Five candidates are on the ballot for a seat on Alburtis Borough Council in the Nov. 3 municipal election. Voters will choose four who will each serve a four year term.

Democrats are Stephen Kaufman and incumbent David E. Lehr.

Republicans are Ronald J. DeIaco and incumbents Peg McCormack and Sherryann Oels.

The Press asked each of the candidates the following question: What will be your first order of business if elected to office?

Stephen Kaufman

As an advocate for open government, I feel that basic documents, such as proposed and adopted budgets and approved contracts, should be readily available to our citizenry. While this information is available at Borough Hall, it should also be provided online, perhaps on the same web page as the council meeting minutes. This is already done at the state and county levels. If elected, I will move to make more borough information available online.

David E. Lehr

To initiate a series of concurrent efforts to accomplish the following: devise a fiscal plan to address the impact of the necessary sanitary sewer rehabilitation project; improve the physical appearance of the borough by addressing the existing blighted areas/structures; assist in the implementation of the borough’s ordinance regarding mailbox installations and improve the borough’s ability to advocate for its own interests when contending with other municipalities’/authorities’ projects that impact negatively on Alburtis.

Ronald J. DeIaco

My first order of business is to find a remedy for the congestion caused by the excessive truck traffic coming into and through the borough. Alburtis is an island surrounded by warehouses in Lower Macungie Township. Much of the truck traffic from these warehouses comes through Alburtis even though there are other roads that they could use. The intersections in Alburtis are not designed to handle this amount of truck traffic. It is unsafe for our residents and our school buses. My plan is to lower and/or eliminate the amount of truck traffic through Alburtis using current laws and police enforcement.

Peg McCormack

My first order of business will be to continue being fiscally responsible, along with working to make Alburtis a pleasant place to live and work. I plan to continue to work toward a sense of community and pride. During the past years on council, I have focused on revitalization of the treasured historical homes and buildings in our charming borough. We have worked together as a community and through that cooperation, we have succeeded in having a successful Christmas festival, May festival and many other community events in the borough.

Sherryann Oels

My major concern for Alburtis is the growing industry outside of our borough and how the tractor trailer traffic is affecting Alburtis residents. Our streets were not designed for this type of traffic. I hope to work with surrounding municipalities on this, and together make our residents’ commutes safer. Although I’m not in favor of what is happening to our surrounding farmland, I’m hoping in some way it will boost the small businesses we have in Alburtis.