Part One: Ellwood City Council Candidate Q&A

This is the first in a two-part series featuring a Q&A with the candidates for Ellwood City Borough Council. Today’s Q&A features George Celli, Brandon Fisher, and Caleb Cragle. Tomorrow’s Q&A will feature Marilyn Mancini, Raymond Venezie, and Jude Dici.

Elections are just around the corner. Residents will be able to place their votes for numerous offices including Ellwood City Borough Council on November 5. To find your polling location, click here. To learn more about the voting process and how to cast your vote, click here.

Take a moment to get to know the candidates running for Ellwood City Borough Council.

NOTE: A previously submitted story comment has been removed as it has been confirmed the comment and its subject matter was not submitted by reader Paul Dici. Readers/commenters are asked to follow our Commenting Rules Of Conduct found on our Terms & Services page.

George J. Celli

Family: Son:  Steven ( Kayla Newton) Celli, brother  Tony J. Celli and a sister  Mary Ellen (George) Boy.

Q: What neighborhood do you live in? Why? Where are your favorite places to spend time in our town?

A: I live in the 5th ward. The reason is when looking for a ranch house, due to my condition, that’s where I found one I liked. In my early years I grew up on Spring Ave. in the 3rd ward, where my family owned and operated Johnny Dan’s Bar and Dan’s corner grocery store. Besides my home I would say the park area and anywhere in Ellwood socializing with friends and family.

Q: What makes a good city council member?

A: Listening to the people, making one’s self accessible either by phone or in person, being able to work with fellow council people, and trying to use good judgement. Knowing the needs of many, outweigh the wants and needs of a few.

Q: What do you think are the three biggest issues facing our town right now? What solutions do you have to offer to resolve those issues?  

A: Our infrastructure in areas are old, above and below ground: we must keep going after CDBG monies and other grants money to help us pay for this. I think our downtown is better than it was, there are more stores but still needs improvement. I believe we need to promote it better and make people want to come downtown. I’m a strong supporter in non-profits and the work they do in promoting the downtown (like the ECR and the free summer concert tour, the Farmers market, Chamber of Commerce Fall Fest, Light up Night and all the parades, Relay for Life and Kitchen Cabinet projects.) Declining revenues from our tax base. The Borough must strive towards bringing in new business.

Q: Why do you want to be a council member?

A: First to make a difference. I feel I can contribute to the betterment of the community based on my education and experience from committees and boards I been on.

Q: Is there a particular issue that motivates you to serve?

A: I enjoy serving in public service and feel I can contribute on issues to make a better Ellwood City. I feel I have helped people and still can.

Q: What particular experiences or skills have prepared you to serve?  

A: I have served on council for 22 years my experiences on various committees. I have worked with past and present council members to better the community,

Q: In what community activities/organizations have you been involved?  

I was a member of the local Jaycee’s twice serving as president. I now belong to the Ellwood City Wolves Club. I served three years as the National President to the Wolves Club and for over ten years I was a coach in the Ellwood Amateur baseball league. I was awarded Ellwood City Outstanding Young Person in 1979 and Ellwood’s Distinguished Serves Award in 2004.

Q: What differentiates you from the other candidates and/or council members?

A: My years of experience and knowledge of how the system works.

Q: As a council member, where would you look to make budget cuts?

A: Budget cuts … The problem we have here is that we are understaffed now in most department and when you lay people off you cut services for your residents (snow removal, police protection ect.). The main reason I wanted a qualified Borough Manager was to write grants to help with revenue so services wouldn’t have to be cut. So far this has been successful. I will look at all city services to make cuts but will always consider the impact of cutting city services.

Q: How would you handle the requests, if approached, by an individual?  Special interest groups?

A: After listening to them, I would then refer them to the Borough Manager for review if he thinks the request serves the community as a whole. Then he could bring the request to council as a whole to see if all of council thinks the request is worthwhile for the community. Again, the needs the many outweigh the needs of a few or one.

Q: What are 2-3 strengths of which our town can be proud? Why do you see these as strengths?  

