Auditor General Candidates

The offices on the primary ballot are US President, PA State Attorney General, PA Auditor General, PA Treasurer, US Representative, State Senator, State Rep, and Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the Presidential Conventions. I'm starting with Auditor General because on the Democratic ballot, 6 choices are listed, and they aren't well-known names for most people (neither is the GOP candidate--I'll do him too). I'll list a short bio (most from Ballotpedia.org) for each, but feel free to research all the candidates on your own. That's the nice thing about doing a mail-in ballot. You can take your time and fact-check these candidates before deciding.

Pennsylvania's Auditor General is the chief fiscal watchdog of the commonwealth. The office is responsible for using audits to ensure that all state money is spent legally and properly. So keep in mind that you'd probably want someone who understands money to do this job.

DEMOCRATIC BALLOT

Harry Scott Conklin is in the PA House of Representatives for the 77th legislative district in Centre County (where State College is). Conklin studied Carpentry at Clearfield County Vocational Technical School, then worked as a Carpenter's Apprentice. His professional experience includes being the owner/operator of a carpentry business for 17 years and as the current owner and operator of Conklin's Corner Antique Mall.

Michael Lamb is the Pittsburgh City Controller in Pennsylvania. He assumed office in 2007. Lamb is  an attorney. In addition to his government work, he serves on the boards of the Kane Foundation, the Catholic Youth Association, the Downtown Pittsburgh YMCA, and the 3 Rivers Wet Weather Demonstration Project. He was also a founding co-chair of the community group A Plus Schools in Pittsburgh.

Tracie Fountain was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She worked in the Pennsylvania Auditor General's office for 29 years, most recently as the Audit Bureau Director, before resigning to run for the Auditor General position. In her work for the office, Fountain directed the following bureaus: School Audits, State-Aided Audits, Volunteer Firefighters Relief Association Audits, Liquor Audits, and Children and Youth Services Audits. She is a Certified Public Accountant. Of all the candidates, she has the most experience for the job.

Rose Rosie Marie Davis was born in Oklahoma. She is a Certified Public Accountant and the current Vice-Chairman of the Smithfield Township Board of Auditors, first elected in 2018. Davis' professional experience includes working in financial management consulting. She is a member of the Finance Committee of the Shawnee Valley Owners Association and the Monroe County NAACP.

Nina Ahmad is from Philadelphia and has worked as a molecular biologist and entrepreneur. Prior to running for auditor general, she was Deputy Mayor for Public Engagement in Philadelphia. She has served as president of the Philadelphia NOW and on the board of the Philadelphia Foundation. She was also a member of the National Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders under President Obama.

Christina Hartman is from Lancaster and has worked as both an independent consultant and a consultant for Cygnet Strategy and BroderickHaight Consulting. Her consulting work focuses on providing operational, strategic planning, fundraising, and management guidance to non-profit organizations and trade associations. Hartman has also worked with a variety of organizations in the international development and humanitarian fields, including Joyful Heart Foundation, National Democratic Institute, The Prince's Trust, and Freedom House.

REPUBLICAN BALLOT

Timothy DeFoor is the only GOP candidate for Auditor General. He was elected as Dauphin County Controller in 2015. Before that, he served in the Attorney General’s Office and is a retired special agent. He worked in the State Inspector General’s office as a special investigator, and worked for UPMC Health Plan and various federal contractors as a former Internal Auditor, Quality Manager, and Fraud Investigator.

Voting in PA in Times of COVID19

On June 2, Pennsylvania will hold its primary election. Some of you will say, "What does it matter? The presidential nominees have already been decided." But if you want to vote against either of those choices, there are choices on both parties' ballots (I'll cover them in another blog). There are other offices on the ballot, too. No choices on the GOP Ballot, but Democrats have choices for Auditor General and State Senator.

But you may also be saying you don't feel safe going to the polls this year with a virus on the loose. No problem. This year in PA, you can vote by mail. It's like an absentee ballot, but you don't need a reason for absence. Every registered voter can do it.

Some people think absentee ballots aren't counted. Not true. I've worked at the local precinct on voting day and I can tell you that we stay late and count absentee ballots every time. This year workers will stay even later and count all the mail-in ballots. And election workers this year would RATHER be counting mail-in ballots than see voters who might potentially be carriers of COVID19 in person. It's going to be a 15-hour day for them at least, and despite masks, face shields and gloves, there will be few breaks for hand-washing. So do them a favor and, if you haven't already, apply for a mail-in ballot.

Here's how: First go to https://www.votespa.com/Voting-in-PA/Pages/Mail-and-Absentee-Ballot.aspx. Click on "Apply for a mail-in or absentee ballot." Follow the instructions. If you have a PA Drivers License #, you can request an ballot online. Easy. The State sends the request to your county, who'll look you up and approve or not approve your request (you might have to register to vote first, which you can also do on that website). If you're approved, a ballot will be mailed to you. They just started sending out ballots this week, so if you already applied, you'll likely have your ballot soon.

You have until May 18th to register to vote and until May 26th to request a mail-in ballot. Ballots must be received at your courthouse by June 2 at 8 pm. DO NOT bring them to your polling place. Don't wait until the last minute to do any of the above. PLEASE use Vote-By-Mail, for everyone's safety, your own and your family's included. If you insist on voting in person, WEAR A MASK to your polling place and this year, DON'T BRING YOUR CHILDREN. I love to see parents teaching their kids how voting is done, but this year it's too dangerous. Some kids who get COVID are getting a dangerous inflammation of the bloodstream with it. Come alone and observe physical distancing guidelines.

