Candidates

ing jobs and manufacturing facilities. They need to be well planned, and supply/demand needs to be considered.

Soldridge: As a member of a family that operates a working farm, I appreciate and understand the importance of farmland and open space. As a free market advocate, I also understand the need for flowing commerce and jobs. Commerce brings revenue to the local economy. We need to make sure we are balancing these and making sure our community is not being negatively affected by warehouse growth. There is currently an abundance of available warehouse space built and ready for use in Northampton County. It would be my position that we encourage local governments to offer incentives to fill those spaces first before approving additional builds.

I support setting aside open space equal or greater than the space used for every new structure built in the future. And finally, the occupants of these warehouses must be responsible to the local government for maintaining the roads, the noise and limiting the times of truck access to these properties.

Romanishan: We should really emphasize more farmland preservation and open space. My reasoning is with more farmland persevered and more open spaces, we could learn to live off our lands, so we could become a more substantial county. We also must preserve our farmlands and state parks to promote healthy living environments.

Robertone: The county needs to tread lightly. From meeting people door-to-door, I hear they are not happy about all the warehouses and truck traffic. The county needs to pay attention to the people’s wishes. We need an open forum and to listen better to residents.

Q: Should county residents have full confidence that their elections are being handled legitimately? What changes, if any, would you push for in how residents cast their ballots?

Zrinski: I am confident that our elections were fair and accurate. I trust the numbers that were delivered by the machines, that no one voted who was not registered, and that all the votes were counted. I believe that the new vote by mail increases accessibility to voting and I do believe that is important. I believe that a voter should be able to register to vote at any point. I would also push for open primaries as well as ranked voting.

Heffner: We worked very hard to vet those machines when we got the unfunded mandate

[to use voting machines that included a paper trail]. We worked hard to give supplies to the election poll workers, and we’re going to continue to do due diligence to preserve legal and fair elections. I would ask that the pre-canvassing be extended and that workers be allowed to scan ballots and count votes a little earlier. We should keep the mail-ins, the walk-ins and exactly what we have. Any access the voters can have is great.

Bruno: Yes, residents should feel confident in the elections system, because they are being handled legitimately. I am proud to be a resident of Northampton County and fully trust the electoral system.

Heckman: Yes, Northampton County has vetted our machines over the past two elections. They are set up with safeguards such as paper hard-copy backups. The elections are accurate and legal. Not one case of fraud or illegality has been found.

McGee: Yes county resident should have full confidence with our elections process and accountability. One thing I would like to see changed with the new mail-in ballot is to lengthen the pre-canvassing (counting of the ballots) from one day to a couple of weeks before Election.

Brown: To increase voter confidence in our elections, there needs to be greater clarity around the election law and the county procedures being followed to implement elections. Election law, as written, allows for broad interpretation, which exacerbates voter confusion, and undermines confidence in the election process. Additionally, the lack of standardized procedures informing the voter of the specific measures counties are required to follow to manage the election process adds to voter confusion and distrust in the legitimacy of elections.

Goffredo: Elections in this country have always been plagued by bad actors. It’s nothing new and has been going on for 200 years. This is common knowledge and up until 2020, it hasn’t been taboo to say. I believe drop boxes and undeniably easy access to ballots will do nothing but make our election integrity weaker. I would support voter IDs with every ballot, which would then be turned into the county courthouse to county employees. Democracy isn’t an inalienable right. It has to be preserved and protected.

Soldridge: Yes, residents should have full confidence in our elections. I believe voting in person, at a polling place, with properly trained poll workers, is the best way to reduce issues with voting. The change I support would be enforcing voter ID laws when voters come to the polls. We show ID to get on a plane, enter government buildings and to withdraw our own money at the bank, there is no reason why anyone who wants a fair election would not want to produce an ID to vote.

Romanishan: Yes residents should feel fully confident that our election system is legitimate. One change I would make is get rid of drop boxes and go back to paper ballots and not the Dominion Voting Systems.

Robertone: People tell me that they absolutely do not trust the voting system. People say they will not vote anymore, because it’s not properly being handled. Their right to vote is basically under attack. I would end drop-off boxes. If you want to do ballots on demand, you need to show voter ID, but if you go in person, you don’t have to show ID. I favor everyone needing to show voter ID.

Q: County taxes and spending have basically been level in recent years. If elected, what would your priorities be for the budget in terms of taxes and spending to help the most residents?

Zrinski: The county and administration have demonstrated fiscal responsibility. My top priority is to make sure we continue our commitment to fund farmland preservation, parks and recreation and quasi-governmental agencies like the conservation districts and Lehigh Valley Planning Commission that assist in reviewing plans and permits that ensure that both construction and environmental standards are being upheld. I also think it is time to review the wage and salary structure of our county employees to make sure they are receiving fair and competitive compensation for their time, effort and dedication.

Heffner: We kept our promise to restore all services and functions without increasing taxes, and I plan to keep to that promise for the next four years. While we’re vetting this budget, we must ensure that we can sustain the cut we make, if we so choose. If we’re going to choose to honor this budget and really give people a cut, make sure we don’t need to flip it back three years from now. We want to make sure we sustain services and that human services remain intact and has enough money, because we can’t guarantee receiving state or intergovernmental funding.

Bruno: Taxes have not been raised under the current executive, Lamont McClure. I’d like to keep it that way.

Heckman: Keeping tabs on county spending is the job of County Council. We must ensure that we are doing everything to get the most efficiency from our services while maintaining fiscal responsibility. I have never voted to raise taxes, and I will work to keep county taxes stable with no increase.

McGee: Over the last three years I approved budgets that did not raise taxes. I will continue to be fiscally responsible by making sure that county services have adequate funding. My top priority would be to make sure Gracedale is properly funded so we can continue to protect our most vulnerable citizens.

Brown: The county budget has ballooned over the past few years by tens of millions of dollars, which means spending has increased. A comprehensive review of all spending must occur to determine what is driving the budgeted increases and to develop a spending reduction plan. Concurrently, identifying the sources of revenue (other than taxes) that is fueling the spending is critical to determine the risk to taxpayers (tax increases) once these other money sources disappear.

Goffredo: Our taxes and spending are hardly level. We depend on intergovernmental funding to balance our massive budget. My top priority would be not taking on anymore “ventures” in the housing/nursing business. We already have a commitment that is suffering. We should be providing every available resource to workers at Gracedale so we can attract more good nurses to help our exhausted staff.

Soldridge: Simply, reducing and/or not raising property taxes. Council needs to look at ways to make homeownership easier and more available to all county residents. I believe it starts with lowering the cost of said ownership and as a council, we can do our part by reducing those taxes. We can reduce or maintain tax levels by looking at wasteful spending and eliminating those budget line items.

Romanishan: With my previous experience as tax collector and current experience in banking, I will bring some much needed and wise fiscal budgetary decisions for county taxes and spending.

Robertone: If you tax businesses, they won’t be prone to hire employees. Therefore, you will stifle employment opportunities within the county. But I understand the importance of looking at those who are struggling, including senior citizens and residents who don’t have children in the school district. As a business owner, I think it’s always good to take a deep dive and analysis, look at the true cost and develop a plan to move forward. You won’t stifle opportunities for employment, and you lessen the tax burden for people who have lower incomes.