Southern York County Life

http://www.votegately.com/welcome.html

First Thank You for taking the time to view this! I would also like to ask you to consider that you take enough time to really sit and think about what you are about to read. It may even be worth coming back later to view a second time. To also take the time to read over the various links to additionial information and finally even to bookmark this page for future reference!

Well where to start? What is the platform for or from which I stand? The dictionary states as one of the definitions is that a platform is a document stating the aims and principles of a political party. It also gives another definition as being a raised horizontal surface; as in “the speaker mounted the platform”. I would like to use a little of both of these in letting you know what are the priciples I stand for. What is my platform. Why I have decided to run for State Senate 28th District of Pennsylvania and why I ask for your support and your vote on Election Day!

In the first definition, one word stands out to me and that is Principle! This again referenced in the dictionary as Principle being a basic truth, law, or assumption: the principles of democracy. A rule or standard, especially of good behavior: a person of principle.

I suspect if I would have not found it difficult sometimes to find this word expressed in the actions of our current legislators, I would have not had the need to seek your vote! I would have not used this second definition of needing to mount this electronic platform to tell you why!

A little history and then a review of current events.

Our current State Senator for the 28th District has been victorious in getting elected! I voted for him! After all, he ran un-opposed! What other choice did I have? I had to stand in that voting booth as everyone else did and vote for someone, for a political party’s candidate, for some principle of democracy! This I did. Now after the last few years and after a series of actions and or lack of by our State Senator, I can no longer just vote this way! I can no longer just go and watch actions of my legislators in Harrisburg destroy the very basic Principles of Home Rule established in the constitution of this Commonwealth! Luckily this time in November, for the first time in awhile, I do have a choice! This time you have a choice! A choice to vote for someone to go to Harrisburg as State Senator for the 28th District that will choose a principle of democracy based on the principles of Home Rule, Accountability and Transparency, instead of the lack of principle that expresses to be for the good of everyone yet actions which seems sometimes to be here of late for only the very few at the expense of the majority.

Now to current events! We even have three choices this November to vote for a candidate to be elected to the General Assembly in the State Senate for the 28th District! One has come out as it be and has stated that it is time for a change! What prompted this was a call for a clean sweep of the General Assembly in Harrisburg by many voters in outrage fueled by what many refer to as a late night unconstitutional pay raise!

What should be a concern is that it seems to me that the platform on which this new candidate stands was bought and paid for by some of the same legislators who initiated and voted for that pay raise in the first place and also pays this candidate’s Salary as keeper of their political party’s web site!

LATE NIGHT PAY RAISES!

I think if one is to be upset with the incumbent’s tenure in office because of this late night legislating, it would not be the pay raise as such yet more so why our current Senator did not stand up and take action for what many call an unconstitutional act against the Pennsylvania Constitution for which he took an oath to stand for and abide by. Accessory to the act of late night pay raises with the hopes of no one noticing, especially the taxpaying voters, is surely a concern of mine yet is but one of a list of others that seems to be the trend in Harrisburg’s late night sessions!

I surely support that the General Assembly becomes much more transparent in their actions and reporting to the public, the taxpayer, those that they are suppose to represent!

No late night sessions without giving ample time to make public the information of the legislature being voted on.

I also support the repeal of Act 44, effectively returning compensation for members of Pennsylvania’s legislative, executive and judicial branches to pre-Act 44 levels; establishing a policy whereby all future compensation changes for Pennsylvania’s legislative, executive and judicial branches shall be subject to voter approval by referendum.

I also support establishing a policy whereby no legislation in the General Assembly shall be considered for final passage until the citizens of the Commonwealth have been given no less than ten business days to review such legislation and provide comment to their respective legislators.

Factory Farms, Urban Sprawl and Sludge!

There was rumored back a couple of years ago of several large hog Factory Farms wanting to locate along the I83 corridor of York County. It made me wonder how did this organized effort come about. Was this just by chance? Was this a labor in interest by the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, chaired by our current state Senator who represents the 28th District that encompasses most of this area? I tried to answer these thoughts and found the following.

I first looked at campaign financing. You know, where is the money coming from that gets our legislators elected. Here I noticed a trend to some degree of the following from public records…

PennAg INDUSTRIES Association
PennAg INDUSTRIES Association
PennAg INDUSTRIES Association
PennAg INDUSTRIES Association

as a few examples of an interest in electing someone that will follow their corporate philosophy! So what is their corporate, I mean farming philosophy? Here is their website for you to decide?

PennAg INDUSTRIES Association

Sure looks like FACTORY FARMING to me. Sure is a nice website! So what is wrong with all of this? Why did our legislators try to pass LAWS to take away our rights in our Townships to Home Rule given to us in this Commonwealth because of it? Why did some of our Township Supervisors come TOGETHER to fight to keep these rights when these factory hog corporations tried to set up shop in their hometown?

What happens to the less than 300 small hog farms left in York County after we allow several more large corporate hog factory farms that gives back only a few cents on the dollar to the farmer? How many more children will leave their family farms when what is left is pennies on the dollar from production? How many more Farmers because of age will be left with the only option but to sell off to development because they can no longer compete? The Root of URBAN SPRAWL! I think we all know the answer. I also think there is a better way than this trend of corporate farming. I also think family farms must stop being hoodwinked into believing that there is not! I also believe that we can stop this trend of losing our family farms and start making them more sustainable, more self-sufficient and start to capture more of those hundred pennies of each dollar the family farm never gets to see now in total production!

How?