A: We have two very strong public safety departments with the police and fire, their response times are outstanding in emergencies. All our department response times are good let it be a snow storm to clear roads or turn peoples electric back on after it was knocked out due to a storm. I see this as a strength, because our workers care about our town and our residents.

Q: If elected, what would you hope would be key accomplishments of the board during your years of service?  

As I already mentioned infrastructure, I would like to continue with the street paving program. I would like us to continue working with the school, and Ellport along with our neighboring townships.

Q: Do you think our main street/downtown is healthy and successful? If not, what would you do to change that?

A: The downtown area has recently been improved, and its good to see a new building going up such as Keith Venezie’s building at the corner of Lawrence Ave. and 7th Street. We need to realize the way retail shopping is done now is different than when I grew up. Major retailers have recognized this and communities the size of Ellwood will need to realize this and create a niche for the downtown area. This is one reason I agreed to serve on the Ellwood City Revitalization Committee with the Chamber.

Q: How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process in our town?  

A: I would welcome residents to come to talk to us and to the Borough Manager so their suggestions and ideas could be heard by council. And if it is decided it is something that it could help the town as whole, their idea should be voted on. At present, the city has nine boards that residents can serve on and, unfortunately, many of these go unfilled due to lack of interest.

Q: If elected, what three steps would you take to put our city on a firmer financial footing?

A: I would urge we continue to go after Community Development Block Grants for the city which could help us in areas of infrastructure. Now that we have a full-time manager again, he should be able to oversee spending more and look for other federal monies that we can use like ones for our parks and recreational facilities. We need to try and bring companies into Ellwood to increase our tax base.

Q: If you received a $1 million grant to use for the city any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?  

A: I would continue to improve the infrastructure and the parks and recreation of the borough. Our parks and recreation amenities are second to none anywhere around us. For infrastructure we’ve built a state of the art Wastewater Treatment Plant, a new Electric Substation for our electric department, a new Public Works building. Our next phase of infrastructure needs to be improve our antiquated Sanitary Sewer Lines.

Brandon Fisher

Family: Daughter

Employment: Civil Engineering Company: Help with budgets with projects with Over 19 years’ experience.

American Legion Officer: Post Adjutant, and Finance Officer, over 6 years’ experience

Q: What neighborhood do you live in? Why? Where are your favorite places to spend time in our town?

A: Ewing Park. It is quiet and there are lots of places to walk and a lot going on in Ewing Park.

Q: What makes a good city council member?

A: Someone who will work with the council and the budget, make sure that we get a fair contract when it comes to council.  Transparency and honesty are also good qualities in a candidate are a must.

Q: What do you think are the three biggest issues facing our town right now? What solutions do you have to offer to resolve those issues?

A: Making sure that we have balanced budget and that property taxes are kept to minimum.  I would work with our other council members to ensure that.

Strive to get more businesses and industry into our town.  With more business coming into town, more people would stay here instead of going to a different town.  This would also attract people to move into the area as well and also buy a home. I would work with whomever it takes to get it done.

Also help to retain businesses to remain here.  And again I would work with whomever it takes to get the job completed.

Q: Why do you want to be a council member?

A: I care about our community. I wanted to make a difference and provide new input to make our borough a better place to live, work, and play.

Q: Is there a particular issue that motivates you to serve?

A: The people living in this town and businesses of this town, and I would like to make a difference.

Q: What particular experiences or skills have prepared you to serve?

A: I am an officer of the American Legion, and I have developed skills on making sure that our books are balanced and correct.  I also have experience with budgets in the work that I was complete.

Q: In what community activities/organizations have you been involved?

A: American Legion 7 years and counting, which I am an officer of the American Legion. I also was a Trustee of the North Sewickley Presbyterian Church.

Q: What differentiates you from the other candidates and/or council members?

A: I am fiscally responsible for our American Legion Post. I know and understand how meetings are run.  I understand what it is to be on a committee, how to be the chair of the committee, and also serve on a committee.

Q: As a council member, where would you look to make budget cuts?

A: Currently there isn’t a current budget to look at so it is difficult to determine what could be cut from the budget. I would also sit down with the members of the council to see what can be done more efficiently and also what can be done to keep costs to staying with the budget.