POLLING LOCATIONS
Some polling locations will change this year. Montgomery County will probably be using schools as locations because they're already closed. If you usually vote in a school, probably no change. They'll be deciding by May 11, and then I'll post the link where you can find your polling location. But hey, it won't matter if you sign-up for Vote-By-Mail.

I made the difficult decision this year not to work this election. I love doing it, but this year it's a job for younger, healthier people. If you're currently not working and need some extra money, the Montgomery County courthouse is looking for pollworkers. If you're interested, go to https://www.montcopa.org/759/Pollworkers for more information.

Democrat Candidates for Governor and Lt. Gov

Remember, the Primary Election is next Tuesday, May 15. For voter information, polling location, and sample ballot, go to https://www.montcopa.org/753/Voter-Services.

The only candidate for PA Governor on the Democrat side is the incumbent, Tom Wolf. His website doesn't have where he stands on the issues exactly, but lists what his administration has accomplished in relation to the issues. Most of the statements are only a sentence or 2 and don't say much, but you can read them at https://www.wolfforpa.com/record/. I'll spend more time on him in the general election.

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR ~ I should mention that the only official duties of this office are serving as president of the state senate and chairing the Board of Pardons and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council. But lieutenant governors often work on additional projects and have a full schedule of community and speaking events.

Nina Ahmad, from Philadelphia, is a scientist (molecular biologist), women's right advocate, first generation immigrant/naturalized citizen. She served on President Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and on Mayor Nutter’s Commission on Asian American Affairs. Her statement on gun control is her best, with action points to be taken. The rest of her issue statements are rather general, though she does seem to have a good understanding of them. Read them for yourself at https://ninaforpa.com/issues/.

Kathi Cozzone is a Chester County Commissioner and also lists several government Boards she has served on, including Chair of the Chester County Prison Board. If you scroll down on her website (https://www.cozzoneforpa.com/), you'll find her statement of issues. She lists quite a few of them, though she's light on the actions she'd like to see taken to find solutions (that may not matter considering the office).

John Fetterman is from Allegheny County and has served 12 years as mayor of Braddock, PA (outside Pittsburgh, population 2150). Before that he was a community organizer and GED teacher. He ran for US Senator in 2016. Though he has no issue statements on his site, he spends a bit of space talking about economy from his experience as mayor, yet I question his understanding the problems of the larger cities he mentions, like Allentown (or even a borough like Norristown), since Braddock, PA isn't much larger than the population of Norristown High. And I'm not sure what that would have to do with duties of lieutenant governor anyway. His website is https://johnfetterman.com.

Raymond Sosa is from Montgomery County and works in banking, investment, and insurance services. He has no experience in government except, apparently, doing "legislative policy support" (which he sees as a good thing, but it puts me in mind of the GOP's ALEC and other way too-influential lobbyists who write policy).  He only lists 4 issues (Economy, Education, Criminal Justice, Farmers) and seems pretty lightweight on them. To read them, go to https://www.raysosa4pa.com/ and scroll down.

Mike Stack is our incumbent Lt Gov. He's from Philly and has also been a state senator, attorney, and serves one weekend per month in the PA National Guard as a Judge Advocate General. Disappointingly, he lists no statements on issues at all. https://www.stackforpa.com/.

Candidates for US Congress

The PA Primary Election is only a week and a day away, Tuesday, May 15. Polls open 7 am and close 8 pm. To find out where you vote, see your sample ballot, and the answers to other questions, click on this link. Remember, in primaries, we vote by party. You must be registered Republican or Democrat to vote in this election.

The Congressional candidates are important this election because we're voting for US House reps in NEW districts. Norristown (and most of Montgomery County) will be in District 4. Since Brendan Boyle doesn't live in our new district, he can't run here (but he will be our congressman until the end of this year).

On the Republican side of the ballot, the only candidate is Dan David. His website is at http://dandavidforcongress.com/. He has no legislative experience and no list of issues on his site, so who knows what he stands for. The interesting thing is that he'd originally entered his name as a candidate in Lehigh Valley, having moved there from Montgomery County. 2 months later, in March, he switched from Lehigh Valley back to here (did he move back?). I suspect the reason was that the field of candidates in the other location included 6 other contenders, and maybe he figures here he can win without breaking a sweat. He apparently cares more about winning than about issues. Republicans CAN also write in another candidate, of course (maybe someone who considers their residency in our county as more than a means to an end).

On the Democrat side of the ballot, there are 3 candidates.

Joe Hoeffel ~ Hoeffel served as our US Congressman from 1999-2005 (and frankly, I thought he did a good job), so experience isn't an issue. Before that, he served in the PA State House and as Montgomery County Commissioner. You can read his stand on the issues at this link. Even if you don't agree with his stands, you have to admit that he has a grasp of how complex and multi-faceted most of the issues are. He not only lists issues, but action points under each one. Though I do wish he had included action points about women's issues other than reproduction, and issues specifically involving hate and ignorance, especially where that impacts minority groups (no mention of LGBT). And his foreign policy statement mentions nothing about North Korea or Russian cyber attacks involving our elections.

Madeleine Dean ~ Dean is currently the state representative for PA's 153rd District (Abington and Upper Dublin). Before that she served as Abington Township Commissioner and before that as a committee person. Dean's issues statement says very nearly the same as Hoeffel's, though she mentions nothing about foreign affairs. Her action points take a bit more careful reading to find and there aren't as many. She does include sexual assault as a women's issue. She seems a bit stronger on public education. I will say that, having received 4 large-sized mailings from her, 3 in one day, that it's hard to believe she's serious about the environment.

