CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield County Commissioners have been invited to the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
The commissioners will participate in the Pennsylvania County Commissioners’ White House Conference, announced Commissioner Chairman Tony Scotto on Tuesday.
The conference is being held from 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. July 13 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Complex.
According to Scotto, all of Pennsylvania’s county commissioners or their equivalents have been invited to participate in the conference.
He said the main purpose of the meeting is to introduce the commissioners to contacts in the federal government in case the need would ever arise.
“We’ve been informed that there will be high-level officials from the administration at this conference,” he said.
“Pennsylvania counties, especially rural counties, do rely on federal grants and funds to offset costs in their budgets.
“This conference will offer us the opportunity to ask questions and let the administration know how much we depend on the federal funding.”
Scotto said the Clearfield commissioners have accepted the invitation, and all three will attend to hear the new administration’s views on important issues, such as Community Development Block Grants and the opioid crisis.
As well, he said they hope to learn about new initiatives from federal officials that will be of assistance in the future.
So far as the commissioners’ knowledge, it is the first time that the executive branch of the federal government has taken such interest in Pennsylvania counties.
“We hope to take advantage of it to benefit Clearfield County,” Scotto said. The commissioners will give an update at a regular meeting following the conference.
