Meet Your Candidates: Paul Salvatore

Name: Paul Salvatore

Occupation: Real Estate Sales

Length of time living in the borough: Borough resident since 2007; have lived in the Newtown area since 1979.

What organizations and activities are you involved with locally?

Member of Newtown Rotary Club since 1985. President in 2007-08 and 2011-12. Member of Newtown Business and Professional Association since 1992. President 2005 to 2008. Chairman of First Night Newtown from 2009 to present. First Fourth Committee member and volunteer from 2001 to present. Newtown Corporation, volunteer and past board member from 2000 to present. Volunteer for the following community events: Holiday Parade; 5K Run; Arbor Day; Antique Car Show; Welcome Day; Easter Egg Hunt; Breakfast with Santa and St. Marks AME Gospel Concert. Coordinator of Angel Tree Project from 1997 to present. Organizer of Holiday Dinner on Christmas Day from 1985 to present. Member of Long Term Traffic committee from 2008. Member of the Planning Commission since 2008; vice chair in 2010-11.

Borough shop owners have been vocal in their concerns that business isn’t good right now.  What do you think Borough Council should and can do to help increase activity for downtown shop owners?

The current council has pushed community events out of the borough and into the township, which hurts local businesses -- especially in this tough economic downturn. We must support bringing community events back to the borough to attract consumers and help our great shops, businesses and restaurants in Newtown.

Do you support Allan Smith’s proposal for the future of the former Stockburger site on South State Street? If not, why and what would you like to see done?

I have always supported responsible redevelopment of this site that retains the unique character of Newtown Borough. However, the former Stockburger site must be developed in a way that compliments the borough’s existing businesses and takes into account the impact to our community (traffic, etc.). I will work cooperatively with other council members and the developer to ensure that this is what occurs.

What other issues would you like to see come to the forefront if you are elected to council?

Newtown Council must bring fiscal discipline to our local government instead of raiding reserve funds. We should implement zero-based budgeting, carefully review all contracts, and investigate sharing services to save us money.  I’ll bring my real world business experience to council to do just that.

Why should residents vote for you?

Now more than ever government must do more with less.  I’ve managed a business, met a budget and planned for the future in the real world.  Those are the skills taxpayers, homeowners and business owners should demand from members of council.  I will always work to protect taxpayers while preserving Newtown’s unique character.