DELAWARE COUNTY COUNCIL
Kevin Madden and Brian Zidek, candidates for Delaware County Council, are small businessmen and concerned Delaware County citizens and not career politicians. This is in stark contrast to their opponents who have 50 years in politics between them. Over 40 years of single-party control must end. The choice before voters this fall is clear. This election is a choice between concerned small businesspeople vs. corrupt machine politicians who have been lining their own pockets and those of their cronies at taxpayer expense for decades.
Delco is run by career politicians who make decisions about the future of our county behind closed party doors, in secret, and waste our money. Forty-one years of single-party GOP rule in Delco has resulted in political corruption that costs every single taxpayer. Before Delco can move forward, we must break the old politics.
Decisions involving taxpayer money should never be made behind closed doors out of public view. The public has a right to know what is behind every single line of the budget. Further, the public has a right to demand that their elected officials adhere to ethical guidelines restricting the corrupt pay-to-play activities that are currently business as usual in Delco.
Zidek and Madden will seek reforms to publish an easily searchable budget online, making it open to taxpayer scrutiny, and aggressively promote competition for county contracts. No one should get a contract because they donated to a political campaign.?Reforms must be made to immediately and clearly illuminate potential conflicts and corruption and insufficient campaign finance disclosure requirements need to be addressed.
Delaware County residents pay more taxes yet receive fewer services than our neighboring counties. We are the largest county in the U.S. with no health department, we have a bare-bones economic development program, and little action on open space preservation. Delco taxpayers are suffering from a “corruption tax” and that must end.
Zidek and Madden will review all expenditures and contracts to insure Delco taxpayers are getting the best value from investments in infrastructure, maintenance and contracted services. In turn, investments in public health, open spaces, and business development efforts should be made, and relief must be provided to taxpayers with property tax relief.
Kevin Madden and Brian Zidek have over 30 years of successful business-building experience between them. From turning around existing businesses to creating jobs in the technology, manufacturing and financial services sectors, they are immensely qualified to lead a transition to a sustainable 21st-century economy and the jobs of the future.
Zidek and Madden plan to develop partnerships with labor and industry to expand apprenticeship programs and workforce development efforts, and work with our world-class colleges and universities to build incubators for entrepreneurship focusing on STEM–related industries and women and minority businesses.
To learn more about Delaware County Council candidates Kevin Madden and Brian Zidek, please visit delcovictory2017.com.