Candidates share positions at luncheon
Nine candidates seeking various public offices, including county judge candidates Eric R. Linhardt and Mary C. Kilgus, laid out their positions Monday before the Williamsport-Lycoming County Council of Republican Women.
Linhardt, county district attorney, is in a contest with Kilgus, a Hughesville attorney and former assistant district attorney, for the Republican nomination in the May 16 primary.
Inside the Genetti Hotel for the group’s political luncheon, Linhardt went first and described his 27 years as a lawyer, and 10 years as the county’s chief prosecutor.
“Our office seeks to find the truth, protect the innocent and hold the guilty accountable,” he said.
As a judge, Linhardt promised to render decisions based on “what the law is, not on what the law should be.”
Kilgus said her plan was to win and to get her name back, a reference to recent allegations leveled against her Hughesville practice that she has with her daughter, also an attorney.
A surprise raid in early January after a search warrant alleged misconduct including the misappropriation of client funds, theft and false
billing; allegations that were dropped by the state attorney general. Two days after the search, Kilgus announced her intention to run for county judge. She since has filed two conflict-of-interest ethics complaints against Linhardt, alleging he launched the investigation against her as a political act at the beginning of her campaign.
Linhardt has stated he was unaware of her intentions to run, and as soon as he found out he turned the investigation over to the attorney general’s office.
At the meeting before the GOP women’s group, Kilgus said that she couldn’t be “bought,” and remained “apolitical when it comes to being fair and impartial.”
“I thank Eric for giving me this opportunity to not only serve my county, but also in getting my name back,” she said, adding, “when an injustice is done if people are going to elect us to office, how do you expect them to stand up for you if you don’t stand up for yourself.”
City Councilmen Randall J. Allison and Clifford “Skip” Smith are being challenged by Steven Shope, executive director of Project Bald Eagle, a non-profit organization in a 10-county battle against heroin.
Shope described his various years in business, non-profit and government positions, while the councilmen said they wanted to continue to see critical infrastructure projects through to completion, such as the stormwater management system improvements and economic developments on Park Avenue and along the East Third Street corridor.
Mary Mussare, wife of county Commissioner Tony Mussare, asked Smith if the city is obligated to comply with state and federal environmental agency regulatory mandates to improve stormwater management and infrastructure.
Smith said if these rules are not followed the federal government could take away hundreds of thousands in transit dollars that a city department such as River Valley Transit depends on each year as part of its operational expense.
District judges Jon E. Kemp, Allen P. Page III and Gary A. Whiteman are running unopposed for six-year terms. Phillip Trometter seeks the nomination as Loyalsock Township supervisor.
“I see a great propensity toward violence and the erosion of civility,” Page said, when asked what trends he sees from his bench at the county courthouse. Kemp, a former city fire chief, manages the office in eastern Lycoming County. Kemp noted how he was optimistic about proactive roles magistrate judges can play, such as a plan to improve on truancy rates. Whiteman, a former city police chief, said he is as supportive to those who seek help after committing crime as he is strict when perpetrators of crime don’t seek to reform themselves.
Trometter, vice president of Penn Strategies, an economic development and consulting firm in Harrisburg, said his core family and politically conservative values would give voters a good choice for supervisor in the township.
Trometter referenced his work ethic and early days as a dishwasher at the Williamsport Country Club and his most recent efforts to get grants and business opportunities to clients, including Williamsport.
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