CLEARFIELD – Mark B. McCracken announces his candidacy for reelection to the office of Clearfield County Commissioner on the Democratic ballot. McCracken noted the most important issues to voters are economic conditions, jobs and a strong desire for fiscal responsibility at all levels of government.
Over the seven years McCracken has served as county commissioner, economic development in the county has seen many changes with energy production and gas exploration moving to the forefront as growth industries in Clearfield County. In 2006, former Gov. Ed Rendell and state Rep. Camille “Bud” George announced that the first ethanol plant in Pennsylvania would be built in Clearfield County. In order to support the growth of energy production and gas exploration in Clearfield County, the commissioners formed the Clearfield County Energy Taskforce and worked with the Clearfield County Economic Development Corporation to create the position of VP of Energy Development to work directly with energy related industries. An important part of economic development is retention of existing industries along with growth and expansion of small and retail businesses throughout the county.
While gas exploration of the Marcellus shale brings economic growth to Clearfield and surrounding counties, there are also concerns that drilling and the fracturing process will cause negative impacts to the environment. State officials also need to reach agreement on a severance tax so county and local governments receive adequate funding to deal with impacts to infrastructure and society that come with the growth of the gas drilling industry. The gas drilling industry needs to make a stronger commitment to hiring more local people so the working class can also enjoy the economic benefits from gas exploration.
Last year, Clearfield County had a well blowout occur at a remote drilling site in Lawrence Township. The incident showed a glaring weakness in response time when a specialized team and equipment had to be flown in from Texas. Recognizing that a delay in response time was unacceptable, the county commissioners contacted Wild Well and successfully negotiated the relocation of a response team and equipment to the Clearfield / Lawrence Airport. Having a response team located in Clearfield County will make emergency response time better throughout the region and will provide experts to train our local emergency responders on proper procedures for emergencies at gas well sites.
Also following the well blowout, McCracken met with Sen. Robert Casey to provide feedback for federal legislation to make domestic gas exploration safer. After hearing that a response team and equipment had to be flown in from Texas, Sen. Casey included language in legislation he was drafting to require properly trained and equipped emergency response teams be located within a close proximity to gas well sites.
While the economy, jobs and public safety are always a prime focus, the main responsibility of the county commissioners is to oversee daily operations of county government in an efficient and cost effective manner. It is important that the commissioners maintain a strong working relationship with officials from the court system, elected row officers, county government departments and the local and regional agencies that provide judicial and county government services to the citizens of Clearfield County. It is also the responsibility of the county commissioners to work in partnership with municipal government officials at the township, city and borough levels to support needed community projects funded with federal CDBG dollars and Liquid Fuel Fund dollars.
McCracken serves on several boards that have a direct impact on county residents including Central Pennsylvania Community Action and the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging. He maintains active membership with the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania serving as chairman of the Information Technology Committee and on the Executive Board of the association. McCracken serves on the Executive and Full Board of the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission, serving as chairman of both boards during 2010.
McCracken continues to serve on the Pennsylvania Counties Health Insurance Purchasing Cooperative Board and has been selected as board chairman the past 2 years. PCHIPC was organized in 2005 through the efforts of Commissioner McCracken working with commissioners in Clinton and McKean counties to form a multi-county health insurance purchasing co-op to bring benefit costs under control for county governments. Participation in PCHIPC has grown to over 20 counties and has seen savings and refunds to the member counties grow providing lower health insurance costs for member counties.
Commissioner McCracken concluded “Since taking office in 2004, I have always understood it is important to work with the other commissioners to come to a consensus on decisions necessary to effectively manage county government. I am confident in the policy decisions I made as a majority member of the board from 2004 to 2008, and I believe I have worked for reasonable compromise on decisions and policies as the minority member since 2008. I ask that the citizens of Clearfield County consider the effort and commitment I put into the job as county commissioner and allow me to serve them for another 4 years.”. Commissioner McCracken lives in Lawrence Township with his wife Kelly and daughter Amanda.