Taxpayers in Fayette County are making difficult financial decisions about how to budget. I believe our local government should do the same.
As Recorder of Deeds, I have made an effort to cut down on expenses; increase efficiency; update technology and processes; and provide quality customer service at all times while at the same time avoiding continually requesting additional funds from taxpayers.
As County Commissioner, I plan to apply these principles to every area of the county. All departments are unique; however, every service has different requirements. The basic concept remains the same:
Spend taxpayer dollars as if they were your own.
The county budget needs to represent the priorities of the citizens of Fayette County and not political priorities, unnecessary programs/projects and/or the notion that each department automatically gets to increase their budget each year.
When I serve as Commissioner, I intend to closely review how the county spends their tax dollars and ask basic questions:
Government should demonstrate responsible management of the tax dollars received prior to asking for additional funds from the taxpayer.
Fiscal Responsibility doesn’t mean we automatically cut the services our citizens in Fayette County rely upon.
Fiscal Responsibility means we find wasteful spending in county government before cutting what’s most important. We have many areas of county government that we can review for wasteful spending prior to cutting back on vital services or eliminating the jobs of county employees who work hard every day.
Some of the things I would like to review include:
I’m not just looking to reduce the amount of money spent by the county. I’m looking to improve how the county operates, and do so responsibly with the taxpayers’ money.
County Employees are NOT the Problem When Government Has Financial Issues.
Our Previous Commissioners Reduced Staffing Levels and Eliminated Jobs Without Evaluating All Options Available to Cut Costs and Eliminate Debt.
Many of These Men & Women Provide the Essential Services Fayette County Residents Need Each Day.
If County Government Must Reduce Spending, I Would Look at Wasteful Spending Practices, Contractural Obligation, Non-Essential Expenditures, Operational Inefficiencies and Bad Purchasing Decisions Before Considering Laying-Off Employees.
There is a Difference Between Eliminating Government Waste and Reducing the Number of Employees Performing the Service.
I Want to Protect Tax Payers While Being Fair to County Employees.
The first organizational change I plan to implement is to eliminate the elected Fayette County Jury Commissioner’s Office.
In 2026 the county has budgeted $200,470 for the Jury Commissioners. I question whether maintaining an independent elected office for the purpose of carrying out the duties associated with jury selection/administration is still the best use of taxpayer money given that jury selection/administrative functions may be increasingly handled using new technologies.
Pennsylvania law provides a means by which counties may eliminate the elected jury commissioner’s office following a review of how jurors are selected and administered and ensuring that the county’s jury selection process produces a representative cross-section of the population.
As a Commissioner, I intend to conduct that review and proceed to eliminate the office as permitted under Pennsylvania law. The functions of selecting and administering jurors are required.
However, I believe we must evaluate if those functions could be accomplished in a more efficient manner by the courts, other existing county employees, or by incorporating current jury-management technology into the administration of the jury selection process; or possibly through a combination of these methods, as opposed to continuing to fund an elected office and the overhead associated with it.
This is precisely the type of question that county government needs to consider.
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, then I believe we should take action.
I do not wish to retain an elected office solely due to the fact that it has been in existence for some period of time. Rather, I wish to provide taxpayers with the services they require.
Elected officials who require that Fayette County taxpayers and employees make sacrifices should also be prepared to sacrifice.
Elected officials should not be given raises when Fayette County has an enormous amount of debt, when many county employees are barely able to survive financially, and when the 911 and courthouse employees are still waiting for a new contract.
In my opinion, this is quite straightforward.
Public service is meant to serve the interests of all citizens, not just the self-interest of those in power.
Therefore, as a member of the Board of Commissioners I will vote against granting raises to elected officials whose salaries are established by law.
Additionally, for subsequent terms of office, I will support freezing the salaries of all elected officials until Fayette County has brought its finances into order.
I will not ask the taxpayers to continue paying additional taxes nor will I expect county employees to wait indefinitely for a new contract while the elected officials receive yet another raise.
Fayette County spends significant amounts of tax dollars on contracts, suppliers, consultants, technology, projects and outside services.
I want to ensure that taxpayers receive the greatest value possible for each dollar spent.
In my role as Commissioner, I intend to evaluate all existing county contracts, promote competition among potential providers, update our antiquated processes, utilize outside funding opportunities responsibly and be more discerning regarding new county debt.
Prior to utilizing taxpayer funds, I would like to obtain answers to several questions:
Where feasible and lawful, competition should be the standard practice for the county. Instead of merely extending contracts based upon historical practices, the county should actively solicit bids from various providers and negotiate for more favorable terms.
Additionally, I would like to encourage department heads throughout the county to identify and eliminate obsolete processes through the use of technology and automation.
As the Recorder of Deeds, I personally experienced the positive effects of modernization on service delivery and cost savings.
I will advocate for Fayette County to aggressively seek out legitimate state, federal, non-profit and other outside funding for infrastructure, public safety, economic development, technology, rehabilitation, emergency services and other key areas within the county.
However, regardless of whether grant funding is received or not, it remains taxpayer money. Therefore, we should never allocate resources towards projects that do not provide benefit to Fayette County simply because another entity contributes to the cost.
The same principle applies to debt. Although incurring debt may be justified for certain large-scale, long-term investments, debt should never serve as a replacement for sound financial management. Prior to supporting additional borrowing, I want to understand:
I am aware of whose money the government is using.
That money belongs to YOU.
Every single tax dollar represents someone’s hard work. That money was taken from:
As such, the government must take responsibility to treat your money with respect.
I have done so as the Recorder of Deeds. And I will continue to do so when I become a County Commissioner.