Parkside Democratic Candidates for Mayor and Borough Council

It is time for change in Parkside. The Borough of Parkside has been led by essentially the same people for at least a decade and they are all seeking reelection or election to different positions. They have raised your taxes year after year while providing an average level of community services, poor communication and an attitude towards the community of “mind your own business” in return. Members of council hold professional positions in neighboring communities that have potential conflicts of interests and husbands and wives serve together in Borough Government and would do so again if elected to the posts they are seeking. Community activities are infrequent and inadequate and no sense of community is present or developed.
We would like to change that. We believe we can improve Parkside by developing a greater sense of community spirit and engagement by holding better organized and more frequent community events, increasing participation in local government, providing better community services and communication, improving our public spaces and business district, and by making our community more sustainable while governing in a manner that is accountable, accessible and transparent.
Thank your for taking the time to review our website. Please take some time to carefully consider our positions and read our biographies. We hope that you will find that we are members of your community who are serious about reinventing Parkside’s Government by presenting a bold set of proposals for your consideration. We are available to answer any question that you may have about our platform or our professional credentials. We hope that we can earn your vote on November 3rd, 2009.
Sincerely,

Matthew Saunders, Candidate for Mayor of Parkside
Spring Valezquez, Candidate for Parkside Borough Council (4 year term)
Andrew Forest, Candidate for Parkside Borough Council (4 year term)
Scott Sidlow, Candidate for Parkside Borough Council (4 year term)
Bobby Vickers, Candidate for Parkside Borough Council (4 year term)
Chris Yatsuk, Candidate for Parkside Borough Council (2 year term)

Financial Policies and Philosophy

Taxes

The Borough of Parkside which is controlled by an entirely Republican council all of whom are seeking reelection has raised your taxes the last three years in a row. Do not be fooled by the typical Republican attack line that Democrats will raise your taxes. That being said, we are not foolish and will not make a campaign promise that we will not raise taxes. A Republican pledge that taxes will not be raised cannot be trusted either because they do not have a record of accomplishing this. If we are elected the Democratic candidates for council intend to develop the budget in a different way. We intended to allocate expenditures in the beginning of the year and not exceed those allocations like the existing Borough council has done for the last three years in a row. We intend to implement a number of innovative strategies to mitigate the rising costs of Police Protection, Energy, Trash collection, and Infrastructure maintenance and improvements; we also intend to grow the business community of Parkside to help bring in additional tax revenue.

Budget Development:

One of the primary problems with the current Parkside budget is the way that it is developed. Each year our paid financial advisor, Joe Possenti (who is also the President of the Aston Township Board of Commissioners-a potential conflict of interest) reviews the expenditures of the previous years and estimates how much will be spent in the upcoming year so that taxes can be collected accordingly. The Borough Council then holds a public meeting, which they do a poor job of informing the public about, and then approves the draft without objection or much discussion. This is not the proper way to prepare a budget. If we are elected to council, each year the council will go through a proper budgeting process. The Police Chief, the Borough Secretary and all members of council who are responsible for various aspects of council government like recreation and public works, should prepare an estimate of what will be needed over the course of the year for that aspect of government. The entire council will then review these budget requests and then establish its priorities for the following year and allocate the budget accordingly. These discussion will be held quarterly and be well publicized to the community.

Budget Expenditure Process:

Another problem with the budget is how money is spent during the year. The current budget breaks down expenditures into categories like recreation, public works, utilities, etc. Theoretically, this is the maximum amount of money that can be spent throughout the year on that category of spending. However, our analysis of the last three years of expenditures shows that frequently the amount allocated for a particular spending category is often exceeded. This essentially means that we don’t really have a budget; we just have an annual taxation fund. If we are elected to council we will keep our spending within the allocated budget for each category of expenses or make offsets that are approved by a vote of council.

