In McCandless council race, only Ward 2 is contested

In McCandless, council seats are open in Wards 2, 4 and 6, but the Ward 2 seat is the only race that’s contested.

In Ward 2, two newcomer candidates for council, Marcia Pearson and Jack Casey, will square off for the open seat.

In Ward 4, newcomer Jason Singer is the only candidate on the ballot for the open seat, and in Ward 6, incumbent and current council Vice President Carolyn Schweiger is the only candidate on the ballot.

All terms are four years.

Here are the Ward 2 candidates and the answers to the questions posed by the North Allegheny Journal.

Submitted by candidate

Jack Casey

Jack Casey

Age: 67

Political party: Republican

Education: Bachelor of science in business education in commerce from Duquesne University

Occupation: Retired from 22 years in railroad union and management at Conrail and the DRGW, SP railroad. Twenty years as a banker at Mellon Bank & US Bank

If elected, what are two short-term goals? Improved stormwater management — as 38-year residents of McCandless, my family and I have personally experienced many issues resulting from stormwater management. Rainstorms have increased both in frequency and severity, so have the consequences: basements flood; raw sewage spews onto Vestal Field, emergency vehicles are blocked from residents and from a natural gas substation. I would increase risers on existing retention ponds to significantly retard fast-moving runoff, especially into Pine Creek. Wexford walkability — millions of dollars have been spent on sidewalks, but they fall short of their full potential to make the area a more walkable place. While the sidewalks run past the many businesses, schools, sports venues, shops, bars, restaurants, car dealers etc., they remain inaccessible to the thousands of residents living on either side of the highway. I will remedy this by using readily available Pennsylvania grant money to connect businesses, neighborhoods and communities.

If elected, what is one long-term goal? Create an ad hoc Citizens Town Safety advisory committee. It would be charged with creating an amendment to the town’s Comprehensive Plan to add stormwater management, potential highway safety measures (for example, turning lanes on East and West Ingomar roads) and the prioritized sidewalk connectivity measures. This committee would seek immediate and long-term solutions, especially for stormwater management. It could also help identify public and private funding. It would be part of the environmental committee.

How do you plan to communicate with constituents and involve them in the decision-making process? It’s vital to provide occasional Town Hall Meetings where reasonable discussions, ideas, suggestions and solutions can be exchanged. It’s disturbing and frustrating that council doesn’t provide a forum for two-way conversation with residents. Better dialogue would decrease frustration and reduce misunderstandings. Town council provides residents five minutes to speak with no interpersonal communication … it’s like speaking to a wall. Issues should be addressed through better dialogue. Pre-meeting agendas would be distributed five days in advance to residents or posted on the McCandless homepage where residents could present questions, comment on issues, or provide suggestions prior to meetings. These residential feedback items can be addressed at the meetings. Everyone needs a voice.

Submitted by candidate

Marcia M. Pearson

Marcia M. Pearson

Age: 59

Political party: Democrat

Education: Ohio Wesleyan University, B.A. in mathematics and computer science. Graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Occupation: Retired IBM vice president. Currently volunteering as chair of the Technology Advisory Committee for the Town of McCandless, treasurer of the Mountaineer Hunter Jumper Association and finance manager for local equestrian facility.

If elected, what are two short-term goals? As the chair of the technology committee for the last two years, I’ve had the opportunity to build strong working relationships with the town’s staff and leadership. My first priority is to take action to mitigate the stormwater flooding issues many in our community are experiencing. We can do a better job with our retention and detention ponds to limit the downstream impact of the heavy rains. My second goal is to improve our communications platforms. Today, less than 20 percent of our population uses one of the online tools (website, Facebook page, Savvy Citizen, McMail, etc). They can be confusing and hard to navigate. I will build a strategy to streamline information to make it easy to find answers to questions, report concerns or issues, be notified about upcoming events and get involved in our wonderful town.

If elected, what is one long-term goal? I have several long-term goals and one is to make sure that we have the right zoning and stormwater management ordinances to allow for continued development, but protect our green spaces and not add to the stormwater flooding issue. McCandless has not done a major overhaul of the zoning since the 1970s and now is the time to make sure we do it correctly for conditions as they exist today and in the future.

How do you plan to communicate with constituents and involve them in the decision-making process? It is extremely important to me that all of our constituents have a voice in how the town is run and the decisions that are being made. During the campaign it has been great getting out, knocking on doors and understanding what people’s concerns and issues are. At IBM, I always told my teams I can’t fix what I don’t know about. If elected, I’ll have the same approach with constituents. Besides leveraging the town’s communications platforms, I’ll make sure that neighbors are aware of any potential issues impacting them ahead of time. I’m already engaged with some of the neighbors struggling with stormwater and I will continue with this very personal approach across Ward 2.