00:00 - This program has been paid

00:01 - for by the sponsor and does not reflect the views of PCN.

00:06 - Welcome to Inside Pennsylvania Burrows.

00:11 - Borough mayors across

00:12 - Pennsylvania are dedicated to promoting viable communities.

00:16 - As leaders, they often promote vital community projects

00:20 - and direct the activities of borough

00:21 - police departments that work closely with the residents they serve.

00:25 - In times of emergency, mayors across the Commonwealth

00:28 - actively seek to ensure the safety of all residents

00:31 - and take charge and promoting constructive lines of communication.

00:35 - They often take a central leadership role in promoting civics

00:39 - and citizen engagement in local government initiatives.

00:44 - Joining today's

00:45 - discussion are Mayor Deborah Vargo from Lewistown Borough, Mifflin County

00:50 - Mayor Anthony Court of Ellwood City, and Lawrence County

00:54 - Mayor Fred Rose Meyer from Somerset Borough and Somerset County,

00:58 - and Mayor Randy riddle from Grove City Borough in Mercer County.

01:03 - Now, here is your host and executive director

01:05 - of the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, Chris Kapp.

01:10 - Good day.

01:10 - Mayors across this great commonwealth

01:12 - are leading their communities with great integrity.

01:15 - They are committed to public service and take great pride

01:18 - in working with local residents.

01:20 - Mayor Rosemary, welcome to the set.

01:21 - Tell us about Somerset borough.

01:22 - Well, Somerset borough, is a population about 8500 people.

01:28 - Unfortunately, we're well known for flight 93.

01:31 - And also a lot of people forgot about the miracle

01:36 - that happened with the nine for nine miners.

01:39 - That nine miners trapped underground for so many days.

01:43 - And, thanks to, the community.

01:47 - Their lives were saved.

01:49 - We have three ski resorts.

01:51 - We are also the county seat in Somerset.

01:54 - We're probably the only, county that actually has

01:57 - Pennsylvania Turnpike cut right through the middle of their their,

02:01 - county exit ten off the turnpike is is our location.

02:06 - We have a police department of 20 officers and a chief.

02:10 - Highly trained.

02:12 - We are, certified police department.

02:16 - And we also, are very proud of our fire department.

02:20 - Our fire department just merged with the local.

02:23 - The reason we had to do that was

02:26 - Somerset has excellent, excellent equipment.

02:30 - And we have every year we have a family donate

02:33 - a vehicle, whether it's a fire truck, an ambulance, whatever.

02:38 - Every year for the last three years, they have donated

02:41 - almost $1 million to our agency.

02:45 - What we don't have is volunteers.

02:48 - So that's why we merged with Friedan's fire company.

02:51 - They, they have the volunteers.

02:54 - They have a lot of, young people joining there for our company.

02:58 - They're searching constantly for for,

03:01 - volunteers, for Somerset Fire Department.

03:05 - We are probably,

03:07 - the most unique county in which,

03:10 - the people stick together.

03:13 - And also, God means something in Somerset County.

03:18 - Mayor Bargo, tell us about Lewistown.

03:19 - I'd be glad to.

03:21 - Lewistown is located, 30 miles east of Penn

03:25 - State and, 60 miles west of Harrisburg.

03:29 - We are nestled, in a beautiful junior

03:32 - out of River Valley with the mountains around us.

03:35 - We also have two waterways.

03:37 - Cache Creek and Jack's Creek that feed into the junior.

03:41 - The river that borders our borough.

03:44 - We are known for our history.

03:47 - We have, had, in the past, many years ago, had Indian tribes.

03:52 - We were the first, guard.

03:54 - The Logan Guard was the first guard that was,

03:58 - summoned by, President Lincoln for the Civil War.

04:02 - So when our monument, we were, given a stone from, Lincoln's tomb.

04:08 - So we have a lot of history.

04:09 - And I always say that we're kissed by Mother Nature because,

04:14 - the beauty around us is unbelievable.

04:17 - And Macau, of course, Ellwood city, a remarkable community in, Lawrence County.

04:21 - Yes, Chris.

04:22 - Very, very proud of our community.

04:25 - Population close to 8000 people.

