Ex-Berks commissioner seeks return to board
Mark Scott, who lost his bid for a seventh term in 2019, is once again seeking a position on the board
Mark Scott doesn’t want to stay on the sidelines.
After serving as a Berks County commissioner for more than two decades, Scott has spent the last three years watching from a distance after losing a reelection bid in 2019. And he doesn’t like what he’s seen.
That’s why he has decided to throw his hat in the ring once more, announcing he’s running for commissioner in the Republican primary this May.
Scott said there are several factors that motivated him to run again. But, overall, he said he could no longer sit back and watch poor decisions being made by the current board of commissioners.
“I’m very disturbed by what I see as the declining caliber of management by the incumbent commissioners,” he said. “I can offer a more conservative and competent alternative to what has, unfortunately, been politics as usual in Berks County.”
Scott said the bottom line for him is that he cares about the community, he has never stopped caring about the community and he believes that its leadership can do better.
He said he thinks he can provide voters with the opportunity to support a candidate who will make rational decisions based on evidence without regard to the political consequences those decisions might have.
Scott fell in the 2019 primary to Michael Rivera, who had partnered with longtime commissioner Christian Leinbach to campaign as a team. Republican voters selected Rivera and Leinbach to represent them on the ballot in the general election.
He then launched a write-in campaign for the general election but was unsuccessful.
Scott said that in the three years that he has been gone he has seen the commissioners take a number of actions that he believes were mistakes. For instance, he disapproves of the direction of the county’s new economic development plan and the way the board handled an election recount effort led by the Berks County Republican Committee.
When it comes to the recount effort, Scott said the board unwisely took a confrontational approach by refusing to address what he believes were legitimate concerns regarding the operation of the voting machines.
“The magnitude of the concerns expressed should have caused the commissioners to open a dialogue with full examination of the equipment and voting process,” he said. “I would have sat down and hashed out the issues to reach an amicable resolution with the ultimate goal being public confidence.”
When it comes to the economic development plan, Scott said the initiative is overly broad. He added that the board lacks the legal authority and financial resources to bring about most of the proposals that it includes.
Scott said the reality is that the commissioners have engaged in counterproductive activities such as the derailment of the largest private investment in the history of the Reading Regional Airport and the proliferation of warehouses in Berks.
“The number one priority when it comes to economic development should be human development in terms of workforce skills,” he said. “Unfortunately, many elected officials emphasize projects over people because they are very visible. But more important are the invisible aspects of life which have to do with individual capability, talent and happiness.”
Scott said he believes his record in 24 years on the board of commissioners shows what he’s capable of achieving if voters give him the chance.
He said his biggest accomplishments included working to rid the county of its unofficial title as the landfill capital of Pennsylvania; helping to create Antietam Lake Park, pushing for the purchase of the Colebrookdale Railroad; advocating for the preservation of farmland; and calling on the unions that represent those who work at Berks Heim to modify their contracts in an attempt to keep the facility
under county ownership.
But, he said, his proudest achievement is serving without letting the job change him.
“I believe I always approached the job as a public servant,” he said. “I tried to minimize the influence of politics on the decisions that I made and I was sincere in my positions. I have always been true to myself.”
All three commissioner positions are up for election this year. Two Democrats and two Republicans will be chosen by voters in the primary election to move onto the general election in the fall, where the top three finishers will win seats on the board.
Scott will face four other candidates who are seeking two Republican nominations in the May 16 primary. His competitors are Leinbach, Rivera, David Golowski and Maria Bogdanova-Peifer.
Commissioners are elected to four-year terms and receive a salary of $110,338.