Oct 29, 2012 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – Not since Gerald Ford was president of the United States and the price of gas was 59 cents a gallon has the 50th Legislative District had a representative in Harrisburg other than Howard William DeWeese. That will all change once the votes are tabulated Nov. 6 and either Democratic Greene County Commissioner Pam Snyder or Republican businessman Mark W. Fischer of Waynesburg will become a new voice in the district for the first time in 36 years. The constituency in the district that encompasses Greene County and parts of Fayette and Washington counties has had no representation in the House since DeWeese was sentenced in April to a 2 1/2- to- 5-year prison term following his conviction in February of conspiracy, conflict of interest and three counts of theft for using legislative staff and other public resources to bolster his election campaigns from 2001 to 2006. He resigned from the House the day he was sentenced. While both candidates agreed DeWeese’s legacy of governance was hinged on the unyielding loyalty of his supporters because of what he did for fire companies and community organizations. Snyder and Fischer, nevertheless, have quite opposing views of how government should function. Fischer said his overarching philosophy is less government is a good thing in general. “Government by its nature at all levels is cumbersome, slow and inefficient in many situations,” he said, “and that’s by design.” He said government works best when it picks an area that matters. “It should focus on areas that makes sense and regulatory authority is part of that,” he said. Snyder said she believes the purpose of government is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the people. “My opponent differs from me. He believes government is intrusive and the least amount of government is better in his eyes,” she said. But, she says government does not have to be big and inflated. “If we want to have safe roads, safe bridges and clean water, economic growth and development and human services funding – services our people use and need every day – you have to have government to do it,” she said. Fisher, on the other hand, believes Snyder to be a traditional power-based political player. “I don’t thinks she has much experience outside of the political arena, whereas my experience is diverse in government and gives me a different focus,” he said. “It’s not about telling people what to do; it’s about making government work the right way.” Yet, the two do agree on some issues, such as term limitations for legislators, property tax and pension reform. With respect to the latter, Fischer said it is important to make sure the cost of an employee is passed through the agency that employs that person. “People who are in the system count on that money. You can’t say, ‘Sorry, it’s all gone’ because it’s not fair or right,” he said. “If you are going to make changes to the way the system operates you have got to make it on the people coming into the system.” Snyder said the state is in a predicament and “it can’t be fixed by taking something from something they earned,” she said. “Someone who has worked for their pension deserves their pension,” she said.. Snyder said the funding formula for public education needs to be changed. “It is not fair a child can get a better-quality education based on a zip code,” she said. With respect to imposing a sales tax in lieu of a property tax, Snyder said she would be in favor of looking at any type of revenue. “But you cannot do it with just one tax; it would have to be a compilation of several things to make it work. And there should have been more revenue dedicated from casinos.” Fischer said districts spend an average of $15,000 a year to educate each student. “We can’t shift to just a sales tax plan and have no property tax because the sales tax will go up and property taxes will come back. In reality, we have to cap the per student costs.” Fischer said Snyder does not have that “personal likability,” while Snyder countered she hopes the race is about name recognition and “that people know who I am and what I stand for,” she said. Fischer works locally as a business manager for Booz Allen Hamilton of Washington, D.C., which does consulting work for the government and various industries. Previously, he was the assistant program operations director for the Virtual Medical Campus/Homeland Security Programs for West Virginia University Snyder is serving her third four-year term as commissioner and previously worked as a senior aide and deputy district director for the late U.S. Rep. Frank R. Mascara.