Q: How would you handle the requests, if approached, by an individual?  Special interest groups?

A: I would talk to the individual and/or group and see what we could do as a council to come up with an appropriate solution.  I would invite them to come to the meeting to have their voice heard and also speak out and up about the request that they want.  All of council would need to hear this so that we can act on the request and also vote on the request.

Q: What are 2-3 strengths of which our town can be proud? Why do you see these as strengths?

A: We are attracting more businesses and industry and that we need to attract even more businesses and industry so that we continue grow our tax base, so that it does not fall on the backs of taxpayer.  We also have a lot of traditions that people expect and come to see.

Q: If elected, what would you hope would be key accomplishments of the board during your years of service?

A: To see that our population increases so that we have a better and healthy tax base, which isn’t easy. We have been steadily losing population since the 1960, and we need to make our borough better so that people want to stay and live and work here.

Q: Do you think our main street/downtown is healthy and successful? If not, what would you do to change that?

A: It is getting better and there needs to be more done. I would like to see every store front along Lawrence Avenue have a business in it and also have flourishing industries in our town.  More businesses mean more jobs and more jobs will attract people to live, work, and play here.

Q: How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process in our town?

A: All residents are invited to our borough meetings, which are held the 3rd Monday of the month. I would announce it to the news and also on social media. The Kitchen Committee has done a wonderful job having the meetings live on Facebook.

Q: If elected, what three steps would you take to put our city on a firmer financial footing?

A: 1. Attract more businesses to come and set up their businesses here. 2. Keep taxes to a minimum and be financially conservative. 3. Retain the businesses that are already established.

Q: If you received a $1 million grant to use for the city any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?

A: I would like it to be used for building a new building downtown on Lawrence Avenue we have several empty spaces that can be filled.

Caleb Cragle

Employment: Biology Teacher

Former Experience, Roles, and Years Serving on Ellwood City Council: I have not served on council but ran in the 2017 election.

Q: What neighborhood do you live in? Why? Where are your favorite places to spend time in our town?

A: I live in the Beaver County portion of Ellwood City on what some may know as Chicken Coop Hill. I chose to stay in the Ellwood City area because this city has a lot to offer and it has always been home for me. I tend to spend a lot of time at both Stiefel and Ewing Parks, The Ellwood City Library, and many of the eateries in the area.

Q: What makes a good city council member?

A: A good council member should be available to the community, easily accessible and most importantly allow the residents of Ellwood City be a part of the decision-making process. They should also listen to the concerns expressed by taxpayers and take action to rectify these concerns swiftly.

Q:  What do you think are the three biggest issues facing our town right now? What solutions do you have to offer to resolve those issues?

A: 1. The downtown infrastructure both above and below ground. It is a bit concerning with the flooding issues downtown with rainwater. We need to begin looking into correcting these issues, preferably with a multi-modal grant or realigning it with the Beautification project that has fallen by the waste side. 2. We need to market the borough better. We as a community have so much more to offer than the banality of attacking the electric company. We need to celebrate the good while trying to correct the issues we face within our community. We need to do a better job in advertising the positives of our community. This will help to stimulate individuals to move into our community and encourage business owners to move in and stay in our community, which in return will grow our tax base. 3. The current council members who have pushed to charge the nonprofit entities for events in our community. It is these events that draw people to our town and market the borough. We can resolve this issue by bringing new blood into the council that supports our groups and the benefit they bring to Ellwood City.

Q: Why do you want to be a council member?

A: As a young professional who was born and raised in the community, I see the importance of being a part of the next generation of decision makers. If my generation does not start becoming involved now, we are going to lose the ability to use those sitting on council as a base of knowledge to carry into Ellwood City’s future.

Q: Is there a particular issue that motivates you to serve?

A: There is not one particular issue, only a desire to see Ellwood City thrive, grow, and develop. This is not meant to serve as negative feedback for current and past council members, but I do believe that we consistently vote in the same individuals time and time again, which leads to the recycling of the same ideas. The status quo provides the important quality of consistency, but it inhibits the rise of fresh and new outlooks. If elected, I would bring a renewed vision to the council and be a representative for the younger generation—which is the future of our city.