04:28 - We're really unique in the sense that we're in two counties,

04:32 - Lawrence County and then also Beaver County, which is really, really different.

04:36 - We're about 45 miles north of Pittsburgh.

04:40 - Our community is a really tight knit community, big,

04:42 - long traditions, a lot of pride in our community.

04:45 - We have an excellent police department

04:47 - and fire department, along with the first responders.

04:50 - Excellent school system.

04:52 - At one time, we were down to probably 6000 people.

04:55 - But in the last 15 years, we brought we bonded to almost 8000 people.

04:59 - And we continue to grow.

05:00 - You know, we're not far from Cranbury, and that's, a growing area also.

05:03 - And a lot of people love to buy property in Ellwood City.

05:07 - And, they like most everything that we can contribute to, to the community.

05:11 - As far as, like I said, pride and commitment and, top notch

05:15 - all the way around.

05:16 - And Marino Grove City, another exceptional community in Mercer County.

05:21 - Grove City Borough is located in Mercer

05:23 - County, of course, which is in western Pennsylvania.

05:26 - Our borough is located to the intersections of interstates 79 and 80.

05:31 - The population is 7900 people.

05:34 - When Grove City College is in session, it adds another 2300 students.

05:39 - So a very busy and active borough.

05:41 - Some of the, major employers in the area

05:44 - include, Wabtec, which is the former General Electric plant.

05:48 - We have two of those plants and our school systems.

05:51 - Grove City College and the high school system are the major employers.

05:56 - Mayor. Rosemary, what's it?

05:57 - What does a typical day involve? For a mayor.

05:59 - How do you view your role in Somerset Borough as mayor?

06:02 - Well, a lot of people don't understand that the mayor is the highest

06:06 - ranking law enforcement person in the borough.

06:10 - The district attorney is the highest ranking officer in the county.

06:16 - Mayor is responsible for supervising the chief police

06:21 - overall operations of the police department.

06:24 - A lot of pride in Somerset Police Department.

06:27 - We just had an officer.

06:29 - Obtained a Carnegie Award.

06:32 - This is a national award.

06:34 - And what he did, he saved a grandmother in a fire.

06:39 - Our our whole town reacted to that.

06:43 - And there is about 78 people attend this banquet.

06:48 - We did other tribute for him, where almost 100

06:52 - to 200 people from the community came to the different event.

06:57 - That's one of the gold stars for us.

07:00 - Mayor Bargo, tell us about a typical day.

07:02 - Typical day.

07:04 - I'm very busy.

07:06 - The police department is, true to my heart. My.

07:10 - My dad was a police officer.

07:13 - And, we're very fortunate because, our,

07:17 - chief and our executive officer are retired state troopers.

07:20 - So they brought a lot of knowledge and, into into the department.

07:25 - We're also, work with a, a mental health first responder.

07:31 - She is actually located in the police department.

07:34 - When an officer sees that there could be a potential mental,

07:38 - issue, she rides along with the officer,

07:41 - and, they are very pleased and respect, what she is able to do to calm down

07:46 - someone in that type of, situation.

07:50 - Very proud of our department.

07:51 - We are going through accreditation.

07:53 - Our our final walkthrough is, next month

07:57 - on the 12th and 13th of August.

07:59 - So, we're really happy about that.

08:02 - It's a lot of work.

08:03 - I know other departments have done it, and, it's, something to to brag about.

08:08 - I mean, it's very important to have a mayor court.

08:11 - Tell us about your role as Bear and Old City.

08:12 - Yes, Chris, there's many, many hats that we wear as mayors.

08:17 - I love the ceremonial part of being a mayor, attending the banquets

08:21 - of social functions, performing weddings, things of that nature.

08:26 - As mayor of Ellwood City.

08:28 - I'm a hands on mayor as far as our our city police department.

08:32 - The day to day operations, a lot of it goes through me.

08:35 - We have, two sergeants,

08:37 - but again, with the police department, it's, a hands on policy.

08:40 - And, you know, it's it's, very intense.

08:44 - I'm. There are five, six days a week, probably 7 or 8 hours a day in my office.

08:48 - Two secretaries.

08:50 - We're really involved in the community.

08:52 - Every function we try to make.

08:54 - And, again, we try to keep up with our rich traditions.

