Rachel Heath, candidate for Franklin council

I have lived in Franklin Borough for 43 years. Like many Franklin residents, I moved here with my late husband, Tom, to raise our four children.

After retiring from my position as Franklin Borough clerk/administrator, I have remained involved in the community as the secretary of the board of health and spend my time volunteering with senior citizens and advocating for those in need.

If elected to the council, I will be a voice for every Franklin resident and will bring an experienced perspective to all issues and opportunities alike. The following are some key issues I will focus on:

1. Municipal Budget: All borough residents are affected by rising costs that we cannot control; this is also true of the municipal budget. Keeping this in mind, as a councilperson, I will continue to explore the possibility of cost savings by gaining a thorough understanding of the existing budget.

2. Personnel: Our borough employees are the foundation of our community. I will strive to improve communication between borough employees and members of the council to help the council understand the day-to-day challenges our borough employees face. Lately, we have been experiencing the loss of key borough staff. Since most of the positions held in the administrative offices require state licenses, it is difficult to replace them while staying within the budget, and turnover impacts our daily operations with vacancies and new staff orientation. I am hopeful that having an ongoing, open dialogue with the employees could prevent these losses. Higher turnover means higher taxes.

3. Transparency/Communication: It is my goal to improve communication between the borough council and borough residents by increasing awareness on informational resources available to them. The borough recently launched a new user-friendly website, franklinborough.com. The website has upcoming events as well as all council, zoning, planning meeting agendas and minutes that allows residents to keep informed of the many facets of borough government. Improved communication leads to improved relationships, and we can truly work together to improve our community.