4 seek 2 open seats on Upper Pottsgrove board
UPPER POTTSGROVE >> Four candidates are seeking two open seats on the board of commissioners, each with a a four-year term, in the Nov. 5 election
Incumbent Elwood Taylor, who is running this year as a Democrat, has made headlines recently by his refusal to comply with a new resolution forbidding elected commissioners to serve on other township or non-profit boards.
The other Democrat is Tyrone Robinson who lost a race for commissioner two years ago by a two-vote margin.
The Republican candidates are Cathy Paretti, known for her activism in veterans causes, and David Waldt, who works in real estate and is a member of the Republican committee.
What follows are responses to The Mercury’s online candidate questionnaire in the order in which they were received.
Elwood Taylor
Taylor, 65, is retired from Pottsgrove Middle School, where he taught history.
He has served as a township commissioner for 20 years, 12 years as its president, as well as 25 years on the township planning commission, where he is chairman. He is a founding member of the Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning
Committee, where he has served for 14 years.
In his responses to The Mercury’s online candidate questionnaire, Taylor wrote that he decided to seek reelection because “I’m a volunteer by nature, and enjoy doing what I can to help make my community a great place for us all to call home and raise our kids.”
Taylor wrote that he believes the most important issue facing the board of commissioners is the possibility of “our communityowned sewer collection system to a private, profit-making corporation and ‘getting out of the sewer business.”
He wrote that “their stated objective is to take the proceeds of the sale to pay off the sewer debt and use anything left over to contribute towards the currently under-funded employee pension plan and to repair or rebuild our aging municipal buildings. They also hope to avoid the costs associated with extending sewer service throughout the township. The details of such an arrangement are still being investigated — but there are many important questions that will need to be addressed before I could agree to such an initiative.”
Firstly, wrote Taylor, “since roughly half our township residents have
their own on-lot septic systems and have never paid fees for use of the public sewer system — I don’t think it is fair that they should benefit from the sale of the system that sewer-users pay for with their high fees. I believe that any ‘profit’ from a potential sewer system sale should go completely to existing sewer users in the form of reduced fees. (Full disclosure — My property is not connected to the public sewer system — so I am voting against my interest.)”
“Also,” Taylor wrote, “customers should not expect reduced fees after transferring our system to a private business owner. The PA Office of Consumer Advocate has evaluated these sales and consistently warned that they may not be in the best interest of sewer users and that rates will definitely rise, sometimes substantially, in order to cover the artificially high acquisition costs and provide profit for the investors.”
“I believe that our community-owned sewer system is a valuable resource that we should keep under local control for the benefit of our own residents. While our fees have been relatively high in the past, a new profit-making owner will not be able to do much better,” Taylor wrote.
“Also, now that we have already invested in the expensive back bone of the system, new developments and construction that is on the horizon, can easily be tied into our system and add customers that will help pay off the debt that existing customers have been bearing themselves all these years. This additional revenue will also become the fund from which we can extend sewer service to our neighborhoods that have failing systems,” wrote Taylor.
“I hope that the residents I have represented for the last 20 years will agree that my proven track record and experience, makes me a trustworthy choice for continued service on the board of commissioners,” Taylor wrote.
Tyrone Robinson
Robinson, 69, is a retired industrial electrician. He has never held elected public office.
Robinson, who served as the first vice president of the Pottstown chapter of the NAACP, said in his response he is running in order “to be in a position of influence and also being
Cathy Paretti
Paretti, 64, is a small business owner, running CMP Studios, and is also founder and president of the Veterans’ Island Project, a nonprofit group best known for making improvements to Memorial Park in Pottstown.
She has never held elected office and wrote in her response that she decided to run because “local elections are the ones that directly affect voters the most. Too often incumbents run unopposed, and after a certain point I don’t believe the same people can solve the same old problems.
Paretti wrote that the biggest issue facing the township is “ballooning debt, unfunded pension liabilities that rank the township as one of the worst in the state, and astronomical sewer fees on an increasingly overburdened system. There are some hard decisions that need to be made, and the next board of commissioners must be willing to thoughtfully consider all of them,” Paretti wrote. “Residents of Upper Pottsgrove deserve a safe and secure community, with a cost-effective government that is easy to work with. It’s been too long.”
David Waldt
Waldt, 64, works in real estate sales at Re/Max Achievers and is vice president of a real estate investment company
Waldt has never held elected office but is a Montgomery County Republican Party committeeperson and is serving on Upper Pottsgrove Township Fire committee.
In his responses, Waldt wrote that he decided to run after “I was approached by many fellow taxpaying citizens of Upper Pottsgrove Township who know my background, to become more involved in serving our community. After attending budget meetings and serving on several committees at the county and local level, I decided to run for the commissioner seat where I can serve all the taxpayers.”
Waldt wrote that “one of the most important issues in Upper Pottsgrove Township is our weak financial position. Currently, we are underfunded by $1.4 million to our employee’s pension fund. Our township’s total debt is approximately $8-9 million. This is totally unacceptable for a township of our size. In a township of our size, roughly 5,500 people, this is a huge financial strain on the future of Upper Pottsgrove Township. At the current rate of spending, our reserves will be depleted in about 3-4 years.”