Masontown Mayor race under way
Two candidates for mayor of Masontown faced off on issues important to the borough at a recent editorial board conference held at the Herald-Standard. Incumbent Walter A. Scarton and challenger Tom Loukota will face the task of working toward revitalizing a town some say is afflicted with growing problems.
Scarton, mayor for the last 14 years, disagreed. He said Masontown is going in the right direction.
“Masontown is well on the move,” Scarton told the editorial board, pointing to his work toward promoting the rebuilding of the South Washington Street Dollar General store that burnt last September, and organizing an April 27 town meeting to discuss the conversion of the old Masontown Junior High School Building to a senior citizen high-rise, a move he advocates.
Scarton said the senior center would serve the people well since 75 percent of the town is comprised of people living on fixed incomes and people who do not own automobiles.
Councilman for the last four years, Loukota said Masontown needs to head in another direction, and the resource of talented borough residents can be tapped into for the betterment of the community.
“I believe town meetings are the answer,” Loukota said, noting that Masontown is only one-square mile and he doesn’t see why its residents cannot get together. “It comes to the point when we have to wake people up and have their input because it’s their town, too. …Get the town involved. That’s my plan.”
Neither candidate recognized the validity of a claim that Masontown is gaining a reputation as a borough seized by dissent where council meetings have set officials against officials and council against citizens, dissent which has now escalated to charges of a racist comment.
“I believe in letting the people have their say,” said Scarton who is past member and two-term president of the Masontown Exchange Club, and was previously honored as “Man of the Year.”
“Truthfully, the people haven’t been that bad. Once in a while, they get riled up, but they cool off quickly,” he said.
Referring to the Fayette County NAACP confronting Councilman Joe Volansky about a racial comment he allegedly said shortly after a borough council meeting, Scarton said it was “something unforeseen” and is not a reflection of the town.
“I wasn’t there at that time, but I think the man should step down,” Scarton said.
Loukota’s opinion differs on the issue. He said the council was asked to take judgment when all the facts were not made clear.
“Unless it goes to court, it stands as an accusation,” Loukota said, noting that the council has no authority to make Volansky resign nor to censor him.
The function of local government, he said, is to collect the money and allocate it to what the council sees fit.
Loukota said while meetings may become rowdy at times, some of that rowdiness is because he asks questions “to solve problems and get the correct information.
“A lot of our debate occurs in public… and everybody knows that government does not function smoothly,” said Loukota who is a member of the Amvets and the Masontown Exchange Club.
The candidates’ opinions differ on the main duty of a mayor: overseeing the Masontown Police Department.
Scarton said he believes in protecting the health and welfare of the people in Masontown and said cutting the police department, which employs five full-time officers, is not the way to do protect.
“The safety of the people come first,” he said.
“There are many senior citizens in town.”
Scarton noted he is proud of his officers who, he said, are forced to work alone in adverse and dangerous conditions since the borough council decreased their hours. And he is not hesitant to boast about their abilities.
“These five gentlemen I have in Masontown are the best in Fayette County,” Scarton said.
Scarton said he will continue to push the council to hire a part-time police officer to fill the vacancy created when borough police officer Scott Miller was promoted to full-time status.
Loukota, who has scrutinized police overtime hours at past council meetings, said he asks one thing of the police department: to operate efficiently. He noted that the police force consumes one-third of the borough’s annual budget.
“I believe that all divisions of local government should operate effectively and efficiently,” Loukota said.
If not, he said, the 3,611 people of Masontown who pay the bills make up the difference.
Loukota referenced his ongoing fight with the Fayette County Housing Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to receive money to reimburse the borough for police services, an ongoing battle that he said he has asked public officeholders at the county, state and federal levels to join.
Another problem in the borough evidenced by numerous residents voicing complaints at borough council meetings is that residents continue to be plagued by flooding.
Loukota said he researched the problem, and concluded that surface water is seeping into the borough sewer lines that are made from terra cotta.
He said to solve the problem, crews need to camera the lines to find the location of surface water intrusions, and construct new lines with sealed joints. Funds for the construction need to come in the form of grants, Loukota added.
Scarton said he can take a look at such problems and forward his recommendations to the borough council, but the council is responsible for that type of work.
He noted that the mayor votes only to break a tie, while a mayor’s main duties lie with the police department.
Loukota disagreed, adding, “It’s in the best interest of the mayor to be involved in conversation on the agenda because if that mayor is involved and it comes to them having to vote, they can be in touch with that issue and decide on that issue.”