Shira Goodman ~ Goodman, like Dean, is from Abington. She has a law degree but seems to have spent most of her life as a gun-control and equal justice activist. She has no government legislative experience. Her issue statement is at this link (click on "Issues"). It does include issues the others missed, such as protecting the vote, "fake news" propaganda, and the rights of those with disabilities. But her foreign affairs statement only covers the US-Israel relationship (not even mentioning others who live in the Middle East, let alone Russia, et al). Most of her issues seem 2-dimentional ~ only 3-4 sentences for each with no specific actions she'd take on them. I think her best statement is on public education, but read the list yourself and decide.

So there are your candidates. Please read where they stand on the issues and don't simply base your vote on TV ads and mailings. But PLEASE VOTE.

I'll post a link to this info to Facebook and Twitter more than once this week. Please share with your friends and neighbors in the district and encourage everyone to get out and vote this year.

Common Pleas Court Judge Candidates

Okay, last Diary before the election, so here are your Common Pleas Court Judge candidates. I wish I had time to summarize the candidates for Superior and Commonwealth Court for you, but you’ll have to do your own research on those. If it helps, the PA Bar Association evaluation of the candidates can be found at this link.

What is the Court of Common Pleas? That 's where you'll find criminal and civil trials at the courthouse. If you’re called for jury duty in Norristown, those trials are handled by these judges. They serve 10-year terms. Three candidates are running on BOTH Republican and Democratic ballots. You’ll choose two of them.

All three candidates are lawyers, of course.

Joseph P. Walsh from Montgomery Township (near Lansdale) was appointed as a Common Pleas Court Judge last September to fill a vacancy. He’s now running for a full term. He doesn’t list his party affiliation anywhere, but his and other Facebook pages list him as following several Republican committees and Pat Toomey, and endorsing Republican candidates.

Jeffrey Saltz from Lower Merion runs his own law firm in Center City Philadelphia. He has 30 years of courtroom experience, including in Montgomery County. He’s a Democrat and has served on several Democratic committees.

Wendy G. Rothstein of Plymouth is with the law firm of Fox, Rothschild, LLP and has been a respected trial attorney in Montgomery County. She’s a Democrat who was born in Norristown and spent her early school years here (full disclosure: we were classmates, neighbors and friends in elementary school, though I haven’t seen her in decades). Other Norristown connections: she’s a board member of the Elmwood Park Zoo, and also chaired the Liberty in the Law Program, facilitating visits of attorneys and judges to 6th grade classes in the Norristown Area School District. I endorse her. I think she’d do Norristown proud as a Common Pleas Judge.

As I’ve said before, you can see your sample ballot at this link. Choose Norristown from the list, then click on your district.

Please get out and vote. I talked to one woman yesterday who said she “had better things to do” than vote tomorrow. Really? Better for herself, maybe. Not better for our town. If you don’t vote, don’t complain about council or our schools.

I’ll be at Eisenhower behind the 3-3 district table tomorrow. If you vote there, stop by and say hello.

Candidates for Norristown Council

This year’s primary election is next Tuesday, May 16. The primary is super-important this year because here’s where you get a choice. By November, you might only have one candidate per office running under one or both parties.

I went to the candidate’s forum at the Carver Center last week and heard most of the candidates for council and school board speak. Today’s Diary is about council, especially council-at-large candidates, who are on Democratic party ballots at every Norristown polling place. (Republicans, you can still cast a write-in vote.)

I’ve heard more than the usual complaining about council this year. I’m not sure if there’s more discontent with this council or if it’s because it’s just that more people have public platforms like Nextdoor.com where they can complain. But, here’s how I measure my council reps:

1. If I have a problem in my neighborhood, can I get hold of my council rep or one of the council-at-large reps? Does action follow my communication or do I just get unreasonable excuses? (I’m willing to consider reasonable explanations, but I can also recognize a run-around when I hear it.)

2. Does my council rep or any of the others make any kind of effort to communicate or get to know their constituents even when we don’t have a specific complaint? (ie, well-publicized Town Hall meetings, social media communications, televised meetings, etc.) Do they show up at town events? Do they make an effort to update us on big projects? (And personally, I prefer honest updates from the reps themselves, not dog-and-pony shows from developers where questions and concerns are never addressed.)

3. Do my council reps ask questions at their meetings? Do they make an effort to educate the public about what they’re voting on each month? I want council reps who don’t simply allow non-elected municipal employees to dictate policy and tell them how to vote, but who understand the issues themselves and make up their own minds.

That said, here are the Democratic candidates for Council-at-Large (In alphabetical order, to be fair) and what they said at the forum. Voters will choose up to 2 reps from a field of 5, who’ll go on to November’s election. Anyone, Republican or Democrat, can write in candidates. Just make sure you spell the names right.

SUANNE GARDINER: Suanne is already on council ~ she was appointed to take Marlon Millner’s place last September. She wants to work at keeping residents and businesses here in town, shaping our youth to be leaders (and encouraging them to stay and raise their own families here), and a strong police force because “safety is important.” I wish she had defined just what she meant by strong. I couldn’t tell if she supports the current community policing policies, or if she means what most people mean by strong police force ~ that is, stop-and-frisk tactics. I personally didn’t like the implication that Norristown as a whole isn’t currently safe. We have enough problems with our reputation.

