5 vie for 3 Hazleton City Council seats [Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.]

Nov. 01--Crime and finances top the agenda of five candidates vying for three seats on Hazleton City Council.

But they have different perspectives on how to address those challenges.

Four of the five candidates have experience serving in city government while the fifth unsuccessfully ran for mayor a few years ago.

The candidates are incumbents Jack Mundie, President James Perry and Kevin Schadder, the latter of whom was appointed to fill a vacancy on council last December; Dave Sosar, who served on council from 1991 through 1995, and former mayoral candidate Jeff Cusat.

Schadder, Mundie and Sosar are Democrats, with the latter of the two running as a team. Perry and Cusat are Republicans.

Mundie also won a Republican nomination through write-in votes in the May primary. However, his name will not appear on the GOP ballot Tuesday because the Luzerrne County Election Bureau said it never received notice that he accepted the nomination.

Jeff Cusat

Cusat, 37, believes crime is the biggest problem facing the city. He favors hiring more police officers so the city can take a proactive approach to addressing the problem. Installing cameras and higher-quality streetlights in more "active" areas of the city could also be a solution, he said.

If elected, Cusat wants the city to "become more friendly" to smaller, family-owned businesses and take steps to ensure existing companies stay in Hazleton. He believes it is vital for the city to work with the Greater Hazleton Health Alliance to keep Hazleton General Hospital and its estimated 700 to 800 employees in Hazleton.

"That's huge," he said. "I don't think the people understand how much (earned income tax) comes from the hospital. If they move that into Hazle Township, it will be crippling."

He supports undertaking a thorough review and accounting of city funds and said he'd support having a forensic audit performed on all of Hazleton's accounts.

Cusat, owner of Cusat's Grill and Cusat's Cafe, also undertook a playground revitalization project that raised more than $7,000 in contributions for renovating playgrounds at James Street, Arthur Street and Pine Street. He began the initiative in the summer of 2011.

Jack Mundie

Finances top the agenda of three-term incumbent Mundie, who's concerned of a possible $800,000 shortfall that Hazleton could face at the end of the year.

The Democrat was one of two council members who voted against a roughly $8 million 2013 budget that was balanced with a 45 percent property tax increase and $800,000 in revenue from a storm water system maintenance fee, timbering Hazleton City Authority land and money the city expects from taking over Hazleton Parking Authority.

With less than three months remaining in 2013, the city has yet to realize all of that money -- and Mundie believes the city should take a more urgent approach to resolving its financial struggles.

Even if the city works out a timbering arrangement with the authority, Mundie said the city can't afford the $600,000 it would still be short from the storm water and parking authority initiatives.

Mundie believes the city engineer shouldn't have developed the timbering project specifications, which likely will be rejected and re-bid.

He said he called on the city to begin timbering authority land more than two years ago, when the authority suggested the initiative in a letter to a former city engineer.

The city never followed up on his proposal to market and sell authority land near Humboldt Industrial Park, he said.

"The chairman gave me a hard time at the meeting," Mundie said. "I offered to do everything myself. Instead I was told, 'You can't do that,' and 'You can't do this.' He made all kind of excuses."

Mundie contends that council must find a way to budget more money for the police department.

"I want to make sure the police force has what they need," he said. "We got them some cars this past year and I want to support them 100 percent. They do a great job."

He also wants to see the city use federal Community Development Block Grant funds for making street repairs a priority in 2014.

"It's a matter of getting money from the federal and state governments to fix our streets," he said. "At the (council) meetings, I wanted a list of streets they've been repairing and the ones they're going to repair. I haven't gotten anything. When you're in the minority, you get nothing. You're not even heard."

The 56-year-old Mundie runs Jack Mundie Tax Accounting and serves on the Luzerne County Tax Commission. He is seeking a fourth term on council. He previously served on Hazleton City Authority's board of directors.

James Perry

Perry believes the city needs "creative" solutions to solving crime and financial challenges.

He supports police Chief Frank DeAndrea's proposal for creating an auxiliary police force and pursuing other initiatives that won't result in a tax increase.

He favors hiring part-time code enforcement personnel and wants to find ways to use existing staff more efficiently.

Increasing revenue and promoting development in downtown Hazleton are other priorities of the Republican incumbent.

