If you were writing a column about local politics in Upper Bucks County, and wanted to use an example of a good person campaigning against impossible odds, you might well choose Haycock's Julie Fagan. She won't win the State Rep race in the 145th Legislative District this year. In fact, she won't even be on the primary ballot Tuesday. But the fact that she is even willing to try offers hope to everyone who ever worked for their community, and said "I want to be able to do more".
What difficulties does she face? Let me count the ways....
The best place to start would be the icon who holds the office, 15-term incumbent Paul Clymer. The man is everyone's Dutch Uncle, and regularly captures 60-70 percent of the vote, often running little or no formal campaign.
Party affiliation is next. Fagan is running as an Independent. No built-in support, funding, or organization. Clymer can raise whatever money he needs in a Republican heartbeat. Challenger Mary Whitesell, a long-connected local Democrat, will receive some help this summer from the donkeys. But with a minimum of $100,000 needed for the campaign, and a decent-size staff to coordinate the effort, and pound the pavement, any Indy is hopelessly outgunned by the traditional parties.
Finally, there is the time needed to reach the electorate. Clymer has, in essence, been campaigning 24/7 for three decades. He is truly married to his job, and his popularity is due, in large measure, to his appearances at every local event. Whitesell has been doing the door-to-door thing for months. Fagan is a professor at Rutgers, married, raising 3 children, including a brother and sister adopted in Estonia.
It isn't surprising that, as a former school director, her main priorities involve education funding. She was a respected member of the QCSD board, but resigned in frustration over the behavior, and questionable judgments, of certain other directors. Rather than be part of what she saw as a body that wasn't serving the community, she aspired to fix the problem from the top: "The framework by which school boards operate is largely dictated by state and federal mandates/rules/ regulations. I feel I could make an impact on education at the local level in Harrisburg." And she has some specific proposals:
"Eliminate school property taxes, by broadening the sales tax, but still exclude bare necessities such as food, health care, and prescription drugs. In 2006, the PA Futures Bill that addressed this was not acted upon. This, or a version thereof, needs to be resurrected, amended, and passed. A week after I resigned from the school board, I had sent a message to Rep Sam Rohrer, a sponsor of that bill: 'I'm ready to start a taxpayer coalition and have everyone in the state of PA not pay their property taxes. I'm not kidding. I'm pissed'. Did you see the movie Network ? Remember I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore? And there was the Boston Tea Party. I'm from Boston. I'm ready to take this on."
She also has a plan to stabilize school funding: "In 2001, the state legislature enacted legislation that allowed school districts to defer their obligations for paying into the teacher pension fund. This is an unsustainable practice. School districts now need to play catch up, and the taxpayers will be required to fess up (property tax increases). We need to require school districts to budget for the outlay of pensions based on the next fiscal year (not decade), defer retirement ages, and have ceilings on the pensions. This would also apply to others receiving state pensions, like legislators. We need to relook at, and change, some of the archaic PA laws/mandates in place that restrict school districts from reducing their budgets (like requiring bus transportation)."
Fagan also promises action for fiscal accountability and transparency at all levels of state and local government. "It is the right of the taxpayers to know where, and how, their money is being spent. The State House unanimously passed a bill last December that would establish the Pennsylvania Government Accountability Portal, or 'PennGAP,' an online, searchable database to allow anyone free access to examine, by category and line item, all expenditures by state government and its agencies and departments. Twenty-four other states have enacted similar legislation. Now we need it at the local level - school districts, townships, etc - anywhere our taxpayer dollars are going."
Candidates for any office, anywhere, should have a history of working for their communities, and the betterment of people's lives. In her position as a university professor, Fagan organizes about 80 student "making a difference" projects each year. These have included major public interest areas like food safety, legislation to tighten medication regulations, an amendment to better regulate the collection and disposal of electronic waste, funding for after-school activities, proposed reform of Medicaid regulations for terminally ill children, and healthy school lunch alternatives.
And this year, she handled one special project on her own. When the university decided to renovate the space she works in, she suggested that the equipment which was no longer needed be donated to a clinic in Haiti. With the school's blessing, she organized the packing, and surprisingly-complicated shipping, of 18 cases of much-needed medical supplies to the Renmen School and Orphanage just outside Port-au-Prince.
Fagan is realistic about her chances in the 145th, but sees her candidacy as the continuation of her "do-good make-a-difference" philosophy. She would like to hear from residents about their needs and concerns, and the issues most pressing to them. She has an email address faganfor145th@gmail.com ., and is working on a campaign website.
Even though Julie Fagan will not be our State Rep in 2010, her candidacy will be a reminder that there are good people out there, who could do a fine job - and, when Paul Clymer eventually retires, we will still have good choices.