It is NO! big surprise that the Tribune Review continues to fail the voters of Westmoreland County!

It is NO! big surprise that the Tribune-Review continues to fail the voters of Westmoreland County!

It is NO! big surprise that the Tribune-Review endorsed my Republican opponents for Westmoreland County Commissioners…

When you have a person like the owner of the partisan newspaper spending $20 million a year to prop up his paper that continues to lose money, it is NO! big surprise that his editors would ignore the facts.

For instance, a fact like George Dunbar was the Chief Financial Officer for a company that went bankrupt, even though it was his responsibility to maintain the company’s financial stability. Should someone with a background like Dunbar’s be elected to make decisions about how the people’s taxes are to be spent?

Not to mention the hatchet job that the paper tries to do on our ability to raise the monies necessary to be able to run an efficient and clean campaign. It is NO! big surprise that neither the editors, nor their owner, have provided the candidates with equal treatment, like presenting the voters with the facts on how Ward and Dunbar obtained their money. The paper never published that almost half of the $118,000 fund raised by Ward and Dunbar in this current election has come from Dunbar, his dad and Ward's husband. Clearly, Ward and Dunbar lack a wide support base from the voters in Westmoreland County since they had to provide $52,000 to their own campaigns.

At the behest of Ward & Dunbar, the Trib published a big story on who received the absentee voter list before they did. It is NO! big surprise then that yesterday Ward posted a link to her endorsement on her website. Since Ward’s link was posted long before the paper’s website update (which occurs after midnight), she must have received that information before any Dems had access to it.

When you’re an elected official like Kim Ward, and you raise multiple fees (some of which were increased over 100%) that the people you represent must pay (HIDDEN TAX INCREASES), and then as an elected official, you provide yourself FREE HEALTH INSURANCE even though you don't work full-time and you run your own consulting business, it is NO! big surprise the partisan paper in this county fails to inform the voters of all the facts surrounding such a candidate for County Commissioner.

It is NO! big surprise that this same partisan paper failed to fully inform the voters of the public record about George Dunbar. How can a paper be so partisan that it fails to report the facts about a County Commissioner candidate who has a history of running a business into the ground by not paying for his employees’ healthcare, pension or union dues. How can this same partisan newspaper give its endorsement, which is supposed to denote credibility, to these flawed candidates for County Commissioner?

It is NO! big surprise that Westmoreland’s partisan newspaper even failed to provide voters with the facts that the current elected County Commissioners, Tom Ceraso and Tom Balya, have reduced the size of the workforce in the county, made the workers that receive health care pay a portion of it and have participated in the first bond issues in almost 20 years that were done competitively.

It is NO! big surprise that the partisan newspaper’s reporters continue to fail in doing their research. As a result, these reporters have failed to provide the voters with the fact that all county-purchased materials bought from a vendor that weren't bid were purchased under state contract. And these materials had already gone through a process to leverage the buying power of the entire commonwealth, not just the power of one county, thus saving the voters’ tax money.

It is NO! big surprise when these same reporters write a story that fails to present the facts, such as that the County Director of Information Technology recommended the purchasing of specific equipment that interfaces with the county computer system, thus saving taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in man-hours and additional equipment over the other brands that where brought in and tried.

It is NO! big surprise why people get disgusted with elected officials when such partisan reporting is designed to write as many negative stories as possible, even if it means not presenting all the facts or not doing reputable research. The partisan news media under the Trib banner in Westmoreland County doesn't want to fairly report anything. Rather, they want to push their social and partisan agenda, and do nothing more than sell their product.

Having been elected and re-elected by the voters of Westmoreland County, I know when I go out and meet people in this county they tell me that Tom Balya and I do a good job of running county Government. That endorsement by the voters in our county means more to me than what the partisan newspaper has to say. I am sure we have been endorsed by the man on the street and that's what will matter come November 6.

I ask that you vote for Tom Balya and Tom Ceraso on November 6, and we will keep Westmoreland County moving in the right direction.

NEWS RELEASE

OCTOBER 22, 2007
Kim Ward Enjoys Benefits At Retirees’ Expense
Kim Ward is continuing to fight court battles to deny retirees the healthcare benefits that she enjoys for free.
Recent published reports detail Ward's and her political allies' efforts to deny former Hempfield Township employees benefits. What Ward is not telling residents is that while she fights in court to abandon hard-working retirees, she is receiving free benefits from the Township. In fact, as a part-time Township Supervisor she enjoys healthcare benefits that are far better than what the average full-time private sector employee receives.
Every year since 2003, Ward has participated in the Township's benefit package -- at no cost to her. Township records reveal that she does so during the Supervisors' Reorganization meetings at the beginning of each year.
"While Kim Ward as a part-time supervisor enjoys the benefits that others must work for, she wastes tax dollars fighting a political vendetta to deny benefits to those who worked full-time," Commissioner Tom Ceraso said. "Kim must think she is entitled to this benefit for the little work she does for the Township. She should return what it costs the township for her lucrative benefits. Part-time politicians like her should not be entitled to full-time benefits."
"Mrs. Ward wants to take a hard line with retirees' benefits, but had no qualms about starting the unprecedented practice of forcing Hempfield taxpayers to pay for lucrative healthcare benefits for part-time supervisors," Commissioner Tom Balya said.

