The passion of Pete Hartz
Some people come onto the political scene as folding chair critics; permanent fixtures of the audience who ask probing questions of elected leaders but fear stepping forward onto the stage. When James ‘Pete’ Hartz first began attending Connellsville City Council meetings in the late 1980s, he’d grab a front-row seat and be ready to run down his list of questions on city matters that to him just didn’t seem right. Tom Duncan who served two long stints as Connellsville’s mayor was often the focus of Hartz’s probes. So when friends and foes said something along the lines of “Hey Pete, if you know so much about how to run the city, why don’t you run for office?” Hartz did. A man who spent 35 years in the classroom, teaching math to thousands of Connellsville elementary students until he retired in 1992, spent four of his golden years as a Connellsville city councilman. This comes as no surprise for a man such as Hartz who served his country during the Korean Conflict and carried his citizenship over into civilian life as an active member of his church and community. Among his many memberships were the Knights of Columbus Council 948 where he was a Knight of the Fourth Degree and Past Grand Knight, American Legion Post 301, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 21, Slovak Independent Citizens Club, Polish Club, Eagles, and South Connellsville Volunteer Firemen’s Club.
Hartz served on the boards of the Connellsville Housing Authority, Connellsville Senior Citizens Center, the city’s Recreation Board, and Carnegie Free Library.
And he was an occasional Letter to the Editor contributor. The last correspondence we received from Hartz was the spring of last year when the primary race was heating up in Connellsville. Hartz was no longer on city council but he remained passionate about the city’s potential. In urging fellow citizens to vote, he wrote, “Now is your chance to … put responsible, efficient, honest and caring people in city government. People who will guarantee us that our loved ones’ future will be safe and in good hands.”
Hartz, who died Sunday at the age of 72, surely did his fair share.