Ok I have been fairly quiet throughout this election cycle and have also been quiet on my website for some time, but I have finally decided that it’s time to open up and speak my feelings on 31^st Senatorial race in my area.    I was not going to get too involved in the primary as I feel we each deserve choices and should not have any one candidate pushed down our throats by party bosses or by outside groups. 

Pat Vance has been an elected official at the local, county or now state level for over 30 years.   During these 30 years she may have done many wonderful projects and brought many millions of dollars back to the district but isn’t this what we pay her to do as an elected official?    It amazes me to see her doing this for certain areas only and will push hard for those areas but others within the 31^st Senatorial District are forgotten about.    I have taken notice to this first handed as a leader in the fire service at both a county, regional, and state level.   

Pat Vance this past term has turned her back on the emergency services community and it’s sad considering that she says she is “a voice of reason”.    Pat has not been a voice of reason for the 31^st Senatorial district unless you are a major supporter of her and GOP Party.   During this past year Senator Vance had the opportunity to help ensure the safety of emergency responder by voting NO to HB 377 that repealed the sprinkler mandate on Single Family Homes putting firefighters and residents at greater harm if a fire were to break out in the newer construction homes that are built of lightweight material and also have a greater risk of collapse.   Just look at the pictures on the internet or news of the fire last Monday in North Cornwall Twp in Lebanon County.   This is the danger we as firefighters and homeowners face with the new building construction and also the lack of sprinklers.    By Senator Vance voting Yes to the sprinkler repeal Senator Vance voted YES to supporting the killing of our dedicated firefighters, many who do this job for free saving you the resident’s thousands of dollars yearly in additional tax cost if this service had to be offered as a paid department.   

Senator Vance also likes to speak of her record and Sr. experience as an elected official.   As a Sr. elected official I would expect Senator Vance to be pushing bills and helping to ensure her constituents are put first and foremost like other elected officials do.  Unfortunately we do not see this in Senator Vance.   Take a look at how many bills she has co-sponsored?    Many of these bills are dead in the water and the main reason she has signed on to them is to attempt and show that she is a conservative and doing what her constituents want.   If she did care she would push these bills and ensure they were brought for a vote like some elected officials in Harrisburg currently do.   It’s sad when I look at other elected officials and see Freshman Representative Steve Bloom getting more accomplished in his first term of office than Senator Vance has done in the past couple of terms.     As a volunteer firefighter I and many others are hanging in limbo with the fact that we as emergency service providers many not see our respective departments receive the PA Fire/EMS Grant bill until possibly June or later.    This bill would help fund departments and has been helping fund projects and overall operational expenses for the past  few years.  If Senator Vance was a true supporter of her constituents she would be ensuring that this bill was brought out of committee in the house and voted on and brought to the senate for a vote but she seems to be doing the sit and wait game with this and many other bills currently in committees.   By sitting and waiting she is ensuring that fire/ems department’s across the state will not have the opportunity to receive this additional $12-15,000 until early next year due to the delay that is currently occurring. 

On Constituent service I also find it very sad that Senator Vance does not have the same open door policy in Harrisburg that many other elected officials have.   As an individual who is very active in the political setting and keeps an eye on issues that have an effect on me or my family I am one of those people who isn’t afraid to contact my elected officials.   I find it very interested that my local representative Glenn Grell always contacts me personally and also is willing to meet with me or others when in Harrisburg or in his local office.  Unfortunately this isn’t the same for Senator Vance as we are always found meeting with her staff and are never given the opportunity to speak direct with Senator Vance unless we pass in the hall and then she is always trying to rush pass to avoid speaking with us.  It’s also interesting to get the same form letter from Senator Vance no matter what the issue is while others in Harrisburg send a very personal letter pertaining to the issue even when you don’t live in the elected officials district.     

Senator Vance also states that she is a Registered Nurse.   Senator Vance I need to ask when the last time was that you practices as a RN?   You have been in elected office for the over 30 years and many items in the healthcare field have changed over the past 30 years to include requiring nurses to now do so many hours of con-ed just to continue their certification as an RN.  Do you Senator Vance participate in this?   As someone in the healthcare field as an Pre-Hospital provider I know firsthand how much has changed and continues to change just over the last 12 years that I have been an EMT.

It also amazes me that Senator Vance continues to feel that special interest groups from outside of her district have spent tens of thousands of dollars running negative ads against her.   Funny part is the last time I checked Lemoyne was actually in the 31^st Senatorial District and most all of the ads being ran are true hard core facts that if voters do the research will see are true and show the true side of Senator Vance.   Has Senator Vance forgot what area he district covers?

If Senator Vance was so concerned about her pay raise returns she would pledge to the voters today to also return any increase in her pension that she is now seeing by the pay increases.    This is the part that she doesn’t want anyone to know.  Once she retires she will keep that pay raise as it is figured into her pension she will receive. 

