00:08 - We're

00:08 - joined by Columbia County

00:10 - Commissioner Chris Young.

00:11 - You've been around the

00:12 - commission for a while.

00:13 - Why did you decide to run for

00:14 - commissioner in the first place?

00:16 - Well, back in 1999, I

00:18 - worked at a local company.

00:21 - It's now called Autonam.

00:22 - But at the time it

00:24 - was called McGee

00:25 - and we made automobile

00:26 - carpet for General Motors,

00:29 - at the time, almost

00:30 - exclusively General Motors.

00:32 - And I got involved

00:33 - even as a Republican.

00:34 - And I got involved

00:36 - with the union.

00:37 - And I would

00:41 - I decided to run for vice

00:42 - president of the union.

00:44 - And it was a close shop of

00:46 - I don't know about that time,

00:47 - what about four or 500 folks?

00:50 - And I really liked

00:52 - representing people.

00:54 - I thought I would like to think

00:57 - that I had a knack for it.

01:00 - And I just wanted

01:01 - to take that beyond

01:02 - the gates of McGee

01:04 - and some some people suggested

01:06 - that I run for county

01:08 - commissioner, and I did.

01:10 - And I've been around ever since.

01:14 - You were selected as chair

01:15 - and you've been chair

01:16 - for about 20 years.

01:17 - I understand.

01:18 - How did that come about?

01:19 - And how do you get along with

01:20 - your fellow commissioners?

01:22 - The way it comes

01:24 - about is, you know,

01:25 - and I don't want to sound like I

01:27 - hate to sound like a bragging,

01:29 - but the way it comes about is

01:30 - usually the top vote getter

01:33 - for the majority becomes chair.

01:36 - And I've been the top vote

01:38 - getter ever since I ran

01:40 - in every election, which

01:42 - is kind of unique

01:44 - and so I've been the chair

01:48 - and I've been through a couple

01:49 - of boards of commissioners.

01:51 - You know, Commissioner

01:52 - Swarbrick left

01:54 - Commissioner

01:55 - Colebatch came on and now

01:56 - Commissioner Ridgway.

01:58 - And we have managed

01:59 - to have a really,

02:01 - really good relationship.

02:02 - We don't.

02:03 - Columbia County is really

02:05 - good about not doing

02:07 - the majority minority

02:08 - playing that card,

02:10 - or the minority commissioner

02:12 - just votes against everything

02:14 - that the majority wants to do.

02:17 - We we involve the minority

02:18 - commissioner in everything

02:21 - from budgets to everything,

02:23 - every discussion.

02:25 - So and there's lots of times

02:26 - that Commissioner Ridgway

02:27 - and I, who are the

02:29 - majority, do not agree.

02:31 - And but what we have

02:32 - always said was, you know,

02:34 - at the end of the day,

02:36 - we hang up our

02:37 - commissioner hats.

02:39 - We got along.

02:41 - Nothing is personal.

02:43 - It's just whether you like

02:44 - the idea or you don't.

02:46 - And we've been very,

02:47 - very successful at that.

02:49 - Or over my tenure,

02:51 - you know, working working

02:52 - with all the commissioners.

02:55 - When constituents contact

02:56 - the county, what are

02:58 - their main concerns?

03:00 - Well, you know, it's always

03:03 - it's right now it's inflation.

03:06 - Cost of living.

03:09 - It's bridge concerns

03:12 - when you're doing a bridge road

03:13 - closures or bridge closures.

03:16 - But, you know, honestly,

03:18 - there are not a lot of concerns

03:21 - with the constituency.

03:24 - They they do not call us a

03:26 - lot with a lot of concern.

03:28 - I'll tell you another thing

03:29 - that is starting to pop

03:30 - up, though, is solar,

03:33 - you know, wanting to put

03:34 - solar, big solar farms in

03:37 - that is starting to become a

03:42 - more contentious issue,

03:44 - especially in the rural

03:47 - parts of the of the county

03:48 - where you have open fields.

03:50 - And so people are worried

03:52 - about the esthetics and.

