Is Easttown Township still in the 1950’s? It’s hard to believe but the Republican-led Easttown Board of Supervisors continues the blatant sexist practice of only appointing white males to two important Township Advisory Boards. Both the seven member “Municipal Authority” and the five member “Zoning Board” only have white males!
Overall, women only accounted for 38% of the 45 members appointed to various Easttown Boards and Commissions as of January 2, 2021. Though 2020 census data isn’t yet available, one can readily assume that women probably make up 50-52% of the residents in Easttown. Why do women only account for 38% of the positions if they represent over half the population? Why does this persistent and wide-spread sexism still in Easttown?
As the Pennsylvania Township Supervisor’s Handbook clearly states on page 18: “Appointments to boards and commissions should reflect the township’s diversity, including individuals from different neighborhoods that have varied interests and backgrounds.” Sadly, it seems the Board of Supervisors feels it can ignore this policy with impunity.
We urge interested Easttown citizens to join Monday’s 7PM virtual Board of Supervisors meeting and question whether the appointments to Boards and Commissions are being done according to stated Township policy. If you are unable to attend the virtual meeting, please email all five Supervisors by 5PM, Monday. Here are their names and email addresses:
James Oram: joram@easttown.org
Marc Heppe: mheppe@easttown.org
Betsy Fadem: bfadem@easttown.org
Michael Wacey: mwacey@easttown.org
Beth D’Antonio: bdantonio@easttown.org
Some questions to ask:
- Why in the world are males being re-appointed to maintain the unacceptable sexist status-quo on boards and commissions when so many well qualified women reside in Easttown?
- Besides a posting on the Easttown.org website, what proactive measures did the Board of Supervisors do to publicize openings and recruit Easttown women to apply for boards and commissions in 2018? in 2019? in 2020?
- What do we tell our wonderful Easttown daughters of any age when they ask “Why are there so few women on Easttown Boards and Commissions?”
- How many women applied for positions on the Municipal Authority and Zoning Board in 2018? in 2019? in 2020?
- Is the Board of Supervisors willing to ask some males on the Municipal Authority Board and the Zoning Board to resign so some women could be appointed to these boards?
Please visit our page with detailed information about all of Easttown Boards & Commissions.
