the Mayor

[Mayor Kilmartin]

I just wanted to drop by to say I am willing to answer any questions. I don't have all day to be online all the time so it may take some time to reply.

I started Joshua House, a youth outreach center, in the fall of 1998 to try to help the youth in Tyrone. Over the years it has progressed and grown.

I am an elder and associate pastor of Antioch International Church in State College (http://www.antiochnews.net).

I started a business in 2005 that is now called Kingdom Solutions, LLC. We do commerical cleaning, staffing & warehouse loading/unloading.

And most recently, I am mayor of Tyrone.

I have been married since June 10th 2000 to my college sweatheart.
I have four children.

I grew up in Tyrone and have returned her after college in hopes of making this a better place.

Again you can ask me questions regarding the borough if you like or anything else.

I do find it humorous that many of you who 'live' on this site don't actually even live in Tyrone. I am glad you are so concerned about our wonderful commuinty.

As for the earlier statement of a 'cult', well if someone wants to sling mud along those lines that is ok, I am in good company--thats what the Pharisees said about Jesus.

My suggestion is to look at someone's track record (Harlow did well in track )
If you have followed my life, I have walked in integrity and honesty. My heart and passion is to see God's blessing on people's lives (young and old). My starting point was with the youth of our community and I have been faithful in trying to reach them day after day.
The people of Tyrone would not have voted for me if they thought a 30 year old was incapable.

So when someone writes their comments on here, scan their track record and see if it is even worth listening to.

Thank You,

[Doorman]

Welcome aboard Mayor, it will be really good to hear some of your views on these subjects.

[Harlow]

Welcome Jim.

I have respected what you are doing in the community with the Joshua House. It is nice to see someone trying to help the youth of the community.

I do look at records. So far, as Mayor, there is not a lot to talk about.

I remember writing about the former Mayor trying to shut down Joshua House, then you turn into her hand picked candidate.

I have five questions that I hope can get answered. I doubt they will get answered, but let's see.

1. What can you as Mayor do to improve the economic development of Tyrone?

2. How much money did you spend on your campaign and where did the donations come from?

3. Did any vehicle registered to Joshua House shuttle any voters to and from the polling places.

4. How do you plan to resolve the Budget problems in Tyrone? Are you going to let the Borough Manager negotiate another sweetheart deal for the employees to where the Borough can't let anyone go or make them pay for part of their health benefits?

5. What is your position on naming the Park Avenue Playground in honor of June Ott? Could you please explain that position.

Good luck Jim and I hope you do actually answer real questions.

Harlow

[150thBucktailCo.I]

I do find it humorous that many of you who 'live' on this site don't actually even live in Tyrone. I am glad you are so concerned about our wonderful commuinty.

I'd like to know why is this humorous to you? I live in Antis township, make purchases in Tyrone frequently, and am concerned about the community because I have elderly relatives that live within the boro.

Are you implying that because I choose not to live within the Tyrone limits, I shouldn't care, nor make positive or negative comments about the community that many of my relatives and ancestors have resided in since the late 1800's?

If so, that just reeks of the one-sided, local mentality that Tyrone really needs to clear out of its system that has been emitting waves for decades and garners little respect for the community.

I'd also suggest you reference the "Question for Bill Latchford" thread and hopefully offer some comments in regards to the YMCA/public sidewalk access that has been blocked for approximately 2 years. Any plans on alleviating that problem any time soon?


PS... Good questions, Harlow. I'll have to go back and check, but I could swear that approximately only 20-25% of registered voters in Tyrone actually voted in the last mayoral race.

[banksy]

I myself wondered what was the funny-factor that people who grew up in Tyrone would show concern for the Borough and post to this board. Short selling our thoughts and ideas is a great start at keeping the community right where it is... dwindling, dwindling, dwindling...

I don't know that I have a track record. I spent a lot of time at the LL field, and belive me, we didn't do it for the money. I don't know that I ever had a bad track record. Didn't drink, didn't smoke, just shoved East End Hoagies down my mouth and go fat.

[Harlow]

It seems like people who don't live in Tyrone care more about the community than the people who do.

I have hundreds of questions, I just would like to get my 5 answered. I bet I don't.

