Negative nastiness in Schuylkill

Dear Editor:

As someone who has been involved in some successes and some failures in public service, I think genuine criticism and discussion are important parts of the democratic process.

I am writing in response to Larry Padora's letter that appeared in your paper. This is the type of negative nastiness that turns people off from participating in elections and politics.

When will Larry learn these tactics are why he was rejected four times for elected positions - twice for State Representative, once for Schuylkill County Commissioner and once for Schuylkill County Republican Committee Chairman. Larry's political rhetoric and vague misleading half-truths should stop.

The documented fact is that the PA House of Representatives took an overall reduction of $600,000 in the 2012-2013 budget. There was, indeed, a cost-of-living increase but as Larry knows, State Representative Jerry Knowles always returned that money to the taxpayers. Jerry Knowles voted for the second on-time, no new tax budget that keeps spending below the rate of inflation and prioritized dollars to fund core and essential services.

The election is over. Why can't Larry tend to the responsibilities of the position he does hold and fix the mess with CENTAX? He brags about being responsible for the "lowest tax collection rate" for Schuylkill County in his role as Chairman of the Schuylkill County Tax Collection Committee. He led the fight to hire CENTAX to collect earned income taxes for the county's boroughs and townships. Now, CENTAX failed and this is proving to be a disaster both financially and administratively for tax payers, business and municipalities. At the end of the day our taxpayers are stuck paying a higher tax collection rate than before.

Sincerely,

Micah Gursky

Tamaqua