2013 General Election Platform

2013 General Election Platform

1. You may ask what I bring to the table

Experience & Training

20 years experience as County Commissioner

• Chairman for six years
• President of the County Commissioner Association of Pennsylvania

PhD in Physical Geography and Geology from Boston University

• Professor Emeritus at Kuttown University
• Specialist in water and sinkhole-published several scientific papers
• Published 4 books and 60 journal articles

Background in planning

• Past Chair of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
• Past Chair, Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission
• Member County Commissionsers Planning Committee Nationally

Leadership

Chairman of the Board for 6 years

Past Chair, Lower Macungie Township Planning commission

Past Chair, Lehigh county Planning Commission

Past President of the County Commissioner's Association of Pennsylvania

Chairman of several professional organizations and chaired several conventions

Independent and not part of any "bloc" or "Team"

County problems are neither Republican or Democrat

Government decisions should be what is best for the people

Each item before the Board deserves special attention

Will intelligently weight the merits of each item/dd>

Proven Results-I am not telling you what I will do; I can tell you what I have done. I have cut taxes,, I have cut spending, and I have instituted cost saving measures while never voting for a tax increase.

2. What are the major stands?

Fiscal conservative

Never voted for a tax increase

Brokered a budget compromise this year

• $3.0 million tax decrease
• $3.0 million rebate
• $.5 million cut in spending

Three straight budgets with decrease

2013 budget $5million less than 2012

Number of county workers 6% fewer than 20 years ago

• Proponent of outsourcing
• Proponent of reinventing how we operate-combination of the Register of Wills, Clerk of Courts, and the Recorder of Deeds save $500,000/year

Looking at priority based budgeting

Champion of computerization to become more efficient

• GIS system/Pictometry, that I championed saved us $5 million in reassessment
• Responsible for the computer search function for commissioner documents
• Supported office automation

Intergovernmental Cooperation and Regionalization to save tax money and increase efficiency

Economy of scale saves money

Working together we can save money and keep taxes lower

Cooperation improves services that cannot be provided locally

• LANTA
• Airport Authority
• Regional Crime Center
• Police intake center
• Emergency services

Need strong planning to protect the environment

• Urban sprawl is expensive because of its low density

1.       Causes traffic problems
2.       Causes flooding
3.       Creates more students and requires more schools
4.       Results in higher taxes

• Higher density needed for the infill areas
• Need to preserve farmland and open space

Need to improve the Quality of Life through joint ventures

Cheaper to do projects regionally and through intergovernmental cooperation

Support the Congress of Governments

Parks and Recreations-cooperation with municipality helps to leverage County $

• Green Futures Fund
• LMT-Camp Olympic, East Texas Park, Leister Farm, Farr Road Tract, Camp Olympic improvements
• Alburtis-Lock Ridge Church, Bird Preserve

Lehigh Valley Zoo and Trexler Game Preserve

• Owned by the County but run by a non-profit organization
• Trexler Game Preserve a cooperative effort with the Wildlands Conservancy

Grants to the non-profits organizations, Childrens’ groups and the arts

Emergency services important to the safety of our residents

• Encourage regional cooperation
• Encourage grant applications
• Need more coordination between County Emergency Services and local fire, police and ambulance companies
Joint agreement between Cetronia Ambulance and Coroners’ Office a good example.

Serve our aging population

Proponent of Public Safety and Tough on Crime

70% of property tax money spent on law and order

Strong Support for reducing crime

• Supporter of the Lehigh County Central Booking Center - Big money saver for local police forces and a model of intergovernmental cooperation and regionalization.
• Supporter of RIIC (Regional Information and Intelligence Center - a regional crime information center run by the county

Lead proponent of Court House expansion

Supported modernization and expansion of the Work Release Center

Support cooperative agreement with first responders and LC Emergency Services

Supporter of the joint Cetronia Ambulance Corps Building which is shared with Emergency Services

Keep taxes low by increasing income - not by cutting across the board

Cutting across the board increases unemployment and disrupts essential services

We need gradual surgical cuts AND an increase in income to balance the budget

User fees for law violators - make the legal system pay for itself.

• 60% of the County budget
• increase fines and payments to the max

Support economic development to create jobs and new wealth

• KOZ - Olympus, Butz Center, and PPL Center, the biggest successes
• Tax increment Financing - New Smithville and proposed Costco on 222
• Support of LVEDC and other development agencies

Bring in new jobs by attracting new companies and retaining current ones

1. Keep taxes low by increasing the accessed properties
2. Market our assets - Airport, water and sewer, educated work force
3. Great quality of life

Some of my views do not sound consistent, but I assure you that I can be both an environmentally conscious person (tree hugger) and be a proponent of growth. Good planning can accommodate both.