Early Life
Sam Valenza was born in Abington Hospital in 1956. Valenza, who is the oldest of six siblings, lived in a residence along Fitzwatertown Road from 1956 until 1974, when his family moved to Warminster.
During that time, Valenza attended , where he is a parishioner today. He then attended , back when the Middle School had a ninth grade. Afterward, transferred to Archbishop Wood High School, and is a member of the class of 1974.
After high school, Valenza attended Villanova University, when he graduated in 1978 with a B.S. in accounting.
He continued his studies at St. Joseph’s University, and achieved his master’s in administrative management in 1993.
Professional Life
Valenza held a real estate license in the early 1990s, but gave it up to return to his family’s business: BuxMont Transportation. According to Valenza, his grandfather started the business in 1951, and has been in operation in Upper Moreland since. When he was 14-years old, Valenza held his first job with BuxMont as a dispatcher.
At that time, BuxMont only had a taxi-transportation service, whose headquarters was located next to the Willow Grove Train Station, where the state parking lot is today.
“It was the focal point of the downtown,” Valenza said, explaining that downtown Willow Grove at the time had several businesses for entertainment, including a movie house, Willow Grove Park and several local bars, to and from which patrons used the taxi-service.
He even recalls the on Easton Road being built in 1975.
Today, Valenza is the CEO of BuxMont Transportation, and helps run the business with his family members.
Family and Community life
The year after his graduation from Villanova, Valenza bought a house with his wife in Upper Moreland, and had their first child in 1980.
“When we moved to Warminster, people didn’t talk to each other,” Valenza said, giving one of the reasons why he, and eventually the rest of his family, moved back to Upper Moreland.
“People love Upper Moreland, because of the camaraderie of the neighbors,” he said. “They support the schools, they follow the ball games - people really get involved.”
In all, Valenza has five children, and now several grandchildren.
As his children were participating with township sports activities, during the 1990s, Valenza also participated by holding various officer positions and coaching teams with such clubs as the and the .
He said one of his proudest community involvements was when he coached a boys and a girls travel team for the UMSC in 2002.
In his office at BuxMont Transportation, now located along Fitzwatertown Road, there is a wall of plaques and certificates of appreciation he has been awarded with over the years. Some show his participation with the sports activities; most are in recognition for his service as a Rotarian.
He joined the Rotary Club of Willow Grove in 1986, and has had perfect attendance to the weekly meetings since. He said he joined the Rotary of Willow Grove, because of its service-oriented programs that directly benefit his hometown.
During his time with the Rotary of Willow Grove, Valenza has been the chapter’s treasurer, president, assistant governor, and the 1996 – 1997 Rotarian of the year.
Valenza also became a member of the Willow Grove Chamber of Commerce in 1981. He was also helped lead a committee of township residents, independent of the township government, that helped raise over $100,000 for the new building.
In 1990, Valenza also helped raise funds for St. David School, where his children were attending at the time, to purchase top-of-the-line computers of the date, for the whole student body. He achieved this by collecting fees from classes in which he taught people how to use the new technology, as he was using it himself at BuxMont Transportation.
Valenza was also involved with the Montgomery County Youth Aid Panel until 2006.
His reasons for running
In the mid-1990s, an Upper Moreland Township commissioner retired in the middle of his term. Valenza sought the opportunity to be appointed for the vacancy position, but was unsuccessful. He was again unsuccessful in running for the subsequent open seat on the board of commissioners by 38 votes.
“It was a blessing in disguise. I got to spend more time with the kids,” he said.
In 2007, Valenza again ran for the office, and is now the current Ward 6 commissioner.
He said he originally ran because the opportunity was there to, “Step up and make a difference.”
“Today, a lot of people want me to continue,” Valenza said.
During his time as commissioner, he has become the chairperson of the finance committee and the president of the board. From the beginning, Valenza sought to be a highly informative and an available commissioner.
“As their commissioner, I have the availability to real-time information, and can give them that information,” he said.
It’s for that reason, Valenza set up an e-mail list-serve for all the residents in Ward 6, which includes nearly 1,550 families. Today, that list-serve has grown to 3,000 people.
I feel that I can make Upper Moreland a great place to raise your family, to live and operate your business,” Valenza said. “I have a sense of pride in this community.”
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A more in-depth look into the positions on community issues and candidate’s politics will be presented in future Upper Moreland – Willow Grove Patch campaign coverage articles.
Look for more profiles on Ward commissioner candidates coming this week.