08:58 - So it's, like I said, very hectic, but it's all good.

09:01 - It's all good.

09:02 - Mayor riddle, Chris, I'm the, senior elected official in our borough

09:06 - with 25 years experience and have been mayor since 2004.

09:11 - And, our duties are defined by the Pennsylvania Borough Code.

09:15 - And some of our mayors have already indicated some of those duties, but

09:19 - we approve and sign official documents that pertain to the borough.

09:23 - Of course we do the marriages and we break ties

09:28 - whenever there's a council situation.

09:30 - And it ends up in a tie.

09:31 - The mayor cast that deciding vote.

09:33 - I believe that the mayor must be a good listener

09:36 - and hear what his constituents are wanting to talk about.

09:41 - Whether they attend our meetings or we see them in the community.

09:45 - A good mayor must be a communicator and relay

09:47 - that information back to those individuals.

09:50 - And that mayor also has to be friendly and greet

09:54 - the constituents as he moves about the borough.

09:57 - This is a very competitive economy.

09:58 - How do you engage?

10:00 - Your, citizens.

10:03 - At community events, what types of community events

10:06 - do you host or and of course, the year,

10:08 - to keep them engaged in your community, have a vested interest?

10:11 - Well, regarding the, police department, which we supervise.

10:16 - We have a, shop with a cop, which we raise money.

10:21 - The police department raises money for clothing.

10:25 - Going back to school for kids who don't have the opportunity.

10:29 - We just finished, ice cream day with the cup.

10:34 - It's a cute thing we do in the park.

10:36 - The staff are very involved in it.

10:37 - The police are very active in our know.

10:39 - We we really, really believe in police

10:43 - communications with with the community and involved.

10:47 - We involve the community in with the police action.

10:50 - We have a big coming up.

10:52 - The night out before is statewide.

10:55 - In fact, I think it's true for the whole country.

10:58 - We will have about 500 people there.

11:02 - Everything is free.

11:03 - The, police raised all the money for it,

11:06 - and, there will be all different agencies there.

11:09 - The big thing this year, and one of my goals

11:12 - for the police department is getting more involved

11:15 - in, mental health training for the officers and also,

11:21 - we're doing a special program, for young women.

11:27 - That is to, to safeguard them and especially the high school

11:30 - juniors and seniors.

11:32 - And so we we do an awful lot of training in

11:35 - especially emergency training in the high schools.

11:39 - Mayor Barlow, in our community,

11:42 - we have, several big events, including the National Night Out.

11:46 - Last year, we had probably 1000 people come down.

11:49 - We had over 70 vendors.

11:51 - It's really, a nice time for the, citizens to have some kind

11:57 - of relationship with a police officer rather than a bad situation.

12:01 - We have an ice festival.

12:03 - It's held, the first, Thursday and Friday of December.

12:07 - We have a tradition in our area.

12:09 - It's odd, and it may sound funny, but we have Goose Day.

12:15 - It's, a tale that if you eat goose on September 29th,

12:18 - that you will, have fortune the rest of your year.

12:22 - I've been eating geese for 20 years, and I have not seen the fortune yet,

12:26 - but I'm sure I don't know when that's going to happen.

12:29 - But it brings a lot of people. It's a festive party.

12:32 - And at the end, it's the 29th of September, but

12:35 - we have a whole week of a festival, and at the end we have a drone show.

12:39 - I don't know if you've ever seen the drone show and is it's very, very impressive.

12:44 - We have a kid connection.

12:45 - It's an April and we close, a lot of the streets and,

12:49 - and have, usually like a couple thousand kids.

12:53 - Our borough is very busy, and, and we like to party,

12:57 - sir, as you can see, mayor court a lot to do in Old City.

13:01 - Very much so, Chris, just a lot of wonderful events.

13:04 - I'm going to touch on some of the major ones.

13:07 - Every July, July 4th, we have probably approximately 30,000

13:12 - people coming into our city, in Ewing Park section for our annual 43 years.

13:17 - Matter of fact, our annual food, arts and crafts festival.

13:21 - It's a big hit.

13:22 - We also have a couple of unique things, like,

13:26 - outdoor movies, complimentary for family nights.

13:30 - People come from 20 or 30 miles away in Ewing Park.

