Sean Strub announces campaign for mayor

Editor's note: Milford Mayor Sean Strub on May 8 announced that a committee of more than 75 Milford voters supporting his candidacy for election as Milford’s mayor this coming November. He was appointed to complete the term of former Mayor Bo Fean last May and is just completing his first year in office. He ran unopposed in the primary on May 16.
There are many tangible accomplishments in the past year, including attracting new residential and commercial investment in the Borough, modernizing Borough government, and significant progress on infrastructure improvements.
But I am most proud of how a great Borough Council — led by Council President Patrick Beck, and including Council members Rob Ciervo, Annette Haar, Adriane Wendell, Frank Tarquinio, Winston Clark and Meagen Kameen — and I have worked to welcome engagement from a wider number of Borough residents while increasing accountability and transparency in the management of the Borough.
Some things may seem small — like moving the "public comment" section of the agenda from the end of the Council meetings to the beginning of the meetings — but they are meaningful in enabling residents to be respectfully heard and considered in Council deliberations.
Our modernization efforts aren’t necessarily visible to the public, but are critically important. For example, a year-long project to digitize all the Borough’s ordinances and codes, identify conflicts within the codes and ultimately have them live online will make them easily searchable and accessible to all. We have increased utilization of technology, so residents and applicants can now communicate with the Borough Secretary, building and zoning officers by email. Borough employees’ hours will soon be accurately tracked with a time-clock and we are using the Borough website and social media to communicate with the community with greater frequency.
In terms of infrastructure improvements, Park and Recreation Chair Annette Haar and I recently worked with concerned residents near Ann St. Park to choose the most appropriate lighting for the park; I have continued my nearly 20 years of work with the Milford Enhancement Committee as a major new phase of work begins on Harford Street (with a $500,000+ grant from the state); the Council and I are closely monitoring the County’s progress on the Mott Street bridge restoration (which we hope will go to bid this summer); and I met with Rep. Mike Peifer in Harrisburg concerning the possibility of state funding to restore Brook Hill Road, which has been closed since a section of it washed out years ago after a hurricane.
Milford enjoys a very low crime rate, in large part because of effective policing by the dedicated Milford Police Department. Like most Milford residents, I greatly value having an independent police department, but for us to maintain that independence it is important for us to look to the future, making sure we have a plan to fund our policing and anticipate changes mandated by the state.
Our most immediate challenge with the police department is the difficulty in hiring and retaining part-time officers, a challenge shared by other departments in the region that utilize part-time officers. I am proud that we were able to provide a 10 percent increase in the starting wage, from $15 0/hour to $16.50/hour, which is helping in our recruitment efforts. That still is relatively little, considering the degree of responsibility and courage required for the position, but it is an important step in the right direction.
An important key to maintaining Milford’s quality-of-life over the long-term is to continue to attract new investment and for our commercial center to be economically viabe. This has been a priority of mine and I regularly meet with prospective new residents or business owners to provide information about the community, advise them on required regulatory and permitting processes and encourage their investment in the Borough.
Sean Strub
Milford