Franklin County Voter Guide Reveals Consensus on Forest and Farmland Preservation, Historic Preservation By Candidates Coy, Gill, Fleagle, and Punt

CONTACT:
Thomas Linzey, Esq.
709-0457

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chambersburg (October 26) - The Franklin County Coalition highlighted responses from area candidates for State Representative and State Senator today - finding common agreement on the importance of preserving the County's forestland, farmland, and wetlands; and on the importance of historic preservation. The Coalition's Voter Guide, published the first week of October and distributed to residents via local businesses and nonprofit organizations, is also available on the internet at http://www.celdf.org/fcc.

The first question on the Voter Guide Questionnaire is "Would you support additional public and private efforts to reverse the continuing loss of forest, farmland, and wetlands in Pennsylvania?"

Candidates for the 89th State Representative District - Jeff Coy and Ken Gill - both answered that they would support such efforts. Pat Fleagle and Terry Punt also responded in the affirmative to the question - registering their support for additional efforts to support these natural resources.

Thomas Linzey, coordinator of the Franklin County Coalition, was pleased with the results. "Common ground on this issue indicates widespread interest in working to eliminate sprawl within the County." Linzey noted, however, that support for Exit 7 by Jeff Coy and others - who recently worked to guarantee additional loss of farmland by obtaining funds for the Norland Avenue Extension in Chambersburg, cannot be reconciled with the Voter Guide responses. "Either they are or they aren't", Linzey noted, "you can't preserve farmland by pushing farmland-gobbling projects."

The Candidates for office in Franklin County also registered their strong support for preserving the rich historical legacy of the County. Question #7 on the Questionnaire asked: "On a scale of 1-10 (1 being not important, 10 being very important), how much importance to you attach to the preservation of historic structures and places in the planning for residential and commercial development?"

Coy responded by supporting historic preservation efforts with a "7" and Gill responded with an "8" rating. Fleagle also responded with an "8" rating, and Terry Punt assigned the highest rating of any Franklin County candidate with a "9".

Linzey declared that "we hope that once elected or re-elected, these candidates will follow through on their promises - by working to preserve forest and farmland within the County, while protecting historic resources from development."

Individual and bulk copies of the Franklin County Coalition Voter Guide - which asked questions on a wide variety of issues - from corporate farming to recycled paper use - are available by calling the Coalition at (717) 530-0764.