LENTZ RENEWS CALL FOR REFORM AND CHALLENGES MEEHAN TO BREAK HIS SILENCE

By LENTZ FOR CONGRESS

Media, Pa – Today State Representative Bryan Lentz released the following statement regarding his reform legislation that would limit elected officials to holding one office at a time. Recent controversy surrounding State Representative Mario Civera’s failure to honor his commitment to step-down from the legislature after being elected to the Delaware County Council has highlighted the need for the legislation, which is aimed at eliminating the potential for corruption, saving the taxpayers money and providing the people with the best constituent services from their elected officials.

Currently, Civera is threatening not to resign unless the special election to replace him is held at a time and place perceived to be most politically advantageous to his own partisan Republican political party.

The Pennsylvania Speaker of the House is empowered by law to set the time and place of special elections to fulfill vacancies in the legislature and has already scheduled three such elections around the Commonwealth for Primary Election Day, May 18. The reasons given for selecting this day were to allow time for voters to get to know the candidates, to increase voter turnout and to save the taxpayers money by not having to hold multiple elections on separate days. Some estimate that a single special election can cost the county in excess of $200,000.

Despite these facts, Civera persists in his demand for a separate election at the taxpayers’ expense; while he himself collects two government paychecks and his prominent Republican ally, likely congressional nominee and de facto head of his local political party Pat Meehan has been silent on these issues.

“Reform saves the taxpayers money and helps restore their confidence in government,” said Lentz. “That is why I proposed this common-sense reform measure in the first place—so that elected officials could not leverage one job against another or hold the electorate hostage for the benefit of their political cronies or special interests. People are tired of this old-style of machine politics. It is time to turn the page and move forward.

“It is regrettable that more candidates and public officials are not speaking out about this issue,” Lentz continued. “It just goes to show you how powerful the status quo is and how badly we need a new type of leadership. This is not about Democrats or Republicans; this is about changing the way our government does business and restoring the people’s confidence in our leaders.

“I am calling on Pat Meehan to separate himself from the naked self-interest of his own political party machine and to stand with the people on the side of good government and reform.

“When you ask a citizen for their vote, you are asking for their trust and confidence. If you can’t stand up to the party bosses and the special interests on behalf of those people when it comes to important issues like reform and saving the taxpayers money than you don’t deserve their votes and you don’t belong in this line of work.”

Bryan Lentz is a former Airborne Ranger, criminal prosecutor and Iraq war veteran who currently serves in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Delaware County. He was awarded both the Bronze Star for Service and the War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for his military service. He lives in Swarthmore with his wife Jennifer and their son Thomas.

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