In a letter written to the local paper Michael Martorana, a Republican and former Vice-President of Borough Council, urges Parkesburg voters to support Tom Curtin and David Jones for Borough Council.
In the letter, which the newspaper refused to print saying it was too political and not submitted at least two weeks before the election, Martorana speaks to the progress Parkesburg has made under the David's and Tom's leadership and suggests their teamwork and hard work are far better than the inexperience and single-issue focus of the Republican slate.
Here's the letter in its entirety:
To the Editor, {Name of Local Newspaper}:
For immediate publishing.October 30, 2007
Next week the residents of the Borough have an important decision to make: Retain David Jones and Tom Curtain on Council or bring in newcomers.
Because of serious health reasons, my wife and I had to sadly relinquish our positions in the town we love. My position was as Council Vice President, Cassidy was President of the Parkesburg Area Business Association.
A big reason for past success in Council was the teamwork and experience brought to Council by David Jones and Tom Curtain. David’s experience as CEO of major hospitals and Tom’s experience with local, state and federal government as well as his career in managing new technology for Blue Cross and Welch’s are invaluable assets to the Borough and unmatched by others.
Our police department, borough offices and district court all have more efficient operations in a new building thanks in part to their unselfish devotion to the betterment of the Borough in general. They promote no self interest, no hidden agenda. Everything they do on Council is sincerely meant to help us all.
Case in point; David Jones as treasurer not only balanced the budget but brought in a surplus or Tom spearheading LERTA, an important tool to help establish more business in town. These gentlemen are current Council members who are always present and always working for the town.
You will see them at every single Council meeting. As residents, we get a great deal back because of their hard work and caring effort.
I promote these Democrats even though I am a Republican because I think they are the best choice in this election.
Let’s look at a serious and divisive issue. Parkesburg’s number of rental units. Some are nice units, safe apartments, operated by caring landlords. Others seem to cater to less discriminating tenants. Some historical, landmark shops may soon to be divided up into small apartments destined to have but one parking spot for the entire building, creating more problems in town. There are a lot of homes turned into apartments here.
While there are those who may resist the new rental inspection ordinance because of what may be legitimate concerns, there are other critics who may inadvertently leave some problems up to the taxpayers of the Borough to solve, stemming from the creation of more rental apartments. We already see heaps garbage on sidewalks and back yards. We notice an increasing need for police presence, dedicating overtime hours to provide law enforcement in problem areas. Apartments must be created with built-in safety factors implemented so tragedy is prevented. You simply can not change that. It’s also sad to see beautiful shops being turned into more low income apartments in the center of town instead of retail shops for us all to enjoy.
Candidates running for office should be impartial and not have self-interest in mind. They must be self-less and serve all equally. David was born here, but it’s got nothing to do with being born here as anyone with common sense should know. Ask the people of California how they like their Governor. Most love him. Here too, our Council must be highly professional and be able to envision Parkesburg as a thriving, warm community filled with contributing, long-term residents who care for the home they live in and about the welfare of the entire borough.
With David Jones and Tom Curtain, we will move in the right direction without the risk of promoting self interests or ineffective management.
Respectfully,
Michael A. Martorana
1 comment:
I see that Mr Michael Martorana is very short-sited in many of his comments and it was a good thing for the POST not to publish something that was so false in many of the statements.
The election turned out just the way everyone that was on the ticket had hoped.
We all believed that David Jones was needed for the Financial well-being, but until about 1 month ago, he was not even on the ticket to be running!!!!
Tom Curtin has many great ideas and great energy to help drive these areas to completion.
The single-issue focus that you mention for the Republican ticket was one that had very little support from the current council and is the area of the biggest business operation that this burough has in place at the present time.
The Newly elected Council will now be able to go forward with all of the supported items, that both the Republican and Democratic members can support as a group which is what you, Mr Martorana, had failed to capture or understand in the campaign efforts.
Now I ask you to provide the supporting documentation that shows that the Garbage, increasing need for police presence, overtime of police force, etc. is solely based on the Rental Apartments.
Why don't you face the facts that 'the beautiful shops' you mention can not be rented, as businesses do not want to move into Parkesburg in the present state of the borough and the zoning regulations along with borough restrictions do not allow for the updating of these stuctures in a cost-effective manner. Thus the LERTA project that was spear-headed by Tom Curtin might be a way to help get these 'beautiful shops' turned back into beautiful shops and rented/leased to viable businesses instead or turned into 'low income apartments' as you so wrongly have written.
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