White Oak to fill three council seats in Tuesday’s election

By LIAM BELAN

lbelan@yourmvi.com

Six candidates will compete for three seats on White Oak Borough council in Tuesday’s election.

Incumbents Charles D. Davis, a Republican, and George Pambacas, a Democrat will be on the ballot with Democrats Amanda Leckman DePaulis and Brian Dinkfelt and Republicans Dean Dittmarand Donald Hultberg.

The Mon Valley Independent received information from four of the candidates as they seek to assume a role on council. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order.

Charles D. Davis

“I originally ran 20 years ago when the council at the time was close to disbanding the White Oak Police Department. White Oak would not have had adequate police protection. I ran, and won a seat on council, and White Oak still has its own police department,” Davis said when asked about his favorite accomplishments on council. “When I became president of council I made it my mission to collect over $666,000 of delinquent trash accounts that had been building up for years, and the borough has collected over half of the delinquent payments. Over the past five years the borough paved a large portion of the streets, it was the first paving in the borough in 15 years.

“One of the issues on the top of my list is to hire professional police officers because there are five officers that are of retirement age now,” Davis said regarding issues he wants to address. “White Oak, as well as most municipalities, are having a hard time staffing their department with good officers. Council and the police department are taking steps to make working for White Oak Borough more desirable, by changing shift hours and salary steps for new hires with previous full time experience. 

“The fire and EMS agencies are needing more funds to keep their doors open. The borough is lucky to have great emergency services, and the borough needs to keep those organizations healthy. I hope to find grant monies available to help them with finances.

“White Oak Borough just last year finished up a five-year paving plan. There is still more paving to do. I plan to have the streets graded and start a new paving plan in the coming months.”

Amanda Leckman DePaulis

“I am not in a place to question any specific decisions that were made by past council members,” Leckman DePaulis said in response to being asked if she would make different decisions than current members. “However, I may have different priorities than past council members. For example, I believe that there are some potential missed opportunities to obtain grant money for the borough for long-term projects that don’t necessarily fit into the annual budget. The 75th Anniversary Planning Committee helped identify some such projects, e.g., electrical service in Heritage Hill Park in the area typically used by vendors. I would love to see White Oak council pursue and obtain grant money for these types of projects. Grant research and writing is an area in which I feel I can be an asset to the borough.

“I would also like to see the White Oak borough website modernized. Currently, the website is cumbersome, and there is a lot of information missing from the website, including records and important documents. I would like to see White Oak implement tools that other cities use, such as an online “fix it” request where residents can fill out a form to report issues, e.g., a pothole, a streetlight bulb that should be replaced, missed garbage pickup, etc. Currently people bring up these issues on Facebook or call a council member that they know, but there should be a reliable way for any resident to submit a request and have the issue addressed promptly.

“People in our community value transparency and clarity of information,” she said in regard to the three biggest issues the borough faces. “I think the council has made strides in that area, e.g., livestreaming council meetings, but more can be done. Documents/records/meeting minutes should be readily accessible in electronic format to anyone in the community from the borough website. As of Oct. 30, the most recent available meeting minutes were from February 2023. At one point in time, our borough sent out a regular newsletter to residents. I would love to revive the White Oak newsletter on an at least a quarterly basis, apprising people of upcoming events, important borough business, and spotlighting good things in our community.

“Maintaining a solid police force is imperative to keep our community safe. Many of our officers are becoming eligible for retirement, and thus there is a need to compete with neighboring areas to attract new or lateral hires. As a current Civil Service Commission member, I am dedicated to improving the hiring process for new and lateral hires. As a council member, I will be open to ideas that help us stay competitive with our neighbors, e.g., increasing salaries and improving work schedules.

“It may not be a top issue to some, but many residents (especially those who live on streets that run parallel to Lincoln Way) complain about the growing issue of speeding drivers. From what I have observed, this has become a major safety issue for pedestrians as well as other drivers. I recently had someone pass me on Fawcett because I was driving the speed limit of 25 miles per hour. I would like to pursue some solutions that will ensure that drivers slow down, e.g., speed bumps. These solutions are working in other areas around Pittsburgh.”

Don Hultberg

“I have lived in the White Oak area for over 25 years and was the engineering representative for White Oak Borough for 10 of those years while I was working for a private engineering firm,” he said. “I’ve worked with Charles Davis for all of those years and many of the councils that have proceeded. I like where the community is going and I want to continue to work with the current council to keep it moving in a positive direction. There are some issues that need to be continued to work on such as infrastructure improvements, and improved community development with better communication and involvement. 

“One new item I’d like to try to work on is getting a bigger voice from the community as a whole with the school district to ensure that our tax dollars are serving the community that is paying them. I believe the current council has been doing a great job, but there’s only so much they can do and I think with the addition of somebody that is willing to work with them and support them, it will benefit everybody.”

George C. Pambacas

“Improved transparency to the residents. I led the way for the council meetings to be livestreamed and placing the videos on the borough website for all the residents to see,” he said when asked about his best accomplishments during his tenure. “I pushed for and succeeded in upgrading public works equipment that had been neglected in the borough for the previous 20 years while keeping in the framework of the budget and 100% supported police department infrastructure enhancements. I pushed for the current Heritage Hill Park improvements and for the opening of the community center which had long been underused. I organized the White Oak Seniors Activities Group, a senior citizens group that uses it frequently and it is also attracting rentals and meeting groups. 

“I will insist upon improving public safety, reducing blight, spearheading business growth development, increasing recreation opportunities, and partnering with the McKeesport Area School District to develop the White Oak School property will be my top priorities for the next four years.

“Maintaining a responsible and balanced fiscal budget by staying on the course of prudent purchasing management and gaining extra revenue by maintaining the aggressive actions against past due fees and delinquent real estate assessments,” he answered when asked what he wants to accomplish if reelected.

“Maintaining and supporting public safety and improving the increasing blighted properties within the borough. The vast majority of these properties are owned by absentee owners. This can be accomplished by developing ways to hold them accountable, if necessary using all legal means and legislation. 

“The White Oak School property, owned by the McKeesport Area School District, has been left vacant and not maintained for over 10 years. The building and property are in a severe state of disrepair posing a potential safety situation to Borough residents. White Oak Borough and the school district must work together to sell the property to an aggressive and progressive developer. This would take the property off the exempt real estate tax list and put much needed revenue back into the school district and borough.”