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More of the same? Or change of direction?

ROBERT KEPLER

Renovo

After 28 years of Democrat Mike Hanna Sr. representing Clinton County, will the people here benefit from electing his son, Mike Hanna Jr., to fill his dad’s shoes?

Or should we change the direction the county is headed and vote for Republican Stephanie Borowicz?

Here’s where we are in Clinton County after years of representation from Mike Hanna.

The county poverty rate is almost 18 percent, the second highest in the state. Lock Haven city poverty rate is at 42%. $6.1 million in grant and funding programs over an 18-year period have been poured into Lock Haven with the help of Mike Hanna, and now the population has declined by 500 people in the last 7 years.

Homelessness is on the rise here along with an increase in drugs and crime. A taxpayer funded bus service was started because we were told people can’t afford a car and a home. 650 property tax sales were listed last year in the paper, 65 percent of students at Keystone Central School District qualify for free or reduced lunch, and more middle class people are shopping at the Salvation Army.

Over 50 percent of Clinton County is owned by the state, thanks in part to Mike Hanna and his support of the conservancies. Mike would get millions of taxpayers dollars from the Keystone Fund through DCNR for the conservancies to buy thousands of acres of private property to preserve and protect. The conservancies would then donate the land to DCNR. Does this sound like Hanna supports the ownership of private property?

This acquisition of land has resulted in the destruction of wealth in the county because private property is wealth! Now the county has a substantial loss of revenue because the state doesn’t pay nearly the taxes on an acre of land that a private owner does … not to mention the “taxes” the state does pay on state land comes right out of the taxpayers’ pocket.

I believe this loss of land has led to a substantial increase in county and school property taxes, which has caused a need for senior housing in the county. Seniors are being forced out of their homes because they can’t afford the upkeep and the property taxes even though their home was paid for years ago.

When these seniors are pushed out of their homes, this again is the destruction of wealth. Instead of eliminating property taxes for seniors so they can stay in their homes, Mike Hanna announces taxpayer-subsidized senior housing in Flemington to the tune of $8 million for 32 units. That’s $250,000 per unit for housing seniors that had a home. Why not just buy Mills Park in Renovo that’s for sale with 27 units, move in ready for $660,000.00? That’s only $24,400 per unit, and the monthly rent would be a lot less.

Some of Mike Hanna’s biggest supporters are the teachers’ unions. Mike is all for the big salaries and pensions that has led to the financial crisis at KCSD. The school board let go 34 teachers and still can’t make ends meet because the pension liability is eating them alive. The pension liability has gone up 410 percent from 2010 to 2016 and is going to continue to rise and so are the property taxes, and where is Mike Hanna?

Mike Hanna has gotten millions of dollars in grant and funding programs over the years (all taxpayers money) for the communities in the county and with each one, we are told it will be good for the economy and the people. If everything is so geat after all this spending of taxpayers money, then why did the county just qualify for three distressed opportunity zones?

The reason I went over some of the problems facing Clinton County under the leadership of Mike Hanna is because his boy, Mike Jr., has been conditioned to step right into dad’s shoes. Mike Jr. will continue the tax and spend legacy of his dad and continue to drive Clinton County deeper into poverty, more property tax sales, more homelessness, more crime and drugs, more seniors in need of housing, all the while telling you all these grant and funding programs are good for you and he’s here to help.

Out of all the TV ads and flyers by Mike Jr., I didn’t see any mention of cutting taxes, eliminating wasteful spending and cutting the size of government. Just remember, Mike Jr’s biggest fan is Gov. Tom Wolf and if the Democrats can get a majority in the state House and Senate, I believe Tom Wolf will try to raise your taxes by $2 billion.

So if you want your taxes cut, more money in your pocket, the elimination of wasteful spending and smaller government, vote for Stephanie Borowicz for state representative and Scott Wagner for governor. They will work for you and get Pennsylvania growing again!

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