April 15, 2008 09:34 am
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State House - 71st District
Term: Two years.
Salary: $76,163
(Vote for one)
All candidates were asked the following questions:
1. How can the state best help to instigate economic growth in your district? In the case of a looming recession, should government cut spending in order to hold the line on taxes, or should government spend more as a way to stimulate the economy?
2. How would you approach the long-running issue of property taxes and funding for education?
3. With the state considering changes for both the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Interstate 80, what is your position on the issue of highway privatization?
4. Lawmakers from the Philadelphia area have tried to bring about tighter gun controls in Pennsylvania. What is your position on gun laws at the state level?
5. What should be the state’s role concerning alternative energy programs such as wind energy, which has been somewhat controversial in our region?
Democratic
Bryan Barbin
Johnstown
Education: Bachelor’s degree in economics from University of Richmond, 1979; juris doctor degree from Pitt School of Law, 1982
Professional background/ qualifications for seeking this office: Lawyer with 25 years of experience resolving problems in state government. ... Former Pennsylvania deputy attorney general. ... Former judicial clerk for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Mission or values statement: Big problems facing our commonwealth can be solved by: a. Shining a light on the problem. b. Taking the first step to solve the problem by reaching common ground. c. Continue to take small steps until the problem is solved.
1. State incentives should be used to create coal and steel employment. The nation needs our coal for fuel and steel for our defense. We have a number of underutilized steel facilities which could be suitable for a coal-fuel plant. In a recession, the Legislature should turn over its surplus ($200 million) first to hold the line on taxes. The government should also reduce costs on small businesses by eliminating unnecessary regulation.
2. Until the tax system is fixed, Johnstown should demand the Johnstown Flood tax monies be used for their intended purpose, Johnstown’s recovery. If property taxes continue to be the source of education funding, then the loopholes that have been created over the last 50 years need to be closed, so that all property owners pay a fair share of taxes. If the state poses additional mandates, they should be funded.
3. Privatization of the turnpike should be the last resort. The turnpike is an asset, not only for the current generation, but for all successive generations. The crisis which has led to this discussion of selling the turnpike is a result of the fact that the Legislature is only using part of the gas tax to rebuild bridges. All of the gas tax should be used for the purposes of improving our state’s infrastructure.
4. Gun laws at the state level are introduced solely for the purpose of allowing an elected legislator to convince his constituency that he is doing something to fight crime. Crime should be handled by making more law enforcement funding available. Gun legislation does not solve the root problem of crime. Most, if not all, gun legislation violates the Pennsylvania Constitution.
5. Wind energy, along with solar and coal fuel technologies, should be encouraged by incentives to companies creating jobs in Pennsylvania. Job creation should be balanced to ensure environmentally safe facilities. This will reduce the demand for foreign oil and lower gas prices. Mass transit should also be encouraged for the same reason.
Leonard B. (Benny) Britt
Johnstown
Education: 1978 graduate of Greater Johnstown High School.
Professional background/ qualifications for seeking this office: Served four years on Johnstown City Council. Only candidate with Act 47 experience.
Mission or values statement: Restore Democracy and instill pride, integrity, commitment and determination.
1. It’s up to your state representative to market their area, create marketability. The government must cut spending our tax dollars if there is no return.
2. The state has 501 school districts. There will have to be mergers in the offing. Shared services/consolidation.
3. Keep the turnpike as it is. The turnpike is self-funding. Toll I-80. Then use those funds to finish 219 in Somerset County. Then toll that new road until paid for.
4. Guns don’t kill people. People kill other people with guns stolen or bought. Pro-gun!
5. Always do a match funding. In the end we, the general public, will save money. I know firsthand that wind farm operators are very diligent and do care about environmental issues. They also want the best for all involved. We put several wind farms on G.J.W.A. property from 2004-06. Former board member.
Thomas C. Chernisky
Johnstown
Education: Graduate of Cambria Heights High School; graduate of the Harry Wendelstedt School for Professional Baseball Umpires; completed classes in the insurance industry to earn LUTCF and CLTC designations.
