Towanda man announces candidacy for 10th Congressional District

BY BRIAN BISHOP (STAFF WRITER)
Published: December 9, 2009

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ATHENS TWP. - At a recent meeting of the Bradford County Concerned Citizens (BCCC), a Towanda man announced his intentions to run for office in 2010 for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 10th Congressional District, currently held by Christopher Carney.

"I felt compelled to do this, and it won't let me go," Les Sheridan of Towanda said of his reasons for running for office.

Sheridan said he was a graduate of Troy High School and a retired educator, having worked in the Athens and Troy school districts and as a building administrator in Lewistown, Pa. He's been retired for five years, he said, and currently lives in Towanda. He also served 18 months in Vietnam as a forward observer, he told the group at the BCCC meeting.

Sheridan said he wanted his grandchildren to have the same freedoms he enjoyed.

"We're all in this together ... I don't think we have a lot of people working for us (in Washington)," Sheridan said. He will run on a platform of lower taxes, job creation, and economic recovery, he said.

BCCC Chairman Joe Doherty asked Sheridan his opinion of the current healthcare bill being debated in Congress, to which Sheridan replied that he didn't feel it could be passed in any form currently being presented, and any plan that is passed should not include a public option.

BCCC member Sylvia Ellis asked Sheridan about his opinion on eliminating the school property tax. Sheridan responded that he was in favor of eliminating the school property tax and also believed in eliminating taxes on senior citizens.

Doherty also asked Sheridan about his views on cap-and-trade legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and what Doherty called the "junk science" of global warming. Sheridan responded that he felt that cap-and-trade rules "could break us."

"What are your chances (of being elected)?" South Waverly Borough Councilman Ed Cocco asked Sheridan. Sheridan responded that he felt he could be elected with enough of a grassroots movement, and that he had no intention of becoming a career politician.

"We don't need a politician ... we need someone who serves the people," Sheridan said, adding that he doesn't want to be in office long enough to retire from the office.

Mike Dinich, a supporter of Sheridan's run for office, described Sheridan as a "gentleman who thinks like we think." While he doesn't agree with Sheridan on every issue, Dinich said, Sheridan understands how to prioritize issues and is part of the answer to what he called a "leadership crisis in this country."

"Is he the kind of guy you want in your foxhole?" BCCC member John Lukach asked Dinich of Sheridan, to which Dinich replied in the affirmative; while Doherty asked if Sheridan was an honorable man, to which Dinich also answered yes.

Also at the meeting, as his last act as chairman of the BCCC before handing leadership over to Joe Doherty, outgoing chairman Victor Lawson asked the membership by a show of hands vote to support the candidacy of Republican Sam Rohrer, who represents the 128th district in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, for governor in 2010.

Lawson said that the BCCC was the only taxpayer advocacy group involved with the Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations (PCTA) that hadn't yet come out in support of Rohrer's campaign. The PCTA is an alliance of 35 grassroots taxpayer advocacy groups, according to its Web site. If the BCCC and the other groups in the PCTA come out in support of Rohrer, Lawson said, it would "put politicians on notice" that Pennsylvania citizens want school property tax reform.

Lawson read a letter of support at the meeting for Rohrer's campaign from the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition (PTCC), which, according to their Web site, is "a free subscription-based nonpartisan statewide e-mail list and Web site that serves as a taxpayer advocacy group for those who have no local group available to them." The letter stated that education finance reform is the "singular focus" of the PTCC, and that Rohrer is dedicated to the elimination of school property taxes.

Brian Bishop can be reached at (570) 888-9652; or e-mail: bbishop@thedailyreview.com.

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Mr. Doherty's explanation about himself and his goals can be found if you search for the letters to the editor published on Dec. 5th, and scroll down to the response below. Why it appears there, I do not know, as it has nothing to do with the letter published that day. The newspaper should publish it as a letter, or as a Sunday forum piece. His goals are clearly articulated, although I question his ability to unite so many factions with differing viewpoints into a single-minded entity.

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Scott, 12/12/09 10:30

PH, One more thing we agree on. Eventually the country will be forced to turn to nuclear power. It's not going to be cheaper to build generator reactors then than now. What better way to create solid high paying construction jobs that to start building a network of the next generation smaller nuclear generators right now? They can be built anywhere. Eventually the technology will be there to tap the huge oil fields like the one that lies under the marcellus shale, but until that is feasible, let's build nuclear plants, develop wind and solar power, again creating jobs, convert coal power generating plants to burn natural gas, etc. All of these are labor intensive tasks, creating jobs and reducing our need for buying oil from our enemies.

