CLEARFIELD – Edward “Ed” E. Brown announces his candidacy for Lawrence Township supervisor.
He is a forth generation resident of Lawrence Township’s Litz Bridge area.
His parents are the late Leon “Brownie” and Erma Brown. His wife for more than 35 years is the former Sandy Rowles, also from the Litz Bridge area. The Browns have two adult children, Brenda Strouse, who is married to Joe Strouse and Bridget Knepp, who is married to Bob Knepp. The Browns also have five grandchildren, Mason, Abby and Caleb Strouse and Dakota and Daisy Knepp.
Brown attended the Mount Hope United Methodist Church for more than 25 years where he held several offices. He and his wife currently attend the Mineral Springs Bible Tabernacle Church where the pastor is the Rev. Ken Pry.
Brown served in the U.S. Air Force from February 1968 to September 1973. After basic training, he received training for the security police career field. He also volunteered for specialized K-9 unit and combat readiness training that took him to Southeast Asia for a year. After returning to the U.S., he achieved a supervisor skill level in the security police. At this point, he elected to cross-train into electronics where he graduated from the U.S. Air Force College of Applied Aerospace Science. Upon Graduation, I was selected for the prestigious SR-71 Aircraft program. After achieving a supervisor skill level in this field, he was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant at the end of his extended term.
After being discharged from the Air Force, he worked part time for the Harris Township Police Department as a patrolman and full-time for H.R.B Singer Electronics as a repair and calibration technician. He returned home to the Clearfield area after about a year to take a job at Clearfield Equipment. He resigned from Clearfield Equipment when he had the opportunity to work for R.D.Goss, electrical contractor. He was with R.D.Goss for 14 years, first as an equipment coordination and repairman, then an electrician. For eight years with R.D.Goss, he was a forman in charge of the day-to-day operations of large and small projects. The last several years with R.D.Goss, he was site supervisor for systems installation at the International Paper plant in Lock Haven.
International Paper Co. offered him a position with their technical services department to help establish an industrial computer services group. He accepted the I.P. offer.
His responsibilities included day-to-day operations, scheduling of personnel, training requirements, equipment and tools requirements, and preventative maintenance programs for the systems. He worked with the computer services group for over a year when h was asked to join the maintenance department for the purpose of establishing a mill wide Electrical Equipment Reliability program. The programs we established lasted for over 12 years until the plant closed. The testing procedures and evaluation processes that were put in place provided the plant with some of the best reliability numbers in the company, worldwide. His duties remained in the reliability area until he resigned.
Some of his responsibilities were contractor job coordinator, work scope preparation, repair specifications, contractor evaluation, quality control of motor repairs, job planning, contactor scheduling, electrical distribution system testing and evaluation, critical motor testing and evaluation, turbine generator testing and evaluation, thermo graphic surveys, training, and day-to-day operations. He developed many technologies for use at the mill that had a large positive impact on the bottom line. Over the years, he have attended numerous technical schools, seminars and conventions to improve the effectiveness of the reliability program. He has made presentations on segments of our program at the local level as well the I.P. corporate technology center in Cincinnati. He is an affiliate member of the International Electrical Testing Association.
It Is the opinion of Brown’s former supervisors that “good work ethic coupled with dedication, motivation and leadership skills are attributes of [Brown’s] character.” Brown said he is a team player, willing to work hard with the other Lawrence Township team members to achieve a common goal of returning the best possible service for the tax dollar. The taxpayers of Lawrence Township have a right to expect nothing less.
Brown said, “I have been proud to serve as Lawrence Township supervisor for the past five-plus years. During this period, we have made great progress. Modernizing the office equipment our road equipment, our storage facilities, our heating system, and the police facilities are just some of the changes that have been made. These changes have made us more effective and efficient. Through sound management practices we have been able to keep operational costs at a minimum. Even with the skyrocketing cost of our basic operational needs we have not had to raise taxes to support the general budget.”
Brown noted that the supervisors did set aside 2 mills of taxes to replace some very old, outdated, marginally safe and unreliable fire equipment.
“I will make no excuse for this. We ask and expect so much of our volunteer fire departments; they never fail to be there when called on during an emergency. The least we can do is give them safe, reliable, somewhat modern trucks so they can be more effective when called on. The attitude has changed for the day-to-day operations. We have taken full advantage of the many talents the rank and file employees possess. Empowering the work force, delegating some decisions at the basic level and providing leadership when needed has helped us become a more effective work team. However, all these fancy management tools are no substitute for pitching in with manual labor when the guys need help to get the job at hand done, whatever it may be. I touched on a few of the changes that have taken place. Enough said. You get the idea.”
I would be proud to be given the opportunity to continue to serve as Lawrence Township supervisor and continue with the proactive stand I have taken.
“I ask you to consider me, Edward “Ed” E. Brown, when you cast your vote on election day.”