[banksy]

I remember something about Jimmy Kilmartin... he could really run the bases in Little League.

[Tee82]

It is sort of strange that someone would be concerned that the people who seem to comment the most about Tyrone might be those who don't live here anymore. I don't even know if that statement is accurate, but it doesn't matter. Perhaps if Tyrone was a more attractive place to live, some people wouldn't be so anxious to relocate.

A certain percentage of every town's residents move away and make lives elsewehere. Perhaps our experiences elsewhere provide us with a perspective we wouldn't have had we stayed in Tyrone our entire lives. Not that there is anything wrong with that - I'm saying that maybe we have so much to say because we have seen many examples of how things are done differently elsewhere.

I am interested to see where this thread goes - I hope the Mayor is sincere in his desire to communicate with us, but I am getting the feeling that few believe that will happen. We'll see.

Hey Banksy - I can verify that you never smoked and that you ate hoagies. I won't comment on the other thing much...hahaha.

[Mayor Kilmartin]

Hello everyone. I am very glad you all are so interested in Tyrone's well being.

Yes, Mr. Harlow I will answer questions.

Before I get going, I really would like to know who I am talking to. The only name I recognize is Harlow, and that would John Harlow who once worked for the Tyrone Daily Herald.

So please tell who you are, where you live now and when you lived in Tyrone or how you have ties to Tyrone.

I don't have a problem at all with those of you who live elsewhere to comment often. If I lived somewhere else, I would be very interested in Tyrone as well.

I am not sure if I will be able to answer all of your questions right away, I only have 1 yr of politics and being mayor of Tyrone under my belt. My first year was a tremendous learning experience--who to connect with, who not to connect with, how to work with a split council, how to work from the previous mayor's shadow and try to form my own identity.

I have met regularly with ABCD corp to discuss possible economic development. I am going to Harrisburg next week to meet with Sentor Eichleberger, Stern and Fleck to discuss possibilities for Tyrone. If you have some ideas, let me know.

I regularly talk with all three of those politicians.

I will get to other questions a little later, but please fill me in on who I am speaking with.

Thank you and hopefully this thread will remain pleasant for all who read and participate.

[Harlow]

Jim,

Please don't call me Mr. Harlow.

I may be a pain in the butt, but I always push the envelope. I want to see good things happen in Tyrone so when I get old, I can retire there.

I think it is great that there is a split council now instead of the nodding heads club it was under the previous mayor.

You came up with a plan for your ministry. You came up with a plan for your business, what is your plan for Tyrone?

[Mayor Kilmartin]

I'll be honest John, I am at a serious point of frustration with what to do. Our council has not settled with union contract negotiations and therefore they won't move forward with a budget for '07.

So what is my plan...get a budget set for '07 is top priority for me right now. Our supervisors can't do their jobs properly until we get a budget set for them. They are operating on the '06 budget to doesn't cut it for '07.


I met monthly with the Tyrone Chamber of Commerce board to discuss what we can do for our community. They are working hard trying to provide opportunities and venues for our citizens.

I meet with ABCD president Marty Marasco and VP Pat Miller about every two -three months right now. it has been quite a bit more due to the negotiating of the possible hotel. There are interested developers, but we are trying to work on a proper location. The money allocated for this venture will be up in June of '07 unless something gets accomplished. The former Mayor has worked diligently on this, and I really mean it. She and I do not see eye to eye on a number of things, but I believe she has worked extremely hard to better our community. Sure she is focused in certain areas, but most people are. I applaud her efforts. Possibly when the hotel is settled by June she'll be able to truly retire and enjoy her family without worrying about the boro.

I would love to see a community rec center in Tyrone boro, but I wreslting with the fact that we have a newly constructed Northern Blair Rec Center just 7 minutes up the road.
I believe we still need a few more avenues for people within the boro, so I have been researching opportunities there. Obviously our YMCA is defunct now. Once the boro puts pressure on the remaining board members, they will resign. Then the building will go to Reliance Bank and they will not forclose on the building so it sits in limbo.
Is it then the municipality's responsibility to tear it down? Well where do we get money for that? I have talked personally with each of our State Reps and Senator asking if there is money to do this. They all say 'no'. There is money to renovate a facility but none to tear it down. The problem is that it will cost nearly $2 million to restore it to proper codes. A newer, better facility can be built for just a little more than that and we could probably get at least half of it via grants. Where does the other 1-2 million come from though. The most the boro can receive for demolition via CDGB grants will be $35K for '07. To tear down the 'Y' will cost well over $100-150K.