13:33 - Big outdoor screen.

13:35 - We have Wonder Days, which is like sidewalk sales with in our newly formed

13:39 - plaza.

13:40 - Bands are playing and people, come and spend money

13:43 - as far as, shopping, listening to the band and things of that nature.

13:47 - Just on and on.

13:49 - Just a lot of wonderful things, a lot of it with revitalization.

13:52 - And, again, a lot of the credit goes to our revitalization committee,

13:56 - who have done a tremendous job in bringing people into our city.

14:00 - Everybody leaves saying they had a great time.

14:02 - So it's a win win for us. Marital

14:05 - Christian In July, Grove City Borough host an event

14:08 - called Strawberry Days where we feature, arts and crafts, food booths.

14:13 - And there are entertainment.

14:14 - And of course, strawberries.

14:16 - In July,

14:16 - we have a musical patriotic program down at the high school football field.

14:20 - And then we launched the fireworks.

14:23 - The Grove City Chamber of Commerce holds a trade show in September

14:27 - in our Memorial Park, and it's quite well attended by vendors.

14:30 - And, the people in our in our burrows,

14:34 - also in the fall, we have the high school homecomings and,

14:38 - Grove City College homecoming is brings a lot of people into our downtown area.

14:42 - And finally, in November, the Chamber of Commerce hosts a wine walk.

14:46 - The wine vendors locate themselves

14:47 - in merchant stores and brings a lot of people into the downtown area.

14:51 - Mayor, how important is it for

14:53 - mayors across the Commonwealth, for that matter, to interact and,

14:58 - collaborate

14:59 - with county officials, with state officials

15:02 - as well as our members of Congress and our state legislators.

15:05 - And going further, how important is it to maintain

15:09 - strategic partnerships with other nonprofits, in the community?

15:13 - Well, one of the things we do in Somerset,

15:15 - we have County Boroughs Association, we meet every month.

15:20 - We bring in our senator and our state representative,

15:25 - plus the DEA and different people in government.

15:28 - And that is our touch with the government officials.

15:33 - They come every, every month when we meet.

15:36 - They are very, very supportive

15:38 - to the people in Somerset County,

15:41 - and we hold them accountable, as taxpayers should do.

15:45 - And, they're not afraid to, make a concern in our meetings.

15:51 - Sometimes our meetings last a period of time.

15:54 - But a lot gets done.

15:56 - It's like going golfing with somebody,

15:58 - and you get a lot of done while you're golfing.

16:00 - You know?

16:00 - But, you know, it's we're very fortunate with the ethics

16:04 - in, in our association and, and with our, our borough mayor.

16:10 - Well, I think it's very important to, to be involved.

16:13 - I am, strongly involved with our Chamber of commerce and visitor

16:17 - center and, and also, our senator and, representative,

16:23 - in fact, a representative, was able to,

16:26 - obtain some funding, for a problem we were having at the wastewater plant

16:31 - at the, ceremony.

16:33 - I had an opportunity to introduce him,

16:36 - and he gets up to the microphone and says, she's a she's really a persistent one.

16:40 - She won't take no for an answer, but I think it's, it's important.

16:44 - Lots of times if you collaborate with other,

16:47 - other, entities, numbers look good.

16:50 - Like if you're applying for grants or, whatever you're planning on doing,

16:54 - you have that, up on, other people that are doing it.

16:58 - If you're, you're not doing it by yourself.

17:01 - And, we have a great core people

17:03 - that have stepped up to the plate, and I'm glad to be a part of it.

17:06 - Mayor.

17:07 - Again, Chris, I think it's very important.

17:09 - Our people are our lifeline in our city.

17:12 - That's our first thing.

17:14 - I have an open door policy.

17:16 - They can come in at any time.

17:17 - I mean, any problem they have is also my problem.

17:21 - Nothing's, off the table.

17:23 - Like I said, they come in and we discuss things and we get things done for them.

17:27 - I do like to mention that we are very involved

17:29 - with our Lawrence County commissioners.

17:31 - They've been tremendous with our city.

17:33 - Also, the Lawrence County Drug Task Force,

17:36 - I believe when I took office,

17:38 - the number one problem in our city was illegal narcotics.

