Six seeking major-party nominations for Washington County commissioner
Larry Maggi
Harlan Shober
Irey Vaughan
Nick Sherman
Bobby Dellorso
Jason P. White
Commissioner will be among the candidates Washington County voters will see on their ballots for the May 21 primary.
The incumbents are Democrats Larry Maggi, 68, of Buffalo Township, and Harlan Shober, 74, of Chartiers Township, and Republican Diana Irey Vaughan, 56, of Nottingham Township.
One candidate, Nick Sherman, 39, of North Strabane Township, made a bid four years ago in the Republican primary.
There are two newcomers in the race, Democrat Bobby Dellorso, 59, of North Strabane, a Democrat, and Jason White, 32, of Canton Township, a Republican.
Voters in the Democratic and Republican parties will each nominate two standard-bearers who will run in the November election. In the meantime, independent and third-party candidates have until Aug. 1 to enter the race.
In the final round Nov. 5, individual voters will have an opportunity to choose as many as two candidates. The three top vote-getters, to ensure minority-party representation on the board, are elected.
Commissioners are elected to four-year terms. In Washington County, the base salary for a commissioner is $93,944.
The Observer-Reporter sent the same two questions to each candidate with responses limited to 200 words for each question. Their responses were edited, if necessary, for clarity. They are listed by party and in order of ballot position. (In a general election, the candidates of the same party as the governor are listed first on the ballot.)
QUESTION: What challenges does Washington County face, and how do you propose to meet these challenges?
DEMOCRATS
Larry Maggi: Washington County is growing rapidly. While that is a good thing, it does present challenges that we must tackle. We have seen increasing traffic in parts of the county that have seen new businesses and residents move in. As a result, roads are in need of repair, and it often takes longer to get to where we are going.
I have always been committed to growing Washington County in a way that is smart. This means attracting new businesses while protecting the country charm that makes Washington County a beautiful place to live. As your county commissioner, this is what I have been working to accomplish.
These challenges aren’t easy to solve, and it takes cooperation to solve them. That’s why I will continue to work with elected officials – Democrats and Republicans alike – at the local, state and federal levels to make sure that our roads are fixed and the necessary work is done to alleviate traffic congestion. At the same time, I will continue to work to make sure the entire county benefits from the economic growth we are experiencing and that nobody is left behind.
Harlan Shober: There is a need for more infrastructure. As Washington County continues to grow, this infrastructure, such as sanitary sewers, water and high-speed bandwidth, is critical for new homes and businesses. We will address this issue by continuing to work with the state, the utilities and public/private development in a systematic way to expand these services. Part of the Local Share Account funding process addresses infrastructure by helping communities with projects.
There is also a need for site-ready business locations. For businesses to come in to Washington County, we need business parks and other available site-ready locations. With Southpointe filled and Alta Vista and other locations building, we are working on new locations for business to locate. We have surveyed the county and we are working with some public/private projects to be ready for more job expansion.
As all costs tend to rise, we must keep the taxes in Washington County low by managing the operational and capital spending with a tight hand. The county has the lowest tax rate in all of Southwestern Pennsylvania, and this encourages people to move into the county. This growth in our local economy will offset inflation costs.
Bobby Dellorso: Tax relief is a major challenge. When I am out meeting with people, that is one of the things I hear a lot. Taxpayers are very upset with the recent reassessment of property values and the amount of the property taxes they are now paying. As county commissioner, I will be accountable to the taxpayers, not special interests. Then there’s the issue of efficiently and effectively managing county assets, something the current board of commissioners failed to do when they sold the Washington County Health Center, a home for the elderly. That deal was a travesty that cost the county a lot of money, and just one example where the commissioners failed the taxpayers.
REPUBLICANS
Nick Sherman: The continuing spread of opioids poses a risk not only to our present, but to the future generation of citizens who face this challenge. A first step would be a top-to-bottom overhaul of court diversionary programs for drugs and alcohol.
In the economic sphere, Washington County needs to maintain its lead in the production of natural gas as we help to transform Pennsylvania into an energy exporter. This means actively encouraging industrial growth and preparing our young people for that job market. This also means taking a leading position in advocating for our region. Right now, liberal “activists” are working to prevent the completion of the Shell petrochemical plant adjacent to our gas fields. And they are working equally hard to stop the building of the pipelines that will take our product to markets in the east. The next commissioner needs to raise his voice on behalf of the working families of Washington County and their values. At the same time, by building a prosperous workforce, we can break the cycle of tax increases that have held us back. My economic theory on this is clear: Jobs beat taxes.
Diana Irey Vaughan: We need to double down on progress in our county by moving forward with more industrial park developments that have ready-to-locate sites for new businesses and expansion. Currently, there are an insufficient number of available sites.
Balancing our annual budget is always a challenge. I’d implement budget forecasting for one, five, and 10-year periods.
The number of deaths due to overdoses has decreased, but we have little evidence that we’re reducing dependency. We need to develop a comprehensive plan to include all human service agencies that oversee clients with dependency issues. This plan will call upon these agencies to outline a specific path to recovery and self-sufficiency.
