With his second term as a Blair County Commissioner nearly complete, John Eichelberger is seeking another four years in office because he believes that there is still quite a bit to get accomplished.
\n\u201cWe still have a lot to get done,\u201d said Eichelberger. \u201cWe\u2019re still not where we want to be with the airport. There were a lot of cuts in the state budget that need worked through that could have long term effects on the county. We need someone with experience dealing with these issues. That is why I want to continue serving as a commissioner.\u201d
\nJob creation is the most important issue facing the county.
\n\u201cJobs are the lifeblood of a community,\u201d said Eichelberger. \u201cWe have done much better than the surrounding counties with the exception of Centre County. We diversified our economy years before Cambria County did and we are reaping the benefits. We have been talking with the local industries and see some investment in our area coming in the near future.\u201d
\nOne of the areas that could see investment in the near future is the vacant Westvaco plant in Tyrone.
\n\u201cThe KOEZ (Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone) application that has been applied for looks great from the county\u2019s perspective,\u201d said Eichelberger. \u201cThere are some issues that could be decided quickly that could get the doors open again in Tyrone.\u201d
\nWhat those issues were, Eichelberger would not discuss on the record.
\nThe completion of Interstate 99 will help spur growth in Blair County.
\n\u201cWith I-99 being completed, I can see a lot of growth in the Northern end of the county,\u201d said Eichelberger. \u201cThere should be a significant growth in residential development. We are hopeful that our service sector will get use from the people in Centre County. We have stronger markets here in Blair County than they have in State College. We also hope to see some hi-tech development with the completion of I-99.\u201d
\nEichelberger helped privatize the Altoona-Blair County Airport and turned it from a deeply in debt organization to a profitable partnership. Eichelberger also was instrumental in obtaining the Altoona Curve and the building of Blair County Ball Park.
\nOne of the current issues that has floated the trial balloon is property reassessment.
\n\u201cIt needs done and the taxes are not equitable,\u201d said Eichelberger. \u201cIt is inherently a regressive tax that is not fair to the seniors. The problem is the cost to reassess is between $1 and 3 million depending on who you talk to. That would mandate us increasing taxes to pay for the reassessment and I am not in favor of that.\u201d
\nIn the eight budgets Eichelberger has voted on, two have had tax increases.
\n\u201cWe raised taxes twice for the purpose of debt service,\u201d said Eichelberger. \u201cWe used that money to improve the Valley View Home and to expand the Blair County Prison. We have done very well to keep tax increases in the general fund budget without an increase.\u201d
\nAnother large problem in Blair County is the increase in drug usage, arrests and crime because of drugs.
\n\u201cWe are doing our best to work with the courts to help curb the problem,\u201d said Eichelberger. \u201cThe drug and alcohol treatment programs are run through the county. This year we are facing a 52 percent cut in state funding. We will manage the best that we can, but without the funding for rehabilitation it will mean more offenders back on the street.
\n\u201cThe county will have a drug court in place by the end of the year,\u201d said Eichelberger. \u201cThis court will provide alternatives to jail for first time offenders. We hope that this will get people help so they don\u2019t return to the court system.\u201d
\nEichelberger is on the Republican ticket for Blair County Commissioner in the May primary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With his second term as a Blair County Commissioner nearly complete, John Eichelberger is seeking another four years in office because he believes that there is still quite a bit to get accomplished. \u201cWe still have a lot to get done,\u201d said Eichelberger. \u201cWe\u2019re still not where we want to be with the airport. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46791\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}