Voters in Topton will choose four candidates to serve on borough council in the Nov. 4 election.
Democratic candidates Sayward Busher, K. Ray Stauffer, Toby Bower and Barry White and Republican candidates Julie Pummer, Alane Falcone and Carol Cook are competing for four-year terms on council.
Cook, Falcone and Julie Pummer are incumbents.
The candidates were asked to respond to the following questions.
Question 1: What makes you an ideal representative of this area?
Question 2: What needs improvement in your municipality?
Toby Bower
Toby Bower
Party: Democrat.
Age: 54.
Occupation: Bower is the managing broker for Howard Hanna of the Frederick Group.
Response 1: I am an ideal representative of Topton because I am a lifelong resident of the community. I was on the borough council before and was also the president. I have experience with the borough budget and have taken several classes with the Pennsylvania Association of Boroughs. Servant leadership is something I have studied in the past and practice daily. Serving the residents of Topton, making sure they are safe and have quality of life is of utmost importance to me.
Response 2: Transparency is what needs to be improved. False information from the past and present council members is continuously presented to residents — they deserve better. Relations between the employees and borough council need major improvement. When you take care of employees, employees take care of the customer. In this case, the customer is the taxpayer/resident. Also, better education of the task at hand for some of the current council members could be improved — there are several online classes to learn borough code.
K. Ray Stauffer
K. Ray Stauffer
Party: Democrat.
Age: 73.
Occupation: Stauffer retired after serving 45 years in local government.
Response 1: I know I am an ideal representative for Topton Borough Council because:
• I served as borough manager from 1979 to 1996.
• I served on council from 2011 to 2020, and was council president for eight years.
• I was treasurer of Fleetwood for 11 years.
• I was named the Pennsylvania State Association of Borough’s Councilman of the Year in 2019.
• I’m a lifelong resident of Topton.
Response 2: All phases of the relationship between council and employees. Services provided by the borough are on a decline.
For example, no roadwork to major roads has been done in six years, but taxes continue to rise. The swimming pool closed completely three years ago with no improvements to recreational facilities over the same time span. The recent purchase of a saltspreader was made by several residents because the council insisted one of the employees could sit on the back of a pickup truck and spread salt with a shovel, showing no concern for employees’ health or safety. The outstanding maintenance crew has had no pay increase or contract for the past two years.
Present council members have very little knowledge of the borough code. There has been no financial statement available to the public at monthly council meetings.
Barry White
Barry White
Party: Democrat.
Age: 68.
Occupation: White is retired.
Response 1: I have been living in this area since 1972. I graduated from Brandywine in 1976. I love this town and community and would like to represent the people of this community.
Response 2: I would like to see year-round activities for the young people of the town. I feel this topic needs to be looked into. Also there is some infrastructure that needs attention.
Sayward Busher
Party: Democrat.
Age: 45.
Occupation: Busher is a sales coordinator for ToyotaLift Northeast in Bethlehem.
Response 1: I believe in representing Topton as a whole and not as a single person. I feel that I can represent the people of Topton and hold their best interests in mind. To be able to handle decisions without judgment of the fellow members and take everyone’s opinions and facts into consideration.
Response 2: Transparency and honesty are some issues that I feel are affecting our community at this time. Council needs to work as a team and not against each other. It isn’t about the color of your chosen political party, it is about Topton.
Julie Pummer, Alane Falcone and Carol Cook did not provide responses.