I don’t understand if we can have a Mega-Mart on every corner, why can we not have several more Farmer’s Markets? Why can’t family farms diversify instead of being held captive to the mono-agriculture dictated by corporate contract farming? Why can we not have more Farming Co-ops like we once did? Why can we not have more property tax relief instead of increasing and a larger portion of the state budget for Agriculture for small family farms and not subsidizing the few large farming corporations? I think it is time to take back the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee to represent the true interest of all of us! I mean by that just not the farmer yet everyone that depends on Agriculture, Clean Water, Healthy Food from more local Farmer’s Markets and Safe Farming Practices!

Now Farming Practices… Here is one that you can decide what Harrisburg was thinking! Biosolids used as fertilizer. Sounds nice. Spreading Sludge is a little less easier to read. Spreading pathogens to a field near you is the one which has me concerned!

I once sat in a room at a conference center to hear a story of a parent’s tragedy! I could not even begin here to explain what I thought and felt! I will let you decide for yourself! Here is the story of two mothers…

Two Mothers, 2 Deaths, too many questions

I can not an will not support this practice of spreading SLUDGE on our fields! I hope you feel the same! I think it is time we protect our land, our waterways, our wells and all of our residents in the 28th District from this ever possibly happening into the future!

I once stood a few decades ago in a Grange Hall, with my right hand raised and took an oath to defend the fields! Well that Grange Hall no longer stands, yet that oath still stands today! When you stand in that voter’s booth, you will decide. You will decide if you want business as usual in that late night behind closed doors government when most of the above happens or do you want someone there that has no other choice yet to say No, enough is enough! There is a better Way!

http://www.votegately.com/platform.html

How I stand on a few issues can be viewed on the following…

OCF CANDIDATE SURVEY 2006

BRIGHTER PENNSYLVANIA

For additionial information on “Brighter Pennsylvania” here is the… LINK

PROJECT VOTE SMART

Please note that this platform page is being constantly developed and will be updated! Please bookmark and return to view updates!
Thank You for your interest!

To “Get the WORD OUT CAMPAIGN” Click on…

I Need Your Support
and
Your Vote on Election Day!

Let’s take Back Harrisburg
and All Work Together
to Preserve our Future in the place
we call HOME!

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...a little bit about me.

I have been blessed with a very supportive family of my wife Diana and two sons, Ed Jr. and Rob. It has been a blessing to be able to raise my family here in York County. I hope and pray that one day my childrens’ children will be able to say the same!

I am also steward of our family farm in Manheim Township. I believe that this responsibility is held with the utmost care as my farming practices affect not only the health and well being of my family, yet for everyone of my neighbors that may live down-stream! It is for this reason I have only used the most sustainable and ecologically sound practices when farming! I also strongly believe that if ours and all of the family farms that remain in York County are to survive that truly Sustainable Agriculture is the only way! I am currently in the process of developing the Highland Center for Agroecology, a research and educational agricultural organization that will promote this Sustainable Philosophy!

I was elected to the Board of Auditors for Manheim Township in November, 2003. I currently am the chairperson. My term will run through December 31st, 2009. I have been involved in various committees or projects within the township over the years. From late meetings in Emergency Management, Township Comprehensive Planning and Zoning to checks and balances of our taxpayers’ dollars as Auditor. I have always felt that it is Very Important to be part of assuring that the quality of life is maintained where my family and neighbors call home!

“Watersheds and Water Quality are my Passions!”

I have been involved in various Community Watershed Organizations. From Board Member to Steering Committees and Volunteering with several local Watershed Associations and efforts to help make York County water safe. It has been ongoing at least over these last 20 years because York County water quality had been threaten and polluted by various sources. We all stand the blame and we all stand to lose that quality of Life we now hold on to if we do not keep up this effort to improve York County’s Watersheds. It has been here though, for the last couple of years, a groundswell of support and effort by hundreds of Resident Volunteers, Watershed Associations and local small and large Businesses stepping forward to make a difference! There is still so much to do and there will always be a need to monitor our Progress! 

I have spent some years in the Steel Industry as both an employer and employee. It was during this time that I was a proud member of the United Steelworkers of America ,District 10 Local 1852. It was also during this time because of my concerns with imported steel, loss of local job opportunities exported overseas, a livable wage, loss of benefits and lack of a strong OSHA protecting workers’ rights and safety that I served as secretary and shop steward for my local. These concerns of mine then still exist today!

“Home with Homeland Security!"In this post 9/11 world we live in, I have become very concerned that our Legislators and Government Officials have not done enough to restore that safety and security we once knew locally in our Hometowns! Now instead of complaining and doing nothing more, I have joined with others in the last few years in putting effort in organizing and promoting local networking between businesses, government and individuals to better prepare for and eliminate the natural, human and accidental risks we still face. We have been concerned also in what I call the Fireman’s Approach to Homeland Security. Instead of waiting until our house is already on fire and having the resources to put it out which seems to be where most of the effort of our local legislators has been so far. This of which I must say has surely been worthy. We still feel that we need to do so much more with the technology, infrastructure, training and resources we now have to prevent that fire in the first place! We believe that we are doing just that at ACI. Now until we see those legislators in Harrisburg feel and do the same, we will continue!

A current volunteer project I am very interested in seeing completed is the restoration of St. John Church here in Manheim Township. It’s structure has stood here well over a century and is now slowly deteriorating with wood rot and scaling paint. It would be a shame to lose the historical presence of a once small local gathering place to the community. It is also one of but a few left that once could be found all over the county in days gone by. There has been some interest here of late as an Eagle Scout Project to paint and restore, yet donations of materials are still needed!