It was a bad week for transparency in Whitemarsh Township. On May 8th, Whitemarsh Township’s board of supervisors voted 4-0 to cancel the annual and long-running 4th of July Parade (Supervisor Vincenet Manuele was not in attendance).

In a statement, Township Board of Supervisors Chair Jacy Toll said the decision followed a safety review of the event and the determination that it could not be safely held. In a second statement, Whitemarsh Township Chief of Police Christopher Ward stated that he supported the decision, citing an investigation into the cost of securing the parade, noting that it was something Whitemarsh Township could not afford or accept liability for. Essentially, the concern was for someone using a vehicle to attack the parade (this wasn’t stated outright in either statement, but was mentioned by the township manager in the video below).

Since the announcement, MoreThanTheCurve.com has been reviewing public documents such as agendas and minutes of the past 12 months of meetings involving the board of supervisors, the parks and recreation board (which includes a subcommittee on the parade), and the emergency services board. We cannot find a single mention of a process to review security concerns about the parade or any mention of the possibility that it was under consideration for cancellation. In an effort to make sure we didn’t miss anything, we sent emails to members asking them to point us to any agendas and minutes that would include this information. We have not received any responses yet. We also intend to file a right-to-know request.

As far as we can find, there was nothing publicly shared or stated by the township that would lead the public to be concerned about the future of the parade. Zero.

This brings us to the May 8th agenda of the board of supervisors. All that the agenda offered about the parade was “4th of July update.” As you can see, it was placed under the section of the agenda for motions and was between two items that were clearly worded to show that a vote was to be taken. Words like “consider” and “authorize” were used. This was not the case for the parade.

If a member of the public had reviewed the agenda, there would have been nothing to alert them to the possibility of a vote regarding the future of the parade.

Board Chair Jacy Toll looked rather pathetic, asking for public comment just before the vote when she and the township made zero effort to provide the public with any information about the true nature of what was on the agenda.

You can watch the portion of the meeting involving the parade below.

Images – Top image is screengrab from Whitemarsh Township’s video. Agenda image is screengrab from township’s website