The residents who gathered inside Em’s Sub Shop in Johhstown Tuesday had multiple concerns to present to Democratic Senate Candidate, Katie McGinty.   They say they’re most afraid of being forgotten.

“There’s a lot of politicians that come into our area, then leave and forget about us,” says Johnstown resident Paulette Baker.  Baker was just one of a few dozen Johnstown residents that attended the open session.  She says our leaders can’t fix the issues if we don’t tell them what needs to be done.

The main concerns of folks Tuesday were jobs and education.

“What we need to do is give our kids a good chance in starting early with our kids at universal pre-k and when we do that we grow our economy because our kids are ready to compete and win,” says McGinty.

McGinty says people are proud of Johnstown and she wants to be their ally in Washington D.C., bringing back jobs with the basics the city was built on, “We can’t be for these bad, so-called free trade deals.  If we’re going to build an economy here, we have to put our people to work in steel, in heavy industry, and put our natural gas to work.”

Residents say the lack of jobs and Johnstown’s poor economy has been an issue for decades.  They’re looking for a leader that will work with their ideas to keep their heritage and bring the city back to life.

McGinty says she believes the key is putting money in people’s pockets.  Better wages will lead to a better economy and she thinks together they can do it.

“This is a place that made Pennsylvania great and this is a place that, if we just give people a shot, that will compete and win again.”