Issues
Chester County has always been blessed with its land, its people and its commitment to progress. As candidates for the Chester County Board of Commissioners, Kathi and Bill see these issues as essential to maintaining these assets while improving upon them for those who follow…Managed Growth
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Chester County is a special place, but our population grows at an unprecedented rate. The result has been overdevelopment, which replaces our Open Space and farmland with congestion, sprawl and higher taxes. Fortunately, the County's nationally-acclaimed land use plan, Landscapes, provides us the answers — but implementation has been passive. As Commissioners, Bill and Kathi will provide new energy and vision to address development concerns.
- Bill and Kathi will raise the County's current commitment to Landscapes from $15 to $25 million per year. To fight sprawl, we must spend more now on open space, while also focusing on rehabilitating and redeveloping our downtown areas.
Kathi and Bill will also take the lead in encouraging more multi-municipal planning. Bill was part of the team that wrote the Urban Center Revitalization Plan for West Chester Borough — the first in Chester County. He and Kathi would encourage similar but larger efforts on a multi-municipal basis.
- Finally, Kathi and Bill will make the County's in-house counsel available to provide support to municipal attorneys defending against overdevelopment and our excellent Planning Commission a proactive asset in helping municipalities plan for open space.
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The Entire Cozzone/Scott Plan For Managed Growth
Open, Honest Government
Decades of GOP commissioners have used County tax dollars to entice contributions that fill their coffers; they've ignored the will of citizens by making decisions without their input. Kathi and Bill will open up County Government.
- They will make decisions only after allowing public comment
- They will never hold secret meetings without minority participation
- They will combat pay-to-play by administering County contract and hiring policies without regard to political contributions
Environment
Kathi Cozzone and Bill Scott are fully committed to protecting Chester County's environment for the sake of our health, prosperity and quality of life—and for future generations. To us, "environmentalism" is not a word that defines a narrow set of issues to the exclusion of everything else. It is not a fringe movement to be relegated to the sidelines. The environmental issues we now face are inextricably linked with economic, health, national security and quality of life issues. And while they pose great challenges, they also present opportunity.
Nowhere is this challenge and opportunity more evident than here in Chester County. With a growing population approaching a half million people, the distinction of being in the top one percent of wealthiest counties in the nation, and our bounty of natural and human resources, Chester County can achieve what may otherwise appear to be lofty goals.
We are committed to this idea, and that is why we advocate for smart, far-reaching solutions that consider the whole picture. We are proposing this… FOUR-PART ACTION PLAN for Protecting and Improving Chester County's Environment
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The time for visionary action is past due. We must act now. By electing both Bill Scott and Kathi Cozzone, the voters of Chester County will empower a Democratic majority to affect real change.
Long-term Strategic Plan
Kathi and Bill will adopt a long-term strategic plan to allow the commissioners to look at least five years into the future when making budget decisions, providing better protection of the taxpayers' money. Shortsightedness among the current commissioners results in reactionary tax increases. Through long-term planning, the County's social, administrative and emergency services can be improved without breaking the bank.Transportation
Shortsighted overdevelopment has choked our County's roads with traffic and hurt our environment. Bill and Kathi are committed to fulfill Landscapes by making sure traffic patterns and public transportation options are available in urban and suburban centers. They will work hard to improve mass transit to better serve more citizens. Finally, they will go to bat for local municipalities to make sure that developers pay their fair share of transportation improvements.
Advocacy
County Commissioners should serve the interests of its citizens by addressing problems affecting local communities. Too often, commissioners do the minimum required of them. Kathi and Bill will reverse that trend by going the extra mile on every issue.