17:42 - 90% of all illegal activity in our community was from illegal narcotics.

17:47 - We cleaned it up considerably.

17:48 - We've had over 655 drug arrests against illegal narcotics in our community.

17:52 - Under my watch, I believe in cleaning things up.

17:55 - So to speak.

17:56 - So then people could come into our community, feel safe.

17:58 - And that's what's big thing is making people come to our community being united,

18:02 - feeling safe and wanting to spend time in our community.

18:06 - Mariel.

18:07 - Chris, I'm very active in our Council of governments,

18:10 - that meets, at the Grove City borough and host

18:13 - a number of townships as we collectively try to do,

18:17 - purchases and projects that benefit the entire community.

18:21 - Also very active in our, Mercer County Boroughs Association,

18:26 - we rotate the meetings around the county to 12 different boroughs at this time.

18:31 - And, we try to have good speakers and, have municipal

18:35 - reports from each and every one of them every time we meet.

18:38 - And lastly, I'm involved with the Mercer County Affordable Housing Board.

18:44 - How are our boroughs, performing in terms of recruitment

18:47 - of new talent and non uniformed as well as for our police forces?

18:52 - Are we being successful in recruiting and retaining

18:54 - good talent that can serve the community well?

18:56 - We believe it starts in high school and we go to the school

19:01 - and put on a council council meeting type thing.

19:05 - As an example for the for the students.

19:08 - And we follow the

19:12 - example of, Randy over there

19:15 - that he, had, young adults on council,

19:20 - very successful, and it gets the kids involved in government,

19:25 - because a lot of government programs aren't taught anymore in school.

19:30 - And, we have an excellent school board and superintendent of schools.

19:34 - And again, they're very training oriented.

19:38 - And, that's why we do so much training

19:40 - with the police and fire department in the school.

19:44 - We had a, case for that.

19:46 - We have training where we actually did live fire

19:50 - for teachers only, not for where the kids were not in school that day.

19:54 - And it was very, very impressive.

19:56 - The the staff, the teachers appreciated it,

19:59 - because once you fire a weapon in a hallway,

20:03 - we did that so

20:04 - that the teachers would get an idea of what that sounds like.

20:08 - And in case that ever does, we never does.

20:12 - But we've always had an armed officer for the last ten years,

20:15 - at the high school and the other schools in the mandatory for the patrol officer

20:21 - that's riding a run makes one trip into each school.

20:24 - So, we're fortunate, mayor.

20:28 - We to have the, the junior council, program and,

20:33 - this, past year, school year, we had two young,

20:36 - young ladies that were juniors at the Midland County High School.

20:40 - Unfortunately, the one had an accident and she was not able to

20:44 - to participate much.

20:45 - But the other one, has and she has come forward with a program

20:50 - that she, is actually going to run every year.

20:54 - The United Way has a day of caring where they go out over through the community

20:58 - and do all kind of clean up and painting and, and do, a lot of fixing up.

21:04 - And she came to me and she said, I have an idea.

21:07 - I want to run it by you.

21:09 - She said, I would like to have the use.

21:11 - I'd like to organize a youth group,

21:14 - to to go out and and make a difference in the community.

21:18 - And I said, well,

21:18 - why don't we meet with the United Way and see if we can be part of that program?

21:23 - And, we are going to and, she has a group of, youth,

21:27 - they're going to be called use a Helping Hands and they're going to

21:31 - be going out, assigned different spots that they'll be able to do some work.

21:35 - And so I'm really proud of her.

21:37 - She's doing a wonderful job.

21:40 - And I think volunteering is very important.

21:43 - And if you start in, as a younger person,

21:46 - you carry that all all through your life there.

21:50 - Yes, Chris, I'm well aware of our situation with our police department.

21:54 - I believe in extensive training with our department.

21:58 - I believe in them going into the school systems, our local school

22:02 - systems, interacting with the children.

22:05 - I want the children to be safe.

22:07 - I want them to look to the police officers for help,

22:10 - not to be afraid of a police officer.

22:12 - We are big on our perception in our community.

22:16 - I think it's everything in our, police department.

22:19 - You know how it's perceived. Mayor

22:23 - Chris,

22:23 - I'm very involved with the police department in Grove City.

