Bill Hall: Lycoming County Candidate for Office

Bill Hall is a candidate for public office in an upcoming Lycoming County election. Hall has provided NorthcentralPA.com with the following information:

State your party affiliation and which office you seek. Who is in this office at present and what is their party affiliation?     
Republican Incumbent Williamsport City Councilman There are 4 seats up for election this year. I am endorsed by the Lycoming County Republican Committee.

Who is your current employer and what is your occupation? What companies or businesses do you own?
I own the US Visitors Network, an Internet advertising agency focused on travel and tourism from Maine to North Carolina and from Washington state to California.

Is there anything you’d like to add?
The City of Williamsport is growing and on the move. On any given day one can drive the Beltway from Reach Road to the Faxon exit and see 5 or 6 cranes on our skyline. This is a powerful statement, especially as it is happening in the midst of the greatest recession since the Great Depression. But that growth will require experienced people to manage it. And I believe I am one of those experienced people.

As a Councilman, for the last 7 ½ years I have worked on many projects in the City including the Market Street Bridge, the new parking deck, the expansion of the Central Business District, the downtown movie theatre, as well as the downtown and Newberry streetscape projects. I am also happy to have helped to shepherd the Kohl’s project through Council, even with its many twists and turns over the last 2 ½ years. Not only will it become a reality but it is $160,000 under budget as of this date.

I played a large part in writing our current curfew ordinance – an effort to keep our kids safe – and in acquiring money from the state to place a student resource officer at our high school. I also had a hand in writing our current rental inspection ordinance – which has improved our housing stock and, more importantly, has increased the safety of those people who choose to rent in the City.

As the former chairman of Council’s Economic Revitalization Committee and the current Council Vice President and Finance Committee chairman I have been a driving force behind the City’s continuing street rebuilding and rehabilitation program, insuring that money has been appropriated to rebuild and/or resurface over 40 city blocks in the last 7 ½ years. Streets like Glenwood Ave, Louisa St and Lloyd St have been completely rebuilt and curbed. Two thirds of Reach Rd has been rebuilt and dozens of other streets and alleys have been resurfaced. I also worked to get the Moran Industries project done at the former Kennedy-King site, to find funding and approve development plans for places like the Pajama Factory and Panera Bread, and to get Council approval for our City-wide residential LERTA program.

All of these projects are a matter of public record and I am really appreciative of those Council people and administrations that have supported these efforts as well. I am also proud of the fact that we have been fiscally responsible with planning and carrying out these projects... with no City tax increases for the last three years.

Looking ahead we have unprecedented opportunities and challenges because of the Marcellus Shale. Williamsport is and ought to remain the financial, legal and commercial epicenter of this region. And the Marcellus discovery, followed by what is called the Utica Shale, are resources that rival the ages of timber, coal and oil. These resources are a source of potential wealth and the foundation of a new economy for the City of Williamsport, an economy that can thrive for more than a century… if we manage it correctly from the beginning.

In addition we will have to deal with other critical city issues like ensuring that we can meet our pension obligations and getting our security camera system in place. (I voted to approve funding for the security cameras last January 2010). We also need to focus on growing our expanded Central Business District and getting our 2nd parking deck built.

Managing these opportunities and challenges requires people with experience, people who understand how our local government works and what local government can and cannot do.

I am one of those experienced people and I am up to the challenge.