Borough election offering choices
BROWNSVILLE – The four open seats on Brownsville Borough Council have attracted five candidates seeking the Democratic nomination, three of whom have family connections to other local elected officials. Republican Robert Hess, who is unopposed in the primary, is guaranteed to appear on the November ballot, but only the top four Democrats from the primary election will appear on the ballot in the general election. Seeking the Democratic nomination are Teresa Holt, John Hosler, James Lawver, Charles “Russ” McMaster and Robert Pritts.
Holt is a political newcomer who has lived in Brownsville for the past four years. She is engaged to Brownsville street department worker Lew Hosler Jr., the son of the mayor.
“I’m not a ploy put on by the Hosler family to get my vote. I’m intelligent and opinionated and I have my own views. I am an individual,” Holt said.
Holt said she would like to see more stores downtown, including a grocery store.
“What we need in this community is development. That’s the only way to generate income. I don’t think the borough mismanages or spends unwisely,” Holt said. “I don’t want to see budgetary cuts where people have to be laid off, and I’m not just saying that because I’m engaged to a man who was laid off.”
All of the borough employees except the part-time manager were laid off from December until March because of financial problems in the borough. The police department was reduced to two full-time officers as a result of the financial crunch.
“I’d love to see at least two more officers, either part-time or full-time. If we could have two more part-time people on, we wouldn’t have to go without coverage,” Holt said.
Holt said the targeted code enforcement program for downtown Brownsville needs to continue.
“The downtown is deplorable. It’s an embarrassment. There are buildings in this town that could be restored and stores opened in, and people would come. We need to legally and forcefully get this done,” Holt said.
Holt said downtown property owner Ernest Liggett could make a difference in the community.
“If Mr. Liggett were to come clean and just pay these fines, we wouldn’t have to worry about revenue,” Holt said.
Liggett, who faces several fines in connection with code violations at his properties, has made five installment payments of $775.92 on a fine of $4,700 since Dec. 12, 2006, for one of several cases in which fines have been imposed. The borough’s solicitor, Melinda Dellarose, said in December that Liggett owed nearly $44,000 total in five different code enforcement cases. Holt said she needs more information before she could say whether or not she supports the proposed bicycle racing facility, or velodrome, in the downtown area.
“I support any economic development that would bring revenue to this town. More revenue means more police, more workers, better equipment. Right now, we’re without a street sweeper, so they’re out there with shovels, sweeping by hand,” Holt said.
Hosler is in his third term on the council. His brother, Lew Hosler Sr., is in his first term as mayor. John Hosler said the borough is heading back to sound financial footing.
“We’re holding the line on as many expenses as we can,” Hosler said. “I think we’ll end up about $20,000 to the good.”
Hosler said the borough needs to try to get grant money like it had in past years to hire additional police officers.
Hosler continues to push for code enforcement throughout the community, for all property owners, not just in the targeted enforcement area including the downtown.
“I think they need to try to enforce it 100 percent, but not just the downtown. There are other places, some owned by the Redevelopment Authority, and they should be torn down too,” Hosler said. “People who owe fines, there should be no forgiveness on that. They should have to pay it.”
Hosler said he is supportive of the proposed velodrome.
“I think the velodrome is a possibility. I’m 100 percent for it, but you have to watch the details,” Hosler said.
Hosler said new water and sewer lines will soon be completed in the downtown area, paving the way for new businesses there.
“We need to entice small businesses here. You don’t want one big employer. You want four or five small companies, that way if one of them pulls out, it doesn’t hurt as bad. What you need are a lot of small investors,” Hosler said. “I think Brownsville is on the verge of a turn around. People just need to join together.”
James Lawver has worked as a warehouseman for the past 20 years and has also been a part-time borough police officer. His brother, Jack Lawver, is the council president and his mother is the borough manager. Lawver said the race isn’t about family.
“I’m my own person. I’m not Jack Lawver, I’m James Lawver. My mother does work down there. She’s been there 30 years and I think she’s doing a good job,” James Lawver said. “I have my own ideas and my own beliefs. Me and my brother disagree on a lot of things, but we do agree on how we want to see this town shape up.”
Lawver said he’d like to see the borough coffers bolstered by an increase in the local population.
“We need to promote our town,” Lawver said.
Lawver said key to attracting new residents and businesses is getting the town looking better.
“We need to keep moving forward with the code enforcement. That’s for the safety of our people. The owners need to be responsible for their properties. That reflects on our town. If we don’t respect ourselves, how can we get people to invest in us?” Lawver said.
Lawver said he would like to see more officers working in the police department, and that the borough should seek either public or private grant money to hire more officers.
Lawver said downtown development could start with a small grocery store.
“If we had that, maybe other stores would come in,” he said. “I’m all for the velodrome if we can get the velodrome. I’m not privy to all that’s going on.”
McMaster has been on council for five years. McMaster said it’s difficult for the borough to find new revenue or to cut expenses any more than they have been.
“The only thing I know that hasn’t been done is to try to apply for more grant money. We should be looking every day for grants to get enough revenue for the borough,” he said.
McMaster said that if more police were to be added to the current two-man force, grants would need to be found for salaries.
“That’s basically all we can rely on and maybe the county helping us out, if they see fit,” McMaster said.
McMaster said the downtown is heading in the right direction.
“We’re all looking at the same page to get rid of blight in town. When the town does move ahead, I look for it to be a different town. It won’t look the same, but I think it will look better in the future. All we can do is go up. We can’t go down any further,” McMaster said.
McMaster said he had little comment on ways to stimulate economic development.
“I believe in maybe giving them a tax cut for so long until they get settled, for new businesses in the town,” he said.
As for the velodrome, McMaster said he supports it.
“There’ve been promises in the past and nothing’s come out of it. All we’ve had is people lying to us in the past. Hopefully, this will come true. I’m praying that it happens,” McMaster said.
Pritts is in his fourth year on council.
“We definitely need to find another source of money if people want services. It’s a foregone conclusion that we either need to cut services or increase taxes. We’re doing what we can to keep the cost of insurances down and trim fat wherever we can,” Pritts said.
Pritts chairs the public safety committee. He doesn’t anticipate any major changes for the police department in the near future.
“As for adding staff, if we can get grant money, maybe. But usually with these grants, after so many years you have to put these people on full-time, and the borough can’t afford it,” Pritts said.
Pritts said there are no magic answers for Brownsville’s future.
“I hear people saying we need tourism. Others are shouting about the velodrome. Before, it was outlet stores. I don’t know what the answer is for Brownsville. I just know we need to start over and it’s going to be a long, slow process,” Pritts said.
Pritts said he still has a lot of questions about the proposed velodrome project, including who its backers are.
“No one wants to meet with council as a body. Until I get the facts, I can’t be for or against it,” Pritts said.