Sustainable Environmental Choices result in Sustainable Financial Decisions

One of the underlying philosophies that we will use when making financial decisions is that in general the more environmentally sustainable a decision is, the more financially sustainable that decision will be over the long run. A great example is the Parkside Borough building that was built just a few years ago. If a few construction details had been done differently and an additional 1 to 3% had been spent, the building could use between 10 and 20% less energy each year.
Another example of how unsustainable choices has lead to unsustainable costs is the rapid rise in trash collection costs (from $65.00 four years ago to $160.00 in 2009 and expected to rise higher when the new contract goes into affect in 2010, while 90%+ of the trash created by Borough residents goes into landfills). The environment cannot sustain this choice forever and therefore the cost of waste disposal will continue to go up. The only way to mitigate the rapidly rising cost of trash disposal is to develop a comprehensive waste management system that educates and provides incentives to members of the community to reduce the amount of trash that is created by Borough residents and to recycle and compost as much of the remaining waste possible.

We will use the logic of sustainability to make the best decisions for the borough budget. Long term decisions that are environmentally sustainable are also financially sustainable. Short tem unsustainable solutions are not financially sustainable.

Street Lighting Costs

On January 1, 2011, the Rate caps on Pennsylvania electric utilities will expire. Electric rates in the PECO territory are expected to go up by at least 20%. This means that our street lighting budget will also increase by at least 20%. In order for our street lighting budget to remain neutral new street lighting will need to be installed that is at least 20% more efficient. Assuming a grant from the federal or state government could not be secured, if the borough borrowed some money to purchase new light fixtures, the cost of the loan payment plus the reduced electric bills should be equal to electric bills with the existing fixtures for the first two to three years. After that the borough would earn a ‘profit’ in reduced energy costs.
In the process of evaluating this purchase, we intend to research the feasibility of purchasing new self contained high efficiency light fixtures that are powered by solar panels which charge a battery during the day and then run off the battery at night. These fixtures will also be grid connected so that on overcast days or winter days sufficient power will still be available. These are very similar to the solar systems that you see on road signs along I-476 (Blue Route) and other highways. We believe this type of proposal will be attractive to State and Federal grant providers under legislation like the Federal Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Legislation Act 1. The program managers of these funds are seeking opportunities for investing in community level alternative energy projects like this one.
We would also like to leverage this and other grants to help business start up in Parkside. If a contract to install these lights would be enough business for a start-up company to set up shop along Edgemont Avenue and sign a two year lease, we would be very interested in their proposal. If this project worked out here in Parkside other communities may be interested in purchasing the same product from a business that would exist in our business district and increase our tax revenue.
This idea may not be feasible but it is an example of an innovative idea that we would like to propose and thoroughly research that has potential to save a lot of money, establish a new taxpaying business in our community and reduce our communities’ carbon footprint.

Borough Building Utility Costs

The Borough has budgeted $15,000 this year for utilities on the Borough Building. The electric rates for the building will also increase by 20% in 2011. Our candidate Scott Sidlow who is an Energy Efficiency Analyst, at the request of council in 2007 has done an evaluation of the borough building. He has concluded that the borough building is not very energy efficient and there are many opportunities for improvement. They include an uninsulated crawl space, an under insulated attic and oversized air conditioning, heating and water heating equipment. An energy efficient improvement package should be implemented on the borough building that would include air sealing and insulating the attic and crawl space and reevaluating the heating and cooling systems. The payback period on these improvement should be less than five years. We believe that a comprehensive energy efficiency plan will be very appealing to those who issue currently available state and federal grants.

Waste Management

The cost of garbage disposal has gone up from $65.00 four years ago to $160.00/household this year and it is expected to increase again beginning January 1, when the new waste collection process goes into effect. The Borough spends around $100,000 each year to collect trash and dispose of the borough’s trash. In addition, greater than 90% of the waste created by our community goes into landfills and there are also numerous residents who have complaints about illegal dumping and liter in the community. If elected, we intend to establish a permanent waste management committee that would meet at least quarterly, made up of elected officials, the code enforcement officer, members of the community and business leaders. The committee would have three roles. The first is to educate the residents on the best methods for disposing of every possible type of waste a household may create and to identify innovative and appropriate methods on how households can reduce the trash they consume. The second is to determine how to build a financially sustainable waste management and recycling program. All possible solutions will be researched including single stream curbside recycling, community or backyard composting, recycle bank, pay as you throw, purchasing trash collection equipment and employing staff to collect the trash, applying pressure on retailers to reduce the amount of packaging in products and any other solution any member of the community may propose. The third task of this committee would be to develop comprehensive strategies to eliminate street liter and illegal dumping.