THOMAS LEPERA: His major priorities would be to keep work for the municipality local, to have apprenticeship programs, to provide healthcare for those in our community who don’t have it (he didn’t explain how council could do this) and to fix up the Carver Center. My impression of Mr. Lepera was that he perhaps doesn’t understand the functions of our council. Possibly they might be able to encourage local labor for municipal jobs, but there is a bidding process and I’m not sure of all the legalities involved. As for the rest, council may provide some minimal help and support, but I don't think council is the place to get this done.

DERRICK PERRY: Derrick is the current Vice President of Council. He would like to change the attitudes about Norristown, work on economic development, keep our AA Bond Rating, and get residents to be involved more, both in voting and in “showing up” (I think he meant for meetings). One thing I will say for Derrick, he’s one of the only council reps I can consistently get hold of. When I had 2 separate Public Works problems in my neighborhood the last 2 years, I let Derrick know and the problems were each addressed within 24 hours. He’s on Nextdoor.com and lets residents there know he can help if they have a council-related problem. And I’ve frequently seen him (and his son) around town at events.

REBECCA SMITH:  She would focus on development of vacant properties. She talked about creating a sustainable tax base and encourage homeownership by shifting taxes from residents to businesses, but then said she’d support small businesses (not sure how you can support them, yet raise their taxes at the same time). She said she supported safe neighborhoods through community policing, but then went on to quote crime stats that didn’t sound right, saying Norristown was one of the most dangerous communities in the country. So I fact-checked her. One erroneous Patch article made this claim a few years ago, quoting questionable sources that didn’t cite their own sources. It’s fake news, but unfortunately it's the first result if you google Norristown crime statistics. Ms. Smith apparently read only that and never checked with Crime-Mapping (actually statistics, not heresay) nor did she check Norristown.org which now lists real trends in our crime statistics based on Crime-Mapping, nor did she talk to Chief Talbot. We have enough trouble with our image without a potential council member repeating false rumors.

SUE SORIANO: Sue couldn’t attend the forum because she was out of town on business, but she at least sent a letter that was read at the forum and she asked Buck Jones to speak for her. He stated that her priorities would be to make our government more open and honest, and that she’d like to see better and cleaner gateways into town. In other words, she’d like those places where people enter town - the Dannehower Bridge, either end of Main St, Johnson Highway, etc. - to be kept cleaner and be more inviting, to help change the attitudes of surrounding communities and our own residents about our town.

There you have it. Remember that Council members-at-Large represent you as much as your ward representative. Sometimes the at-large reps may even be easier to get hold of. So choose carefully.

Just a quick note about other council seats. Sondra Fisher Sanders, Ward 1 rep, is running on the Democratic ticket unopposed (she didn’t come to the forum). Valerie Scott Cooper, the current Ward 3 rep, is being challenged by Leigh Peoples. Leigh didn’t come to the forum and I couldn’t find any info about her online.

I'll post about the School Board candidates in a few days.

Please share this information with other residents. To see your sample ballot for next Tuesday go to this link.

Candidates Forum

The NAACP is hosting a Candidates Forum on Thursday, May 4, 7 pm at the George Washington Carver Community Center (249 E Jacoby St). I didn’t know about it last Friday when I put up my events blog for the week. In fact, the forum doesn’t seem to have been publicized very much at all ~ it’s not on Norristown.org or on Nextdoor.com, or even on the Norristown Project calendar, even though Shae Ashe is one of the candidates and says he’s going to be in attendance. Please, spread the word. If you want to do so through Facebook, the event is at this link.

The event description states “Candidates for School District, Municipal Council & Magisterial Judge.” As far as the judge goes, the only person running is Judge Hunsicker, and the only residents who’ll see her name on their ballot live in the first ward (east end). The rest of you don’t need to think about voting for magistrate.

But for Council, there are 5 people running for Council-At-Large, all on the Democratic ticket. And for School Board, there are 10 candidates, 9 of which are running on both tickets. Also, wards one and three will be electing their Council reps.  I’m not sure how many of the above will be at the forum. All of them, hopefully.

You can view your sample ballot at this link. Just select “Norristown” from the list, then choose your district. If you’re not sure of your district, before you select “Norristown,” click on “Where Do I Vote” at the bottom of the page. Fill in your address and it will tell you your district and polling place.

I’ll be doing more blogs before Election Day (May 16), to at least review the candidates for Council and School Board (some of the judges too, if I have time).

Plan on getting out to vote in this primary. Put it on your calendar NOW. As we saw last year, the primary can be more important than the fall election, and candidates chosen by a minority ~ because the majority of citizens don’t get out to vote ~ will never serve us well.

ELECTION: Candidates for Attorney General

Today I'll take a look at the race for PA Attorney General. This is to replace Kathleen Kane and it's the only office on the ballot (not counting delegates) where voters in both parties have a choice of candidates (though, of course, you always have the option of writing in a candidate for any office).

On the Republican side, the contenders are Joe Peters and John Rafferty.

Joe Peters is the current Executive Deputy Attorney General, in charge of the Office’s Drug and Organized Crime Division. He's served in the Attorney General's office for 15 years. Before that he served in the White House Drug Czar's office under both W. Bush and Clinton. He was a Federal Prosecutor who worked on the Nicky Scarfo case. He began as a police officer in Scranton. You can read more about him at http://www.joepeters.com/

John Rafferty is currently a state senator, representing parts of Bucks, Chester and upper Montgomery Counties. He's held that office since 2003. He served as PA Deputy Attorney General, though more than 25 years ago, between 1988-1991. Before that, he was on the Methacton School Board. His website is http://www.raffertyforag.com/

If you're a Democrat, your choices are John Morganelli, Josh Shapiro and Stephen A. Zappala, Jr.

