I wish there was more information on Chester City worker layoffs

I heard someone say city officials blamed the lay-off on their sponsors stop making payment to the city. If true, who knew the city had sponsors supporting payroll? I immediately wondered in Harrah’s stopped making payments to the city now that they’re closed and aren’t making any money.

A couple weeks ago I asked a guy close to the original deal Harrah’s signed with the city if Harrah’s would/could reduce their payment to the city in light of their closing. The only answer I could get out of him was, ‘it’s unchartered territory. The contract says they are to pay the city $10 million a year.’

I figure if it came down to Harrah’s lawyers arguing they don’t have the money to pay Chester, and Chester lawyers arguing we need Harrah’s money to survive, I’d bet the house on Harrah’s getting the better end of that deal. I wish city officials would snitch on who the ‘sponsor’ is who stopped giving us money so I could attack them.

We don’t know why folks were laid off. City government works for the citizens of Chester, but we always get left out of the information mix. They claim transparency but when the Daily Times’ reporter asked questions, they had nothing more to say, especially when it comes to the money the feds just approved directed to municipalities feeling the sting from the coronavirus. Why can’t we get some of that money to keep people employed?
Once upon a time, I thought government was like one big family designed to worktogether. When I see federal programs given to the states to manage, then passed through to congressional districts and counties before hitting the municipalities, that takes some coordination, compromise, and relationship building.
In my crazy mixed up mind, I see Chester City looking up to Delaware County Council as their big brother. Our state rep and state senator are our cousins. Our US congressperson and US senator are our aunt and uncle, and then there’s big poppa, the governor, up in Harrisburg. When you get in trouble, you call on the family to see you through. But, that doesn’t seem to be the case around here. Chester city government behaves like they have all the answers and resources in the world, but if they did, they wouldn’t be laying off people right now.

And then, there’s the deal Chester Water Authority put in the city’s lap. To my knowledge, the city never rejected the $60 million offer CWA presented to them last summer. They just haven’t acted on it, hoping instead to get the okay to sell CWA like it’s there’s to sell.