The 2014 Legislative Year in Review

Adams County is truly one of the greatest places on Earth in which to live. The diverse histories, traditions and individuality of our various communities enrich the utilization of the distinct topography and natural resources placed here for us to glorify and augment with responsible management of all factors involved.  The Adams County Boroughs Association has been an influential consortium for municipalities here and across the state.  This momentum will continue to grow towards the solutions sought by us all.

Being designated the “Greater Hanover Metropolitan Area” by the latest U.S. Census, we must remember to enhance all efforts possible. The Hanover Regional Economic Development Committee (first inter-county effort in PA history) was formed over 2 years ago for this very purpose. Working with many organizations and businesses, including both York and Adams County Planning and Economic Development personnel, we will explore ways to develop our resources, market our product and attract investors to boast the local economies.  We have already begun to see (and will continue to explore) consolidations and mergers of police and emergency services in Adams County.

Some of the richest soil in the county lies in Conewago Township.  We have an invaluable partnership potential with the Penn State Extension Office and the county Agricultural and Natural Resource Center to analyze and maximize the potential for land utilization in all of Adams County.  All considerations must be made to ensure the strength and growth of our farming community and its effects on the economy of the entire county.

All of this must be connected by safe, reliable and accessible roads and bridges. ACTPO has approved a 3-year TIP to address not only the major arteries through Adams County, but will upgrade smaller roads in need as well. Cooperation with York County will ensure continuous consideration for roads extending into neighboring authorities. Upgrades to the PennDOT website allows anyone to access project information, keeping The People of Adams County informed of the decisions made with their mandated contributions, and assuring them of the vision for the future of transportation in Adams County.

Adams County has been an active voice in the affairs of state in Pennsylvania, penning and adopting several resolutions (while also individually adopting them at the municipal level to a majority of Boroughs) which have made changes for the better for The People. An increase in the allowable pay-outs for service clubs in the Small Games of Chance Bill has provided funds for an active K9 unit in the county. The PSAB is steadfast in our pursuit to allow local and regional police the use of radar to protect those in areas where VASCAR and other systems fail. There is optimism that a new Congress, next year, will help move forward the right to municipal referenda during primary and general elections. Adams County will continue to be an active influence on the PSAB’s Municipal Policy, providing legislation and leadership. 

I am proud to have served you this past year as Vice-President, PSAB and ACTPO representative, and as Legislative Committee Chair. I hope to retain your confidence in continuing forward with these same duties next year. Thank you for the opportunity.

David Bolton

McSherrystown Borough Council and Citizen

ACBA Legislative Committee Report for September, 2013

Back in the 1980s, former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill coined the phrase, “All politics is local”.  Tip felt that those voters who tallied ballots in their local elections were not necessarily influenced by their feelings of the leaders on the federal level when deciding who would make and uphold their municipal laws.  It is a verifiable fact that local politics do not get the involvement by or scrutiny of the constituency it deserves. Overall voter turnout for the 2013 Pennsylvania Primary Elections ranged from 14-17%. Based on the data that only 62% of Pennsylvanians are registered voters, this concludes that less than 10% of the general population is involved in making the laws that 100% are obligated to obey. (1)  Such apathy for the unique right to choose those candidates who best represent our individual interests is a danger to the system our Forefathers envisioned and penned to fend off the oppression of the elite over the masses, and one that we, as responsible stewards and defenders of liberty, cannot rightly ignore.

So how do we, as elected officials, encourage these disillusioned absentees back to the polls? How do we engage them and make the issues we face every day important enough to elicit their active involvement in the decisions our municipalities must make?  One very powerful tool that we need to use is the voter referendum.  By allowing our constituents the undeniable and quantitatively direct ability to decide local matters, we break through the false notions that their individual voices cannot make a difference.  We empower them, as they empower us, and together, we find the progression of a functional government which is more representative of the true will of The People.  The passage of Senate Bill 65 (Session of 2013) will give The People confidence in the meaning of a representative government, where their leaders concede their own personal opinions and biases in deferment to the voices of the voters

