By JENNA PORTNOYSTAFF WRITER

Pulitzer Prize-winningauthor Pearl S. Buck’s portraitpeered down on Bucks Countycommissioners and membersof Namdong district as thecommunities signed analliance Friday at the estatewhere she lived her last 40years.

“Lady Pearl Buck, as she isknown in South Korea, wouldbe very proud to have you herebuilding this bridge betweenBucks County and South Korea,the place that she loved,” saidJanet Mintzer, president andCEO of Pearl S. BuckInternational.

Among her humanitarianefforts, Buck opened inorphanage in South Korea in1965. Commissioners contin-ued her legacy of friendshipwith people from other landswith the so-called 21st CenturyAlliance — the first formalpartnership the county has eversigned with another govern-ment.

“It is an agreement in princi-pal,” said Commissioner JimCawley. “What we do in practiceis something we will continue toexplore.”

Commissioners and officialsfrom a delegation of SouthKoreans visiting Bucks thisweekend spoke about the part-nership and thanked attorneyTom Jennings and Adam Kim,head of the governor’s advisorycommission on AsianAmerican Affairs for arrangingit.

Jennings, who lives in BucksCounty, was introduced to Kimthrough the InternationalVisitors Council Program, theU.S. Department of State’s offi-cial host program. Jennings andhis wife have been volunteerIVC hosts for years.

The men paired the commu-nities based on their mutualbusiness and environmentalgoals. Vail Garvin, executivedirector of the Central BucksChamber of Commerce, alsoplayed a role in the partner-ship.

Commissioner DianeMarseglia said the timing oftheir visit was appropriatebecause on WednesdayPresident Barack Obamainstructed Secretary of StateHillary Rodham Clinton to signthe Treaty of Amity andCooperation in Southeast Asia.

The agreement is a commit-ment to peacefully resolveregional disputes that alreadyhas been signed by more than adozen countries, the AssociatedPress reported.

Namdong is home to anindustrial complex that is simi-lar to Bucks’ KeystoneIndustrial Port Complex inFairless Hills. The SouthKorean district has 460,000 resi-dents compared with Bucks’620,000.

Kim Jeong-il, consulategeneral of South Korea, notedthey are eager to grow manu-facturing businesses in thecomplex, and reiterated thebusiness community’s inter-est in biotechnology business-es.

Mayor Yoon Tae Jim,mayor of the Namdong dis-trict of the coastal port city of

Incheon, invited commission-ers to visit the region for them-selves during the port festivalOct. 16 to 19.

The proverb he recitedechoed the theme of the ceremo-ny: “Things we possess cannotreally be valued without a friendto share them with.”

He also suggested the twocommunities hold annualbusiness meetings, whichCawley called a logical nextstep.

“Ultimately the hope isthere will be so many membersof the business community thatwould be going back and forththat it would be natural,”Cawley said, adding that tele-conferencing could be anoption.

The Namdong mayor alsoencouraged commissioners to

initiate an English languagetraining program for SouthKoreans wishing to communi-cate directly with their counter-parts across the Pacific. Cawleyliked the idea, suggesting thecommunity college could play arole.

At the ceremony interpretershelped both sides understandeach other. There are 1.5 millionKoreans living in the U.S. andBucks County has a thrivingpopulation of people withKorean heritage.

“They want to learn to speakEnglish,” Jennings said of thevisitors. “In my view, we shouldbe learning Korean.”

The weekend itineraryfocused on cultural exchange,including tours of Bridge ValleyElementary School, thePennsylvania BiotechnologyCenter and Delaware ValleyCollege, which also providedthe transportation.

Also on tap, visits to BucksCounty Community College, theKorean Veterans Memorial andthe Michener Art Museum,where they’ll meet CongressmanPatrick Murphy.

They’ll attend Sunday serv-ices at Bucks CountyPresbyterian Church followedby a tour of the port complexand dental implant makerHiossen, formerly Osstem, ofSouth Korea.

In addition to governmentofficials, six businessmenmade the 14-hour flight, whichwas not financed by BucksCounty. They’ll return withMercer tiles from the commis-sioners. Jenna Portnoy can be reached at 215-345-3060 orjportnoy@phillyBurbs.com.

By GARY WECKSELBLATTSTAFF WRITER

Bucks County educationadvocates rallied Friday in sup-port of Gov. Ed Rendell’s budg-et and income tax increasewhile taking shots at aRepublican plan they claimwould shortchange school dis-tricts.

