MOUNT CARMEL - Eight candidates are vying for the four open seats on Mount Carmel Borough Council.
Incumbent Clem Plisiewicz is the only Republican on the ballot, so without any high caliber write-in candidates, he will likely move to the general election without a problem following the primary.
The Democratic ticket, however, is loaded with choices: incumbents Tony Matulewicz and Robert Shirmer and challengers Dave Fantini, Ed Fegley, Heather Gusky-Artman, Tina Maschal and Shawn D. Reed. Democratic incumbent Robert Barrett is not seeking re-election for personal reasons.
Republican candidate
Plisiewicz, seeking a second term, said he will ramp up his campaigning following the GOP primary election, but he's confident the voters will re-elect him as an incumbent because of the amount of work accomplished in the last four years.
He said he has been part of a council that brought in a new borough manager, secretary and transit director, replaced retiring street department employees and a chief of police and involved themselves in the ongoing problems at American Hose Chemical and Fire Company and the Lower Anthracite Transportation System (LATS).
As a lifelong borough resident, Plisiewicz has been working mostly within the borough for 27 years by providing contracting services. He is also a landlord of four properties in the borough and once operated the borough taxi service for a few years.
Democratic candidates
Matulewicz, seeking his third term, said he loves the borough.
"Holding elected office in Mount Carmel has been the most rewarding experience of my life. In the last few years, council has changed the culture of local politics to where the people come first before the government employees that are supposed to serve them. We have held a hard line on purchases, spending, salary increases and taxes. I would like to continue the trend of fiscal responsibility," he said.
If one considers his record, he said financial controls have been implemented: there have been no tax increases in six years, there is no long-term debt and there have been three consecutive years of budget surpluses.
Furthermore, he said, the tax collector salary was lowered, saving more than $20,000 a year; insurance was bid out for the first time in more than 16 years, saving more than $32,000 a year; employee contributions to health insurance have been instituted, saving more than $20,000 a year, and the pension administrator was changed, saving more than $24,000 a year in fees alone.
Also, the Shamokin Creek Flood control project finally began this year, he said.
"I believe I represent the silent majority who want to see fiscally responsible, down to earth, common-sense political decisions being made," he said.
Shirmer, seeking his second term, said the current council has directed the borough on the right path.
As with his first campaign, his main issue is blight.
"I think we did well when we passed the landlord and blight ordinances. We have properties coming down. We're tearing down more on Center Street. We're going to demolish three there. I think we're going in the right direction," he said.
Street maintenance is another main concern for Shirmer.
Fantini, a borough landlord of 13 properties for 40 years, said he is seeking election for the first time because he loves Mount Carmel and is interested in working closely with the code enforcement department.
"I already told him (code enforcement officer Robin Williams) I want to help him, to make his job easier, to make Mount Carmel nice like it used to be," he said.
As a landlord, Fantini said he doesn't find it a big hassle to take care of his properties, and wants to hold other landlords accountable for their actions.
"I have good experience as a landlord. I take care of my properties. I'm honest and I'm sincere and I'll do the best I can for the community," he said.
Maschal said she has always had an interest in politics and local issues, and she now has the time to help out.
As the manager of the Kulpmont VFW with 500 members, Maschal considers herself trustworthy, a good listener and problem solver.
"I'm not the type of person who will just say they will do something. I'm always willing to learn. I respect the men on council, but I feel they can lead me on the right path. I'm very street-wise," she said.
She wants to take the initiative in developing a place for her teenage boys and other youth to spend time and not be chased away.
She's also interested in serving on the budget committee.
"I want to pinch pennies and keep taxes where they are," she said.
Reed, as a lifelong resident, wants to involve himself with the community and work with senior citizens and youth organizations. He is a former coach of youth football and baseball, and was also an equipment operator for PennDOT, worked at Northwestern Academy and was a coal miner.
"I've seen ups and downs in the borough, and I see them going in a good direction. I want to be part of that. It would be an honor to work with them and get our community to going on the good path," he said.
Reed said he is always up for challenges.
"I'm eager to learn the ropes of the budget and the pension. I'm good at getting stuff done," he said.
His goal is to keep the budget and taxes where they are. He also wants council to build a recreation center for the youth and senior citizens.
Fegley, a former borough code enforcement officer for eight years, said he has unique experience in dealing with local governments in the past and present.
"Sometimes you have to look outside the box for answers. Mostly though, it is because even though I haven't worked for Mount Carmel Borough for approximately five years, many people still approach me inquiring about how to correct some of the borough's problems," he said.
During Fegley's time with the borough, he said he took a "hands-on approach" and started a juvenile program to have young offenders cut grass, trim weeds and trees and clean up debris. He also arranged for the demolition of more than 40 nuisance structures at no cost to the taxpayers.
He is also involved with Mount Carmel Downtown Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to bettering the borough.
"This group has come along way in the past few years and is responsible for a lot of the downtown improvement projects," he said.
Fegley has also offered his assistance to the council on multiple occasions regarding matters such as the budget, recreation complex maintenance, advice for the code enforcement department and pension reform.
Artman, a lifelong resident, wants the opportunity to show the people of the borough there are ways to improve the town and move everyone in the right direction.
"I believe that a fresh face with fresh ideas is just what this town needs," she said.
Dedication, a hard-working attitude and an outgoing personality are the qualities that make her a good leader, she said.
"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions and the compassion to listen to the needs of other. I feel I possess all these qualities," she said. "Someone does not set out to be a leader but becomes one by the quality of their actions and integrity of their intent. I will keep aware of the issues that concern this town and make myself accessible to the people."
Issues
The candidates are most concerned about pensions, the Lower Anthracite Transportation System (LATS) and cleaning up the borough.
