BY KIRK SWAUGER
The Tribune-Democrat
SOMERSET
April 21, 2007 11:30 pm
—
It’s about jobs.
The three Somerset County commissioners say they are laying a foundation for economic development, while challengers counter that not enough is being done to spur growth and stem the exodus of young people.
“We need to see action,” Democratic challenger Tim Resh said. “I see a lot of meetings and people getting together talking about some things, but I don’t see any end results.
“I see a lot of meetings and ideas thrown around, but I don’t see anything coming to fruition.”
Resh, who lost to Republican Brad Cober by just 314 votes for the third and final spot on the board four years ago, is running against incumbent Pamela Tokar-Ickes and John Vatavuk and James Shepley for two Democratic nominations in the May 15 primary.
Cober and Commissioner Jimmy Marker are being opposed by John Ferko of Shanksville on the GOP ticket.
Two Republicans and two Democrats will be nominated for the November general election.
Marker, Cober and Tokar-Ickes point to laying a groundwork for growth: The proposed Quemahoning Pipeline, the Laurel Highlands Business Park, comprehensive high-speed Internet, implementing the county’s new comprehensive plan.
Cober is seeking his seventh four-year term, while Marker and Tokar-Ickes have spent the past eight years in office.
Cober, 51, of Lavansville, pointed to the aforementioned projects, as well as completion of an ag center and classroom at Allegany College of Maryland’s Somerset campus, video arraignments, the Allegheny Highlands hiking and biking trail and a proposal to supply water to Reading Mines.
“All these things take time,” he said. “If somebody says about government moving at a snail’s pace, it’s not because of government leaders in the community. It’s because of permitting, funding and things like that.
“The things we can control locally – like video arraignment – you can make happen pretty quickly.”
Cober pointed to a bipartisan approach, not only within the commissioners’ office but with state and federal officials.
“You have to be able to cross party lines, and be involved with everybody,” he said.
Like his fellow commissioners, Marker, 47, of Lincoln Township, said the Que Pipeline and Laurel Highlands Business Park are two key initiatives. He also said he wants to continue working on bringing high-speed Internet to the county, improving the bike trail and rebuilding municipal infrastructure.
“It’s about laying the foundation that we’ll build our future on,” said Marker, a former restaurant owner. “I could give you a whole dissertation on projects we’ve done in the county.
“I bring a lot of business sense to the table, I’m fiscally conservative and I care about the future of Somerset County.
“I think the Que pipeline points that out. That’s not a project for today – it’s a project for the next 40, 50, 60 years.”
Tokar-Ickes, 45, of Sipesville said improving the county’s economic climate has been a priority since she took office in 1999.
“Our No. 1 agenda item is for the future of Somerset County,” she said.
She said the initiatives take time: Coming up with a strategy, planning, securing permits, gaining public support, acquiring financing.
“If you’re going to address the agenda items for Somerset County, you have to do these projects simultaneously,” she said. “A lot of these projects are going to be coming to pass in the next year, year and a half.”
And all the while, Tokar-Ickes said the commissioners are working on other issues, such as expanding water service into Stoystown.
Once infrastructure is in place, Tokar-Ickes said work-force development will be vital.
“If you don’t have a work force that is trained, educated and prepared, jobs aren’t going to happen,” she said.
Resh, 53, of Somerset, director of the Conemaugh Township Municipal Authority, said he is concerned about job losses at Fleetwood Folding Trailers, Gilmour Manufacturing and other businesses in the county
“Our economy’s pretty much stagnant,” Resh said “We’ve got to take care of the immediate needs If we don’t shape up, the people looking for jobs will go elsewhere.”
Vatavuk, 58, of Windber is the county’s Democratic Party chairman. An elementary teacher in the North Star School District, he spent 16 years on the Windber school board.
“I’m concerned about keeping the jobs we have,” Vatavuk said.
“I’d like to get new jobs, but I’m telling you, it’s going to be a problem keeping the jobs we have.”
Vavatuk said his strong ties to state and federal officials would be key to securing outside money for key projects such as completion of Route 219, high-speed Internet and recycling initiatives.
He said he was the first candidate to contact the governor’s office when Fleetwood Folding Trailers announced it was outsourcing jobs.
“I think there are a lot of problems in the county,” Vatavuk said. “People are looking for change. They want a different direction. I really think that’s a big issue in this election.”
Ferko, 38, a respiratory therapist for Mosso’s Medical Supply Co. in Somerset, wants to see more transparency in county government. All too often, he said, decisions are reached behind closed doors and rubber-stamped at public meetings.
“The worst thing is for someone to pick up the paper and read, ‘Here’s what we did,’ ” Ferko said. “If I’m spending the public’s money, the public has a right to know what it’s being spent on.”
Ferko said he especially was disturbed by a tax increase instituted just after the commissioners were re-elected nearly four years ago.
“A lot of people are still bitter about that – just the way it all came about,” he said. “To say things are in pretty good shape, and then two weeks later, ‘Here you go’ with a tax increase, doesn’t sit well.”
Marker disagreed.
He said the budget process begins in September and October, and a tentative budget is unveiled around Thanksgiving.
“Part of the process takes place after the election,” he said, adding that the county had to place $1 million into a reserve to fill a hole in the budget that year.
“My point has always been you delay a tax increase until the last possible moment you can.”
Shepley, 55, of Quemahoning Township, a retired PennDOT employee who served as the department’s assistant county manager, said the county lost 650 jobs last year.
He suggested tax incentives to lure companies to vacant buildings, along with continued development of industrial parks and high-speed Internet.
“Things are real slow,” Shepley said. “We’re like 20 years behind everybody else.
“People want to see results in two or three years – not 10 years down the line.”
Shepley said communities such as Stoystown and Ralphton need to be connected to the Quemahoning Pipeline.
“That’s going to be a whole project of its own,” he said. “It all depends on the bucks that are available, and everybody knows that.”
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