03:55 - They don't want to see a field

03:56 - full of solar panels

03:56 - in their neighborhood.

03:57 - Is that what you're saying?

03:58 - God, yes.

03:59 - That is that is you know,

04:01 - solar has its place,

04:03 - but I don't know that it's

04:05 - in the middle of a 100 acre

04:08 - field in a rural community.

04:11 - You know, solar panels

04:12 - on your house or in a,

04:14 - you know, in and around

04:15 - Bloomsburg or Berwick

04:16 - in and around a populated area.

04:18 - That's one thing.

04:19 - But people are letting us know

04:22 - that they are not in favor

04:25 - of solar out in the rural areas.

04:29 - Can you tell us about

04:30 - Columbia County

04:30 - and some of the communities

04:31 - represent what's unique

04:33 - about your area?

04:35 - Well, one of the

04:36 - things unique about

04:37 - our area is the number

04:38 - of coverage we have.

04:40 - We have 23 covered bridges

04:42 - that are all in good repair.

04:45 - We take pride in them.

04:46 - They're there, you

04:47 - know, certainly

04:48 - a tourist attraction for us.

04:50 - But we are you

04:51 - know, I represent,

04:52 - you know, to two major

04:55 - population centers, Bloomsburg

04:57 - being one that has a university

05:01 - and then

05:01 - Barwick being the other, which

05:03 - is kind of split in half

05:05 - with Columbia, Luzerne County,

05:07 - which makes it unique

05:10 - both in the communities

05:12 - are are doing well.

05:14 - They've got, you know,

05:15 - pretty good leadership.

05:17 - Berwick has exceptional

05:18 - leadership, right now.

05:19 - Bloomsburg has some has had

05:21 - some turnover in its council

05:23 - and is really starting

05:25 - to do some nice things.

05:27 - Then you go up to the

05:28 - Northern part of the

05:29 - county and we are Benton.

05:31 - Benton has really established

05:34 - itself as a gateway

05:36 - to crooked Square, and

05:38 - the game lands in the

05:41 - northern parts of the county,

05:42 - which are very, very rural.

05:44 - So Benton has done

05:45 - a really nice job

05:46 - of figuring out

05:47 - what it wants to be

05:49 - and is just doing a

05:51 - really nice job.

05:53 - And then you get to the

05:54 - southern part of the county.

05:55 - We got cattle with,

05:57 - which once again

05:59 - is really wanting to start

06:00 - taking advantage of the

06:02 - noble traffic.

06:04 - So they're they're

06:06 - figuring things out also.

06:08 - And we're helping,

06:09 - you know, some of these areas

06:11 - with our tourism dollars,

06:12 - with the hotel tax dollars

06:15 - to help them move

06:16 - things along and,

06:18 - you know, really make Columbia

06:20 - County a destination.

06:22 - Can you highlight any

06:23 - events coming up this fall

06:24 - that people across the

06:25 - state should know about?

06:27 - The of Bridge Festival

06:29 - and the Bloomsburg Fair.

06:31 - What time of year are those?

06:34 - Bloomsburg Fair is at

06:35 - the end of September

06:37 - and then the coverage festival

06:39 - is two weeks after the end

06:41 - of the Bloomsburg Fair.

06:43 - So the dates I do not I wouldn't

06:45 - know the dates right off hand,

06:47 - but that early part

06:49 - of our end of end of September

06:50 - and then early part of October.

06:53 - And they are they are

06:54 - very, very big events.

06:56 - You touched on some

06:57 - of this already,

06:58 - but can you talk about

06:59 - some of the issues you've

07:00 - dealt with as commissioner

07:01 - and some of the boards accomplis

07:05 - Well, some of the issues, you

07:06 - know, one that stands out

07:08 - is when the Marcellus

07:10 - Shale and the

07:12 - you know, the drilling

07:15 - for fracking,

07:17 - that's the word the

07:18 - fracking for, you know,

07:20 - the natural gas that was, you

07:22 - know, probably something

07:24 - that was really it

07:25 - caught us off guard

07:28 - because it happened

07:29 - at breakneck speed.

