Town Council candidates meet with off campus housing landlords in open forum

 As November is just around the corner, local elections are occurring right here in Bloomsburg, but little interest has been seen from the on-campus community.

            Those little red and blue signs in the front lawns of houses and windows of downtown stores were given a deeper meaning as the Bloomsburg Area Landlords Association held a Candidates Forum Thursday, Oct. 22, giving candidates running for local office a chance to tell the community about them, and field questions about what they hope to accomplish.

            Held in Phillips Emporium on Main St., the forum gave members of the community a closer look at who may or may not make decisions for Bloomsburg in the near future. This year, Mayor Dan Knorr runs unopposed, while three members of Town Council are up for re-election, and with some new competition.

            Eric Bower, a near life-long resident of Bloomsburg, hopes to secure a spot on the council. Bower is known as the founder and owner of BloomUToday.com, a local news and information site serving the community of both Bloomsburg University and its surrounding namesake.

            Bower, who is a property owner and landlord, while also recently founding Bower Media LLC, has experience reporting on Town Council meetings and a direct link to the younger demographic residing in Bloomsburg University.

            David Lynn, also running for a spot on Town Council, is studying to become an electrician and has similar experience with local government from his work with BloomUToday.com. Both new-comers hope to create better communication between the town and the University, and disagree with the direction the town has been moving and the situations local businesses have been facing.

            Sylvia Costa, a current member of Town Council, has been living in Bloomsburg for 17 years. Before that, she was a non-traditional student at BU, and is currently working towards a Master’s degree in social work at Marywood University. Costa noted her passion for working with the town of Bloomsburg and has experience working directly with student organizations.

            Carey Howell has been a home owner in Bloomsburg since 1971 and currently serves as Director of the Bloomsburg Fair Association. This current Council member has worked closely with local organizations including the United Way and Red Cross.

            Bill Kreisher, another current Town Council member, has been a homeowner in Bloomsburg since 1973, and owns a local law practice. He formerly worked as Columbia County District Attorney, and over the years has become very active with youth sports.

            Dan Knorr, current Mayor of Bloomsburg, was elected in 2007 at the age of 21. In the structure of Bloomsburg’s Town Council there is one mayor and six members of council, with three spots up for re-election this year. In order to run for mayor, you must previously serve time on Town Council, which Knorr accomplished while studying political science at Bloomsburg.

            Questions were asked by various members of the local community and covered several different topics. As each question was asked, each candidate was given several minutes to comment.

            The first question of the night was asked by a local landlord, who noted that annual safety inspections are only mandatory for student rental housing, and not properties rented out to non-students who don’t routinely vacate each summer when the inspections are conducted.

            Bower felt that these standards should be uniformed, while current council members Costa and Kreisher mentioned that the cost of added inspections would be very costly. Costa cited the student housing fires of 1994 and 2000 that resulted in student deaths and stricter safety standards (this was also before the fire this past weekend down town that left 22 students displaced).