There are numberous other buildings that need torn down as well. The Loner building on the corner of 10th & Penna Ave. The old Lincoln School building needs to come down. I walked through it twice within the last year and it is much much worst than the YMCA.
Several more Loner buildings need torn down--Pete's Ice Cream store on the corner of 14th and Penna, and several apartments between Kelly Wike Ins & Health South. The list could go on.


So, I want to see the community cleaned up of blighted buildings. I want to see some kind of rec center for 'our' community. Continue to better our parks (Res., Park Ave, and Shea Field). I am working with the Paper Mill, Albemarle and others presently trying to fix up Shea field. We are going to fix up the baseball field, the fences and include playgorund equipment for that neighborhood. I am working with a group of parents and kids to possibly get a skate/bike park set up in town. Options: the old playground at Lincoln school, an area of Shea Field or the hockey rink at Res. park. When I brought that up the 1st time, I was met with serious opposition from the previous mayor, but many others thought it was a good venue.

Since this reply is very long I will end it now and answer some other questions in another one.

Thanks,

[Mayor Kilmartin]

I have five questions that I hope can get answered. I doubt they will get answered, but let's see.

1. What can you as Mayor do to improve the economic development of Tyrone?
I WANT TO SEE PROPERTY OWNERS TAKE MORE PRIDE IN THEIR BUILDINGS SO THAT TYRONE WOULD BE MORE PRESENTABLE TO POSSIBLE DEVELOPERS.
WE NEED TO WORK WITH SNYDER & ANIS TOWNSHIP TO BRING IN DEVELOPERS. I HAVE DRIVEN AROUND WITH SEVERAL DEVELOPERS THAT WERE VERY FRUSTRATED BY HOW THE BORO AND TOWNSHIP'S LINES. ONE SIDE OF THE STREET IS TOWNSHIP AND THE OTHER IS BORO. THEREFORE WE NEED TO BE WILLING TO WORK TOGETHER WELL TO SEE DEVELOPMENT ACCOMPLISH FOR OUR COMPLETE COMMUNITY.

2. How much money did you spend on your campaign and where did the donations come from?

I spent over $500 on my campaign. The signs were mostly donated to me from J&D Signs. I paid out approximates $400 from my own. Several people gave me $ towards my campaign and then others donated time, $ and materials to help. In regards to your accusation that I used Joshua House money, that is completely false. You can freely look at our Joshua House records.

3. Did any vehicle registered to Joshua House shuttle any voters to and from the polling places.

THE JHOUSE VAN WAS NEVER USED TO SHUTTLE VOTERS.

4. How do you plan to resolve the Budget problems in Tyrone? Are you going to let the Borough Manager negotiate another sweetheart deal for the employees to where the Borough can't let anyone go or make them pay for part of their health benefits?

THE BENFITS ARE PART OF THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE UNION AND THAT IS CONFIDENTIAL. OUR NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE HAS BEEN WORKING WITH THE UNION'S COMMITTEE SINCE AUGUST AND THERE IS STILL NO RESOLVE. SEVERAL OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE ON THE NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE AND THEY ARE WORKING VERY HARD ON THE BORO'S BEHALF. HOPEFULLY THAT WILL BE SETTLED THIS MONTH WITHOUT DIVISION BETWEEN THE EMPLOYEES AND BORO.
WE HAVE TRIED HARD TO TAKE OUT ANYTHING UNNECESSARY FOR THE BORO. WE ARE STILL IN A DEFICIT. THE COST OF EVERYTHING CONTINUES TO GO UP AROUND US AND WE TRY TO WORK WITH THE SAME NUMBERS AS YEARS PAST. THERE NEEDS TO BE WAYS TO OFFSET INCREASES ALL AROUND US (MINIMUM WAGE GOING UP $2, COST OF LIVING AND COSTS OF EVERYTHING).
WE CAN'T KEEP DIPPING INTO THE CAPITAL RESERVE EVERY YEAR TO OFFSET THE COSTS OF EXPENSES. THIS PAST YEAR WAS THE MOST EVER SPENT OUT BY THE BORO...BUT I IMAGINE THAT IS THE CASE EVERYWHERE BECAUSE THE COST OF EVERYTHING CONTINUES TO INCREASE. I BELIEVE WE NEED TO RAISE TAXES MINIMALLY BUT IN A WAY THAT HOPEFULLY WE WON'T HAVE TO RAISE THEM FOR ANOTHER 10 YEARS.
OUR DEPARTMENTS (HIGHWAY, WATER, SEWER) ARE OPERATING ON BASIC BUDGETS ALREADY.

