Politics and government is a very touchy subject for a lot of people. This is especially true right now with the presidential election right around the corner. All of the focus is on the national stage and many people forget that local governments have their issues as well. These issues come from there being too much bureaucracy and too many people that want to be in charge.
This is the ongoing issue in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. They are a large county with various towns and boroughs. Every town has a legislative body all encompassed and watched over by the County legislative body. Franklin County is a country province situated in South Central Pennsylvania, sharing an outskirt with northern Maryland. The whole district is around 772 square miles. As of the 2010 enumeration, the populace was 149,618. Its district seat is situated in Chambersburg.2 Preceding consolidation on 9 Sep 1784, Franklin County
was a piece of Cumberland County (joined 1750), and before that Lancaster County (fused 1729); Lancaster County was initially a portion of Chester County (consolidated 1682), a unique Pennsylvania county. James Buchanan, the fifteenth President of the United States was conceived in Cove Gap, PA, only outside of Mercersburg. The site is presently a State Park. The district was the site of a few fights amid the Civil War, including the smoldering
Politics can be a tough environment to work in and there might be a serious reluctance from many individuals to enter that line of work. Especially trying to get elected into office. There might be some reluctance because of the fact that your personal life is no longer personal when you run for public office. “Dirty Laundry” might be aired and the public will be aware of any issues the candidate may have had in the past.
Politics has a history of corruption and many people do now. Also, running for office requires a great deal of time and money. “A prospective candidate for public office should determine if he or she can afford the commitment of time, money and energy necessary to run for public office. A prospective candidate must also make sure that he or she is qualified to hold the office being sought” (“General Information about Running for Public Office”). This means that a lot of time will be spent away from home and from loved ones. There are not many people that are willing to make that sacrifice. Franklin County has numerous recreational resources, including the Appalachian Trail, Tuscarora Trail, Cumberland Valley and Chambersburg Rail-Trails, Iron Horse Trail, three State stops, the Tuscarora and Buchanan State Backwoods, various State Game Lands. Notwithstanding its plentiful recreational resources, Franklin County has a rich history that is all around saved. A few huge notable locales, for example, the Franklin County Courthouse, Brown's Mill School, and the Martin's Mill and Anderson Covered Bridges give chances to expanding tourism to the district. The Boroughs of Chambersburg, Mercersburg, and Greencastle brag National Historic Districts as well as eateries, shops and hotel (Beaton).
Franklin County, Pennsylvania is no exception to this. The counties and surrounding towns have issues with finding elected officials. There are plenty of people in the county though, Franklin County, PA, has a population of 140,000 so there are plenty of qualified people to run for office (Franklin Forward: The Comprehensive Plan For Franklin County, PA). The district is prevalently horticultural and keeps up a sound economy as one of the most profitable horticultural provinces in the state(Franklin County). Franklin County positions second just to
Lancaster County in the generation of numerous wares including milk. General money receipts rank the district fourth in the state. In expansion to farming's monetary and social significance, fabricating, industry what's more, administration based organizations proceed to grow.
Middle family pay in Franklin County expanded by 31% somewhere around 2000 and 2010, while middle family pay in Pennsylvania expanded by 24% over the same time period. From 2000 to 2010, families acquiring more than $75,000 every year expanded by 94% in Franklin County. This expansion is 1.7 times more than the expansion in the same upper salary family units in Pennsylvania. Family units in Franklin County gaining over $75,000 every year are anticipated to increment from roughly 30.8% of aggregate family units in 2010 to somewhere around 39.5% and 42.6% of aggregate family units in 2025. With continuous populace development and a differentiating economy, the occupants of Franklin County appreciate the benefits of both urban and rustic open doors (Drage).
In a recent election candidates were asked what the issues were facing the County. Many candidates explained that there are a variety of different lifestyles within the County. One of the main issues is maintaining the balance of growth within the county between urban, suburban and rural areas (Fitch).
Unfortunately, the lack of candidates does not give the voting population much of a choice. In the election that is referenced in the article by Jennifer Fitch, there is one thing the candidates that were running for office agreed on. They said that there should be more of a choice. “The electorate should have a choice of candidates with differing political views to allow for a majority of electors to choose the direction of their government” (Fitch). Unfortunately, by not having a wide array of candidates many American citizens are losing the ability to choose the best qualified candidate.
The main job of an elected official is to advocate and fight for the people that elect him or her. Sometimes they get paid and sometimes they do not. These are issues that need to be taken up with the legislature and some people do not have the time to commit to these tasks. Basically there are tons of qualified individuals but not enough people that want to sacrifice for the people. An elected official is often a thankless job and it can be completely understood why someone might not want to run for office.
Franklin County, Pennsylvania consists of three boroughs. Each one encompasses a different type of land and lifestyle. You have more rural areas and more populated areas throughout the County. It is hard for one candidate to appeal to he people with all those needs. It is obvious that not everyone in Franklin County will have the same needs or wants on a political candidate.
According to research Franklin County has an amazing history and any elected official should be honored to serve the county and its people. However, if Franklin County doesn't make it easy for the officials of the boroughs to do their jobs then no one will think the job is worth is. Perhaps the county places too much “red tape” for the officials to do their jobs.
Let's begin with Mercerburg. Mercerburg is the definition of small town. As of the 2000 census they population was roughly 1500 people census.gov). Perhaps the fact that the population is so small is the reason why there's a reluctance of citizens to run for office. This borough has a rich history and was an important part of the country during the revolutionary war.
Then we have Orrstown which is an even smaller town than Mercerburg. Orrstown had a population of 230 people as of the 2000 census (census.gov).
Finally we have Mont Alto. As of the 2000 census Mont Alto had roughly 1300 population (census.gov). What we see here is a Pattern of these three boroughs having small populations. The majority of these inhabitants are white with very little racial mix. It is important to notes hat the ages of the population are mixed in each of the three boroughs as well as the familial makeup of the population. In terms of that what I mean is that you have some families and single individuals as well.
What is important to note is that there is barely 3,500 people living within these three boroughs. This could be the biggest issue that is affecting their ability to find a suitable candidate for public office. It is hard to find an adequate individual that can serve the needs of the population when there is such a low number of inhabitants. Most likely, that inhabitants are working hard to feed heir families and themselves and don't have time to deal with all that comes with being an elected official (Ghose).
If I was in the position where my town could not find a suitable candidate I would do the following: first, I would gather people of the 3 small boroughs and together we kind find candidates that are suitable for public office. In conclusion, I think that Franklin County and the aforementioned three boroughs are a good case study to look at when any municipality or government is having a hard time finding people to run for elected office. They should work together to find common ground.
References
“General Information about Running for Public Office.” 2010. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.
Fitch, Jennifer. “Five Franklin County Commissioners’ Candidates List Issues.” Herald Mail Media. 14 Apr. 2014. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.
Drage, Cindy Lupole. "Franklin County, Pennsylvania Locality Guide". N.p., 2015. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
"Franklin Forward: The Comprehensive Plan For Franklin County, PA". N.p., 2012. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
Ghose, Dave. "A Divide In The Franklin County Democratic Party". Columbus Monthly. N.p., 2016. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
"Franklin County". N.p., 2016. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
Beaton, Matt. "Franklin County Candidate Guide". N.p., 2015. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
