{"id":23598,"date":"2014-10-20T16:00:59","date_gmt":"2014-10-20T20:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=23598"},"modified":"2014-10-21T09:49:45","modified_gmt":"2014-10-21T13:49:45","slug":"160-district-qa-stephen-barrar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=23598","title":{"rendered":"160 District Q&A: Stephen Barrar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note:<\/strong> This is one of two question and answer articles with the two major party candidates for State Representative in the 160th District, which includes Kennett, Kennett Square, Pennsbury, Pocopson and Chadds Ford in the The Times’ coverage area. The responses were not edited and the text was approved by the candidates \u2014 this is an unfiltered version of their responses to the same seven questions. It was compiled by staff writer Kim Chiomento.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Barrar\"<\/a>

State Rep. Stephen Barrar (R-160).<\/p><\/div>\n

1. Why are you running?<\/b>\u00a0 I have serious concerns about the economic direction the Commonwealth is taking.\u00a0 We have been in a state of stagnation for over a decade; and need legislators with a vision to see where we can go with the right kind of leadership.<\/p>\n

One specific, major problem I see is the current tax structure in Pennsylvania.\u00a0 The tax structure is not conducive to attracting or retaining businesses; we are a highly regulated and high-taxing state.\u00a0 These obstacles directly correlate to job creation and the overall health of our state\u2019s economy. \u00a0Simply put, I want to continue to work toward changing this challenging climate for the better.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0Our community is looking to elect you as a leader;\u00a0 what would you want our readership and voters to know about how you demonstrate leadership? <\/b>There are legislators who tend to focus the majority of their attention on Harrisburg and the activities that happen there.\u00a0 Then, there are other legislators who focus on their communities; I am a community legislator.\u00a0 My record shows that I take an active interest in every problem in my district through a hands-on approach.\u00a0 Sometimes this means meeting one-on-one with individuals, bringing together several community representatives or meeting with larger organizations and coalitions.<\/p>\n

As Chairman of Veterans Affairs Committee; I have dealt with many problems relating to and impacting our veterans.\u00a0 I am proud that I have been able to get more accomplished than my predecessors have.\u00a0 Together with members of this committee; we\u2019ve taken on tough issues relating to our veterans and first responders; despite some of them being controversial, we have attacked issues head-on including, obtaining additional funding for services.<\/p>\n

3. Please provide an example of a tough decision you\u2019ve had to make.\u00a0 Why was it tough?<\/b>\u00a0 There have been many tough decisions in my life.\u00a0 Most recently, voting against the Transportation Bill comes to mind.\u00a0 This bill included .28 cents per gallon gas tax.\u00a0 It was a tough decision for me NOT to vote for this because my district has many highways, bridges and infrastructure that need to be upgraded.\u00a0 In the PA 160th<\/sup> we have seen population growth and increased wear and tear on our infrastructure as a result, I knew that this tax would make a real impact on improving those issues.\u00a0 However, I also know of many people in my district (and state-wide) that are struggling every day just to meet their current needs.<\/p>\n

Increasing individuals\u2019 day to day expenses by almost .28 cents a gallon did not sit well with me.\u00a0 However, simply voting no for the original bill is not the end of the story.\u00a0 Instead, I supported an amendment that would implement an extraction tax on the natural gas industry\u2019s \u201cfracking\u201d operations within the Commonwealth, a common practice in other states.\u00a0 This tax would have generated approximately $600 million for infrastructure needs.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0What make you uniquely qualified to deal with the diverse personalities, priorities and perspectives that you will find in the PA Legislature? <\/b>I have owned two successful businesses for almost 24 years.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always considered myself as someone who really understands the concept of customer service.\u00a0 When your priority is to serve people and make them happy (being a legislator is in many ways very similar to that aspect of my business), your decisions must be well thought out before becoming final and, it is essential that you take time to consider the impact of decisions on all stakeholders.<\/p>\n

Additionally, I spent five years as a Township Commissioner which gave me excellent training on working with\u00a0 many different types of people, how to assemble coalitions from opposing sides of \u201cthe aisle\u201d and develop sound policies for concepts to be signed into law.\u00a0 When taking into account the various interests, personalities and perspectives involved, this is not as easy as it sounds; but I have learned how and have an accomplished record of doing so.<\/p>\n

5. Why should voters vote for you?<\/b>\u00a0 I am the best person for the job.\u00a0 When I originally ran for State Representative, I made a promise that I would work very hard for the constituents of my district.\u00a0 In my 18 years of office, I\u2019ve only missed three session days and have kept that promise.\u00a0 I think this is just one example of the level of commitment I have to my responsibilities as an elected official.\u00a0 I go to the House floor every session day prepared to represent the interests of my legislative district.\u00a0 My record speaks for itself; with a strong history of legislative accomplishments, that show first-hand how I have put the interests of the 160th<\/sup> district first.<\/p>\n

6. Is there anything else you\u2019d like to make sure our readership and voters know about you? <\/b>I bring a passion to the job and care wholeheartedly about the vitality of this district.\u00a0 This passion translates into taking my responsibilities very seriously and recognizing opportunity is to leave the legislative district even better than I found it 18 years ago. Today, as a grandfather, I want to make sure that my grandchildren have every educational and economic opportunity that I had growing-up.\u00a0 To do and achieve anything less is unconscionable.<\/p>\n

7. How should voters and our readership reach you if they have questions, or would like to get involved? <\/b><\/p>\n

Email: parep160@aol.com<\/a> \u00a0FaceBook: search Steve Barrar, and Campaign Home Page: www.stevebarrar.com<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: This is one of two question and answer articles with the two major party candidates for State Representative in the 160th District, which includes Kennett, Kennett Square, Pennsbury, Pocopson and Chadds Ford in the The Times’ coverage area. The responses were not edited and the text was approved by the candidates \u2014 this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[79,4444,2136,30],"class_list":["post-23598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-160th-district","tag-election-2014","tag-republican","tag-state-representative"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23601,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23598\/revisions\/23601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}