John Morganelli is District Attorney of Northhampton County and has served in that post since 1991. He has also been President of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys’ Association and has served as a Special Deputy Attorney General. His website is http://www.johnmorganelli.com/

Josh Shapiro is currently Chair of the Board of Commissioners for Montgomery County and has served as commissioner since 2012. From 2005 to 2012, he served as state rep for the 153rd district (Abington/Upper Dublin). He got his law degree in 2002. Besides being commissioner, he works as an attorney for Stradley, Ronon, Stevens, and Young, focusing on general corporate law, real estate and regulatory compliance. His website is https://www.joshshapiro.org/

Stephen Zappala has served as District Attorney for Allegheny County since 1998. Before that he worked at various law firms. According to Wikipedia, his career has been rather politically contentious. His website is zappalaforpa.com/ (which I had trouble getting to load).

So, there are your options. Remember, primary election day is next Tuesday, April 26. I'll review some of the other candidates this week. If you want to know about delegates, click here for last week's Diary.

Election: Presidential Candidates and Delegates

As you probably surmised from the ads on TV and now daily robocalls, the primary election is coming soon. It's less than 2 weeks away, on April 26. This is not only a presidential election year, but we'll be voting for one US senator, our US Congressional rep, both our state senator and representative, and most importantly, the delegates who'll go to the national conventions to select the nominees for president. There's also 2 questions for amendments to the PA state constitution on the ballot and if you're in Ward 3, you'll be voting for a councilperson.

So I wanted to get started early with my blogs giving you information on the candidates. Problem is, this year Montgomery County STILL doesn't have a sample ballot posted on their website. The best I could do was an unofficial candidate list. So possibly the candidates I give you info about won't show up on the ballot. Sorry for any confusion, but don't blame me, blame the county or whoever they get info from. 

Before I go on, let me remind you that you can only vote in the primaries if you're a registered Republican or Democrat. If you're Independent, stay home. I can't tell you how many Independents try to vote at my polling place on Primary Day and we have to turn them away. Sorry, that's the way PA works.

Today we'll start with the biggies, the presidential candidates and their delegates. The delegates are more important because they actually choose the nominee who'll go on to the November Election. If you vote for one candidate, yet choose delegates committed to another, you essentially negate your own vote. To make it more confusing, the 2 parties have different systems. Democratic delegates commit to a candidate ahead of time (though I don't know if those commitments show up on your ballot so you'd better go into the voting booth knowing who'll you'll choose ahead of time).

Frankly, I don't understand the Republican system in PA at all. If I understand what I read in Ballotpedia  correctly, only 17 of PA's 71 delegates MUST vote for the winner of the primary in the state. The other 54 delegates aren't bound to vote for the winner. So all I can do is list the District 13 delegates for you Republicans. You need to find out how they intend to vote. Good luck with that.

On the Democratic side, the candidates listed are Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Roque Rocky De La Fuente (I did not make that up--he's a San Diego real estate developer with policies that are vague and right-leaning). I'm not going to go into their policy stances. That's really easy to look up online (click on their names above). I will say, please give your choice some thought and don't just go by the propaganda you hear on TV and social media.

Here are the Democratic delegates according to their commitments (I don't know how many we'll be able to vote for--that's on the final ballot):

For Hillary Clinton: Allyson Schwartz, Val Arkoosh, Betsy May Kilkenny. Charles Quann, Louis Farinella, Elaine Tomlin, W. Gerard Oleksiak, Mike Stack.

For Bernie Sanders: Michael Rahming, Mark Cohen, Henry Albert, Linda Fields, Melissa Robbins, Bev Hahn.

There are no Democratic alternate delegates on the ballot for District 13.

Republicans: The ones you've heard about on TV are, of course, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich. A few of the others who've already dropped out might still be on the ballot too.

The GOP delegates running are Alan Apt, Shannon Oscar, Gilbert Cox, Pam Levy, Lauren Casper, Tom Ellis, Michael McGonagle, and Dan Tinney. The alternate delegates are Gary Grisafi and Camille McColgan. Like I said, I don't know who these folks would be likely to vote for. You might try finding them on social media to see who they're praising or dissing..

That's it for presidential candidates and delegates. I'll try to cover the other offices and ballot questions in the next week.

Oh, and I still haven't heard anything from Council about the zoning amendment they're voting on April 19. Tsk tsk.

Candidates for State Supreme Court Justice

The State Supreme Court is the highest judicial tribunal in Pennsylvania. They exclusively hear appeals. Basically, if you lose a case in the Common Pleas Court, you can usually appeal it all the way up the ladder through the Commonwealth or Superior Court to the State Supreme Court, assuming you can afford to do so. The thing about this office is that if a candidate has been a judge in one of the other 2 appellate courts, it's a given that they already have the training and experience to do this job. What you should decide is if other candidates like Common Pleas Judges or other attorneys would be able to jump past the intermediary courts to hold the highest state position.

On next Tuesday's ballot, there are 12 individuals running for the office--6 on the Republican ballot and 6 on the Democratic ballot. Of the 6 on your ballot, you'll be asked to choose 3. The 3 who win on each side will appear in on the ballot in the fall election. I've included a link for each candidate's bio, their current position and where they're from. If you want to know anymore, use the link yourself. Please don't contact me to do your research for you.

On the REPUBLICAN ballot:

Coreale Stevens - He's the incumbent, running for reelection. State Supreme Court Judge since 2013. He has no website that I could find. Lives in Northeastern PA.

Anne Covey - Currently a judge on the Commonwealth Court. Office is in Doylestown.