5. What is your position on naming the Park Avenue Playground in honor of June Ott? Could you please explain that position.

(A) I PERSONALLY LOVE THE IDEA OF RENAMING THE PLAYGROUND IN HONOR OF JUNE...BUT CAN YOU LEAVE JOHN PAUL EDMUNSON OUT? CAN YOU LEAVE SOME OF THE OTHERS OUT AS WELL? SO WE DISCUSSED WITH COUNCIL THE IDEA AND THEY SUGGESTED MAKING IT THE "CHILDRENS' MEMORIAL PLAYGROUND" OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES. WE COULD HONOR KATHY SHEA, JARED KLEIN AND MELODY CURTIS AS CHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN NEEDLESSLY KILLED OR KIDNAPPED. THEN WE COULD ADD MEMBERS TO HONOR AS WELL--JUNE, JOHN PAUL, JULIE, ETC.
PARK AVE PLAYGORUND IS ALREADY DESIGNATED FOR CHILDREN ONLY SO OUR THINKING IS TO GIVE SPECIAL HONOR THERE. THIS WAS ALL BROUGHT UP AND TALKED ABOUT BECAUSE YOU ALL TALKED TO BILL LATCHFORD. HE DID A VERY GOOD JOB PRESENTING TO COUNCIL.



HOW IS THAT FOR NOW?

[Harlow]

Thanks Jim.

Finally someone who will say something on their own.

I work for the Federal Government and I have to pay part of my health benefits and retirement benefits, a small town government with a small tax base can't pay for the complete benefits.

Talk to Jeff Long about possibly doing with the YMCA building like he did with the Library.

Make S&A Homes do something with Lincoln School.

You have the power to make people take better care of their properties. It is called passing codes and enforcing them.

I will be honest, the only thing I see in a hotel another empty building in 5 years. What is in Tyrone to entice someone to stay at the hotel.

[Mayor Kilmartin]

Jeff has tried to work something out with the YMCA but is terribly frustrated with it.

We are pressuring S&A homes as we speak.

We are in the precess of revamping many codes as we speak.

[150thBucktailCo.I]

Yes... some information, answers, and insight. And for that I will offer "thanks", though I still question the "humerous" comment.


Now, my question for Mayor Kilmartin is in regards to liability issues regarding that YMCA building. What entity will be held liable should damage or an injury be sustained due to the building's continued deteriorating condition and the impediment of a public thoroughfare?

-The local YMCA Board Members
-The National YMCA
-The owners of the land the building sits on
-Reliance Bank
-Boro of Tyrone

Or is it an unposted "at your own risk" situation?

I'm not an attorney, but I would think that with all 4 sides of the building fronting public property and throughfares, and the potential of injury and damage occurring (just look at the roof above the metered public parking lot where the roofing continues to tear off and is exposing the bare roof), I will again reiterate that I believe it could cost the boro more money should someone be injured and bring forth a lawsuit against the boro, than it will to pay to knock it down.

The perimeter fence around the Lincoln School. Was that required by the Boro, or did the owners of the building install that by their own will?

In regards to blight, Mr. Kilmartin, I hope you are working with the mayor of Altoona, Wayne Hippo, and investigating the Wilmington, DE blight law and possibly following suit.

Just a side comment

I can't believe the local YMCA board continues to exsist. If that is the case, is that because apparently they have some major outstanding bills and are unable to file bankruptcy? And I have been told that at some point a couple years ago, apparently Jeff Long did offer to purchase the building from the YMCA, but was denied by the board. Who are these board members and does anyone know the reason why he was (is being) denied?