Professional background/qualifications for seeking this office: Board member, Community Action of Cambria County, representing Ed Wojnaroski. ... Planning Commission, Geistown Borough.
... committee person for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
... vice president of the Chesapeake Basin Umpire Association (college baseball). ... past president, past vice president and past first vice president of the Pennsylvania Association of Jury Commissioners. ... Democratic District Chairman, Geistown Borough. ... MetLife financial services representative since 1988.
Mission or values statement: My mission is simple. I want to bring state government closer to our communities, improving both institutions in the process. In order to do that, there will be a lot of hand shaking, door knocking and pavement pounding. Any politician can tell you where he stands on this issue or that and make promises about cutting taxes or increasing services. But the reality is that no politician can do anything alone. Governing is a collaborative process, and the highest and best thing I can promise is that I will act in my constituents’ best interests in Harrisburg because I have invested so much time in listening to them.
1. There are no magic bullets to stimulate economic growth. It comes from hard WORK, persistence, cooperation and open communication between economic development officials, businesses, educators and local, state and federal government officials. Government’s role in avoiding recession should involve stimulating the private sector (most notably through tax incentives) rather than spending more or less of the public’s money.
2. First and foremost, we must reform our public education funding system so that rural and suburban districts are treated more fairly. Regarding property taxes as the mechanism for funding schools, I support using the proceeds from legalized gambling to provide tax relief to all Pa. property owners as promised.
3. In general, I support the idea of public-private partnerships and would be open to discussing them in any area of government. However, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is such a large and historic asset that I would want to proceed very cautiously on any plan to privatize it. I’d need to know the specific details before I could say if I could support such a plan.
4. I would oppose any effort to limit our Second Amendment rights. Gun violence is a symptom of the socioeconomic problems in Philadelphia and other major American cities not the cause of those problems. Not only are gun-control efforts there misguided, they won’t produce the desired result.
5. The state must play a big-picture role in balancing protection of our environment and open spaces with common sense economic and business concerns. I am not opposed to wind energy in principle but each situation is different and must be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Denny Conahan
Johnstown
Education: Graduate of Greater Johnstown High School, graduate of the United Steelworker Leadership Program four-year course. Also, lobbyist training with USW.
Professional background/qualifications for seeking this office: No response.
Mission or values statement: I am pro-life from conception to death. I believe in quality of life from birth to death. I am also pro-gun. My desire is to serve the people I represent. I have been a Democrat all of my life. I am a lifetime resident of Greater Johnstown. I have been married for
35 years and have four children and three grandchildren. I want Greater Johnstown to be a place that has employment and is safe for all who live here. I would like to see our area become the Friendly City again.
1. We need to take a look at the brown lands left behind by Bethlehem Steel and come up with a way to encourage investors to locate their businesses in these areas. We should give a tax credit for businesses developing and creating good jobs. We need to find a way to get all the available funds to help with these projects. Frankly, there will be no new jobs if we are not willing to invest in the future of Greater Johnstown.
2. Property taxes are one of the hot issues during the campaign. The revenue from gaming should be used to allow some relief. I feel once you reach 65 years of age, property taxes should no longer be imposed.
3. I believe it would be a mistake to privatize our highways. It would be hard to regulate the fees to be charged. With the economy in the shape it is in, we don’t need to pay more just to drive across the highways of Pennsylvania.
4. I believe we need to enforce the gun laws we have on the books. Then, if there is still a problem, we could look to see what needs to improve. It seems to me that more gun laws would just hurt the good and honest people.
5. We need to be free of the oil cartel. All forms of energy need to be looked at so we can become less dependent on foreign countries. Change is always difficult. Gamesa has provided about 350 jobs for this area.
There are some concerns, but in time we should know more of what kind of impact windmills have on our environment.
Jerry “J.J.” Livingston
Ferndale Borough
Education: 2002 Graduate of Ferndale Area High School; 2007 graduate of Penn State with a degree in political science.
