From the Standard-Speaker, Hazleton:

Two Carbon County borough council presidents, two private businessmen, an attorney, a retired steelworker and a funeral director are vying to be the first state representative from the 122nd Legislative District not named McCall in about 40 years.

Five Democrats and two Republicans will compete for their respective parties’ nominations in Tuesday’s primary. The winners will face each other in the Nov. 2 general election.

Keith McCall, who held the seat since 1981, chose not to run for re-election. McCall said he is waiting until after the primary to endorse a candidate.

McCall went to Harrisburg in place of his dad, Tom McCall, who died in office in 1981 at the age of 46. The elder McCall was in his fourth term when he died.

The five Democrats on the ballot Tuesday are: Justin Yaich, John Wieczorek, Bruce Nalesnik, Robert Fryculund, and Justin Bobish. The two GOP candidates are Doyle Heffley, who ran against McCall two years ago, and Todd Koller.The common threads among the candidates are property tax reform, cutting wasteful spending, creating family-sustaining jobs, and changing the culture in Harrisburg.

Justin Yaich
President of Jim Thorpe Borough Council, Yaich is the planning director for Washington Township, Lehigh County. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and is studying for a master’s degree in public administration.

Yaich feels a state representative has to realize he is a servant of the people in his district, and said he has the background to do the job.

“I believe that Harrisburg is in desperate need of new faces,” he said “One of the largest problems in Harrisburg is the political climate and how polarized parties have become, to the point where they are missing the common good. I believe my work experience in municipal administration as well as my involvement in many community groups provides a well-rounded base to make a good representative. I also feel I posses the energy, drive, and dedication to make Carbon County’s goals a reality.”

Property tax reform and job creation are Yaich’s main priorities.

“My main priority, if elected, will be to listen to the people of the 122nd District,” he said. “I believe meaningful property tax reform needs to be a priority.

“I also believe we need to focus on creating an environment for family-sustaining jobs. My belief is the government creates the environment for success, not the actual job. We need to invest as much as possible in infrastructure to make that a reality. In addition, we also need to be certain we are properly educating our youth so they can be competitive and productive members of our community.”

John Wieczorek
A retired Bethlehem Steel worker who holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, the Mahoning Township resident said Harrisburg needs “new thinking and new ideas.”

“I bring a strong set of credentials to the position. My public work experience, my training and expertise in industrial engineering to identify and eliminate waste, a degree in economics from Moravian College and my personal life experience provides me with a clear understanding of the reality of losing a job and the consequences of that loss,” Wieczorek said. “I identify with far too many persons with similar circumstances.”

He said creating jobs, property tax reform and education are high on his list of priorities.

“Whether I was collecting petition signatures or going door to door and talking with the electors the main issues that I heard repeatedly is the fact that there are too few family-sustaining jobs available locally and the continuing escalation of property taxes to fund public education,” he said.

“My mission would be to provide adequate funding of public education at the state level to provide some relief to the property owners and create an environment to invite family-sustaining jobs to Carbon County.”

Bruce Nalesnik
The Nesquehoning resident is a funeral director, and a chassis sales engineer for KME Mobile Equipment in Nesquehoning, but is no stranger to government.

He has been Carbon County’s coroner for 14 years, and is a U.S. Navy veteran, having served as a corpsman and in intelligence.

Nalesnik feels his experience in government would serve him well in Harrisburg.

“Already being in county government, I’m used to serving the public, and I enjoy doing it,” Nalesnik said. “It is my hope that my experience in county government, corporate business and private business will allow me to understand matters pertaining to our constituency.”

Nalesnik said property tax reform is his top priority.

“I’m a strong advocate of property tax elimination, and general fiscal responsibility,” he said. “There’s a fiscal crisis at present, and the potential for it to last for the next few years. We’re going to have to do a lot of budget-cutting, and we’re going to have to step up and make the hard decisions. But I welcome the challenge.”

He knows he has big shoes to fill.

“I’d like to keep the same level of excellent service provided by Speaker (Keith) McCall,” he said.

Robert Frycklund
The Penn Forest Township resident is an attorney who has experience as a county solicitor and tax claim director, and believes those jobs have given him the perspective a state representative needs.

“I know what’s wrong with our real estate tax laws, because I labor under them every day, and I know what needs to be done to make taxes in Pennsylvania more fair and equitable for everyone,” Frycklund said

He also said a state representative needs to rise above his party designation to get things done.

