Former county administrator and community planner Jon Eich announced his candidacy today for the Democratic nomination for Centre County Commissioner.
Eich served Director of Administrative Services/Chief Clerk in the Commissioners Office, the top appointed official in county government, from 1999 to 2003. He worked in Centre County’s Planning Office for 20 years from 1979 to 1999.
“As a planner, I worked with residents and local officials to fix water systems, improve roads, encourage economic development, preserve agricultural land, plan future development, implement intergovernmental projects, and protect open space. As county administrator, I learned about the needs of our most vulnerable residents, and the work human service agencies do to improve the lives of these citizens,” said Eich.
Following his service with county government, Eich ran for the State House in 2004 and State Senate in 2006, served on the County Planning Commission in 2004, and worked to have the county select a voting system which provides a voter-verified paper record.
Jon has been a resident of Centre County for 28 years. He is married to Kathleen Eich and lives in State College.
Eich earned a Bachelors degree from Susquehanna University (Political Science and Economics) and a Masters (Geography) from Penn State. He was a member of the first class of both Leadership Centre County and the Pennsylvania Political Leaders Fellowship.
Eich says that protecting Centre County’s quality of life is the greatest challenge facing community leaders. He notes that, due to the size and diversity of the county, quality of life is defined in many ways.
– It starts with preventing sprawl while assuring that affordable housing is located in areas with existing infrastructure and easy access to jobs and services.
– It includes preserving agricultural land in Penns and Nittany Valleys.
– It requires a comprehensive approach to protecting open space such as the Rockview lands.
– It calls for a variety of recreational opportunities including the Clarence-Winburne Rail-Trail, the Bellefonte Central Rail-Trail and the Beech Creek Greenway.
– It depends upon making our roadways safe for private vehicles, public transit, pedestrians, and cyclists, including completing I-99 to get traffic out of Port Matilda and off US 220 without damaging Bald Eagle Creek.
-It needs downtowns that provide a variety of public and private uses to serve current residents while preserving our historic ties with past generations.
-And finally, quality of life demands that our most vulnerable residents receive the services they need from highly qualified, dedicated personnel who have the time and resources required to do the job right.
Eich stated, “If I am elected County Commissioner, I will work hard to:
– Protect the things that make Centre County a great place to live.
-Resolve existing problems.
– Avoid new problems.”