Community Relations and Recreation

Community Relations and Recreation Committee

We believe the borough government should establish a community relations and recreation committee. The committee would be responsible for communicating with the community about the affairs of Borough government and planning community activities. It will be chaired by a council member and will be made up of members of the community.

Communication with Residents

the Borough of Parkside as led by the current council does a very poor job of communicating with the residents of our community. A print newsletter has not been distributed in over a year (despite the fact that Borough paid to publish them). The website is not updated on a regular basis. The website does not include basic information like the annual borough budget, the date and time of the borough council meetings and community events, the dates of trash collection, and detailed instructions on how to dispose of household waste. If the Democratic candidates are elected to borough council we intend to dramatically improve the website and keep it updated regularly. We will send out periodic email information to any one who would like to join the email list. Drop boxes with printed versions of the email newsletters will be set-up at both the fire house and the borough building. The website will include detailed information on how to dispose of every type waste a household may create. The budget and the amount of money spent to date will be kept up to date on the website at least monthly. All relevant documents for the monthly council meetings will be posted in advance of the meetings and all documents seen by Council members during the meeting will be available to all community members at the meetings.

Community Activities

We would like to continue holding three or four community wide events each year. We believe the current events are well organized but there is also room for improvement. Having an entire committee working on events will allow work more work to get done by distributing tasks among many members of the community. A better use of the funds allocated to the holiday decorating contest would be a community wide holiday open house at the borough hall.
We would also like to see this committee grow strong enough that it can organize programs for youth and seniors. A model to pursue would be programs implemented by the seniors of the community for the youth of the community

Public Safety and Code Enforcement

Policing Philosophy

The Democratic Candidates want to utilize a Community Oriented Policing philosophy within the Parkside Police Department. This philosophy is an overall style and philosophy of police service delivery, designed to accomplish our law enforcement mission. We intend to install several philosophies/strategies. Some strategies are, but not limited to: Commitment to customer/public satisfaction and Proactive, not reactive.

Commitment to customer/public satisfaction

The members of the community are our customers. The dominant governing principle of our philosophy is to do our best to satisfy the needs of our customers whenever and however possible. This translates into spending more time explaining our policies and procedures, or providing extra assistance beyond the traditional. Avoid leaving community members frustrated and annoyed following contact with our department, as far as humanly possible. “Success within an organization is measured by the satisfaction level of your customers.”Proactive, not reactive
Instead of waiting to respond to calls for service related to problems in the making, we want to attack a problem as soon as it is identified as such, as aggressively as possible. This can include foot patrols, bike patrols, patrolling in general, selective traffic enforcements, making contact with the members of the community on a get to know basis.

Development of the Borough Business District

Develop a Parkside Business Organization

The Borough of Parkside has a small business district along Edgemont Avenue that is a mix between successful businesses, businesses that do not seem to ever open or close and vacant storefronts. Many of the successful business owners complain that the current Borough council is unresponsive to their needs and concerns. Little is being done to fill those empty storefronts or help the existing businesses grow. To attempt to develop innovative solutions to these issues, we would like to establish a Parkside Business Organization that would be a Borough Council committee chaired by a member of council and made up of business owners that would meet at least quarterly. Its mission would be to promote the businesses of the Borough of Parkside. One of the tasks that would be given to this committee is to create a list of all current businesses and all potential business locations. It would then conduct a survey of Borough residents and hold public meetings to evaluate the types of businesses that Parkside residents would use. With this information, potential entrepreneurs would be aware of existing market conditions that would help them start or expand business in Parkside.