“Above all, Carbon County needs a representative who will put people ahead of politics, and my record demonstrates my ability to build a bipartisan consensus and get results on important human services and economic development projects,” he said.

“I will stand up and fight for my principles, but any Democrat who refuses to listen and work cooperatively with their Republican counterparts for purely political reasons is not going to accomplish a whole lot during their time in the General Assembly.”

Frycklund said a lot of issues await the Legislature next year.

“The state Legislature will need to address some serious fiscal issues over the next few years, including real estate taxation, the state pension crisis, and cuts in vital human services,” he said. “But if we’re truly going to work on effective solutions to those problems, then good faith demands that we begin by identifying and eliminating the waste and excesses of unchecked state spending and escalating legislative perks.”

Jeff Bobish
A member of Beaver Meadows Borough Council for 14 years, Bobish has served the last four and a half as president. He has served as a construction superintendent for a decade, and is a volunteer firefighter and former emergency medical technician.

Bobish feels the leadership positions he has held in the borough have prepared him to lead as a state representative.

“My leadership qualities are unsurpassed by any other candidate,” Bobish said. “I’ve been in a leadership role in every occupation and community organization I have ever been involved with.”

Bobish’s priority is cutting taxes and reforming the property tax system.

“I’m for cutting property taxes across the board, especially for our older Pennsylvanians,” he said.”Property taxes are an unfair way to fund schools. Broadening and increasing our sales tax system along with funding from gambling revenues and cutting wasteful spending in government can make up the difference.

“When I see senior citizens who are struggling to pay their mortgage, heat their homes, purchase food or the medication that they desperately need, after they have worked their whole lives and paid into the system, I feel that the government has failed us.”

Todd Koller
The Mahoning Township resident, one of two Republican candidates on the ballot, also said he wants to change the culture in Harrisburg.

“I will be a citizen legislator beholden to no one but the people of this district,” he said. “Let’s face it, our elected officials are no longer public servants and citizen legislators. We are the servants of government. I am tired of the corruption, and arrogance of our elected officials.”

Koller said state government has to cut spending, which means cutting taxes.

“I am talking about real cuts, not the magical cuts that are actually increases but are called cuts due to the increase not being as much as initially proposed,” he said. “Every good manager – each administrator, department head and elected official – should be able to come up with a 10 percent reduction in their own budgets. Let’s start with the salaries, expense accounts and budgets of all elected officials.”

Koller’s biggest priority is eliminating school property taxes.

“We don’t need more school property tax relief, we need school property tax elimination” he said. “Many senior citizens are losing their homes or being forced to sell their homes because they can no longer afford to pay school property taxes.”

Koller proposes changing the tax structure in Pennsylvania.

“We can eliminate school property taxes by expanding the scope of the sales tax while keeping it at the 6 percent rate, and designating 100 percent of gaming revenues for K-to-12 education funding,” he said. “While implementing the changeover, school property taxes can be phased out over a four-year period. After the changeover school property taxes need to be prohibited from ever being implemented again.

“In addition, I would cap commercial and non-homestead property taxes at their current rate which would help bring in more business and industry, creating more jobs and increased revenues.”

Doyle Heffley
The Palmerton resident, who has an associate degree in architectural drafting and design, has a professional background in transportation, both railroad and trucking.

He is currently employed by the JP DonMoyer trucking firm as the Ono and Bellefonte terminal manager, which he said exposes him to issues that affect the company’s employees daily and gives him a practical perspective of what is important to people.

With his business background, traditional values and belief in limited government, Heffley said he is a reformer who wants to serve the people and not the political machine.

“I will draw on my experience from a long career in the private sector working my up from a driver into management to bring a practical perspective to government,” he said.

Heffley believes economic growth in Pennsylvania can be encouraged and fostered through solid fiscal policies and lower taxes.

“We need to encourage business growth in Pennsylvania and not this tax-and-spend attitude,” he said. “We need jobs in this state … We need to get our spending habits back under control. There are people suffering in Pennsylvania, unemployed because Harrisburg is so busy spending money and not listening to its taxpayers.”

Heffley cites a need for comprehensive reform in government and elimination or property taxes as necessities in Pennsylvania.

“Property taxes are punitive and do not reflect a person’s ability to pay their own way,” he said. “Taxes should be based on ability to pay and not just blind luck.”