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Randall Brachbill is a Republican Candidate for the Bellefonte Borough Council running unopposed in Ward 2. Also running for Ward 2 is Democrat Deborah Cleeton, who did not participate in an interview.
Ward 2 may vote for two candidates.
Below are a couple of questions Brachbill answered during a C-NET interview by Anne Danahy, a WPSU reporter. Some of Brachbill's answers have been edited for length, but the full interview can be viewed on C-NET's website.
Q: Can you tell us just a little bit about yourself and why you're running for reelection?
A: I lived in Bellefonte most of my life. I lived outside of town growing up but we've been in Bellefonte since we were married, like 45 years -- my wife's name is Cathy. I went through Jaycees and they kind of gave me the inspiration to try something else. I aged out of Jaycees at that point and maybe 10 years later decided I wanted to get involved with a little bit of politics. I thought the borough was a good way to do it. I enjoy it -- sometimes you have some difficult decisions to make and you just have to figure out what’s going to be best for the residents. That's kind of why I try to hang in there.
Q: In August Borough Council voted to suspend its Climate Action Plan and its Environmental Advisory Board. Where do you stand on that?
A: I helped with that when we did it in '18 or '19. When we first got onto that, that’s when we brought in our EV chargers. That was working out fine. But the problem was we weren't getting anything out of it monetarily wise. At that point, because we used grant funds, I don't think we were allowed. Now we are and we moved that to a $3 charge to park and charge your car. That money gets deviated around and we have to share some with the state. We're not going to make a lot of money but it’s at least going to cover our costs. The Climate Action Plan to me was confusing. When we really sat down and looked at that, at one point it’s looking at Bellefonte and what Bellefonte needs to do to meet the certain deadlines... we have no idea where Bellefonte is going to be at that point. My concern was, if we're putting money into it, what are we getting out of it? What are we going to see? My view is that we need to let Bellefonte be Bellefonte. I don't want to get into a situation where we're committed to something, and what happens if we don't make it at that point?
Q: A big project proposal that has been under discussion that is in the works is a Bandshell that a community group is looking at building in Talleyrand park. Do you support that and what do you think needs to happen with that project?
A: Even before we sign a lease we want to make sure that A-Z they're covering what needs to be done. But I think one of the concerns is when you look around the different areas like in Hollidaysburg or -- I can't remember the other place in Pennsylvania -- they have bandshells. When they put them in they're $325,000 so I don't understand why we are looking at millions of dollars to put a bandshell in. To me, it's not going to be a year-round usable place as far as music coming in or any kind of thing for the stage. We had a couple other ideas when we started talking with them and the plaza theater that was a movie place. The owner died but I think the daughter took over for him, we hadn't really had a discussion with them but we thought 'wouldn’t that be great if we could open that back up not as a movie theater but as a stage for people to come in and do music, plays, whatever?' -- you could do the same thing.
Q: Is there anything you'd like to say to voters out there?
A: I appreciate the voters and residents that I work for. Those are the ones that are keeping me in office. I told Cindy coming in in the last 2 days I've put on 20,500 steps and I still have about halfway to go yet to put my information out. Even though nobody is running against me I still feel like I need to do that. That's my job. I need to get myself out there. I don't necessarily knock on doors, I really don't want to bother anybody. I just put my stuff on the porch and then I get a call or whatever if someone needs something. I'm looking forward to the next four years.
To hear all of the questions and Brachbill's answers, visit videoplayer.telvue.com/player/GNduNoua2rBThhw6N4PRP9OCSPf6B2ru/playlists/4810/media/830511?fullscreen=false
Joanne Tosti-Vasey is a Democratic Candidate for the Bellefonte Borough Council running against Christopher Morelli in Ward 3. Ward 3 may vote for two candidates.
Morelli did not participate in an interview with C-NET.
Below are a couple of questions Tosti-Vasey answered during an interview by C-NET's Anne Danahy, a WPSU reporter. Some of Tosti-Vasey's answers have been edited for length, but the full interview can be viewed on C-NET's website.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and why you're running for reelection?
A: I’ve been a resident of the borough since 1980 so I guess I can consider myself a long term resident by now. I have been a community organizer for many years and for the last 8 years I have served on council. The reason I ran for the first time and I continue to run is because I believe in an open and transparent government in which individuals can contact their council members, talk to them and tell them what their concerns are. I cannot always guarantee that I will vote exactly the way a particular person wants me to because there are people on all sides of the issue. But I do take every person's concerns into consideration when doing my votes.
Q: In August Borough Council voted to suspend the Climate Action Plan and its Environmental Advisory Board. Where do you stand on that?
A: I was one of the four people who voted against that suspension. We've tried to make sure that it's almost no cost to the community. So in the past three years we have spent $300, and that money was spent on a survey that came out in May. In that survey most of the community -- residents and businesses -- believe that it's important for everyone combined as well as individuals and the local government to do what they can to address our sustainability issues. The council said they liked the programming when they shut down the EAB but set up a situation where no one could do the planning because the volunteers were no longer allowed to work and they also mandated that the paid staff could not put any time into the sustainability. So with no planners there is no action. That combined with a refusal to pass a resolution supporting economic, civic and environmental sustainability that is required for obtaining a sustainable PA certification lost Bellefonte the opportunity to obtain additional points on all state level grant applications. Now that we can’t do that, and the climate action plan is one of the points that helps get that certification, we've lost that ability and I'm concerned that this could result in higher property taxes to our community when we don't get the state level grants we would otherwise have gotten.
Q: One proposed project in Bellefonte is the Bandshell that a community group has been organizing and raising funds to build. Do you support that?
A: I support it in general. The one concern I have, and I think most members of council have, is that we want to make sure it doesn't become a financial burden on the town. So we are currently working with the bandshell committee -- in fact we're meeting with them on Monday night the 16th of October -- to discuss some of the points that we want to see happen before we sign the lease for them to move forward.
Q: Is there anything else you'd like to say to voters?
A: If you want an open and accessible local government representative, if you want a council member who listens to the public and works with local businesses, DBI and the chamber of commerce, if you want a council member who wants to work with other governments and organizations locally and throughout the state, and if you care about prioritizing historic preservation and economic and environmental sustainability, I'm your candidate. If you've gotten your absentee ballot, fill it out, send it in. If you haven't, election day is Nov. 7, get out and vote.
To hear all of the questions and Tosti-Vasey's answers, visit videoplayer.telvue.com/player/GNduNoua2rBThhw6N4PRP9OCSPf6B2ru/playlists/4810/media/830530?fullscreen=false