Pension
In April, it was revealed by council that the borough owes $1 million in back pension for former and current employees.
Matulewicz, also council president, considers this the biggest issue because it may bankrupt the borough in the next 10 to 15 years if left unaddressed.
"The only solution to fund the police pension is to come up with the money," he said.
He and other borough officials have been pouring through financial records since the April meeting to determine how the past practices of the borough's former management caused such a tremendous amount to be owed.
Fegley, as a citizen, taxpayer, candidate and former employee, is "very concerned about this issue," he said.
He suggested at a workshop meeting that council could approach former employees to ask if they would be interested in "buying out" their plan.
"I offer my assistance with this issue, regardless of the election turnout," Fegley said.
Artman said the pension fund for the borough and municipal authority employees should be reviewed yearly.
"If there are any discrepancies due to it being underfunded, the council will be able to handle this issue right away rather than it going unnoticed for an unspecified amount of time," she said.
Maschal said the "pension-fund debacle" should be handled correctly.
"It's about not making the taxpayers right the wrongs of past council. I believe in the transparency they've been providing," she said.
While Reed said he doesn't have the details, he wants to be involved in helping Matulewicz and other council members with the issue.
LATS
Another big issue has been the public dispute between the borough and former transportation provider Kulpmont-based King Coal Tours, which has been accused of mismanaging paperwork and overcharging for their services.
Current council has since contracted with Coal Township-based Catawese Coach Lines, and Matulewicz said the service and price difference has been "astounding."
"With the bid received from (Catawese owner) William Milbrand, we will be able to almost triple our service and include two regular routes 10 hours per day, six days per week, and include a weekly Selinsgrove mall trip, a Knoebels route 12 hours per day, and a Saturday night route through the businesses of the Mount Carmel-Shamokin area, all for the same amount of money," he said.
Fegley said he doesn't have many of the details of the LATs situation, but believes it may require further investigation.
"I do know that these types of programs are supposed to be audited by the commonwealth annually and I'm not aware of any findings of those audits. That may or may not mean anything," he said.
Nevertheless, he said, if the program is performing in a more efficient manner since changing transportation companies, the council should look into that, commend anyone responsible and encourage them to explore even more alternatives.
Fantini said Matulewicz is doing an "excellent job" and digging these problems up so it doesn't get worse, but noted he himself doesn't have any solutions.
"I would also be interested in working with Tony," he said.
Artman said nothing can be done until all the evidence is collected, and she would continue to research it until it is gathered before considering filing a lawsuit.
Maschal wants the state to step in and investigate the issue.
During Thursday's borough council meeting, council members asked Mount Carmel Borough Police Chief Todd Owens to launch a criminal investigation into the operation of LATS.
Cleaning up the borough
Borough council recently passed two ordinances that will provide officials with additional tools in the fight against blight, unseemly yards and houses and nefarious landlords.
With full support from all candidates, the "quality of life" ordinance allows the code enforcement and police officers to issues tickets for code violations and the revised landlord ordinance includes $25 per unit fees for all borough landlords.
Police being proactive will make a big difference, Plisiewicz said.
"People will respond more with a police officer. That will make a difference. We're going to have a little more to work with the quality of life and landlord; a little more in the arsenal," he said.
Too many houses are being lost to blight, Shirmer said.
"We let too many houses get dilapidated. We have to stay ahead of the game," he said.
The streets and blight will require money to resolve, Matulewicz said.
"Regarding the streets, we have doubled the street improvement funding beginning this year without raising overall taxes. We will now have $100,000 per year that by law must be used to improve streets," he said. "Regarding blight, the number of dilapidated homes in town are too numerous to list, but we are beginning to take a bite out of blight several ways."
The borough has partnered with Northumberland County and UNB Bank to use a combination of grants, private money and local money to raze five properties, he said.
"Another is that council is currently allocating the legal maximum of 30 percent of Community Development Block Grant money. The best way to stop blight is before it happens. To that end, we are vigorously enforcing ordinances through the code office and the police department for the first time," he said.
Fegley said the borough needs to follow through on its decisions.
"All the ordinances in the works won't mean a thing unless the governing body creates and encourages the enforcement of them," he said. "Quality of life is likely to have an impact due to its quick ability to seek punitive action. The biggest problem with some of the ordinances is that they require lengthy periods of time to be allotted for violations to be corrected."
The landlord ordinance is needed to regulate the housing stock to ensure the safety of the tenants as well as the safety of neighboring properties, he said.
"I believe that the landlords should do more than just collect a rent check. However, on the other hand, we do have some pretty good landlords who already do a good job of managing their properties. There are some different approaches that I would like to implement, approaches that I know work," he said.
Fantini, who was on the committee to develop the new landlord ordinance, wants to see the town cleaned up.
"A lot of people don't have money to fix their property, but you don't need a lot of money to keep it neat and clean. I'd like to see everyone get on board and have rental properties up to code," he said.
Artman said she would be willing to help both the borough code enforcement and police officers by walking through the town and keeping them informed on her findings.
Fegley said a suffering downtown needs to be addressed. He wants the borough to take a more active role in Mount Carmel Downtown Inc.'s efforts to revitalize the business district.
"Correcting the physical deterioration - blight, streets, recreation - are all specialties of mine. I know we can do more to help encourage redevelopment of properties that have been vacant for years and to make safe those that may be beyond repair," he said.
Maschal said the ordinances need to be stronger and there should be more accountability.
Reed said, "Our councilmen and code enforcement officer have been doing a good job. As of now, what they put into effect, it's working good. I need to do more research on it, but I would like to see a push forward a higher citation if it's not working."