Will run for supervisor in Chadds Ford
Frank Murphy
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
PENNSBURY — Frank Murphy, the Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education member who oversaw the renovation of Unionville High School as the board’s Facilities Committee chair, announced Monday night he would resign in June.
Murphy, whose resignation takes effect on June 17, is running for Township Supervisor in Chadds Ford. He said he wanted to give the board plenty of notice so there would be no press to find his replacement.
An attorney with a Philadelphia law firm with an engineering background, Murphy has been among the more visible members of the board since joining it in 2009. He served as board Vice President in 2011 and was voice of board’s negotiation committee during the contention 2010-11 teacher contract talks.
A number of Murphy’s colleagues on the board — a number of which were caught a bit by surprise by his announcement in the final moments of the meeting at Hillendale Elementary School — expressed sorrow at his decision and wished him well.
Murphy, a Republican and a former Aston Township Commissioner, is seeking to replace two-term supervisor Deborah Love, who agreed to step aside in favor of him. He will face Rhona Klein, a Democrat who ran for supervisor in 2007.
Murphy is not the only school board member who is leaving the school board and is running for township supervisor. Holly Manzone, a Region B member from Pocopson opted not to run for reelection this year and instead is seeking a seat on the Pocopson Board of Supervisors, replacing the retiring Steve Conary. Manzone, a Democrat, is expected to face Matthew Read, a Republican.
Frank is a Republican machine politician. I was merely pointing that out.
He moved out of Aston where he was a supervisor and immediately ran for School Director in UCFSD. It was quite clear that he planned to move up the Republican organization with the blessing (and probably direction) of Dominic Pileggi. I said in the very beginning that being a school director in UCFSD was just a stepping stone for Frank Murphy. I was right.
I’m not sure what the point of this comment is unless you feel it important to pat yourself on the back. Frank was a good School Board Director who served the district well. Regardless of whether his service to the community was the beginning, middle or end of his career in public service seems to be entirely beside the point.