One such subject open to voter referendum would be control of local funds for the growth and maintenance of the community infrastructure.  Voting on public improvement allocations, prioritizing budgetary assignments and approving large-scale community projects are just a few possible referendum topics.  Currently, House Bill 666 (Session of 2013), co-sponsored by our own Representatives Dan Moul and Will Tallman, calls for exempting school districts from the requirements of the Prevailing Wage Act.  County election officials would then be charged with placing a referendum question on the ballot in the 2015 general election, asking county voters the following:

“Do you favor any and all public works projects undertaken in (insert county name) County by any school district and any authority, agency or instrumentality established by one or more school districts be constructed in accordance with the prevailing minimum wage rates for workmen employed on those projects as set forth in Pennsylvania's Prevailing Wage Act?”

Allowing school districts to get “more for less” by exempting them from the Prevailing Wage Act saves money for the local taxpayers by reducing the overall costs, as the current market wages for skilled laborers is on average 60% of the mandated prevailing wages, for such projects. My question would be: Why stop there?  If we are going to decide how taxpayer money is to be spent on community projects, why would we not reduce the overall costs of Municipal projects as well by exempting local government projects? Why are the interests of one set of taxpayers different from those of another?  I have the utmost confidence that our local representatives have pondered these very same questions and that they are dedicated to a fiscally conservative solution to the Prevailing Wage Act debates.  However, the road that lies before them is not an easy one, as there are currently 33 separate bills before the Pennsylvania Congress referencing prevailing wages.  This demonstrates a severe stalemate at the state level with regards to this hot button topic and causes a serious bottleneck in the flow of the Committees’ effectiveness in bringing these bills to the Floor.  One possible solution: Voter Referendum.  By consolidating the debate over the 33 bills into a single referenda and letting the voters decide the fact of prevailing wages, we free up our representatives to address other matters which are currently overshadowed by the redundancy of the prevailing wage issues.

One specific bill which could use some of their attention is Senate Bill 599 (Session of 2013), which is currently co-sponsored by our own Senator Rich Alloway.  This bill is a continuance of the work our own organization addressed earlier this year in support of House Bill 290, which was again co-sponsored by Representatives Moul and Tallman.  The Senate Bill proposes a compromise between the clubs and the retail licensees where the clubs would be allowed an additional 20% of collected funds for specific expenses, while still contributing 50% to community charitable purposes. The retail licensees would be allowed certain games of chance, where 50% of revenues are used for outlined expenses, 20% to community charity and 30% is put into the State General Fund.  This helps eliminate some of the friction between the two types of licensees over the use of small games of chance, and it allows the clubs to address their budget shortfalls caused by previous changes to this Act.  Replacing the 20% lost by the community from the clubs with 20% from the retail licensees may not necessarily equate into a break-even for the community organizations which benefit from these funds, and we should continue to urge our Congress to eliminate the aggregate prize limits of the clubs. Whether our Governor personally agrees or not, we should not restrict our local community organizations that support local infrastructure, nor should we dictate at what levels of participation the local citizens should be allowed to allocate their hard-earning wages into such worthy, charitable endeavors.

When we look at our political system on the national level, we see a polarizing scheme in which Democrats and Republicans argue, twist words and sling insults at one another, only to detach the average American who has more immediate and pressing issues they feel they have more control over in their daily lives.  This reduces the number of voices represented in some of the most important matters facing our nation, and in deed, all The People living on our planet. Their apathy and disillusionment of the federal government filters down into the municipal levels; all because of the constant disagreements of 10% of the population.  Once we return their confidence in our great government, only then can we hope to move forward to a time of reconciliation, unity, peace and prosperity.  We must lead that journey with the unequivocal belief that “It’s not about the parties, it’s about The People”.

David W.S. Bolton

McSherrystown Borough Council and Citizen

Vice-President, Adams County Boroughs Association

Chairman, ACBA Legislative Committee

(1)   http://www.politicspa.com/overall-pa-voter-turnout-between-14-17/48244/

6,214,854 reg. voters   62%

12,763,536 pop

10,019,375 over 18

17% voted in 2013 Primaries

Majority 51%...or less than 10% of total population.

8% of population choosing who will run for/hold offices making our local decisions.