I would hope that on Tuesday the voters of the 31^st Senatorial District will take some of these facts into consideration and also look close at her voting record and co-sponsorship of bills and where these bills end up.    I think you will see that Senator Vance is only doing this to gain additional votes and seems to always forget about these issues after the election occurs.  The voters of the 31^st Senatorial District finally have an choice in the primary and this choice is a strong person who isn’t tied to outside special interest groups.  Yes CAP may be supporting Andrew Shaw but they are in the district unlike the majority of the money and PACS from outside the district that is coming into Senator Vance’s campaign.  Do the research and you will see that this is the case and you will see that her voting record is not as pretty as she wants everyone to think.

Please consider Andrew Shaw and all of the facts and details I have brought out on Senator Vance before heading to the polls on Tuesday April 24^th!

For the past four years I have had the opportunity to serve the residents of East Pennsboro Township as your elected school board director for the East Pennsboro School District.  During this time, we, as a board, were faced with many challenges and many that had major effects on the students we were elected to serve and the taxpayers of East Pennsboro.   When I decided to take my seat on the East Pennsboro School Board of Directors in December 2007, I pledged to be fiscally conservative and being the voice for the citizens while also ensuring that the students were given top quality educational opportunities.   In my first year, I requested that the ad-hoc committee on cost savings and revenue generation committee be formed.   I am proud to see several new avenues for saving the school district money along with bringing new revenue into the district resulted from the work of this committee.  

Some of these items were the change to a 4day work week during the summer, which saved thousands of dollars in energy cost for the district.   We also saw additional revenue with the addition of advertising to our football and baseball stadiums.     Some other recommendations that were brought forward from this committee and from the feedback of our community is for the reduction is busing for our students and selling real estate lots on Salt Road that the district owns but has no future plans for.   It is sad to see these recommendations have not moved forward after many citizens spoke in favor of these items. I also sat on the nominations committee with our teachers union and was proud of the agreement that was settled fairly for both the teachers and taxpayers.   We also saw an attempt by some board members and our administration to outsource our custodial and maintenance staff to Aramark service.  After a loud outcry from the community and the support of a few board members, including myself, we were able to stop this process and keep these dedicated employees as East Pennsboro School District employees. 

 This past budget year was very trying for all of us as board members.  We have seen many changes and recommendations that were brought forward.    Some of the recommendations were the reduction in teachers and support staff and the realignment of other staff members.  As a board member and parent of students in our district, I was very upset to see these recommendations were being considered while not a single cut to the administration staff was included.  As a result of this I voted NO to the recommendations and publicly stated that I could not and would not support these cuts unless cuts at the administration level were also made.  Unfortunately, these recommendations were not included in the proposal and for this reason I didn’t support the administration’s recommendations to cut positions or increase taxes on the taxpayers of East Pennsboro.

During my tenure I also was part of a major transition with the retirement of Dr. Linda Bigos and the hiring of Bruce Deveny as our current Superintendent.   We also saw the retirement of both elementary principals. I would encourage my fellow board members that I served with over my four-year term to continue to positive movements that we as a board had taken with the best interest of the students opportunity for a quality education being first and foremost while also continuing to be fiscally conservative to the taxpayers of East Pennsboro Township.

Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to serve you as your voice on the East Pennsboro School Board for the past four-years and look forward to continuing my community service through my continued activities with the East Pennsboro Township Fire Department and also as a member of the Title 1 Parent Advisory Committee.

I will be keeping this website going but will be transitioning this to a more personal website covering issues within the community, state, and nationally related to the emergency services community.   I would encourage everyone to continue to follow my website for valuable information related to the emergency service community and our local community of East Pennsboro Township.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving Holiday.   As we remember everything that we are thankful for during this holiday season please take a moment to also thank all of our troops who are serving this great nation and not being at home with their families.  

I am honored that the voters of Cumberland County have entrusted me with their support for another term as their commissioner.

My focus will continue to be on promoting a forward-looking county government that lives within its means by putting our communities first, and remembering that every dollar belongs to the people of Cumberland County.

In the time since taking office nearly eight years ago, my team and I are proud to have accomplished an enviable record for our citizens. We did this as a direct result of the better path chosen in my first term. With enormous financial challenges facing county government, I intend to continue promoting merit-based government that limits spending and taxes by focusing on clear priorities rather than fluff, and ensuring our efforts attain real results for every dollar spent.

I look forward to serving as part of the new Board in January and sincerely hope my elected colleagues are committed to keeping their campaign pledges about fiscal integrity and limited government.

Our county now has the proven blueprint for continued success in our hands. Our citizens deserve, and should accept nothing less.