Elections (Credit: MediaNews Group)
Twelve candidates are vying in the May 20 primary election for ballot spots for six seats on the Perkasie Borough Council in the November general election .
In Ward 1, Republican incumbent David Worthington, Republican Csaba Lorinczy and Democrat Lilli Benner are contending for two seats. In Ward 2, Democrat Jaclyn S. Cornelius, Democrat Heather Armideo and Republican Joel Nieto are contending for two seats. In Ward 3, incumbent Republicans Scott Bomboy and Randy Faulkner and Democrats Joseph Green and Collin Garr are contending for two seats. Also in Ward 3, Democrat Emma Hawkins and Republican Dale Schlegel Jr. are contending for a two-year term.
All candidates were asked the same set of questions. Below are their answers.
What are / would be your main priorities as a council member?
Scott Bomboy, Perkasie Borough Council incumbent (Courtesy of Perkasie’s Hometown Team for Borough Council)Bomboy: Council members need to fairly represent all residents and taxpayers. There are also many difficult decisions faced by elected officials, from balancing the budget, to negotiating contracts, to dealing with emergency situations. I prioritize decisions using a three-part rule. First, is council acting in accord with the federal and state constitutions? Second, are council members representing the interests and opinions of the people they represent? And last, what is my opinion?
Using that formula, I’ve been able to make tough decisions over the past eight years on council on the main priorities of local government: public safety, the general welfare of the people and justice. Priority issues are supporting our police, fire company, and first responders; supporting public utilities (the electric department) and public works; fiscal responsibility for the budget and its fund balances; maintaining our parks systems and public events; and pursuing outside grant funds.
Dave Worthington, Perkasie Borough Council incumbent (Courtesy of Perkasie’s Hometown Team for Borough Council)Worthington: Updating the Borough’s ten-year old 2014 Comprehensive Plan which serves as a guide for officials, residents and business owners. Initial steps have started with the appointment of an Economic Development Steering Committee consisting of business owners and residents to aid in planning a community vision for the future.
Randy Faulkner, Perkasie Borough Council incumbent (Courtesy of Perkasie’s Hometown Team for Borough Council)Faulkner: Perkasie is a wonderful “Hometown”. We moved here 12 years ago as we saw and heard what a lovely place it is to live. We have not been disappointed! I have served on Perkasie council for eight years – prior to that, I served on Chalfont borough council for three years.
I want to continue to have lower taxes than other local communities while keeping up the constant fight to keep costs and taxes down. My finance and accounting experience has been a help while being involved in new contracts with the police and borough employees as well as working with the staff to find ways to manage expenses.
Csaba Lorinczy, Perkasie Borough Council candidate (Courtesy of Perkasie’s Hometown Team for Borough Council)
Jaclyn S. Cornelius, Perkasie Borough Council candidate (Courtesy of Pennridge Democrats)Cornelius: My top priorities are building stronger community engagement, supporting thoughtful development that enhances Perkasie’s small-town character, and ensuring our infrastructure and public services keep up with growth. I’ll also advocate for smart budgeting, support for local businesses, and family-friendly initiatives that make Perkasie a great place to live, work, and raise kids.
Colin Garr, Perkasie Borough Council candidate (Courtesy of Pennridge Democrats)Garr: My top priority as a council member would be to ensure transparency and accountability from the council to the community. Discussions with my neighbors have all echoed the same sentiment – that they do not feel heard or acknowledged, and that moving forward we need to do a better job ensuring that we are tackling issues that the community wishes to tackle. We need to focus on holding on to what has made Perkasie a wonderful place to live, while also ensuring that we plant seeds for future families and community members to one day harvest.
Lilli Benner, Perkasie Borough Council candidate (Courtesy of Pennridge Democrats)Benner: My main priority on the borough’s council, having lived in Perkasie for 35 years will be to keep open and honest communications with community members; actively listening, responding to concerns and working to make Perkasie remain welcoming to our residents. I will make support of our small businesses a priority since they are what keeps our small town feel. I will support safe walkability and/or parking to businesses.
Emma Hawkins, Perkasie Borough Council candidate (Courtesy of Pennridge Democrats)Hawkins: As a council member, my main focus would be on the demystification of local politics. I want every resident to know their council persons and understand them to be a dependable force for good. Given these unpredictable times, I find it of utmost importance that my constituents feel secure in their local leadership and who they are. My intention would be to have greater attendance at council meetings by both improving advertisement of these events and providing the public with more accessible information regarding these proceedings through social media. Accessibility and transparency are key to not only a functioning democracy, but a more united community.
What do you see as the biggest challenges currently facing the borough?
Bomboy: I’ve met with officials from other Boroughs across the state and I have represented the state association of Boroughs in testifying before state House and Senate. Perkasie Borough is in a very strong financial position compared with most of the 955 boroughs in the state because it has strong financial reserves, low debt, and professional financial management. We were able to maintain full government services during Covid-19, when I was public safety chair. Our challenges are to keep that financial strength, which allows us to invest in our first responders, public services, road repairs and parks, and responsibly manage service fees for residents.
Helping our businesses grow and thrive is another challenge. Perkasie works closely with local businesses owners, advocating with state and county officials on their behalf. We must aggressively help our business deal with any outside problems they may face.
Worthington: Maintaining the traditional municipal services residents expect in a fiscally prudent approach. To analyze areas for cost savings through efficiency investments and future planning.
Faulkner: Perkasie has the good fortune of having our own electric department. They account for a significant portion of Perkasie’s income. And on top of that… our annual outage time is measured in 100’ths of a percent. Impressive. With recent changes to “the grid” we have seen electric usage costs rise substantially… not just for us but all electric customers along the east coast. There are various arguments about the causes, but we want to try to limit the increased prices to residents while finding better solutions.