07:30 - Once the gas companies came in,

07:33 - they came in and they were

07:37 - they were holding

07:39 - meetings in barns

07:40 - and getting people to

07:42 - sign agreements that

07:44 - they shouldn't

07:45 - have been signing, but they were

07:47 - waving money in front of them.

07:49 - And then they were also saying

07:50 - that we're not coming back again

07:53 - after they had already come

07:54 - back five or six times.

07:56 - But this was always going

07:57 - to be the last time.

07:59 - So it took us a little bit

08:00 - to get a handle on that.

08:03 - We finally did.

08:05 - Things have really settled down

08:06 - and some of the bad leases

08:08 - have expired.

08:09 - So people are feeling

08:10 - more comfortable.

08:11 - Solar is is one

08:13 - that is starting.

08:15 - It's very similar to

08:18 - the gas industry.

08:21 - It's set up the same way

08:23 - the land men come in.

08:25 - They offer the moon, allegedly,

08:29 - unless you really

08:30 - look at the contract

08:32 - and then things are

08:34 - what they appear to be

08:36 - and people sign things that

08:38 - they're going to regret

08:42 - later.

08:43 - So, you know, everybody, we

08:44 - just need to slow it down,

08:46 - make sure everybody gets

08:48 - legal representation

08:49 - so that they know

08:49 - what they're signing and

08:51 - know what they're doing.

08:52 - And then I think the other

08:54 - one was probably elections.

08:57 - You know, we had some folks

08:59 - that said that, you know, we

09:02 - were running elections that were

09:07 - fraudulent

09:08 - and nothing could have been

09:09 - further from the truth.

09:11 - But that that message

09:13 - got out there

09:14 - by a couple of individuals.

09:17 - And I would just like to say

09:18 - that, you know, that nothing

09:20 - fraudulent happened

09:21 - in an election.

09:24 - I'm not going to tell you

09:25 - that there are some things

09:26 - that do happen, but there

09:27 - is nothing fraudulent.

09:30 - And, you know, these

09:32 - these I'm just going to talk

09:34 - I'm just going to lay it out.

09:36 - You know, elections are

09:38 - not done by shadow group.

09:41 - They are

09:42 - done by people that you now.

09:46 - They are run by people that, you

09:48 - know, the judge of elections,

09:51 - the minority inspector,

09:52 - the majority inspector.

09:54 - These are all people

09:55 - that you know.

09:57 - And it's not a shadow group.

10:00 - It's

10:03 - it's it's there's nothing

10:04 - more transparent.

10:06 - And it is being done with,

10:08 - you know, by commissioners

10:11 - that you elect.

10:11 - And, you know, it's

10:12 - being done by a lot of,

10:14 - you know, the elections office,

10:15 - which everybody in the county

10:17 - knows and it's decentralized,

10:19 - which it needs to be.

10:23 - And the way that the

10:25 - message was sent

10:28 - was just disheartening to people

10:30 - that work really, really hard.

10:32 - You know, the the individual ads

10:34 - that go to the polling places

10:36 - and get their at,

10:38 - you know, 6:00, 530

10:40 - in the morning

10:42 - and get everything ready

10:43 - and then they close

10:45 - the machines down

10:46 - at 8:00 that night.

10:48 - And then until they get

10:49 - them into the courthouse,

10:51 - you know, they do that for

10:52 - 100 and some dollars.

10:54 - That's a long day.

10:55 - It's a long day.

10:56 - And when you walk into the

10:58 - polling place, you know that.

11:00 - So to say that

11:01 - they did something

11:03 - that was fraudulent or they ran

11:06 - a shady election is just wrong.

11:10 - It's just people that don't

11:14 - I don't even know

11:15 - what to say on it.

11:17 - It's wrong and

11:18 - undermined our process

11:21 - and it really is difficult

11:23 - to get people behind that.

11:26 - And okay.

11:28 - Let's move on to another issue.

11:30 - We got just a few minutes left.