Refinancing city debt could give the city a revenue boost and Perry said he supports Acting City Administrator Steve Hahn's efforts to reduce utility costs, which could free up money that could be used elsewhere.

"Being efficient -- I think that's the key," he said. "We have to do all of this and be creative without a tax increase. We have to think outside of the box and be more creative. We have to control overtime costs, which is something that's difficult to do, and also reduce health-care costs."

If re-elected, Perry said he wants to "strengthen" the city's relationship with Hazleton City Authority and explore more cooperative government ventures.

"This election is not about politics," he said. "It should be about the citizens and how we can help them."

Perry, 57, worked for 35 years as a teacher in the Bloomsburg School District. Prior to serving on council, he served on Hazleton Parking Authority during former Mayor Lou Barletta's tenure.

Dave Sosar

Increasing transparency and accountability in the budget process, stepped-up code enforcement and finding solutions to assist police and repair deplorable streets top Sosar's list of priorities.

While Sosar admits that finding solutions to the challenges facing Hazleton won't be easy, he contends that city government is in need of new direction.

"I don't think there's a direction right now," he said. "It needs to be formulated and people have to see improvements going on in the city."

Sosar, 64, believes council should work with the administration and develop a budget that presents a clearer picture of revenue and expenses.

"This budget has to be put in order and has to be much more clear," he said. "It's not going to get you any more money but it will tell you where the money is, how you should spend it and what you could afford."

Incoming members of council will have a say in developing the 2014 budget, he said. Since it's an election year, council can work through Feb. 15 to develop a spending plan, Sosar said.

The administration must work closely with council to develop a budget and Sosar said he wants council to hold budget work sessions -- not informational meetings.

Code enforcement and efforts to crack down on unkempt properties that are owned by out of town landlords are also among Sosar's priorities.

"I really do believe we need to set up code enforcement so it's doing more than it is right now," he said. "You can talk about quality of life all you want, but code is becoming key."

Sosar, a Democrat, contends the council must work to "set up systems" that will improve the quality of life for all city residents.

Surveillance cameras and auxiliary police forces could give the police department more tools to combat crime, while the city must also address deplorable streets, he said.

"One way or another, we've got to do something about streets," he said.

Sosar spent 43 years as an educator and taught from the junior high school to the college level. He is an associate professor of political science at King's College in Wilkes-Barre.

In addition to his previous term on council, Sosar also chaired a transition committee that assisted in establishing a new form of government for the city during the 1980s.

He served on the Health Services Authority board and current serves on the Hazleton City Authority board of directors.

Kevin Schadder

Schadder, who is seeking his first full term on council, believes its members should take on a more active role in the community than serving as legislators. He cited efforts to jointly arrange an electronics recycling program and advocating for Heights residents who were affected by late-night noise from a plant.

He also volunteered his time to cut grass at unkempt properties and supported legislation sought by the police chief that changed the ticketing process for quality-of-life violations.

"I think we need to focus on cleaning up the city and being accessible to the residents -- not being there just to vote 'yes' or 'no,'" Schadder said.

He said he supports property tax reform, which is the reason he arranged to have City Hall host a forum about House Bill 76.

He said he supported amendments to the quality of life ordinance that will bring violators before a district judge -- and stop a disturbing trend resulting from a previous law that resulted in most people blowing off tickets.

"To my dismay, I found out 900 tickets were issued last year and only 32 were paid," Schadder said. "We needed change and now it's going to the magistrate."

Schadder said he supports using federal Community Development Block Grant funds for upkeeping households that aren't complying with the quality of life ordinance and supports requiring all property owners to maintain liability insurance for addressing burned-out or abandoned structures.

"The city can take the escrow money and get rid of these properties," Schadder said, adding that the city could benefit from stepped-up quality of life sweeps over the spring and summer months.

"I propose we do it monthly from April and May and do it throughout the summer," he said. "This way, it will bring in revenue for the city and this will allow us to hire code people, highway department people, health department people and police."

Schadder said he has been working with Hahn to get the city's vacant property and redevelopment authorities more involved with addressing problem properties and wants the city to end the years of neglect that has left its highway garage and other assets in disrepair.

He supports developing a "professional plan" that could build on efforts undertaken by the Hayden and DeAngelo families for breathing life back into the downtown and believes the city should begin placing liens against homes that haven't paid fines or back taxes.

The 37-year-old Schadder served on the city zoning board for about eight years.

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