Outside of the electric system, we have a great management team that finds “grants” from various government / non-government sources to help keep costs down while providing the best programs and services to our residents. With the changes in federal grants, we will have the challenge of finding other state and private fund sources.
Lorinczy: The most pressing challenge facing Perkasie is managing the rising costs of electricity and ensuring equitable distribution and pricing for residents. While price increases are beyond our direct control, transparent communication with the community is essential to foster understanding of the factors driving these changes. Additionally, maintaining financial discipline is critical. I advocate for living within our means, avoiding excessive debt, and carefully managing daily cash flow while planning for future expenditures. This approach requires diligent oversight of both routine operations and prospective initiatives to secure the Borough’s financial health.
Cornelius: Balancing growth while maintaining the charm and identity of Perkasie is a major challenge. As development continues, we must ensure that infrastructure, traffic flow, public safety, and small businesses aren’t left behind. Additionally, keeping residents informed and involved in decisions that affect them is an ongoing need.
Garr: Maintaining our current standard of living will be a top focus for me as a council member. Increases in our cost of living hit us all hard. When we see an increase in our utility bills, or a few more dollars added to our grocery receipt, we all feel the pain. I want us to be as resilient as we possibly can in tumultuous times, and that means we need to create a community that can withstand volatility we cannot always control. I am concerned that our current ways of working have not taken this into account, and that is where I hope to be of service!
Benner: The biggest challenge facing the borough I’ve seen is growth before consideration to how this can be sustained long term. We need to make sure schools are equipped to handle increased enrollment, adequate daycares are available, adequate parking to our events and meet the needs of our senior members. The cost of living is a concern for everyone right now and needs to be addressed at the community level making living in Perkasie realistic for our current residents and those looking to make Perkasie their future home.
Hawkins: Having grown up in Perkasie, I am no stranger to the issue of flooding in the area. For too long this town has been at the mercy of our waterways. Whether it be the destruction of our beloved covered bridge and baseball fields on Walnut Street, or the housing across the way, flooding has remained a well-known and generally unaddressed problem. Countless dollars are spent on historical reconstruction and field restoration year after year, but nothing is being done regarding the actual cause of the issue. The borough needs to stop treating the symptoms and focus on addressing the greater condition.
What do you hope to accomplish in your first / next term?
Bomboy: Perkasie Borough has its 150th birthday coming up in 2029. Our long-term goals over the next four years should be to maintain the Borough’s financial strength, so it can remain a welcoming community for all residents; to support our businesses; to maintain our family-friendly events; to ensure police, firefighters, and first responders have all the support they need; to make sure the electric is always on and our roads are always safe and clear; and to be fair in representing all residents.
All of this requires strong, experienced leadership without an outside political agenda that places partly loyalty over the best interests of Perkasie residents and taxpayers.
If we can celebrate all the positive things on Perkasie’s big birthday in May 2029, that will be a significant accomplishment.
Worthington: Having completed my first 4-year term representing Ward 1 and serving multiple years as Chairman of Parks & Recreation Committee, I look forward to finishing Phase 2 of the Kulp Park Rehabilitation project involving upgrades to the 2nd Street ballfield. Improvements are being made at no additional cost to Boro residents through the successful award of three (3) individual State Grants totaling nearly $1M. Upon project completion, I look forward to helping secure funding for Phase 3 centered around improving the basketball courts area. Kulp Park is becoming the hub for outdoor recreational activities.
Faulkner: We are currently working on negotiations with the borough employee union. We want to maintain our quality employees while keeping a cap on expenditures. We strive to find a positive middle ground for both sides. These contracts last 3-4 years. It is important that we have experienced council members to participate down the road.
My background in finance and accounting as well as being a long-time member of council offers the experience that is needed to keep costs and taxes down, while keeping Perkasie our Hometown.
Lorinczy: My overarching goal is to uphold Perkasie’s small-town charm through responsible governance. Fostering unity and collaboration within the Borough Council will be instrumental to achieving this objective. Drawing on my 30-year career in the IT industry, where I assisted companies in modernizing their enterprise infrastructure, I aim to apply similar expertise to enhance Perkasie’s operational efficiency and service delivery. On a personal note, having spent much of my career traveling, I am eager to engage more deeply with the community in retirement, building connections and contributing to local initiatives where I can make a meaningful impact.
Cornelius: In my first term, I aim to improve communication between council and residents, strengthen local partnerships, and ensure that development is intentional, transparent, and aligned with community values.
Garr: Aside from my push to ensure that community members are heard, and at the very least informed of current projects and goals (wouldn’t it be nice to have a video recording of our meetings that could be reviewed by those of us who can’t be everywhere at once?) I want to ensure current projects are audited and completed expediently. I also wish to work with my potential colleagues in the council to build up our community as an example of what we can do when we all work for the common good. My call to action is just that – action.
Benner: During my first term, I first hope to help build an environment where council members from various backgrounds can work together. I would then move to listen, learn and lay the groundwork for our community plan while increasing council communications with the public. My work experiences have been with families of teens in trouble. I’d like to explore options with the community and local police department on diversion programs, where teens are held accountable and given an opportunity to give back to our community.
Hawkins: In my first term as council person, I hope to engage my constituents on a deeper level, especially those who are in similar positions as I. After graduating from college and moving back to my hometown, I yearned to feel connected to the community that had raised me. I was delighted to find my home had grown in my absence, and I want it to continue in this progressive direction. Whether it be members directing traffic at the car show or a post-meeting happy hour to debrief, I want this council to be fully immersed in the community and its needs. To me, a signal of accomplishment is an open discourse between the leadership and our constituents at a frequency never seen before.
The remaining candidates did not respond to a request for comment.
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