ACBA Newsletter Article for May, 2013

"Initiative and referendum (I&R) has existed in some form in this country since the 1600s. Citizens of New England placed ordinances and other issues on the agenda for discussion and then a vote utilizing town meetings. These town hall meetings established the precedent which lead to the creation of the legislative referendum process – a process in which the citizens were entrusted with ratifying laws and amendments proposed by their elected officials. 

James Madison said it best in Federalist 49 when he stated: '[a]s the people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived, it seems strictly consonant to the republican theory to recur to the same original authority...whenever it may be necessary to enlarge, diminish, or newmodel the powers of government.'", http://www.iandrinstitute.org.

For over 200 years, citizens in our country have come to expect that their voices will be heard by their government leaders, however, when the representative do not fully represent the will of The People, it has become the right of the governed to petition their leaders through referendum, either binding or non-binding, and thus demonstrating the purest form of direct democracy.  

When The People want to enact laws they themselves contrive, it is their right to create Initiatives, gathering signatures to petition their leaders to call to vote all those in their jurisdiction and voice their opinions on such matters they see important to them. The government then creates the referendum to poll the constituency, and the outcome of that vote either influences the leaders to themselves vote on specific policy and law (non-binding referendum), or the results  force the elected to enact said law (binding referendum).

Through the use of referendum, The People have created such laws as women gaining the right to vote and electing their leaders through direct primaries, which we will practice tomorrow. It is an invaluable piece of our American government that many others in the world do not have granted to them, and which we sometimes take for granted ourselves.

We, as elected officials in our boroughs, have been chosen by The People to represent their interests, and trust has been bestowed upon us by them to do what we think is best for our communities. However, that trust does not give us "carte blanche" concerning the imposition of OUR wills on policy and law; it is still the responsibility of each one of us to actively poll the opinions of our constituents...actively and often...and bring to conversation equally those topics which are important to the masses as well as the few. However, it is also their RIGHT, nay, their DUTY, as citizens of a free country, to initiate that process when they so deem such appropriate. Let no elected official forget from whence their powers to govern are derived, and thus, let none restrict the power of Voter Referendum.

David "Scotty" Bolton

ACBA Vice-President and Legislative Committee Chairman

McSherrystown Borough Councilman

Concerned Citizen

Busy First Month of 2013

Hope everyone had a great January. It sure has been tumultuous on the weather front. Similarly, we have had some very interesting events in local government. Let's get started...

McSherrystown Borough Council:

At the January 9th meeting, we were informed by Borough Manager Scott Cook that the state's Act 108, which is a disposal ban on computer supplies and equipment, has mandated that we can no longer dispose of these types of items in the regular recycling/garbage pick-up. They must be recycled through the types of e-Recycling program our Borough currently participates in, in conjunction with the York County Solid Waste Authority via Penn Township. If you have old computer monitors, towers, etc. that you need to recycle, please contact the Borough Office for drop-off times and locations. You can also speak to one of the area computer repair businesses who will often recycle them into usable units again.

We were informed of a sewer back-up issue on N. 2nd Street by a resident there. We contacted USG, who had done our camera work for the Sanitary Sewer Maintenance for us just a few months ago, and they confirmed that there is a 75% blockage of the line beyond the curb, which the Borough has accepted responsibility to repair (usually it is the homeowner's responsibility for lines beyond the main tie-in). The first option explored was to use a type of "balloon" repair to seal the line, but with the extent of the damage, it will be necessary to dig up the line and physically repair it. As that part of the street is state (PennDot) road, we needed to apply for a permit to dig it up. We have done so, with the permit lasting two months starting April 15th. This will give us time after winter to get in there and do the work, but also PennDot plans to repave that road this summer, so doing the work at that time will save Borough money in retopping costs after the work is completed. Also, we were informed that the costs for the camera/line cleaning performed by USG was adjusted from $16,283.25 to $14,504.28 (eliminating duplicate fees), which saved us even more from the original budget of $25K for the project. Council approved the balance owed to be paid to the company ($8,141 was sent in December).

