Bob Norris
Bob Norris
Kennett Borough Council
Brief Bio:
Bob Norris—have served as an active Kennett Square Borough Council member since 2022. Was unanimously elected by fellow council members as Council President for the last 2 years. Has been recognized as running effective council meetings by council members, the mayor, staff and residents developing and ensuring more involved public discussion.
Chaired the Finance Committee, and Infrastructure Committee.
Borough representative of the Kennett Square—Kennett Township Sewer working group, and the Borough working group to improve the appearance and financial return from the 600 S. Broad Street Borough property.
Led a Borough Affordable Housing task force to determine how to improve the number of affordable and attainable housing in Kennett Square.
Active in the Kennett Fire and EMS Commission meetings and strong relations with Fire Chiefs and Commission members.
Started group of fellow area elected officials from Kennett Township, East Marlborough, New Garden, and Kennett Square to discuss common needs and working together as neighboring municipalities.
Active in the Chester County Economic Development Council Redevelopment Committee.
Started a Kennett Square Economic working group to determine how better manage and plan for the economic needs of the Borough and wider Kennett area.
Former Board member of Kennett Collaborative and Habitat for Humanity. Current Board member of Friends Home. Member of the fund raising committee for the new Kennett Library.
Kennett Consolidated School Board Member 2019-2021.
Served on the New Garden Board of Supervisors from 2004-2011 including 3 years as Board Chair and Vice-Chair.
Founded and ran a pharmaceutical marking and communications company—Complete Healthcare Communications—for 20 years building it to be recognized as one of the best in the industry with over 140 people.
QUESTIONAIRRE
Why I am Running for Borough Council:
The beauty of Kennett Square is the people who live here and in our surrounding communities. The diversity and inclusivity of the Borough make it a unique and very welcoming community. We have over 20 local non-profit organizations who’s purpose is to make the Kennett area a better place to live, work and play. There are 100s of volunteers who give their time and financial support to make these organizations fulfill their missions. Whether it is KACS, LCH, or Family Promise helping families in need, Casa Guanajuato or Mighty Writers helping our Latino neighbors become more part of the community, or Kennett Collaborative or the Kennett Area Park Authority trying to help the Borough become more social or healthy, we are very fortunate to live here. I hope the contributions I have made and have been part of have helped to make Kennett Square a more welcoming and financially sounds place to live. I would be honored to see one more term to continue this work.
What three things in the Borough I would like to see change for come to fruition:
1-Financial Security
Kennett Square Borough has a significant number of financial challenges it is dealing with. The Borough is old with aging streets, buildings, sewer and water lines and plant. The cost of police, fire and emergency medical services continues to increase significantly. The Borough bought a very expensive property as a municipal complex. Taxes have risen and inflation has been challenging to all of us.
Over the past 3 1/2 years, our Council has improved funding and taken solid steps to set aside funds to improve a significant number of roads, a significant rebuilding of Birch Street is underway, and we have a new state of the art police station. We have negotiated a fair agreement with the Fire and EMS Commission and have improved our relationship and look forward to re-entering the Commission and being an engaged member. Our financial house is much more in order, but we need to keep going and detmeurine what Kennett Square will look like over the next 10-20 years and be ready for thiat. I hope to continue to be part of a stronger and more accountable guardian of our tax dollars.
2-Affordable Housing Improvement
Kennett Square’s success as a wonderful place to live and raise a family has been gratifying and special to be part of. There is hardly a week that goes by there there isn’t a Third Thursday during the summer on State St., or special event happening somewhere in town. And how proud are we of our Memorial Day parade and the Mushroom Festival. Not to mention our neighbor, Longwood Gardens. We are the talk of the County if not state.
Our success has also made it hard on many of our residents, want to be residents, and even out kids who want to stay in our wonderful town. We have become an expensive place to buy a home, let alone live comfortably.
We have been working on and with other organizations to help improve the ability for people who want to live in the Borough to be able to do so. We have a few “once in a generation” opportunities to make significant improvements in affordable places to live. We have also worked to make incremental improvements in our current zoning by allowing accessory dwelling units (ADU) in the Borough. This has been a long slog, but I am hopeful a majority of council and resident supporters will allow this to happen, a very first step in a toolbox full of zoning changes we can loosen to allow for more affordable homes in Kennett Square.
3-Engaged and Constructive Public Input and Communications
We often hear comments like, “I didn’t know that….”. This is in spite of having discussed it at one or more public meetings. With only a handful of people attending most meetings, what can we be doing better to communicate key issues, decisions and get more public dialogue going. We do have more regular email communications an an annual print newsletter. We can do more and come up with more modern ways to engage and disseminate information on what is going on in Kennett Square.
4-State St
We will have a public dialogue on making State Street a much more pedestrian friendly area. Would residents like to 1) stop tractor trailer traffic on the street, and 2) would residents like to see a single lane for cars and widen the sidewalks and/or have diagonal street parking?