Alex Khalil on Social Media

Jenkintown’s most outspoken council member “knows plenty” but reveals little.

Of the twelve that serve on Jenkintown Borough Council, Alex Khalil’s feisty reputation makes her a stand out on an otherwise sedate board. Where meetings can often sink into pablum and minutiae, she rarely fails to provide something memorable. On social media, she’s the gift that keeps on giving.

She brings a performative style to this occasionally deliberative body. Where the rest of the members feign indifference to onlooking residents, Ms. Khalil plays to the room. From reading aloud an entire table of police statistics for the benefit of a blind resident to her effusive praise heaped upon Borough officials and employees for doing what’s in their job descriptions. Everyone’s doing a great job.

Alex Khalil might even be Council’s Tracy Flick. Unlike most of the soft-talkers on the board, she speaks clearly and confidently. She appears immersed all aspects of the discussion. She actually asks cutting questions about policy and proposals. But at the end of the day, she rarely, if ever, votes against them. (Everyone’s doing a great job!)

She’s also one of the more active council members on social media, and on the Jenkintown Community Page, she takes no prisoners.

Consolidation: Is she for it or against it?

Alex Khalil fell in line with the rest of Council as a supporter of police consolidation, and apparently she’s also open to the idea of merging our two fire companies. However, when she ran for Senate in 2022, she ran on a platform that derided Republicans for doing much the same:

Our criminal justice system and law enforcement must treat every Pennsylvanian and American, regardless of their economic background, race, religion, gender identity, ethnic background with fairness and dignity. Republicans already defunded the police – low salaries, limited training, switch to part-time policing, use of State Police and disband local police forces. 

Yet, she fully backs our current police chief and never publicly challenges her colleagues who are seeking to do exactly that.

On June 18, she posted a link to a news article about fire department consolidation in Bensalem Township. Until that time, there was little-to-no discussion about merging our fire companies. Her post indicated support of that move. When residents asked about its relevance to Jenkintown, Ms. Khalil dug in.

Since council service is a volunteer thing, maybe she thinks she has little to lose for condescension?

We must note here that Jackie Connolly’s family has a multi-generational involvement with the Pioneer Fire Company.

One almost has to admire her spunk. She may be a Bernie supporter, but she follows Trump’s playbook.

Alex Khalil, Photo Director

At our rally last April, Daniel Veres from Hyacinth Studios came to photograph the demonstration and posted some on the Jenkintown Community Page. The Council meeting that evening honored three retiring officers, but Ms. Khalil believed it was her place to take Daniel to task.

When Mr. Veres explained that he shot 263 photos that day, including one of the officers, she sounded disappointed that the demonstration stole the show. When that photo was posted in a comment, Ms. Khalil wasn’t impressed.

These represent only a small sampling of Alex Khalil’s contentious attitude towards anyone who challenges her.

Jenkintown Matters looks forward to working with Ms. Khalil and her colleagues as we steer a course through this latest crisis. It would help, however, if she would actually answer our questions.