Rebecca Warren - District Attorney in Montour County (near Wilkes-Barre).

Mike George - Currently the President Judge of the Adams County Court of Common Pleas. Lives near Gettysburg.

Cheryl Allen - Superior Court Judge since 2007. From Pittsburgh.

Judy Olson - Superior Court Judge since 2009. From Pittsburgh area.

On the DEMOCRATIC ballot:

David Wecht - Superior Court Judge since 2012. Court of Common Pleas before that since 2003. From Pittsburgh.

Christine Donahue - Superior Court Judge since 2007. From Pittsburgh.

Kevin Dougherty - Currently Administrative Judge in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

John Henry Foradora - President Judge of Common Pleas, Jefferson County (western PA, near Clarion).

Anne Lazarus - Superior Court Judge since 2009. Lives in Philadelphia.

Dwayne D. Woodruff - Judge of Court of Common Pleas, Allegheny County. His website talks more about his career as a Pittsburgh football player than his judicial qualifications.

VOTE Tuesday, Party FOURTH FRIDAY

The most important event this week is PRIMARY ELECTION DAY! Don't forget to vote. Come and choose the candidates who'll be on the ballot in the November election. Don't let your neighbors decide for you. Voting gives you the power to change things. If you vote at Eisenhower, I'll be clerking at the 3-3 table. Stop by and say hello.

Saturday is the Norristown Men of Excellence 2nd Annual Excellence Ball, 8 pm-midnight at Theatre Horizon (410 Dekalb). Tickets $50 per person, $90 per couple. All proceeds benefit the NMOE Scholarship Fund. Contact kberry@nmoe19401.org or call 484-601-2828. Info at www.nmoe19401.org

Sunday afternoon at Jus' Java (317 Swede), Acoustic Open Mic. For info call 610-277-5282. Or just drop by after noon to listen.

Tuesday is PRIMARY ELECTION DAY. Polls are open from 7 am to 8 pm. You can view a sample ballot at this link. I'll post more candidate info tomorrow and Monday, but help yourself by googling the candidates' names and reading their bios. It's easy.

Tuesday from 7-9 pm - A four-week workshop on Beginning Genealogy presented by Genealogist Rose Brown at the Historical Society of Montgomery County, 1654 Dekalb St. $15 non-members, $10 members. This workshop is set up for those wishing to learn the basic techniques of genealogy research. Continues May 26th, June 2nd and 9th. 610-272-0297, contact@hsmcpa.org

Wednesday, at 6:30 pm, Council meeting (Wednesday due to the election on Tuesday). Municipal Hall. No agenda yet.

Wednesday, 8 pm at Jus' Java (317 Swede), Open Words. All artists welcome. $10 at door, $5 online at www.poetry247.com/openwords

Next Friday (May 22nd), kick off your Memorial Day Weekend at FOURTH FRIDAY Downtown. Come to the Public Square for lunch between noon and 2 pm (food trucks and vendors--Diva's Kitchen will be on hand), then come back after 5 pm to enjoy international cuisine and live music at your choice of FIVE venues, or Salsa Dancing on Cherry St. Free parking on the streets after 6 pm. Here's the FOURTH FRIDAY evening schedule so far:

5-7 pm – Sessano’s Café & Deli (500 Swede) – Award-winning Italian sandwiches and live music.
5-9 pm – Banh Mi Bar & Bistro (31 W. Main) – Vietnamese cuisine and live acoustic music.
7-9 pm – Salsa on Cherry Street (216 Cherry, 2nd floor)– Salsa lessons 7-8 pm ($7 per person) followed by free dancing.
8-10 pm – Las Palmas Del Sur (10 W. Main) - Mexican cuisine and live Mexican music.
8-10 pm – Jus’ Java (317 Swede) – Open Mic Night. Gourmet coffee, tea and café food.
10-midnight – Almaz Café (24 W Main) – Ethiopean/American cuisine and live music.

A heads up for May 30 -- Community paper shredding event at the office of Matt Bradford, Logan Square. More details next week but start gathering your old bank statements and tax papers to recycle.

CADCOM is currently soliciting vendors from both for-profit and nonprofit businesses and service providers for their June 27th Community Day at Oak Street Park (Oak and Arch Sts) from noon to 5 pm (rain date June 28). Vendors can set up tables to sell items and promote their organizations. For-profit vendor fee is $15 per space. CADCOM would also apreciate financial or in-kind donations and volunteers. Contact Heather Lewis, 610-277-6363 x166 for more info and a vendor form.

Candidates for Magisterial District Judge

I've started checking out the ballots for next Tuesday's primary election. You can view a sample at this link--just choose Norristown from the list and click "submit," then choose where you vote. But I warn you, you'll have to zoom in to read it. It's huge this time around.

Today, I'm going to take a look at the Magisterial District Judge Candidates for the new district court opening in Norristown. These candidates ONLY appear on the ballots for all of ward 3 and 2-2. If you're in ward 1 or 2-1, you'll see the incumbent, Fran Lawrence, running unopposed on your ballot (though, remember, you can always write in a candidate if you want. Instructions in the second to last paragraph below). For ward 4 and 2-3, you won't see the office on your ballots at all.

I checked the candidates' websites and Facebook pages, looking specifically for this information: relationship to Norristown, college degrees, experience directly related to law, courts, criminals, etc. Here's what I found.

Valerie Scott Cooper is listed on the Democratic Primary Ballot only.
- Born and raised in Norristown. Graduated from Norristown High School.
- B.A. in Organizational Management.
- MBA with concentration in HR Management.
- Member Norristown Town Watch.
- On her list of positions and volunteer posts (on her Facebook page), I could find no direct law or judge-related experience. 