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????, 12/11/09 1:52

????- I apologize for misinterpreting your entry. No disagreement with you on the role of industry on the issue. They have had an impact and do need to be better regulated. It is a question of balance, how far to regulate or prohibit without adversely impacting the economy.

I further agree on fossil fuel dependence. There are promising technologies for coal but they remain just that, promising but not yet viable. Certainly the research in that area should continue due to the availability of that resource.

Our dependence on foreign oil has lead to our involvement in armed conflicts, with subsequent loss of life, and alliances with countries that I would prefer not to be aligned with (The repressive royal theocracy of Saudi Arabia comes to mind). We still need it at this point and utilize what resources, but even resources such as ANWAR are finite. As with Kennedy's focused goal of putting a man on the moon was realized so should our focused goal be on significantly reducing our dependency of fossil fuels be realized.

I realize it is an anathema to some, but nuclear energy is a viable energy source. If you examine the European power grid (especially the French) you find it does play a part in their "clean' energy programs. It does have issues. High, rigid quality controls are required at all levels due to the dangers involved. And there is the issue of waste. Can it be done and still be safe? I believe so.

Your statement on adapting to climate change was insightful. Hopefully will can develop policy that realizes what we can and cannot impact in the area of climate change. Such policy would prove beneficial, both economically and environmentally in the long run.

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PatrickHenry, 12/11/09 12:31

The first step for Mr. Sheridan is to remove himself as far as possible from the BCCC. That group is the kiss of death for local politicians. Good luck, Les, be use caution starting NOW when associated with the BCCC.

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#__#, 12/10/09 6:38

Patrick: Who did I belittle? I commended Mr. Sheridan for not exposing Mr. Doherty's lack of understanding. A potential candidate can't alienate a formed group, regardless of their past record. I plainly stated that man's impact on the climate is open to debate. My personal opinion is that man is responsible for a negligible amount of the change we are seeing. Minor shifts in the earth's tilt axis, and sun activity are much more pertinent than anything man does or doesn't do. We will, in this area, be under an ice covering at some point in the future, and there is nothing we can do about that. The economies that can adapt in the short term, in decades or centuries, will prosper. We can't change the climate, but we can adapt to climate change. I agree that we can't destroy economies, but industries should be mandated to become more eco-friendly. Global warming didn't destroy surface water quality in the northeastern U.S., but the acid rain from coal burning plants did. If it requires the destruction of the coal industry to get us to stop burning coal to generate power, then I'd say we go for it. The coal will still be there in a hundred years if we can't figure out how to sustain our society without it. Nobody is listening to eco-extremists, but there is no down-side to a long term plan to get off our fossil fuel dependence, for global political reasons more than for ecological reasons. You and I agree more than we disagree.

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????, 12/09/09 9:17

????-Is it your standard response to deride and belittle people when you do not agree with them? Such is the sign of intellectual weakness.

While man's output into the atmosphere no doubt has an effect, the degree of that effect IS open to debate. Especially in light of recent evidence that some scientists have witheld or manipulated data to further global warming theories. The response should be one that is tailored to the data without throwing world economies into more of a tailspin than they already are. Eco-extremists should not drive policy or manipulate science.

As to the public option, I'm glad he does oppose it. Given their track record it is amazing that we trust government to anything more sophisticated than a lemonade stand.

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PatrickHenry, 12/09/09 4:45

Something doesn't smell right here. Mr. Sheridan is a retired educator. I never met an educator that was a republican - their agenda is too tightly tied to the democratic platform. Yet he opposes the public option in health care reform. He effectively dodged Mr. Doherty's question about global warming, hopefully in an attempt to not make Mr. Doherty sound ignorant. No sane person doubts global warming. It's happening, it's a fact. The question is, how much of it is man's doing and how much is not. If Mr. Doherty doubts the evidence of global warming, then the "Concerned Citizens" are going to have less credibility than they did under Mr. Lawson. That would put their credibility below zero. Too many unanswered questions here.

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????, 12/09/09 11:47

Towanda man announces candidacy for 10th Congressional District

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