The "R"s have brought us storage units to downtown, cell towers in our neighborhhood(s), big box development, traffic problems, flooding, more restrictions in the parks, BILLBOARDS, and now they want a junk yards. They also talked about, and were supported by Sam and Joe, to check car doors, have signs in our parks, and institute a new tax. These things will be back if they are re-elected. UMT is headed in the wrong direction with these politicians, period. I would laugh about the bipartisan, consensus BS if it wasn't so ridiculous. The 4-member highly partisan voting bloc made it clear from day 1 there would be zero consensus and anyone who has watched the meetings will already know. Sam had to vote for himself to be president. Joe had to vote for himself for his seats. You can say it's personal but it's not. it's all facts. Except for the uninformed public, that you must be targeting with your misinformation campaign, everyone knows you are way off base. Time for a big change in UMT.
First let me define fact: (Merriam-Webster online dictionary) the quality of being actual: actuality <a question of fact hinges on evidence> ok, the quality of being actual - or did this really happen, is there evidence? Fact check 1- "They also talked about, and were supported by Sam and Joe, to check car doors' - This never left my Committee, so was never subject to a vote - BY ANYONE. Fact check 2 - Flooding? 30 years of flooding and they did it? Actually, seriously? Fact check 3 - "The 4-member highly partisan voting bloc made it clear from day 1 there would be zero consensus and anyone who has watched the meetings will already know." Fact - I vocally supported and voted for Nick Scull's appointment to the APA. (Yep, I am an "R"; Nick is Chair of the "D" party). I thought this WAS bipartisanship. Check your "facts." Or maybe the definition of bipartisanship... Fact check # 4 - breaking the Sunshine laws - what case was that, please cite - where the board was found guilty of breaking any laws?- Has not happened and is a pretty ugly untruth at that. Fact check #5 - Where are all the developers? I've seen them. Several new businesses coming in - as a matter of FACT. A question, if all votes are 4-3 (in FACT, they are not) then how come the 4 would always be wrong - every single time? Just askin...
are the accomplishments of the last 39 years of one party rule? Nick Scull, Chairperson Upper Moreland Democratic Committee
• Car door thing should have never made it on your agenda. Your agenda is very light on new business, ideas. • One vote does not make anyone bipartisan, you 4 voted 90%+ times as bloc. • Plus this isn't your election, Sam voted 90%+ as part of the same 4-member partisan bloc. • Flooding yes, from too many parking lots and too few trees, too many waivers from the BoC, too many developments with inadequate controls, etc. People have died you know. • The board has not taken comment on numerous occasions and counts votes before meetings. You know it. I saw Sam telling Joe on camera that he had the votes and he didn't need to vote for himself for a change. • Revitalization is within a defined area, not at the turnpike. Like we need more bars all in one place so they can all crash into each other. Real smart. Like an UMT red light district. Do you call that planning? • You Barbara are worse than the rest. You ran unchallenged and didn't do too well considering. Least experienced on the board yet holds a chair. Oh yeah that's not political either. • 4 partisans voted for the 13.5+ tax increase. • 4 partisans voted for the $300,000.00 EIT settlement. etc. etc. 90+%. FACT.
As for fishing, seems to me you are trying hard to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Sam and Joe have been given 4 long years by the good people of UMT and have let them down. It's time for some new people who want to make things better and are unassociated with those who have brought is all these financial problems. When Valenza came into office there was a surplus, now we have a deficit. Raising taxes on senior citizens and poor people in these hard times is unforgivable. We need to tighten our belt like every other township in the country.
The UMT GOP has held the majority for a very, very long time. Remember Stacey Efkowitz who Sam voted for as president? Sam came in with a surplus. Is going out with a $1M deficit. Real good business skills. Never talked about finance in his role as self-appointed chair of Finance. Dog park took many years under his leadership to complete. Recommends permanent signs in our parks (note the word "our"). The staff didn't ever let on there was a recession in the meetings, I watch ever one. Were they blind after the rest of the world knew it, or knew they would just raise taxes? How about a car junk lot to add to our billboards? Checking our car doors to see if they are locked? There are many people out there who can not afford a 13.5+ percent tax hike or the new tax on people that work in UMT. And another $330,000,00 wrong headed settlement. Where are your private sector saviors you always talk about? 4 LONG years is enough to see that Sam and Joe can not handle the job. Your hate campaign against the opposition is another reason to keep you and your fringe group away from government. Spreading lies and rumors, stealing election signs (see the police reports), defaming fellow citizens who care enough to run for office and try to make things better. That's your way of governing. We know there are plenty of good Republicans, they are our friends and will vote for change this Tuesday. I'm not Nick.
