CLEARFIELD – Mark B. McCracken announces his candidacy for re-election as Clearfield County Commissioner on the Democratic ticket.
In seeking a second term, McCracken is asking for the support of the citizens of Clearfield County based on a strong record of accomplishment and leadership.
A top priority during McCracken’s first term has been economic development throughout Clearfield County. In 2004, the Clearfield County Commissioners made the commitment toward a new direction for economic development by naming the Clearfield County Economic Development Corp. as lead economic development agency for the county. Now, in the third year since the change, Clearfield County is showing growth led by three key projects, the Sunnyside Ethanol Refinery in Curwensville, River Hill Power in Karthaus and the BioEnergy Ethanol Refinery. These projects will create hundreds of jobs, invest millions of dollars in the county and will give Clearfield County a new identity as a leader in domestically produced alternative fuels and energy production. The ethanol refineries in particular have the potential to attract other businesses and to expand agricultural related business due to the need for corn to produce ethanol.
Another area showing significant progress is tourism promotion. In 2005, the Clearfield County Recreation and Tourism Authority was designated as the official tourism promotion agency for the county and now employs a three-person staff to develop and manage all tourism-related projects. A direct result of the work of the authority and staff is the annual Clearfield County Visitor Guide, a county tourism Web site and a grant program that provides funding to promote county attractions, events and businesses. Clearfield County is also an active participant in the Pennsylvania Wilds regional tourism program.
During the last three years, with the support of the Clearfield County Commissioners, the Clearfield County Department of Emergency Management installed a 400 MHz closed-channel high-band radio system to dispatch and communicate with all county fire departments.
McCracken said, “The new radio system provides our firefighters with better radio communications and as a result will bring quicker response times which will save property and in some cases save lives. The upgrade was much needed and long overdue and I am glad we were able to complete the project during this term.”. Also, the Clearfield County 911 Center recently went through a major equipment and software upgrade to bring the county 911 system up to full E911 and wireless compliance.
When McCracken took office in 2004, Clearfield County was in the process of withdrawing from North Central Regional Planning and Development Commission To resolve this problem, the Clearfield County Commissioners worked in cooperation with commissioners from North Central member counties to renegotiate the 10-year contracts for the executive and deputy directors down to less than four years in length. Additionally, county commissioners from all six participating counties have now taken a more active role in the organization, and a new executive director was hired in 2006. As a result, Clearfield County is now a committed member of North Central and we are very involved in setting the future direction of the agency.
As part of an ongoing commitment as a full time commissioner, McCracken serves in the following positions: board member – Clearfield County Economic Development Corp., board member – Clearfield County Recreation and Tourism Authority, board member – Central Pennsylvania Community Action, member of the executive board and Technology Committee chair – County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, board member – Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging and as a member of the executive board of the Penn-Ag Democrats.
McCracken also serves on the Northern Counties Heath Insurance Purchasing Cooperative Board. This board was organized in 2005 through the efforts of McCracken working with commissioners in Clinton and McKean counties to form a multi-county health insurance purchasing co-op and create a self-insured pool account. Participation in the co-op is already showing savings in health insurance premium increases to Clearfield, Clinton and McKean counties.
A life-long resident of Clearfield County, McCracken, 43, is the son of Blair and Dorothy McCracken of Woodland. He graduated from Clearfield Area High School in 1981 and received his education in computer programming and technology from ICM School of Business in Pittsburgh. He is married to the former Kelly Owens and they reside with their daughter, Amanda, in Lawrence Township.
McCracken concluded, “The Clearfield County Commissioners have accomplished many things since the current board took office in 2004. I have maintained my commitment to serve as a full-time commissioner and to work in cooperation with federal, state, county and local level officials to solve issues and make the county better. I hope the citizens of Clearfield County will approve of the job I have done and allow me to serve another four years as county commissioner.”
