League of Women Voters of Chester County, Pennsylvania
	Chester County, PA May 21, 2013 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Township Supervisor; Township of East Bradford; Republican Party

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Chester County and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Basic Services Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. As the demographics change in your township, how do you plan to provide for basic services? Answer from John D. Snook: Since the economic downturn in 2008, the year I first took office, it has been necessary to curtail expenses while maintaining community services, quality of life, and our award-winning open space protection and trails development programs. Over time, we will continue to see demographic changes, with an aging population, which will further our necessity to carefully balance expenditures vs. revenues while not sacrificing quality of life. Since I took office we have reduced expenditures by some $400,000 while costs over which we have no direct control (either contractual or state-mandated) have increased substantially. We did increase our property tax modestly for the first time in the history of East Bradford (average increase approximately $60 per household annually) but our overall real estate tax rate (including County and schools) remains the LOWEST in Chester County! We have continued to protect open space and promote conservation and restoration of environmental quality, including the planting of almost 2,000 trees to reforest important buffer areas along the Brandywine. The Township now owns 16 preserves totalling 750 acres and has protected over 60% of the Township land mass through acquisition of development rights and reasonable environmental regulation. In the face of constantly changing state mandates, we have worked to minimize stormwater impacts to water quality while also minimizing the impact to the average homeowner by exempting, at my suggestion, increases of up to 600 square feet in new impervious cover from stormwater management requirements, saving the average homeowner, who wants to improve his property, thousands of dollars. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.