Democratic face-off in 53rd District
Lansdale councilmen vying to replace longtime state Rep. Bob Godshall
With longtime state representative Bob Godshall leaving the state legislature at the end of the current term, several familiar names will be on the ballot to represent Pennsylvania’s 53rd legislative district starting in 2019.
Leon Angelichio and Steve Malagari, both Lansdale Borough councilmen, will both appear on the Democratic primary ballot on Tuesday, and the winner will square off against Republican and former Lansdale mayor Andy Szekely in November.
ANGELICHIO
An HVAC technician and owner of Angie Mechanical, Angelichio was first elected to Lansdale Borough Council in 2013 and reelected last year, and held the post of council president from February 2015 through the end of that year. In an interview with The Reporter after announcing his plans to run, Angelichio said his top priorities at the state level would be responsible budgeting, funding education and vocational training, and protecting the state’s environment and natural resources.
“Protection of these resources is absolutely critical — our waterways, our lakes, making sure that we are good stewards of our environment,” Angelichio said.
Another key issue Angelichio cited was the need for a severance tax for natural gas drillers, which could be used to fund priorities across the state, instead of, or in addition to, impact fees that go to local municipalities. “A severance tax can bring additional, sustainable revenue to the state of Pennsylvania that can be used for infrastructure, education, support of our seniors, anything that the state currently
assists municipalities and people with,” he said.
In recent weeks Angelichio has also called for a local borough ordinance prohibiting any discrimination against the LGBTQ community in Lansdale, increases to the state’s minimum wage, more education funding, an end to current state redistricting laws and procedures to prevent gerrymandering, and the decriminalization and regulation of cannabis in the state.
“Doing so would provide an additional source of revenue to balance our budget, and studies have shown that states that have legalized the use of it have lowered the rates of opioid abuse,” he said.
MALAGARI
A sales consultant for a beverage distributor and Lansdale councilman since 2012, Malagari was chosen to be council’s vice president in January 2014 and held that position until the following February. Malagari told The Reporter his priorities on council have included overseeing road and utility repair projects as chairman of the Public Works committee, and he hopes to do the same at the state level.
“Once I ran for council and got on council, we ended up doing a lot of good in Lansdale, revitalizing the town and working to create a vibrant community that people wanted to be here, worked on our roads, worked on the infrastructure, and started to create a thriving economy
for our downtown,” he said.
“There are road projects that still need to be done, traffic signals that need to be updated and there’s a lot of bridges that still need to be repaired, and that’s not just here, but that’s across the commonwealth and we need to make sure that we actually take care of that because we need an infrastructure that will foster economic growth,” Malagari said.
In his day job, Malagari said, he interacts often with small businesses, and at the state level, funding infrastructure repairs and education, including vocational training, are ways to encourage growth while giving today’s students a bright future.
“We need to have the education system to support the workers that will be coming in the future. There are an amazing amount of opportunities within our district and we need to have the education system to support that,” Malagari said. “The students of today need to be trained and prepared for the jobs of tomorrow.”
In the last few weeks, Malagari has said he will call for and support common sense gun safety legislation, minimum wage increases and equal pay, investment in education and health systems, and legalization of hemp, and touted endorsements by the Pennsylvania chapter of Planned Parenthood and the Teamsters Joint council 53.
“As a proud graduate of North Penn High School and the son of a public school teacher, I will always fight to make sure we have sound investment in our public school system. Our public schools are the foundation of Pennsylvania’s future, and they have always been the stabilizing force when it comes to quality education,” Malagari said.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Angelichio: Visit www. LeonforPA.org, search for “Leon for State Rep 53” on Facebook
Malagari: Visit www. VoteMalagari.com, search for “Vote Malagari” on Facebook or follow @Steve_ Malagari on Twitter.