Longtime Whitehall Mayor Jim Nowalk facing Chris Mooney in general election

In Whitehall, longtime Mayor Jim Nowalk is facing Republican challenger Chris Mooney in the November election. Here are their responses to questions posted by TribLive:

Chris Mooney

Republican

Age: 67

Education: BS, BA, Robert Morris University

Occupation: Retired after spending over 30 years at AAA working in emergency road service

Community involvement/volunteer work: I spent a decade on the board of the Friends of the Whitehall Library. I have spent the past five years as chair of the Whitehall Republican Committee.

Years residing in borough: 37

With state funding often limited, how would you balance the need for new projects or services with the responsibility to keep taxes manageable?

The wage tax in Whitehall is the second-highest in Allegheny County. We need to quit growing the government.

For example, the borough just spent $135,000 to acquire a north-facing hillside that has been for sale since 2008 for a proposed park, in an area with very few residents where the only public access is along a road that is unsafe to walk. It will cost a considerable sum of additional money to turn that parcel into anything that is ADA-compliant. Meanwhile, the borough has been struggling with the cost of maintaining the existing parks.

The borough spends $500,000 a year to pave the roads, but spends virtually zero to extend their useful life.

We need to find cost offsets to continue to afford the core services that really matter.

What would you like to do as far as encouraging more residents to get involved with events, activities and programs offered by the borough?

The borough has gotten better at electronic communications, but we can do better at tailoring the information to appeal to specific audiences.

Jim Nowalk

Democrat

Age: 72

Education: Bachelor of arts in government, University of Notre Dame; juris doctor, Duquesne University School of Law

Occupation: Attorney at law

Community involvement/volunteer work: Whitehall mayor, 32 years; member of Whitehall Borough Council, 10 years; co-founder and president of Baldwin-Whitehall Friends of the Theater Arts; moderator, St. Gabriel Forensics Program; founder, president and trustee, Whitehall Civic Association; founder, chair and member, Whitehall Committee for Environmental Action; founder and chair, Whitehall Wildlife Management Committee; co-founder and trustee, Whitehall Borough Historical Society; president and member, St. Gabriel School Advisory Board

Years residing in borough: 69

With state funding often limited, how would you balance the need for new projects or services with the responsibility to keep taxes manageable?

A. Every local municipality is in competition with its neighbors to offer services that attract new residents and businesses. To ensure that these services are available, a borough must adopt budgets with sufficient revenues to meet its expenses, allow for improvements to aging infrastructure and allow for changes in residents’ needs. If state revenues are limited, then a borough must decrease costs through creative and innovative ideas that might include streamlining programs, using artificial intelligence, pursuing renewable energy sources, intergovernmental cooperation and the like. At the same time, a borough should pursue additional revenues from nongovernmental entities such as foundations and civic-minded corporations, and utilize resident volunteers for certain projects.

What would you like to do as far as encouraging more residents to get involved with events, activities and programs offered by the borough?

A borough should seek input from residents in developing events, activities and programs, then advertise them by the most far-reaching means and those that meet residents where they are; for example, through social media platforms, text messaging and email newsletters. The communications must be informative, inspirational and frequent. Whenever possible, a borough should seek feedback from residents through surveys after the events, activities and programs are concluded to assess interest in future such events or ways to improve them the next time they are held.