Former Gas Station site

The Democratic Candidates for Parkside Borough Council are extremely concerned about the vacant gas station property on Edgemont Avenue. Obviously it is an eye sore and a potential business location that is vacant right in the middle of the our business district. We are also concerned about what may be going on under the ground. The current council submitted a grant proposal last year to take ownership of this property. We think it would be a major mistake for the Borough to take ownership of that ground. The potential costs for clean-up could put a choke hold in Borough finances for years and potentially bankrupt us.
We would also like to explore every potential method to speed up the development of this property. Ideas include regular meetings with the owner of this property, enforcement of codes on the building that is in disrepair and reaching out to other branches and levels of government for assistance.

Leveraging State and Federal Grants to help business development

One of the ideas we would like to evaluate is the purchase of new self contained high efficiency light fixtures that are powered by solar panels which charge a battery during the day and then run off the battery at night. These fixtures will also be grid connected so that on overcast days or winter days sufficient power will still be available. These are very similar to the solar systems that you see on road signs along I-476 (Blue Route) and other highways. We believe this type of proposal would be eligible for funding under the Federal Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Pennsylvania’s Act 1 alternative energy legislation whose program mangers will be seeking opportunities for investing in community level alternative energy projects like this one.
We would also like to leverage this and other grants to help business start up in Parkside. If a contract to install these lights would be enough business for a start-up company to set up shop along Edgemont Avenue and sign a two year lease, we would be very interested in their proposal. If this project worked out here in Parkside other communities may be interested in purchasing the same product from a business that would exist in our business district and increase our tax revenue.

Promoting Parkside’s Businesses

We would like to implement several ways of promoting the businesses of Parkside. The first idea is to do what many communities in the United States use. They hang a sign across the Main Road. We would like to establish this tradition here in Parkside above Edgemont Avenue. We could use this to post community events and also use it as a source of revenue as we advertise our local businesses to drivers traveling along Route 352. The Borough website will promote our local businesses. We will also actively work with our businesses to find ways to attract borough residents to Edgemont Avenue with the goal of increasing consumption of its goods and services from Borough residents.

Improving parking and the appearance of Edgemont Avenue

The Edgemont avenue corridor is Parkside’s ‘first impression’ and it is not an appealing destination for those traveling to other destinations along route 352/Edgemont Avenue. In addition to the vacant store fronts and the abandoned gas station, it is hard to tell if some of the existing business are operating or not, the sidewalks and curbs need some attention, pizza delivery vehicles park on the sidewalk, parking regulations are poorly identified and under enforced, store front signage is inconsistent and there seem to be no architectural standards and the signs identifying entrance into the Borough are in bad shape and there are no benches and only a couple public trash containers, and no recycling .
We would like to improve the Edgemont Avenue corridor with long and short term solutions. In the short term we would like to fix the curbs and side walks, install some benches, paint the curbs and parking lines on the street, and install new WELCOME TO PARKSIDE signs that demonstrate our pride in our community. We would like to work with business owners to develop some standardized ways of demonstrating if they are open or closed, their hours of operation and perhaps establish some hours each week when all business will be open at the same time. In the medium to long term we would like to help fill the vacant store fronts, take steps to promote our businesses to the residents of Parkside and the greater Delaware County community, and establish architectural and signage standards to promote consistency and an attractive appearance.

Process of Informing Borough Businesses if the Borough needs to purchase products or services

Any time the Borough of Parkside needs to purchase any goods or services, all proper legal process for informing the greater community of the needs should be put out to bid. A special communication to Parkside Businesses only should be made via email to any Parkside business that wishes to join this list. This is a method to support Parkside business by giving them special notification of the opportunity to compete equally with other business both in and out of Parkside. We would also like to give our businesses the opportunity to match lower bids so that as much money as possible can remain within our community.

Implementation of the Multi Municipality Comprehensive Plan

Coming Soon

Governance Policies and Philosophy

We would like to change the way that Parkside Borough is governed. We plan to communicate better with the community, establish committees that meet quarterly to oversee important areas of the government, hire a full time professional borough manager and conduct Borough business in a manner that is accountable, accessible and transparent.