11:32 - I understand there's been some

11:34 - transitions with the Berks

11:36 - Health Center, the

11:37 - Berks Hospital.

11:38 - Can you talk about

11:39 - that a little bit?

11:40 - Yeah, the Berwick Hospital

11:41 - has been struggling.

11:43 - It's been working on

11:44 - a couple of owners.

11:46 - The current owner has decided

11:48 - and it's a private hospital.

11:51 - It's privately owned.

11:52 - It's it's a for profit hospital.

11:54 - So there's not a lot

11:55 - that we can do.

11:57 - But she has decided that she is

11:59 - going to close the hospital.

12:02 - There is there is talk that

12:03 - it is going to turn into

12:04 - a psychiatric type

12:06 - hospital, which,

12:08 - you know, there is

12:09 - a need for that,

12:10 - but there's also a need

12:11 - for an emergency round

12:13 - and other services in a

12:15 - town the size of Berwick.

12:17 - So we're hoping that

12:18 - somebody can figure out the

12:20 - proper balance so that Berwick

12:22 - does have an emergency room

12:25 - and some other medical services.

12:28 - It will be a full

12:30 - hospital, probably not.

12:32 - But can can it maintain

12:34 - some some level of service

12:37 - that is vital to a town

12:39 - the size of Berwick.

12:41 - And you also have

12:41 - Bloomsburg University

12:42 - located in the district.

12:44 - How's that transition going

12:45 - with the with the Paci merger.

12:48 - That is has been seamless

12:50 - to us, you know, enrollments

12:52 - up a little bit this year.

12:54 - The kids are back.

12:56 - I love it when the

12:56 - kids are back.

12:57 - There's a whole bunch of

12:59 - energy in the town, you know,

13:00 - it's it's always nice to see

13:02 - 10,000 kids or plus coming in.

13:05 - They're young, they're

13:06 - full of energy.

13:07 - And they do remind me

13:08 - how old I'm getting.

13:10 - But nonetheless, yes, I.

13:12 - I love it.

13:13 - You can see the business is, you

13:14 - know, the businesses need it.

13:17 - And it's it's just

13:18 - really good for

13:20 - not only the economy of

13:21 - Bloomsburg, but the economy

13:24 - of Columbia County

13:25 - because it spreads out,

13:27 - you know, throughout the

13:28 - entire region actually.

13:30 - What are you most proud of as a

13:32 - resident of Columbia County?

13:36 - You know, I'm most

13:37 - proud of the people.

13:38 - I mean, they you know, Columbia

13:40 - County residents are just

13:42 - outstanding individuals.

13:44 - They'll step up.

13:45 - They'll you know,

13:46 - we've we've had our

13:47 - share of natural

13:48 - disasters, as you know.

13:50 - You know, we're prone to

13:52 - flooding and to see the way

13:55 - that the residents

13:57 - come together and

13:59 - help each other.

14:01 - We just had that that

14:02 - incident where the driver ran

14:04 - through a fundraiser

14:05 - here in Berwick.

14:06 - And once again, to see

14:08 - the way the people

14:09 - of Columbia County come

14:11 - together for each other,

14:14 - that's absolutely what

14:15 - I'm most proud of.

14:16 - It's you know, you kind of

14:18 - get you have to live here to

14:19 - to understand what

14:21 - that's what that's like.

14:23 - And, you know, these

14:24 - communities are kind of big,

14:27 - but yet they're

14:27 - small enough that

14:30 - everybody knows each other.

14:31 - They want to help each other.

14:33 - And, you know, you'll

14:34 - see your commissioner

14:35 - walking down the street

14:36 - or you'll see your state senator

14:37 - walking down the street.

14:39 - And, you know, everybody will

14:41 - just stop and talk to you.

14:43 - So it's it's really

14:44 - a nice feeling.

14:46 - Well, we've been talking

14:47 - with Columbia County

14:48 - Commissioner Chris Young.

14:50 - Thanks for speaking

14:51 - with us today.

14:52 - You bet. Thank you.

14:53 - I appreciate it.