120th State Rep race events

Incumbent Democratic State Rep Phyllis Mundy has a cocktail party scheduled for Thursday, September 23 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Fox Hill Country Club. This Saturday you can join her for breakfast at the West Wyoming Hose Company No. 1 on Shoemaker Avenue starting at 9AM. State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski (D-Wilkes-Barre) will emcee.

Republican West Pittston Mayor Bill Goldsworthy had a golf tournament last week and I'm told that all of his tee shots sliced to the right. He has a bunch of upcoming events including a meet and greet at Gober's Art Deco Lounge, Schooley & Wyoming Ave., Exeter on September 22nd and you can find him on September 30th at one of my favorite restaurants,
Theo's Metro, 596 Mercer Ave., Kingston.

Libertarian Tim Mullen continues to be the best story in this race. He got 2279 signatures on his nominating petitions by going dooor to door and my friends on west side are always calling me to tell me he knocked on their door. Somehow my name always comes up when they talk to him. He has a shindig scheduled for September 25th at Grandaddy's Cafe in Luzerne and recently opened a campaign office in Kingston Corners.

A PR:

KINSGTON – Mike Anderson, Campaign Manager for Tim Mullen is announcing that the Mullen Campaign has now opened their campaign office at 220 Wyoming Ave. in Kingston. The office will be used for all activities, including a phone bank staffed with volunteers, literature and sign distribution to precinct captains , along with campaign meetings and fundraisers. We will be open daily, the public is welcome, and the coffee will always be on!

Lou Jasikoff, Chair for the Northeast Pennsylvania Libertarian Party, added that “this will help coordinate all our campaigns in Luzerne County. Strategically located at Kingston Corners. Our goal is to make this Mullen’s State Representative office. If all three Luzerne candidates (Betsy Summers, candidate for State Senate District 14, and Brian Bergman, candidate for State Rep District 119) were elected we might propose combining their offices into one, especially where the districts overlap, to save the already over taxed, and over burdened citizens of Pennsylvania and Luzerne County some of their hard earned tax money.

I don't remember when a third party had enough bucks to open a campaign office in this area.

There has been some back and forth about debates. Mundy has agreed to usual borefest hosted by the League of Women Voters and the challengers are wanting more. I think us bloggers can put together a pretty darn good one if the candidates would agree.

They have already started to be debate in one of my previous posts.


Bill Goldsworthy said...
Last week Rep. Mundy FINALLY got it right!That our State Legislators have been lax. Her quote "The laws we have on the books in Pa. to monitor drilling are lax in terms of protecting the environment." Well where have you been Phyllis? She has been in the State Legislature for 20 years, they have been drilling for 16 years in the Marcellus Shale region, so why hasn't she proposed changes before? Why did it take an election year challenge and a contaminated well in Dimmick to make her become reactive? We need to make sure our Legislators are PROACTIVE! We don't need political grandstanding, we need our Legislators to work for the people ALL the time. Oh, and does she want the League of Women Voters to handle the debate because she is a past President of the organization?Just wondering.

Phyllis said...
As much as I would like to represent the environmental interests of all of Pennsylvania, I am elected to represent the interests of the 120th district. As anyone who reads the papers knows, the threat to our public water supply and private wells in my district is very recent. As soon as I became aware of this threat I educated myself and went to work. I can't help but wonder if Goldsworthy is as critical of Senator Baker who has much more of the drilling in her senatorial district than I do and has for some time. Also a puzzle is what is his position on the bills I have introduced? What would he have done differently? Can he only offer negative criticism or does he have constructive solutions to our problems? Just when will he take a definitive position on the drilling? I suspect he does not want to anger the gas money interests who are supporting him.
And does he want the Chamber of Commerce to sponsor a debate because Terry Casey, the Chairman of the Luzerne Co. Republican Party is the President of the Chamber? Hmmm.
Phyllis Mundy

Bill Goldsworthy said...
So, let me get this straight, as a State Representative, you don't care or have any concerns for the residents throughout the rest of the State - so it was ok for the past 16 years of drilling, that other residents water supplies may have been threatened.So for the past 16 years you were oblivious to potential drilling problems.Wow,you guys in Harrisburg really don't communicate with each other.But the Bills you proposed are for the entire State, not just Luzerne County.That sounds like political posturing. Oh, and how can you vote for the budget that depends on a gas severance tax, then say you want a moratorium -- you can't have it both ways! And please read my debate request again, I never mentioned the W.B. Chamber(you did) - there is another Chamber that encompasses more than half of our District. And what would I have done different - it would not have gotten to this point - I would have been a lot more proactive and had proposed bills sometime over tha last 16 years of drilling--instead of trying to call timeout in the middle of the game, the rules should have been planned before hand.

Tim Mullen said...
Here's the take from the only candidate that is not bought and paid for by special interests and has only the people's interest at heart. First of all Mrs. Mundy is no dummy. She knows that 95% of her district has nothing at all to gain by gas drilling. They could all have something to lose should water supplies become contaminated. By being the crusader against the drillers, she courts favor among 95% of the constituency. Making this the #1 issue of the race is a brilliant move on the chessboard. The flurry of local headlines, photo ops at the Huntsville Resevoir,and intoduction of numerous pieces of legislation prove my point. From day one I called this political posturing even before she herself said a moratorium was unlikely to go through. Everything to gain and almost nothing to lose. Brilliant. Whether or not Mr. Goldsworthy is being aided by the drillers I can't say for sure, but many in his party have already taken the legal bribes. If he and his party were forthright and upstanding maybe he too would have been at Gastock. After knocking on about 8,000 doors I have heard both sides of the story from environmentalists to landowners. I feel the pulse of the people. The Candidate with Common Sense says we can have both clean water and energy and job production at the same time. I won't go into details here, but you can read about my stance on past posts on this site or on my web site. Mr Goldsworthy has risked alienating 95% of the voters in the district by his maneuvering. Not good. Fortunately for him the #1 issue is not gas drilling, but this will still hurt him. Maybe he will adjust his stance on this issue like when he withdrew from Mayors Against Illegal Guns shortly after I mentioned he was a member on my web site. Mrs. Mundy needs to make gas drilling the #1 issue to deflect from the the other issues that are on voters minds this year such as property taxes that are only going to become more unbearable, a broken and corrupt Harrisburg which she is a part of, and looming cuts to essential social programs while the legislature remains fat and happy.