Washington County has significant space issues in our courts, county offices, correction facilities and storage. We need to develop a 20-year plan to operate efficiently and to meet our current and future needs.
Many voters believe our election system is outdated, which invites fraud. We need to restore voter confidence. I propose convening a bipartisan panel to review all election procedures and protocols to make suggestions for a more secure and trusted process for voting.
Jason White: Washington County faces the challenge of a multi-generational “good ole boys” club. Our county commissioners are making almost a $100,000 a year and receive automatic pay raises and pension increases, all the while giving out no-bid contracts to campaign donors. This, while services for our seniors are going downhill, our workforce is woefully underprepared for today’s employers, and the opioid epidemic is ravaging our communities.
QUESTION: If elected, what changes, if any, would you make in Washington County government?
DEMOCRATS
Larry Maggi: It has been a priority of mine to work with elected officials at every level, regardless of party, to improve the lives of Washington County’s residents. We see too much partisanship and too much bickering at the state and federal levels, and we should not allow that to happen here. We are growing economically while maintaining our country charm because we work together, and I will do my part keep it that way.
We are succeeding here because Republicans and Democrats are willing to roll up their sleeves and work together to solve our problems to improve the quality of life for everyone. We work with neighboring counties because when each county succeeds, it helps us succeed, too.
While I am proud of everything we have accomplished, I will not stop moving forward. I will continue to do what I have always done, and that is to look for ways to improve what we are doing at the county level. Whether it is looking for ways to save taxpayer money or to provide services in a more efficient manner, I am committed to making county government work better for the people.
Harlan Shober: We must continue to enhance our technology to improve county efficiency and control hiring of additional personnel. I would continue the integration of our Human Services, such as Children and Youth Services, Aging, Veterans, Mental Health, and Drug and Alcohol. Continue to automate the courts and county offices to replace the volumes of paper. Make available more of our services and information online for ease of access.
Our emergency medical services and firefighters are facing a critical situation across the state with declining numbers of personnel and lack of funding to sustain their operations. Working with each of these organizations, we need to develop a plan to improve coverage on a countywide basis. On the same issue, police coverage throughout the county differs in many areas and should be addressed.
I would not want to change the way everyone works together with a common purpose to improve the quality of life for all residents in the county. Working with our state representatives, the Chamber of Commerce, various development organizations, municipalities and our constituents, we do get things done and see improvements. Teamwork is the only way to accomplish these tasks.
Bobby Dellorso: I believe streamlining and running county government more efficiently like a business would make things a lot better. As county commissioner, I would take more of a “hands-on” approach, by showing up at the people’s office every day, and working with the other commissioners and empowering county employees rather than the expense of hiring outside consultants for millions of dollars in taxpayer money. I am not a politician, so I support term limits to get the job done in a set amount of time, not just trying to get re-elected while not being an effective leader. We have to do a better job of managing our county’s human and financial assets.
REPUBLICANS
Nick Sherman: My experience as a successful businessman, who has provided vital services to the county without billing the taxpayers a dime, reflects my commitment to innovation when it comes to public services. Washington County’s voters are connecting with the Republican message of fiscal restraint, low taxes, and job creation. They understand my record as an advocate for free-market solutions, and they connect with my common-sense proposals to create jobs by transforming brownfield sites into new developments.
Decades of single-party rule in Washington has created a generation of leaders who have managed decline instead of creating growth. A conservative majority on the board would be the single, biggest step toward building a prosperous community for our families and a great future for our children.
Diana Irey Vaughan: If re-elected, and I could secure a second vote on the board of commissioners, we could:
- Implement a policy requiring “Requests for Qualifications” for professional contracts at the end of each contract’s current term;
- Reorganize human services by creating the position of director and implementing a single point of entry through human services for intake of clients. This would break down confidentiality barriers and allow them to address all individual and family needs thus providing the greatest chance of success;
- Require the tracking of outcomes for all human services;
- Implement the same geographic information system mapping we now use in Children and Youth Services and expand it to all human services;
- Create a legacy fund with royalty payments from our park lands that would be used for future operations of our parks;
- Revise and update our economic development strategic plan. An aggressive pro-growth, pro-business agenda will provide us with the necessary financial resources to implement all these initiatives while at the same time holding the line on taxes, a win-win for all residents of Washington County.
Jason White: If I’m fortunate enough to be elected, I’d like to:
- Change commissioners’ meeting times to a more accessible part of the day;
- Ensure our workforce is properly trained and ready;
- Aggressively attack the opioid epidemic;
- Livestream all commissioner meetings online and on social media;
- Require campaign finance reports to be available online;
- Require ethics disclosures for the members of the Local Share Account board;
- Bid out all public projects to ensure more competitive pricing;
- Ban gifts to county employees.
Personally, I’ll refuse the pension, freeze my own pay, and term limit myself to a maximum of three terms.