NEWS RELEASE

OCTOBER 25, 2007
New Information Further Implicates George Dunbar In Wright Industries' Bankruptcy
Former Worker Details Company's Hardships
A recent filing in the bankruptcy proceedings of Wright Industries further implicates Republican county commissioner candidate George Dunbar in the company's collapse (U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Pennsylvania, no. 07-21384). And now a former worker is explaining the hardships he and his coworkers endured. An October 16, 2007, motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court by the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors details the debts. In the filing it cites a net loss of $3.7 million that was realized in 2006 "because of improper accounting treatment in prior years."George Dunbar served as Chief Financial Officer of Wright Industries in the years shortly before its bankruptcy. The filings reveal sorry details about the state of the company in the run-up to its bankruptcy, including local, state and federal taxes, as well as unemployment taxes, that were not paid during Dunbar's watch as CFO. The bankruptcy also reveals that Wright Industries did not pay healthcare or pension contributions for its labor unions.As a candidate, George Dunbar has tried to duck any responsibility for the company's failure."I knew George Dunbar, and even talked with him one-on-one, while I was at Wright Industries," said Bert Guay, who worked at Wright Industries from 2000-2007 as a laborer and foreman, and also served as shop steward for the Laborers' Union Local 1058. "As a worker there we were working just as hard, nothing changed with us, then all of the sudden the money just dried up."We would go to cash our paychecks and they would bounce, and sometimes we would show up at work and not get paid at all. And because they weren't paying our benefits, we would be denied when we went to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy."Now George Dunbar wants to be a county commissioner? He sure didn't do his job for us at Wright Industries," Guay said."It’s time for George Dunbar to finally come clean about his role in Wright Industries' bankruptcy," Commissioner Tom Balya said. "We cannot allow him to continue to deceive voters the way he deceived the families he abandoned at Wright Industries.""As more details continue to emerge from this case, it is becoming more and more obvious that George Dunbar's campaign is as bankrupt as Wright Industries," Commissioner Tom Ceraso said

Commissioner Ceraso's New Commercial

There they go again – Ward & Dunbar are AGAIN proposing how NOT to perform the responsibilities of an elected Official!

GOP commissioner hopefuls push for public's say on taxes
By Richard Robbins
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, October 13, 2007
The two Republicans running for Westmoreland County commissioner want to give taxpayers a say in raising property taxes, although they are not sure a referendum is legal under state law or the state Constitution.
Kim Ward and George Dunbar proposed Friday a nonbinding tax referendum as a preliminary step. They pledged if elected to work toward passing a state law that would make such referendums binding.
Their Democratic opponents labeled the proposal a political stunt and grandstanding in the lead up to the Nov. 6 general election.
Incumbents Tom Balya and Tom Ceraso said asking taxpayers to decide the level of taxation in the county would amount to a "cop out" by officials elected to make tough choices.

In Westmoreland County and in Pennsylvania the voters do decide the level of taxation through their votes on tax issues at the ballot box. As the elected community leaders, the County Commissioners are responsible for assessing all the information available and making decisions that keep the communities safe. The Commissioners also provide the county citizens with the essential services they have come to expect from their elected leaders and the commissioners continue to make those crucial decisions needed to attract new companies and assist current companies to enlarge and grow and thus create more jobs for the citizens of the county. That is why the voters elect their

Barry Kauffman, of Pennsylvania Common Cause, said, "I'm not sure that's something anyone has the authority to do."
Kauffman said "as a general rule" referendums are not a good idea because they bypass elected officials who should be held accountable.
At the same time, Kauffman said the type of referendum Ward and Dunbar have in mind should not be automatic any time a tax increase is on the table. He said referendums should start with voters and work their way up. Kauffman noted there is a state Senate bill that would make state referendums possible, starting with voter petitions.
Ceraso said Dunbar and Ward were engaged in "an election-year stunt."
Balya likened the idea to "putting your finger to the wind."
"No one makes a decision to increase taxes lightly. You do it only when it's absolutely essential.

The county budget is passed in November and is on display for approximately one month before a final vote is taken. It is published on the internet and is available at the courthouse. Citizens have plenty of time to review this document and make comments on it if they choose. To this date neither Ward not Dunbar has ever testified on any county budget, neither for nor against any aspect of those county budgets.

If Ward and Dunbar really intend to fulfill their responsibilities they need to stop looking for alternatives to avoid their elected responsibilities.