Joe Dodson has served 16 years total as mayor and on borough council and says he’s ready to get back to work. His opponent, David Bailey, says it’s time to shake up things in borough politics.
David Bailey has lived in Hollidaysburg for 8 years. After seeing another empty spot on the democratic ticket, he decided it’s time for a new voice. With experience working in customer service and sales, he believes it’s time to focus on the people of borough.
Bailey said, “I feel right now that it’s all in the middle class and upper class that is being represented. There is a lot of working people in this town. A lot of people who work on minimum wage. I want them to know that I’ve been there and I want to make sure that they have a voice in this town.”
Dodson is a long time public servant in the borough with terms as mayor and borough councilman. In his time, he’s raised funds and spear headed the project to build and maintain Patriot Park. He says he’s running for mayor again to complete unfinished business.
He explained, “I’m really proud of my accomplishments but there is a lot more I’d like to do for the borough. If the people put me in tomorrow I’ll be right there standing up for them and working my heart out for them.”
One of the hot topics in the borough is the sewer project that residents say is costing them tens of thousands of dollars. Dodson believes it’s time to stop and re-evaluate.
He said, “I think they need to go back and revisit this and halt it now and find some way to reimburse the people that have gone forward with it.”
Bailey agrees. He says the project has hurt the people of the borough and he would look in to see what can be done.
If elected, Bailey says he’d work with council to see if there would be a way to “halt it, or re-assess it. Find some way to bring back the burden off of the people who have already paid thousands of dollars. I believe that would be a good way to look into it, to see if it was possible.”
Results of this race and races across the region can be found here Tuesday evening.