Professional background: I worked as an intern in 2006 and 2007 for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Democratic Caucus) in both the legislative research office and for the House Democratic Southeast Delegation. While there, I was responsible for completing research, analysis, drafting of amendments and bills as well as aiding legislators in the legislative process with both policy and political focus. I have previously served as student government president of the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments at Penn State, which directed me to oversee and coordinate over 40,000 students at 19 different campus locations across the Commonwealth. I also twice took over daily operations of my late father’s tavern/restaurant and understood the constraints and hardships faced with owning a small business in our region. Also while in college, upon returning home for breaks I would resume my job as manager of a Dairy Queen in Richland Township.
Mission or values statement: My mission is simple: The status quo needs to be changed for our area, and common sense needs to be reintroduced into politics. I am a candidate proposing change because my values include my hometown, my family and my will to stop this city from bleeding to death before it’s too late to reverse the trend.
1. As a state representative, I would like to begin my focus on restructure and rebuilding of the economy by immediately starting on two ideas: Creating small business incentives for growth, including subsidies for municipal loans, business- tax cuts, property-tax cuts, healthcare subsidies and state mandates on professional regulations.
I want to get the area’s key economic leaders and get everyone on the same page to push for an agreed plan of attack for growing our economy. Elected officials, city leaders, members from the Chamber of Commerce, union leaders, etc. have sat down before but typically without much resolve. I realize that every group has their individual agenda, but therein is a large problem. So long as we cannot agree to common steps that will eventually benefit all of us, we will never manage to have a force of strength to move large barriers blocking a growing economy.
2. We need to wait and see what action if any will be taken up on property-tax relief by the current session of the General Assembly. Property-tax relief is an absolute must to the people in our area, and I vow to take corrective action to remedy the problem. Our schools in the area are well-respected for their good quality and student graduation rates. However those laurels have come at a cost, and we are paying heavily for them. Nobody wants to see the quality of education in our area deteriorate, and I would like to see money from the new gaming revenue start going into the effort that it was first created for.
3. Transportation funding is a very, very large problem in Pennsylvania right now, and the issue is only going to get worse as the budget season gets closer and closer in Harrisburg. PennDOT needs money badly for repairs on several hundred structurally deficient bridges across the entire state, including several in our area. PennDOT and the state also need money to help subsidize rising fuel and energy costs that are incurring too heavy a burden on the state’s mass transportation authorities. To address these two very important problems, the state must generate revenue to create solutions. I do not feel that privatization is going to be the answer that some people are looking for, and am not in favor of it. Likewise, I am not a big advocate for the additional tolling of Interstate 80, either. I have spoken with some veteran truck drivers from our area, and most of them seem to be behind their own solution: Decrease the toll prices on the turnpike and increase the speed limit by 5 or 10 mph. Their argument is this will increase traffic use, increase overall toll money taken in and also decrease heavy truck traffic on overused roads like Interstate 80.
4. I know guns and violence are extremely bad in Philadelphia and to a lesser extent Pittsburgh, but that’s not enough justification to me to support gun-restriction laws across the entire state. We have a lot of gun owners in our area, and we are people who were raised to understand and respect guns at an early age. I will not support legislation restricting gun purchases or use.
5. Alternative energy is going to be in our future, and we have to learn to start accepting the fact we need to move away from fossil fuels. Our area is prime for certain renewable energy sources – one that is being tapped more and more in the region is wind power. I am supportive of the bio-diesel and ethanol production being spearheaded in Pennsylvania. This industry is looking to the commonwealth for the opportunity to plant their businesses and jobs here. Why not capitalize on an initiative not only giving jobs and money for local economies but helping us to lose our foreign oil dependency? Nobody wants several 400-foot rotating towers in their area, and I would agree that before placement of wind farms we need to be sure of other environmental factors and the land that will be overtaken by these turbines.
William D. Stasko
Westmont
Education: Bachelor’s degree in accounting from St. Vincent College, 1982; Bishop McCort High School, 1978; Visitation Grade School, 1974.
Professional background/ qualifications for seeking this office: 1986 Certified Public Accountant; state licensed financial registered representative; self-employed since 1993 and employed two others; 1984 controller of Glosser Bros (GeeBee Stores). I understand the tax issues and financial issues that we all face since I meet with individuals and businesses on a daily basis and I know I can help with some of the solutions at the state level. I know how to “balance a budget.”
