What is this all about?

Over the past few years I have noticed many people are not sure how things operate in PA. I am referring to local municipal governments, school districts, taxes, police, fire and EMS coverage. This is not a surprise as the State of Pennsylvania does things differently than many of our neighbors, plus they don’t do a great job of teaching civics in the schools anymore (never have really). This section of the site is designed to help educate everyone.

Information will be posted, questions will be answered. I am by no means the expert, but I will do what I can do to find the right answer for you. Please limit all questions and comments to learning how things operate. If you want to discuss a current issue that bothers you, take it to the General Discussion section of this site. We want to keep this section clean and set up as a good reference book so to speak.

Topics that will be presented include:

1. Political boundries and government authority as well as representation
2. School districts and representation
3. Elections
4. Taxes and how they are levied and collected plus what they pay for
5. Concept of Preemption as it applies to State Law
6. Commonwealth vs. State
7. Fire, EMS, Police coverage plus paid vs. volunteer service
8. Road maintenance and who covers what

If there is something in particular you would like information on, let me know via private message. I will work with others to get some information posted as quickly as possible. My interest is purely educating the public and helping to make all of us more responsible citizens.

Alex Wilson
East Hopewell Township (1979-1991, 2002-Present)
Stewartstown Borough (1974-1979)

edited by: Alex, Sep 07, 2005 - 09:09 PM