A ‘new era’ in Chester as iconic supervisor Roddey loses re-election

Larry Ingram walked into the government offices in Chester Wednesday on a day he never thought he would see. The official name of the building is the “R. Carlisle Roddey Chester County Government Complex.”

“I can’t believe Carlisle Roddey lost,” said Ingram. “He’s been a public servant for Chester all his life. Carlisle Roddey is Chester County.”

But Roddey did lose Tuesday, in a close election for the top job in Chester, the supervisor, in charge of all departments and chair of the county council. It’s a job Roddey has held for much of the past four decades.

Ingram walked past county employees and department heads, who walked slowly and in shock after a department head meeting where the future that is now in flux was discussed. He stopped at the window that leads to the office where Roddey has run Chester County for so long and told Ann Weir, the secretary, “Tell Mr. Roddey I was asking for him. I just wanted to see him and let him know I can’t believe it.”

Roddey, a Democratic Party stalwart and icon, 77 years old, lost to newcomer Shane Stuart, a petition candidate who had never been elected to anything before Tuesday. Stuart, a former police officer and military man, ran a campaign based on two points – change and telling people that he is not Carlisle Roddey.

Ingram passed through a hallway that is covered with pictures of the Chester County Council over the decades, and in dozens of the pictures are a smiling Roddey. Roddey is a man whose work brought the county offices to the city of Chester, and the building bears his name. In as little as a week or more, it appears Roddey will have to box up his belongings and leave the building.

Workers and residents visiting the offices to pay bills or handle business all talked about the election. Unlike York County, which has a hired county manager who reports to an elected county council, Chester County’s elected supervisor runs the county’s daily work.

In short, the Chester County supervisor is by far the most powerful person in Chester County. And for so long, that supervisor was Carlisle Roddey.

The same stunned responses to the election were found in downtown Chester. The surprise was perhaps more intense because Roddey beat Stuart in November, but results were thrown out by the state because of ballot problems.

“I have never met anybody who loved this county more than Carlisle Roddey,” said Sylvia Robertson, a waitress at Gene’s restaurant downtown. “It is a sad day today. A lot of people are surprised.”

The fact that people are surprised might be a reason Stuart won. He ran as a reform candidate, against the legend, saying it was time to change.

A customer named Myrtle Farrell talked about how Carlisle Roddey should have stayed in office “forever,” almost like a king or prince. Her daughter, Rita Terry, spoke of how “Carlisle Roddey has been Chester my whole life.”

Yet the third person at the table, Sam Yuergan, spoke softly when he said: “It was time for a change. I met Mr. Stuart many times. It was time, and he won. It’s a new era in Chester.”

Still, there was so much talk Wednesday of Roddey’s lifetime of service.

“I have the greatest respect for Carlisle Roddey’s service to Chester – it has spanned his entire adult life,” said Chester’s public defender, Mike Lifsey, a Chester resident.

Lifsey said that Stuart, whom he has known for two decades, is “a very good man” whom Lifsey looks forward to working with. The solicitor for Chester, Randy Newman, echoed Lifsey’s comments.

“Carlisle Roddey has been a public servant to the people of Chester his whole life,” Newman said.

Yet Newman, elected in November as top prosecutor for Chester and Lancaster counties and who ran into Stuart many times on the campaign trail and considers Stuart a friend, knows that elections bring change. Newman has already asked for more money from Chester County for prosecutions to ease the state’s worst backlog of criminal cases.

“I look forward to working with Mr. Stuart,” Newman said. “We want the same things for the people of Chester County.”

Roddey, as happens in politics, had some people who did not always see eye to eye with him. Chester County Sheriff Alex Underwood was the most vocal critic in recent months. The two tangled in court over control of the county’s 911 system and had a heated confrontation in November over money for more deputies and equipment.

But Underwood said Wednesday that his differences with Roddey were policy, not personal.

“Carlisle Roddey did many things for the people of Chester County,” Underwood said. “I am not going to bash somebody after an election.”

Still, Stuart, a former police officer, has shown that he will listen to Underwood’s pleas for more money for deputies to fight gangs and other crime problems in Chester County. Stuart has attended the county’s gang task force meetings as a citizen. Now, Stuart will be there as supervisor.

“Shane Stuart is looking toward the future in Chester County, not the past,” Underwood said. “We will work together to bring Chester County to the future. He wants what is best for Chester County, and we both agree the best is yet to come.”

That future will be shaped without Roddey having a seat at the big table where the decisions are made.

This story was originally published March 4, 2015 at 9:52 PM with the headline "A ‘new era’ in Chester as iconic supervisor Roddey loses re-election."