Two Democratic candidates are seeking nomination in the May 16 primary election for a two-year term as Reading’s City Council president.
The council president will be paid an annual salary of $6,875, beginning in January.
The candidates were asked to respond to the following questions:
Question 1: How would you allocate the remaining $25 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds?
Question 2: How should the city-owned buildings at 431-449 Penn St. be developed and what would you do to help make that happen?
Incumbents are denoted by an asterisk. Here are their responses:
Donna Reed*
Age: Not provided.
Occupation: Freelance writer.
Response 1: Unfortunately, the ARPA allocation has been flawed from the start with inconsistent policies and protocols. Political pressure clearly played into some allocations, but the important point is that council insisted requirements on the release of ARPA funds to the awarded applicants include proper documentation. No funds are to be released to any applicant until the city finance department reviews required paperwork. If there are funds remaining due to improper or absent documentation, they could be reallocated. Some funds — about $2 million — remain for small business, but the administration is tasked with providing precise applications to be completed for consideration. The city must address capital issues with the bulk of the remaining ARPA funds to take care of its own properties on behalf of the public who owns them. Recently, council enacted a moratorium on dispersing the remaining ARPA funds until proper protocol is placed on further disbursement policies.
Response 2: Under the current form of city government, we as council are waiting and waiting for answers from the administration. The status of inaction and lack of movement on these buildings over the past four-plus years is unacceptable, and the public should be more vocal in pushing for action. Council has significant concerns over the most recent RFP process and has posed many questions. High-profile buildings, like the Berkshire, Madison and Baer and the former Reading Eagle complex, are owned by out-of-town developers who apparently enjoy watching their disintegration. Why codes and PMI are not moving forward on these and citing them for clear violations remains a question for the administration. In the 1980s, with the historic tax credits of the time, several of these buildings were beautifully rehabbed. My thanks, though, to Alvernia University for its successful downtown revitalization efforts. Council is now working with community partners to address blight downtown and throughout the neighborhoods on a number of levels.
Virna Quinones
Did not respond.
Source: Berkshire mont
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