Mission or values statement: To provide the constituents of the 71st District with outstanding professional representation at the state level and to secure as much as possible for the district, whatever that may be (jobs, money, infrastructures). How will I do this? I will earn the respect of the other members of the House of Representatives and gain their support.
1. By providing more financial aid to the district and by eliminating state income taxes. Since Johnstown is in a “distressed status,” other cities in America (New Orleans) have suspended state income taxes until the area was once again financially stable. This will encourage people to move into the area, thus increasing development both financial and economic. Absolutely, the state must cut spending and use the money they are collecting in a much more prudent and responsible way. Far too often we hear of Harrisburg spending big money on stadiums in other areas while most areas in the state are ignored or are given small amounts or only promises. The state must give gambling money to the property owners to jump start the economy.
2. Property taxes are climbing to meet the rising cost associated with higher payrolls and road maintenance costs. I believe that municipalities and school districts should offer incentives for higher-paid individuals to retire and hire lower-paid people take their jobs. I also believe that in some instances services need to be cut so that the fixed-income households are not made to pay these rising property costs.
3. I am not privy to all the facts and figures relating to this matter and cannot reasonably answer this question. But I will say that if the state has a tough time maintaining the roads, then how will a private company make money at it? What will happen if the private company does not maintain the road? Who will? What will happen if the private company goes bankrupt and the road is turned back to the state in disrepair? I understand that a large portion of the fuels tax, paid by you and me on each gallon of gas purchased, is not used for road maintenance but for other projects. I think we need to use the fuels taxes for road use and not for other projects and maybe we would not need to consider road privatization.
4. I am a Pennsylvania licensed hunter and believe that we have a right to bear arms. I also believe that guns don’t kill – people kill people. I appreciated the tighter guns laws at the local level if they need to do that since there may be a higher level of crime in that area but am not in favor of more restrictions at the state level.
5. I love the outdoors. I hunt, fish, hike and quad. I am also a big supporter of alternative fuels. In general, I am not in favor of destroying pristine forest or carving roads in the mountain and would ask the wind energy companies to locate the wind farms in farm crop fields. The turbines would not take up much space in the fields and they are already plowed and more or less not used for five months of the year. The state must have uniform laws pertaining to the end use of the towers. The wind companies should escrow money now with the state to disassemble these units at the end of their existence.
Republican
Steve Ettien
Johnstown
Education: Bachelor’s degree in aviation business managementfrom Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Professional background/ qualifications for seeking this office: Retired U.S. Marine with 22 years of service. I possess strong leadership skills, a strategic vision and a 10-year business plan. I own a small business and have proven business ideas garnered from national travels that will help reinvigorate Johnstown.
Mission or values statement: I am a husband, father, and a retired Marine. I am pro-life, pro-gun, and pro-family. I attend Trinity Presbyterian Church in Richland. This election is about the future of our town and children. My mission will be the creation of sustainable jobs for the residents of Johnstown.
1. Reduce corporate taxes to put more money in the hands of the local people. The state government should not spend more of our money and it should NOT raise our taxes. Elected officials should reduce the size of the state government, the perks and the number of legislators in office.
2. I would sponsor a bill that property owners at age 60 would be exempt from paying “school taxes.” I would work to ensure schools receive the proper funding since educated children are our future. In the Pennsylvania Constitution, Article 3, Section 14 shows state legislators are responsible for public education.
3. Private state roads are a viable alternative to reduce taxes and the expense of maintenance. Interstate roads are tied to national security and should not be privatized. Europe has used private roads successfully for years. This is a viable idea that should be fully explored and decided upon unemotionally.
4. I am staunchly against any gun control by the state or federal governments. The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article 1, Section 21 of the Pennsylvania Constitution are clear that this is our American right, and that right shall not be infringed upon by anyone under any circumstances.
5. The state could provide economic business incentives (reduced taxes) to companies to explore alternative energy, but it should not provide our taxes to fund these companies. It is the federal government’s responsibility to explore alternative energy programs and provide research funding.
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