The Borough was able to collect over $10K in costs and fees coming from liens on two properties in town after Sheriff sales. These funds were in direct relation to municipal bills that were not paid by the owners after several years. There are still more liens of this sort that are outstanding, and the Borough is committed to collecting these amounts to offset the costs paid by the rest of the citizenry.

The Council discussed the Adams County Transportation Planning Organization's initiative to unit the Hanover Urban Area under a common MPO. Adams County municipalities outside of Gettysburg, Conewago Township and McSherrystown are in favor of having a County-specific MPO to apply for state and federal funding for various projects, however, the federal government, following the recommendations of the Census Bureau, has identified our very specific local area as one that will be expanding rapidly over the next 10 years. Although we cross county lines, the metropolitan area is recognized as being viable outside of county designations. Council voted unanimously to continue working with the Hanover Urban area in this pursuit, as it will serve to offer more success in acquiring grants and funds for local projects, such as the Hanover Area Regional Economic Development Committee, and as we already participate in Joint Bidding endeavors with these municipalities.

Adams County Boroughs Association:

At the January meeting, I was installed as Vice-President and Chairman of the Legislative Committee. I discussed my resolve to eliminate unfunded state and federal mandates on local municipalities, which ultimately cost our taxpayers more for programs that are not directly controlled at our local level.
Senate Resolution 323 of 2010 reviewed these mandates and made many suggestions as to the elimination of a bulk of the 6500 identified, many of which are archaic (some dating back to the early 1800s). One such mandate which the County Commissioners have done away with recently was the $12,000 yearly salary paid to the Jury Commissioner, who was in charge of picking jurors for the county. Since the 1970s, this job has been accomplished by computers, and thus, no person was needed to perform this task, although the County had been paying the salary each year.  I will have more on this as my Legislative Committee discusses other concerns, such as the Prevailing Wage mandate, which increases costs to local municipalities by 30-70% for work done by contract, such as road paving, construction, etc.  CLICK HERE to view the Task Force report and to review these mandates in detail.

I also discussed Senate Bill 65 for the 2013-2014 of the State Senate which is currently in the Local Government Committee. Memo #9 states this is an Act amending Title 53 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for local referenda.  As Senator Kim Ward writes, "Currently, there are few special circumstances where local governments can put measures on the ballot for voter approval or denial. Beyond increased debt proposals and special legislative provisions, these local governments do not have the ability to seek the will of the populace in large scale projects or measures. My legislation would broaden the ability of local governments to use voter referendums on items like tax increases, capital projects and ordinances."

I am fully in support of our voters' having the right to tell us directly on ballot how they feel we should direct our legislation on a local level.  Anyone wishing to contact Senator Ward can reach her at 717-787-6063.

I was also asked to serve as the alternate representative to the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs on the Resolutions and Policy Committee. This assignment will aid our own Legislative Committee to be more involved in state level concerns and representing local constituents' interests against those of the larger metropolitan areas of the state, namely Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

On February 6th, I will be a panelist for the Penn State Extension Workshop titled "Toss Your Hat in the Ring, How to Get Involved in Local Government".  With almost 20 people signed up to attend, they will get information on what to do if they would like to run for local office. Monica Dutko from the Adams County Office of Elections will also be there to answer questions. The cost is $25, and is good for those who want to get involved or as a refresher for those who are already serving.

I WILL ALSO BE RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION THIS SPRING/FALL!  As you may know, I ran for and won a two year term in the write-in campaign from 2011. This year, I will be coming around to get my petitions signed and to get the news out about what I am doing to represent the people of McSherrystown. I would appreciate any and all support in my efforts for re-election. You can contact me directly if you would like to help with getting signatures for my petition. The video below explains the process, which begins today and runs through March 12th.

I hope that I am serving your interests, and as always, I am available to talk about any concerns you may have for the Borough, County or State. I have begun to use a new mobile video app on my Facebook page to keep everyone more informed in a more personal format. These posts are labeled for public viewing, so you can subscribe to my posts and be able to view it without adding me to your personal list. CLICK HERE for my Facebook address.  You can also email me directly....CLICK HERE TO EMAIL ME NOW.

Thank you for allowing me to be your voice to our local government!

For Liberty!

David "Scotty" Bolton
McSherrystown Borough Councilman and citizen