Committee Structure

We would like the Borough to establish standing committees that would meet at least quarterly. Most of the committees will include borough residents so that the number of participants in local government is increased. “The logic of this is that many hands make light work”, and that it opens up our government to greater participation and therefore reflects the needs of the community better.

Business Committee

A Parkside Business Organization should be established. It would be a Borough Council committee chaired by a member of council and made up of business owners that would meet at least quarterly. Its mission would be to promote the businesses of the Borough of Parkside and improve the Edgemont Avenue corridor.

Community Relations and Recreation Committee

We believe the borough government should establish a community relations and recreation committee. The committee would be responsible for communicating with the community about the affairs of Borough government and planning community activities. It will be chaired by a council member and will be made up of member s of the community.

Waste Management Committee

We intend to establish a permanent waste management committee that would meet at least quarterly, made up of elected officials, the code enforcement officer, members of the community and business leaders. The committee would have three roles. The first is to educate the residents on the best methods for disposing of every possible type of waste a household may create and to identify innovative and appropriate methods on how households can reduce the trash they consume. The second is to determine how to build a financially sustainable waste management and recycling program. All possible solutions will be researched including single stream curbside recycling, community or backyard composting, recycle bank, pay as you throw, purchasing trash collection equipment and employing staff to collect the trash, applying pressure on retailers to reduce the amount of packaging in products and any other solution any member of the community may propose. The third task of this committee would be to develop comprehensive strategies to eliminate street liter and illegal dumping.

Public Safety Committee

Coming Soon

Communication with Borough Residents

We intend to greatly improve the communication from the Borough to the residents at the monthly council meetings, via the internet and a periodic newsletter.

Council Meetings

During Council meetings we will speak directly to the residents of the Borough. We will provide background on the issues being discussed. All proposed laws and ordinances will be read aloud. We will consider allowing public comment after each council member’s report instead of only at the beginning and end of the council meetings. All documents available to council members, including a monthly budget update and the bills that need to be paid for the month will be made available to all members of the community on line and at the council meeting.

On-Line

We intend to re-design the borough website as a complete resource for all borough information and events. This could be done with several volunteers within the community, and information will be updated in a timely manner. We also intend to create and utilize an email list to notify residents on a regular basis when new information is posted to the website. We will send a Borough Newsletter electronically on a periodic basis. We propose to utilize the borough website to link all Parkside businesses (for the purposes of promoting business within the borough) from an easily identified page, along with all community events and information.

Newsletter

We want to revitalize the borough newsletter. It will be distributed electronically and be available at community drop boxes on both the east (Municipal building) and west (Firehouse) sides of Parkside.
As Elected Officials we pledge to be Accountable, Accessible and Transparent to the Parkside community.

Accountability

Accountability means being responsible and liable to the public. We intend to hold ourselves accountable by keeping the public informed of all aspects borough business, including improved notification of borough meetings and events, regular newsletters via email, newsletter drop boxes at the Borough Hall and the Fire Company, an enhanced website and the establishment of a Community Relations and Recreation Committee, who will be tasked with informing the community of Borough Government activities. We will explore the feasibility of broadcasting council meetings via a cable channel and/or podcasting.

Accessibility

Accessibility means providing easy access to government services and including the community in the work of government. This includes a digital government that provides as many services, forms, and information, as possible available online. Improved customer service skills by Borough employees, Expanding borough office hours to include Saturdays staffed by council members on a rotating basis. Involving the public in borough business through the formation of committees such as Business Committee, Community Relations and Recreation Committee.

Transparency

Transparency is a means of public officials holding themselves accountable to prevent bad decision making. When government meetings are open to the press and the public, when budgets and financial statements may be reviewed by anyone at anytime, and when laws, rules and decisions are open to discussion there are less opportunities for the authorities to abuse the system in their own interest and the community has a greater trust of the government.

Professional Management

We would like to hire a full time paid borough manager to oversee the day-to-day operations of Parkside and implement the policy and vision of borough. This position would be paid for by eliminating the position of Borough Secretary and reducing the tasks and salaries of the borough’s three professional staff members, the treasurer, engineer and solicitor. We hope that Linda Higgins would apply for the position of Borough Manager if it is created.