Bernard Murray is listed on both the Republican and Democratic Primary Ballot.
- Has made Norristown his home for the last 23 years.
- No college degrees listed on his website or Facebook page that I could find.
- Received his certification from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for the position of Magisterial District Judge (I assume this means he took the Board Class and Exam, though he didn't say so).
- Attended the Jurist Academy at Widener University Law School. Jurist Academy is a 2 week, tuition-free law-school prep seminar. (The way it was worded on Murray's website, it sounded as if he'd attended Widener Law School. He didn't as far as I could tell--Just the Jurist Academy.)

Greg Scott is listed on both the Republican and Democratic Primary Ballot.
- Norristown homeowner and lifelong resident.
- Bachelors degree in Business Communications.
- Masters of Science in Psychology.
- Served on various commissions and committees with the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
- Intern in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.
- Clerk with the Magisterial District Judge.
- Took the Minor Judiciary Education Board Class and Examination, and received his certification from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for the position of Magisterial District Judge.

It should be pointed out that anyone elected to the position MUST take the above mentioned exam before they can serve as district judge. Only two of the candidates seem to have done that so far. Should the third candidate win, she'll have to take the exam and pass before being allowed to serve.

WRITE-IN INSTRUCTIONS:  You can, of course, add a write-in of your own by clicking the box next to WRITE-IN and typing the name on the keyboard at the bottom. The person must live within the district and be a voter in good standing. Spell the name correctly or it may not count. (This procedure goes for any office on the ballot.) If you're still not sure how to do it, you can ask the machine operator how.

To meet these and candidates for Municipal Council and NASD School Board, come to the Human Services Building (Dekalb and Fornance) on Thursday from 6-7:30 pm.

Democratic Candidates for Governor -- Do Your Homework

McCord, McGinty, Schwartz, Wolf  

The primary election is just 2 weeks away. This week the first negative ads starting showing up on TV for the governor's race--one each from Rob McCord and Allyson Schwartz, and one from Governor Corbett. All the ads attack Tom Wolf, even Corbett's, though he isn't directly running against Wolf, at least not yet.

I researched each ad's claims. McCord's accusation of racism against Wolf seems to be totally baseless (Wolf was a campaign chair (apparently not a hands-on manager) in 2001 for a candidate who'd been accused, and found innocent, of causing a death during a race riot in 1969, over 30 years before). Most top Democrats in PA have asked McCord to take the ad down. Schwartz's accusation against Wolf said he dealt in "questionable business practices." That seems to be baseless as well. The practices she's accusing him of took place after he sold his company, which then fell on bad times because of the recession. Wolf rebought the company and the company recovered. Corbett said taxes went up after Wolf became tax collector. Really? I don't blame Berkheimer when taxes go up. I blame the government officials who voted in the tax raise. So whereas McCord gets the prize for nastiest ad, Corbett gets the prize for stupidest.

Anyway, I thought I'd take a look at each candidate's website and see where they stood on the issues (click on their names below and you can, too). It wasn't as easy as I thought. All the Democrats essentially support the same things, which I'll list first, but some added detailed plans which helped to differentiate them. I've added a link to their issues pages with each candidate below.

On JOBS, all said that they support raises in the minimum wage, protecting the rights of workers, and development of clean energy jobs. EDUCATION: all support reversing Corbett's cuts to education, full-time kindergarten and universal pre-K for 4 year-olds. Also, better access to higher ed within the state. NATURAL GAS: all support a tax on shale drilling to help support education and other programs. All say they would put better environmental protections in place for gas drilling. ENVIRONMENT: All would develop clean energy technology and renewable energy industries. All mentioned green building technologies. HEALTH: All would allow expanded Medicaid. INFRASTRUCTURE: All mentioned fixing PA's many structurally deficient bridges and older water and waste water treatment plants, but also making sure the whole state has access to broadband internet access.

Katie McGinty is hardly ever listed with the other candidates and isn't considered a serious candidate by most. I found her issue page to be rather sparse on details (though she claims to be the only candidate with definite plans for the issues). She does say she'd raise the minimum wage to $9 per hour.

Rob McCord calls for renew support for the state’s two largest industries – agriculture and tourism. He'd leverage Pennsylvania’s leadership in biomedical research to attract word-class talent, investment capital, and innovative start-ups, McCord calls for a 10% drillers’ tax. He says high school students should earn credit for college while still in high school. He calls for "innovative approaches" to health care, but not much else. He does have a "Working Families" section in his issues list, calling for a raise in the minimum wage to $10.70 in 2015, with an increase of .10 each year through 2024. Tipped minimum wage--from $2.83 to $5 in 2015, with .10 increases for the first 10 years, and to preserve a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for student employees. He wants mandatory paid sick leave for all employees, and daycare that's affordable. He calls for the preservation of farmland and open space, and specifically mentions the development of wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectricity, rather than just saying "clean energy". His site addresses gun safety laws and police concerns. That said, he gave less detail than Wolf and Schwartz, relying more on generic and vague phrases. And I have to admit, that attack ad turned me off to him. I don't want a governor who's that nasty.

