CLEARFIELD – Clearfield County Commissioner Dave Glass on Thursday addressed his stance on local businesses that were shuttered by COVID-19 and private social media posts.
Glass said he never stated he’d have any local business shut down for opening early and being defiant of Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders. “I feel terrible for all local businesses, and was a local business owner for over 10 years.
“I’ve talked to the person who bought my business – I know the suffering … and a local restaurant owner is one of my best friends in town … we talk daily. I see the economic damage.”
He continued, saying that: “the last thing I want” is for any local business to suffer permanent damage because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“I never said I would go to Pennsylvania Attorney General [Josh Shapiro],” he said. “I never even thought that … I am not an enforcement officer.
“It’s not my place to get involved in that, and I’m very, very happy that we’ve gone back to green. I think we should all take the time to patronize local businesses to help them get back on their feet.”
Glass also addressed screenshots taken of posts he’s made within a private Facebook group for which he’s a member (and not the creator) – “Clearfield County Progressives.”
“I don’t see any problem with [being in] the private groups – most people are on Facebook,” he said. “This is a group of people who like to talk about politics.”
He said “nothing” happens there and screenshots taken of his comment “this is our Vegas” was a reminder to members to respect each other’s privacy by not sharing posts “outside” the group.
“Ironically, this is exactly what happened here,” Glass said, “and … the insinuation is we’re a ‘secret group’ with all these ‘secret plans and deals.’
“The person who took these screenshots had access to the entire site, and this is what they got. If there’s all these secrets and deals out there, why didn’t they just post those?”
Glass said the answer is simple – “It’s because there aren’t any. We’re just there talking about the issues of our country, and there’s certainly plenty to talk about right now.”
He said there will be people who view the world more conservatively than he does, and they are welcome to have and join their own private social media groups.
He also said he’d condemn anyone who tries to infiltrate any group strictly for purposes of defamation or to “get dirt on someone.” “Even if it were for my benefit, I’d be against that.”
Glass reiterated the Clearfield County Progressives is “no more, no less” than a group of people who have “intelligent, thoughtful” political discussion.
“There’s a lot of disagreement in that group, but … we’re civil with each other. Anybody who gets personal with their attacks is kicked out of the group.
“… We have to get to the point where we reasonably disagree, and not take it to the extreme … we should be able to debate a topic, and even if we don’t find any common ground, shake hands.”
Glass reminded county residents that the door to his office is always open, and if they have any questions or concerns, they’re welcome to contact him directly.