Q:  What particular experiences or skills have prepared you to serve?

A: I understand the importance of the ability to work as a team in the capacity of a leader or general team member. The council is a seven member team that should be working together for the well being of the borough, not voting against each other because of the libelous social media posts tarnishing council members names. I am also researched and well prepared in all my decision making and communications.

Q:  In what community activities/organizations have you been involved?

A: I am a current seat holder of the board for the parks and rec committee. I have also been heavily involved in the Stiefel Hockey organization, which has provided a successful and growing hockey league in the Ellwood City area for the past 10 years.

Q: What differentiates you from the other candidates and/or council members?

A: As stated above, I am a new face, with new perspective. My outlook is positive and fresh, something that council has needed for many years.

Q: As a council member, where would you look to make budget cuts?

A: I see no way to improve Ellwood City by starting off with cutting the budget. I would much rather concern myself with how the current budget is being spent in its current state. Questions need to be asked such as : Are we able to reallocate funds to improve our city and to push us toward the future without raising taxes? Can we begin to apply for and rely on grants to propel our community projects? Without cutting jobs, can we renegotiate contracts that benefit both the employees and tax payers of Ellwood City?

Q:  How would you handle the requests, if approached, by an individual? Special interest groups?

A: I have no allegiance to an individual or special interest group, only to the citizens of Ellwood City. Any request that is communicated to me would in turn be communicated to the rest of the city council for consideration. Whether it be an individual or special group, if they have the best interest in this community, I will seek support in their favor from fellow council to push forward inventive and beneficial ideas.

Q: What are 2-3 strengths of which our town can be proud? Why do you see these as strengths?

A: Ellwood’s culture and traditions. These still resonate in our community, and this is why many former residents continue to come back when events take place like the arts and craft festival and this is why they find their way back when they have moved away. Our Non profit groups are another strength, they work together tirelessly to pull the community in the same direction for the benefit of Ellwood City Borough.

Q: If elected, what would you hope would be key accomplishments of the board during your years of service?

A: Communication/publicizing. Work on public relations with other entities such as our school board and chamber of commerce. We all three benefit when the other is successful. We should utilize their knowledge and experiences and work together to strengthen our community.

Q: Do you think our main street/downtown is healthy and successful? If not, what would you do to change that?

A: Over the past 5 years, we have seen great improvements to our downtown area. Young Entrepreneurs are filling our store fronts with successful businesses, but there is still work to do to attract and fill the remaining open spaces. The council needs better communication and working conditions with our State Rep, The County Commissioners, or any other firm that can get a grant for the revitalization downtown such as The Lawrence County Economic Development.

Q: How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process in our town?

A: I would like to bridge the communication gap between council and residents. This is something that our city council has lacked for years. I would like to push for borough issued email addresses for each council member. Our residents should have an easier way to reach their council members to express their concerns for our borough. Not everyone is available to attend the meetings, and currently this seems to be their best chance to have their voices heard. I would also like to restate meeting attendees the ability to not only speak before the meeting but at the end of the meeting. This was removed and is important for the residents to retain their voice to council.

Q: If elected, what three steps would you take to put our city on a firmer financial footing?

A: 1. work with the borough manager, department heads, and the rest of the council on the budget line by line to see what can be done without jeopardizing the well being of the departments and borough. 2. When contracts are up, to negotiate contracts that are fair to both the employees and the taxpayers. 3. When the borough is paying a contractor or service provider, we are holding these entities accountable for the service they are providing and not allowing the taxpayers to be taken advantage of.

Q:  If you received a $1 million grant to use for the city any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?

A: I would like to delegate some funds to our infrastructure downtown. Before we can expect businesses to come to our city, we need to deal with our flooding issues. The parks in town are in need of some attention as well. We need to ensure the future of Ellwood City has our beautiful parks still intact and taken care of. I often worry about the tree canopy at Ewing Park and would like to have an initiative to push for sustainability of this area.