22:26 - I've, close personal relationship with our new chief, and I meet with him

22:30 - regularly about issues that come before him and before our borough,

22:35 - and we use our police officers,

22:38 - in the schools with the Dare program,

22:41 - in the third and fifth grade, at the end of the season, in May,

22:45 - there's an essay competition and they, they select some winners from that, but.

22:50 - Well, we we hope that the students take those lessons that they learned

22:54 - from there and keep them with them for the rest of their lives.

22:57 - And of course, this year,

22:59 - we have municipal elections across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

23:02 - And, we want to capture the imagination of some young people out there.

23:05 - What sparked your your interest in running for local government?

23:09 - Well, point your life well, I think, as you know, I spent,

23:14 - 47 years in prison,

23:17 - and, I saw the the best and the worst the people.

23:20 - And what was unique was,

23:24 - how they want to learn about government.

23:28 - And also, it was very important to,

23:30 - to us to really know our community and our people.

23:35 - What do they need and what do they want?

23:38 - A lot of times politicians don't ask that question.

23:42 - You just do what I tell you.

23:43 - But we don't do it. That way.

23:46 - In Somerset, Mayor, what happened in my situation

23:50 - is, for 20 years, I drove back and forth from Lewistown to State College to work,

23:56 - and I sort of felt guilty because I it seemed like I knew more

24:00 - about what was going on in State College than I did in my own hometown.

24:04 - Well, my office closed.

24:05 - I, actually saw where there was an opening for council.

24:09 - So, I was on council for seven years.

24:12 - And, being on council, I think you can see, the,

24:17 - the strengths and weaknesses in your borough, I wanted to be able

24:21 - to, to, make a difference, make a positive difference.

24:26 - And I've never regretted it. Mayor. Court.

24:30 - The main word is passion, Chris.

24:33 - Passion for my community, for our community.

24:36 - That's my driving goal.

24:39 - About 20 years ago, approximately, I was approached to be on city council.

24:44 - I accepted the challenge.

24:45 - It's taken off from there.

24:47 - I really enjoy it.

24:48 - And again, it's the passion for my community.

24:51 - I've lived in Ellwood City my entire life, and, I'm proud to say

24:55 - that I'm mayor of Ellwood City.

24:56 - Mayor.

24:57 - In 1995, our current borough solicitor

25:01 - approached me, as a good friend and asked if I would be interested

25:06 - in serving my community in some way, and I said I never gave much thought

25:10 - about local government, but, he talked to me a little bit about that,

25:15 - and I decided to, run for the open council seat

25:18 - and started my elected, service to our community in 1996.

25:23 - And I thoroughly enjoyed

25:24 - giving back to my community and still very active in it today.

25:27 - Unfortunately, it's all the time we have for this very important, subject.

25:30 - Mayor, how can we get more information on Somerset Borough?

25:33 - Well, we have our website.

25:35 - You can get Ahold of that.

25:37 - Come visit.

25:39 - You're welcome any time.

25:40 - And I do want to clear something up for the people who are waiting.

25:44 - I was a super tenant, not an inmate.

25:46 - So I just want to make sure that I got out there.

25:50 - Thanks for that clarification, mayor.

25:51 - Now, I'm glad that, you know, we have, Facebook and a website.

25:56 - Just come to Lewistown. Viacom.

25:59 - So come and see us. Mayor court.

26:01 - We're very big on social media.

26:03 - We have, organization called Ellwood city.org.

26:06 - You just click that in and everything about our city comes up.

26:09 - Of course we're on Facebook.

26:11 - We have a radio station, CD 93.7 and Ellwood City

26:15 - that we have a weekly show on,

26:17 - and we get our message across there and also the City Ledger and Mayor,

26:21 - how can we get more information on beautiful Grove City Borough?

26:23 - We are active on social media in two different ways.

26:26 - Facebook accounts on both,

26:28 - Grove City Borough and the Grove City Police Department.

26:31 - And you can access more information about our borough at Grove city online.com.

26:37 - I'd like to thank

26:38 - our guests for their leadership and commitment to their communities.

26:41 - Thanks so much for joining us.

26:42 - Have a great day.

27:10 - This program has been paid

27:12 - for by the sponsor and does not reflect the views of PCN.