric.
The Club claims Dunigan is ignoring the residents and urged voters to ignore his party rhetoric.

Dunigan responded as such in a Letter to the Editor:
"First, the write-in campaign is a grassroots effort of Ward 3 residents that came to me asking if I’d accept the office if they were able to succeed in a write in campaign. I agreed, provided that they could prove to me that success was possible and they did. I contributed several dozen signs from the primary and I intend to be at the polls on election day.
With respect to the recent mailer, let’s clarify a few items. The LRC knows all too well that prior to my arrival, that in 9 of 10 prior years, the budget was balanced by filling the deficit with reserves from the general fund. Budgets since have been balance without raiding the piggy bank.
The A+ rating from a decade ago is meaningless. Enron was once A+ rated. Had the Borough tried to borrow in the years between 2004 and the most recent borrowings, it’s highly unlikely we’d have been rated A+ due to the depletion of our reserves. Please see the comments in the ratings agency’s report on the 2012 borrowing.
State-level fiscal awards. The LRC again knows I’m not referring to the annual CAFR. The CAFR is for reporting of your finances properly and timely, not your financial management and fiscal policy. Many municipalities receive this every year. With the changes in financial management and fiscal policy instituted during my term, the Borough received the Governor’s Award for Local Government Excellence for Fiscal Accountability and Best Management Practices. In 2012, Lansdale was the only winner. I’ll text the picture of the award to Bob Iannozzi and let’s see if the LRC is transparent enough to post it to the LRC website and Facebook page.
The new revenue via the Merck partnership, while not entirely of my doing, and I never claimed it was, however, the comments and words of thanks I received from Merck spoke volumes to the important role which I played in setting the tone for business friendly professional partnership. It was unlike and other Merck had encountered from any other municipality. Merck was very appreciative of my involvement and felt it went a long way to getting the partnership started on the right foot and helping it to move more quickly than it might otherwise had I not been involved.
As for the nearly $50 million in private investment in Lansdale, yes, Equus Capital Partners is well on its way to investing in our Borough. Yes, the project has evolved and a parking structure isn’t needed at this time due to hundreds of spaces we have available most anytime within just a few minutes of the current lot and that the current version of the development replaces all of the current spaces. There will be no loss of parking as they’d like you to believe. Perhaps, the LRC could have reviewed the parking study, which notes hundreds of open parking spaces within a few minutes of the current lot and Main Street. The real reason the LRC is against the Madison redevelopment is demographics. Yes, it’s demographics. Generally, speaking apartments have a higher probability of attracting registered democrats. That’s bad if you’re the local Republican organization. The Borough can stagnate and crumble, so long as it stays Republican, seems to be the LRC goal."