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The girl's neighbors are former state Rep. Tom Armstrong and his boarders — three convicted sex offenders whose presence has turned the river town's sense of security on end.
"There's got to be somewhere safer to put them than in our little bitty town, so we don't have to worry about our kids," protester Shelly Evans said. "We don't have any room for them."
"Run the bastards out of town!" an old man in giant sunglasses yelled to the protesters as he drove by, firing them up all the more.
"Beep your horn! There's like six kids in your car!" a protester yelled at a passing vehicle.
In this town, where nearly everyone knows everyone, Armstrong is no stranger. Everyone seems quick to bring up the days when he reportedly kept chickens and goats at his property and the borough leaned on him for months to get rid of them.
But boarding convicted sex offenders is another story. Last month, after Armstrong's program was run out of Conestoga by an angry mob backed by a zoning ordinance that prevented him from boarding the men there, Armstrong said he had moved them to his Marietta home without notifying the borough or any residents of their presence. It would have just caused trouble for him and the men, Armstrong said at the time.
And that stealth approach has helped land Armstrong on the outs.
"I don't think I would have a problem with them being in town, but it's the way he did it," Tracy Portner said Thursday. "And one at a time is OK, but putting three of them together? That's just illegal the whole way around. That just doesn't seem right."The picketing idea was raised last week at a borough council meeting, where a crowd of frustrated residents jammed into the borough hall to ask council members what they planned to do about Armstrong's program.
Hardly anyone on borough council uttered a word, except for council president Miriam Fletcher, she said only, "We are doing what we can as the law permits. I did not know he was moving them in."
Township solicitor Randy Moyer told the crowd he had advised council not to address the issue publicly for fear of litigation. Moyer said Armstrong was served June 16 with an order to cease and desist using his property to house the men and that he had 30 days to appeal the order. Moyer wouldn't answer other questions.
Not long afterward, a resident called out, "We should picket in front of (Armstrong's) house."
So a few nights ago at Marietta's American Legion Post, Portner and some friends made protest signs: "We don't want you here, leave," "Take a Hike," "We took a vote: you lost," "Not welcome in Marietta" and "Show no (heart) for sex offenders."
With police officers in two cars — one marked, the other unmarked — watching from the end of Armstrong's block, Portner, her daughter, Nicole Styer, and several others picketed Armstrong's house for about three hours Thursday.
Armstrong's home is a sort of buffer property, sitting just north of "Sunnybank," a stunning 1897 Greek-revival mansion designed by leading Lancaster architect C. Emlen Urban for a lumber baron, and several other mansions south of town. On the other side of Armstrong's home are blocks and blocks of small row houses and duplexes that comprise most of Marietta, with backyards full of faded jungle gyms, tether balls, grills and plastic pools.
Most borough officials haven't returned calls for an update on Armstrong's option to appeal, and Armstrong's telephone just rings and rings.
(226) (51) (22) (14) (6) (4) (3) (3) (3) (2) (2) (2)But one council member decided it's time to openly address the Armstrong issue — and she's sorry she didn't do it sooner.
"I should apologize for not speaking out," council member Peggy Brewer said in a phone interview Thursday. "It's my right and duty to tell people, 'We heard what you're saying, and we're not disagreeing with you. We're doing everything we can to help you, but we have to worry about litigation.' We should have at least acknowledged their concerns, because I do sympathize. I live here, too."
Brewer said she has known Armstrong for years, and she's disappointed he wasn't more forthright with residents about his plans for his property.
"He was a state representative. I can't believe he's doing this to his people," Brewer said. "Maybe he feels he's doing something good for these men, but he needs to take into consideration how many people are being affected by it and whether it's really worth it."
Shortly after the media left the scene Thursday, Portner said, a man she recognized from his photo on the state's Megan's Law Web site as Richard Owen emerged from Armstrong's home and offered the protesters water.
"Nobody talked to him," Portner said.
Soon after that, the protesters packed it in, Portner said, and she headed back to the American Legion, where she's storing the picket signs.
"The bar was full," she said. "People just started yelling and applauding when I walked in."
E-mail: slindt@lnpnews.com