“This is not the time to cutback on education inPennsylvania because educa-tion is the key to our future,”said Palisades School BoardPresident Michael Lynch.“Cuts in state funding amountto a misleading sleight of hand— shifting the burden to localtaxpayers who are already pay-ing significant property taxesin a time of economic hard-ship.”

Rendell has proposed a $29.1billion budget that includes a 16percent hike in the personalincome tax. It contrasts sharplywith Senate Republicans, whopassed their plan in May andamended it this week. Theywould spend $27.1 million, a 3.6percent cut from this year’s $28billion budget, and not increasetaxes.

“When you look all acrossPennsylvania, every family is fig-uring out how to make endsmeet,” said Republican stateSen. Chuck McIlhinney ofBucks said earlier this week.“While they’re going without weas a state government have to dothe same.

“We don’t have the money,and we shouldn’t be takingmore money out of people’spockets.”

A key issue between the twosides is how the AmericanRecovery and Reinvestment Act,or stimulus money, is spent.

Republicans are using it to filla budget hole and increase edu-cation spending by 11 percent.Rendell prefers to use the stimu-lus for new programs andincrease education funding by 19percent.

“That money must be used tosupplement and not supplant,”said Lisa Andrejko, superinten-dent of Quakertown schools.“That’s the true definition ofstimulus. It cannot be used forcurrent expenses.”

Friday’s speakers outside theBucks County Courthouse saidthe Senate proposal for educa-tion spending would simply“pass the buck” from Harrisburgto local school boards, resultingin property tax increases andschool programs cuts.

Calling the Republican budg-et a “farce,” Bucks DemocraticCommissioner Diane Marsegliasaid the GOP’s plans for thestimulus were “illegal.”

McIlhinney disagreed. “Oncethe federal government gives usthe money it’s ours to use as wesee fit. Look, I get excited whenI see a 3 percent increase for aprogram I like. At 11 percentI’m ecstatic,” referring to theRepublicans’ proposed increasein education spending.

The actual wording of theARRA states:

“To stabilize state and localgovernment budgets, in order tominimize and avoid reductionsin essential services and counter-productive state and local taxincreases.”

Republican state Rep.Marguerite Quinn, whose 143rddistrict includes portions ofCentral Bucks, Palisades andPennridge school districts, saidRendell’s income tax increasewould cost her constituents$28.2 million based on statedepartment of education statis-tics based on 2006 income data.Under Rendell’s spending planthose districts would receive acombined $2.1 million moreover the Republican plan.

“The numbers don’t makesense,” Quinn said. “I can’t putup a vote to send $28 million toHarrisburg to get $2 millionback for my district.”

State Rep. Frank Farry, aRepublican whose 142nd districtincludes the Neshaminy SchoolDistrict, had a similar com-plaint. He said his constituentswould pay an additional $9.7million in taxes with anincreased income tax and thedistrict would only get back$650,000.

“That math just doesn’twork,” he said.

Lynch, the Palisades schoolboard president, said the incometax hike would be for “thegreater good. The hammerapproach is not what we needright now.”

While education advocateswere rallying in Bucks,Montgomery, Chester andDelaware counties, the last pay-check for the foreseeable futurefor tens of thousands of stategovernment employees went outFriday.

Some 44,000 employeesreceived 20 percent of their nor-mal pay as the budget impassesince July 1 has stripped stategovernment of the ability to paybills and meet payroll.

About 1,000 employees of thejudicial branch have goneunpaid since July 3, while leg-islative employees continue to bepaid from reserve accounts. The Associated Press contributed tothis story.

Gary Weckselblatt can be reached at215-345-3169 orgweckselblatt@phillyburbs.com.

B6 BUCKS COUNTY COURIER TIMESSunday, July 26, 2009 WWW.COURIERTIMESONLINE.COM

LOCAL

Bucks-S. Korean alliance creates partnership

ART GENTILE / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERMayor Yoon Tae Jin of the South Korean city of Incheon speaks atthe Pearl S. Buck International House before signing an agreementbetween his Namdong district and Bucks County.

Education advocateswelcome new taxesGov. Ed Rendell has proposed a $29.1 billion budg-et with a 16 percent hike in personal income tax,contrasting sharply with a GOP plan that wouldspend $27.1 million and not increase taxes.

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