I am not Nick. You are wrong about the budget, but, Sam has been a commissioner for 4 years and it has been in the red the entire time as you stated. Wasn't it his job as self-appointed chair of finance, and the GOP 4-member voting bloc, to address the problem? And again the "R"s have had the majority for many decades. "...the only way the Township has been able to meet its expenses is through "transfers from the Township's Fund Balance Reserve." Sam and Joe own this, you say so yourself. You, Ms. Rothermel, are barking up the wrong tree. Trying to pivot and use the good volunteers of the Boileau Park as a diversion is pretty desperate. You would like to see the last remaining piece of history demolished? Really classy. Lazy governing is why taxes were raised 13.6%. Lack of leadership to tackle the unsustainable budget is the legacy Joe and Sam have. But at least Sam showed up for meetings, unlike Joe who took township healthcare and salary while missing half his meetings for 3 years. I am not Nick. I am Dick.
who has been a supporter of our Historical efforts, and supports us in finding ways to improve Boileau Park...and not at the taxpayers expense. Not everything is about politics. The Friends of Boileau have raised thousands of dollars for the Park and Buildings ($10,000 recently donated for the trail.) I don't talk politics with our members where we have many Republicans and independents,out of respect, and to avoid the politicizing that has gone on over the years... Our historic buildings and parks belong to everyone..and should be supported by everyone. Please stop trying to make politics out of a charitable organization. P.S. What is all the anger and nastiness about? Not coming from me. I worked very hard on the Tricentennial Celebration last year in a very bi-partisan group. Many people cooperated to bring off the many activities. Politics were not involved. Mutual Respect was. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Let's talk issues and history. Nick Scull
Barbara, Your math on the Boileau is crazy. "...your proposals would quadruple our taxes"... Approximately $6M collected now in taxes x 4 = $24M in your tax math. Our entire budget is only around $17M. So you're saying that it would go up to nearly $35M? Crazy. For those interested, the budget is on the township website. LaValle only attended the committee meetings where he had a seat for 3 years, fact. While he took healthcare benefits for his family and a salary. I hope people do check that out and see for themselves. You seem upset with all those CAPS you're using. Seems like you're projecting your anger onto the rest of us who are here to keep things honest and civil. You have shown yourself to be capable of saying anything no matter how bizarre.
When there were 2 Republican parties here things were better. The current ones in power have always been the negative ones. The other "R" party were reasonable, conservative, good neighbors. When they and the Dems were in the mix is when things got done right and we moved forwards instead of backwards into deficit. We know that the good people of UMT, both "R" and "D" will come out and vote as responsible adults do, on the issues of fiscal sanity, fairness and the record of the candidates for the last 4 years. They will reject the hate campaign going on because it is wrong. Who would want those individuals running our government?
They petitioned the Courts to seize the Sub-Contractors computer and software in order to do a forensic audit. They lied. They did not do a forensic audit as ordered by the Courts. They kept that computer & software for 6 years depriving the sub-contractor of employment. They again lied to the courts telling them that this audit had been completed. They petitioned their insurance company who denied to cover them because of Exclusion G: "coverage does not apply based upon or attibutable to the Covered Party gaining any profit, advantage or remuneration to which the Covered Party is not entitled." FACT-Forensic audit was NOT DONE. UMT citizens are paying legal fees to cover this up. FACT- $325,000 was paid to Berkheimer with no knowledge of what claims were due UMT. Delinquent collections went from $330,000 in 2003 to $50,000 in 2004. THESE ARE FACTS. CANNOT BE SPUN THEY HAPPENED AND ARE BEING COVERED-UP.
Interesting that Tom Murt and Senator Greenleaf are pictured on their campaign materials with Sam Valenza and Joe LaValle. Do they really know who they are endorsing? I wonder where young Greenleaf falls in on all this?
It is sad to think that the citizens of UMT vote as if it were a for high school soccer team instead of a government official. Someone who can't read a single sentence off of a prepared statement without flubbing it up is a commissioner, and they think that's a win. That's the voice and face of UMT they wanted? Just hope a couple of the other more experienced commissioners can help him from causing too much more damage. Citizens, watch the televised meetings and weep.
Using the disparaging term "bookends", that you repeat in every comment, seems like a compliment to those 2 duly elected officials. It is clear they know what a book is, unlike Valenza who reads at a 3rd grade level. I watched the meeting last night and what a hoot! Sam, Joe and Donna all made huge mistakes. Donna read the wrong ordinace and had to have David take over. Joe blew his usual hot air but had the wrong roads, pretty bad that an architect cant read a map. And Sam, well Sam was being Sam and couldn't put together one complete sentence. Even the quote in the Patch about the snow removal is flawed. What a crew you "R"s elected. I said the fringe ran the show and they do. It's too bad all the "R"s vote with the team instead of on the issues.
Please watch the meeting fellow citizens. It isn't asking much. Barbara, how do adults like you justify their public lies to their children and the other youth in UMT? Shame on you. Those commissioners did not want increased taxes. In fact the reverse is true. Without them taxes would be going up. Read Joe LaValle's campaign lit and review old meetings for Sam's nod to tax hikes. You will see what happens next year thanks to Joe and Sam.
Always remember, the same people have held the majority since at least the 70's and have the majority now. They own the past and the future. And that is a scary thought. Your children will be the beneficiaries of your partisanship.