Tom Wolf called for a rebuilding of PA’s manufacturing sector, starting with clean energy technology. He supports increasing the minimum wage to $10.10, plus pension reform. On education -- "Pennsylvania is one of only three states in the entire country that does not use a funding formula for distributing state education dollars to local school districts, and is far below the national average in terms of percentage of state funding -- contributing only 32%." He's the only candidate to mention access to higher ed for high achieving, low-income students and vets (everyone else mentioned the middle-class but not low-income). He wants investments in energy efficiency retrofits of commercial and residential real estate, to require the State to meet green building standards on all state-owned new large building projects, and the development of a public/private green jobs training program. He plans to reform campaign finance rules and institute ethics reforms. In health, he wants to set nurse-to-patient ratios and keep more Pennsylvania-trained primary care doctors in the state.

Allyson Schwartz would like to double the number of worker-trainees enrolled in registered apprenticeship programs, and bring together employers in targeted industries to provide joint training for workers. She'd reinvest in community colleges and in career and technical education. She also mentions making the distribution of school funding fair. She'd restore state support to higher education, freeze tuition at state universities, and relieve the education debt burden on middle-class families (nothing about low income). Her gas drilling tax would be 5%. She wants to require that 30 percent of our electricity comes from Tier I renewable resources by 2030, and to develop alternative transportation options. She'd strengthen Act 129, (which requires Pennsylvania electric distribution companies to conserve electricity), promote green building standards, and fund energy efficiency upgrades. She'd keep a moratorium on gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin to protect the water. She went into a bit more detail about  launching a PA Health Insurance Exchange (as well as expanding Medicaid). Her site covered Voting Rights, LGBT Rights, Gun Violence Prevention in more detail than anyone else's, and she has a separate section dealing with Veterans issues.

I encourage you to take a glance through the candidate's sites for issues you're interested in because I've had to really summarize here, especially for Wolf and Schwartz, who had a lot of meaty information on their sites. For me, it's mainly a contest between these two candidates--both seem to fully understand ALL the issues and both have some good solutions in mind. Right now, I'm undecided between them. Though I wish Schwartz hadn't put up that attack ad.

I should mention that on the GOP side, Governor Corbett's opposition, Robert Guzzardi, was taken off the ballot by the PA Supreme Court for not filing a statement of financial interests. He says he's still running a write-in campaign.

Please go do your homework on these candidates. Don't base your vote on things you hear on attack ads, which are almost always, at best, exaggerated, and at worst, bald-faced lies. The attack ad says more about the candidate doing the attacking than about the target. Be an informed voter.

Antennas and the Upcoming Primary

Two short news items today, one from the past, one for the future.

CELL PHONE ANTENNAS

Remember the cellular antennas that Cingular and T-Mobile are moving off the hospital roof? The Times Herald reported that there was a Zoning Board meeting about it on April 10. Since this was a Thursday, it wasn't a normally scheduled meeting. It was never listed on the town calendar. I suppose it might have been advertized in the paper, but I'm guessing most residents never knew it took place.

The result of that meeting is that, thankfully, the 84-foot cell tower on wheels was denied. However, all the antennas will now be placed on the elevator penthouse of the parking garage. This tower is supposed to be less than 15 feet above the roof of the elevator. This is only a temporary location, approved for 9 months. Still, if Einstein and Elon are allowed to go through with their demolition of the hospital, I'm not sure where those antenna would be placed permanently. I should note that, according to the codes department, there's been no application yet for a demolition permit.

PRIMARY ELECTION

The primary election is Tuesday, May 20th. Put it on your calendar and plan to vote because this is an EXTREMELY important election. We'll be voting for candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, US congressional representative, and state legislature. Except for the latter, there's more than one choice on both the Democratic and Republican tickets. (You can view a sample ballot at http://www.smartvoter.org/ - just put in your address and zip.)

We're in District 13-the epitome of gerrymandering.

It's likely, especially in the US Congress race, that the person you vote for in the primary will end up representing us. So don't stay home, and don't simply go into the voting booth and play eeny-meeny-miny-moe. Don't rely on flyers you get from candidates or TV ads. Do your homework. Check candidates' websites and articles from reliable news sources--find out where everyone stands on the issues. I'll report whatever I can find out.

For governor, there are 2 Republicans running: Tom Corbett and Robert Guzzardi. On the Democratic ballot, you have 4 choices: Robert McCord, Katie McGinty, Allyson Schwartz, and Tom Wolf. Frankly, all I know at the moment is that Corbett has taken education funding away, as well as state funds for things like libraries, and he's given money our schools desperately need to the fracking industry. He's also refused to allow state health insurance exchanges or expanded Medicaid in the state. We have so many low income families and self-employed individuals in Norristown, many of whom don't qualify for Medicaid under the current guidelines, yet they're now required to buy health insurance. They end up paying more than they can afford in premiums. So my take is, for the good of Norristown, we need a new governor. As for where the other candidates stand, I'll let you know what I uncover.
 

Candidates for PA's 13th

Yesterday I had the chance to meet 2 of the candidates running for our congressional rep--Daylin Leach and Val Arkoosh. I asked both of them what they'd do to help Norristown if they were elected. I'm not going to tell you their answers yet. I'm going to wait and see if I can get replies from the other candidates first. On the Democratic side, Brendan Boyle and Marjorie Margolies are also on the ballot. Beverly Plosa-Bowser and Carson Dee Adcock are running as Republicans. I've heard that there have been some debates, though apparently none around here.

Perhaps one or more of our organizations would sponsor a debate at one of our theaters? It might be telling just to see who'd be willing to come to Norristown.

As I hear of candidate appearances or debates, I'll list them here on the Diary, so you can go meet these candidates and question them yourselves. The only one I know of right now is a Meet-And-Greet for Daylin Leach at a private home in Bluebell on May 4th from 3 to 4:30 pm. If you want to go, call Beverly at 610-275-7665 for directions.