Voters in West Reading will elect four people in the Nov. 4 general election to fill seats on borough council.
Democratic candidates Denise Drobnick, Ryan Lineaweaver, Vicki Haller Graff and Justin Choate and third-party candidate Tina Shenk are running for the four-year terms.
Drobnick and Lineaweaver are incumbents.
The candidates were asked to respond to the following questions.
Question 1: What makes you an ideal representative of this area?
Question 2: What needs improvement in your municipality?
Ryan Lineaweaver
Ryan Lineaweaver
Party: Democrat.
Age: 37.
Occupation: Lineaweaver is a social media manager.
Response 1: When I joined the West Reading Borough Council five years ago, my intent was to leave things better than I found them. I now have two young daughters who love growing up here, and my focus is to continue seeing the promise and bright future of West Reading and ensuring that we can follow through on that promise. We have continued to upgrade our infrastructure and community spaces, invest in our police and fire departments, improve our park system and pool, and make fiscally prudent decisions that have helped the borough regain strong financial footing. This council has also taken strong steps recently to secure more community space and parking on Penn Avenue, while actively pursuing redevelopment opportunities that will help West Reading continue to grow.
I’ve also tried to be exceedingly transparent with the community using social media. From editing videos of events to providing monthly insights into the borough council’s activities, I want to continue to actively engage with my neighbors to understand their concerns while also informing them of what our council is doing to improve our town.
I’m forever optimistic about the future of West Reading for my family and my neighbors, and I will always work to help achieve that future for this community.
Response 2: Parking and quality of life.
I frequently hear these two concerns raised on our local Facebook community page, and our residents aren’t wrong. Our busy business district gets even busier in the evenings, often forcing parking to overflow into residential neighborhoods. Unsurprisingly, our town, incorporated in 1907 with much of its housing built in the 1920s, also didn’t plan for a future where homes owned multiple cars. Our council has worked to improve this by undergoing surveys on Penn Avenue parking, receiving a walkability grant to improve pedestrian and cyclist access, creating over 20 parking spaces along Penn Avenue at the former service center and applying for grants to add a parking structure in our downtown.
After seeing an uptick in quality-of-life issues in town, we brought our code department back in-house to ensure broader and more consistent enforcement. As a result, we have reduced costs to our taxpayers while increasing the amount of hours dedicated to ensuring our community stays beautiful. We have also continued to invest heavily in our police department, hiring two new full-time officers this year to ensure our town remains safe and protected.
Vicki Haller Graff
Vicki Haller Graff
Party: Democrat.
Age: 44.
Occupation: Graff is program director at the Jewish Federation of Reading/Berks.
Response 1: I moved to Berks County, specifically to West Reading, in 2009, and my interest and focus has always been on the community. I am dedicated to West Reading’s businesses as well as natural spaces. Working as an executive assistant at a vibrant local business and also at a respected education institution, I learned from the presidents I worked for how to represent the people you serve. In my positions at nonprofits, I learned how to focus on a mission, manage a right-sized budget and build teams and relationships.
I love living in West Reading. There is both vibrant culture and peaceful nature nearby. It’s affordable, welcoming and safe. I have friendly and interesting neighbors, diverse in background, education, age and experiences. Everyone who lives in West Reading deserves to have as excellent an experience living here as I do, and I want help to make that happen.
Response 2: I see so much good already happening in West Reading. One thing I love about living in West Reading is how walkable it is. I can run errands on foot, walk my dog or get some exercise. However, there is room to improve the safety and accessibility of our streets and sidewalks. I’m looking forward to working with council and the borough staff to improve our walkability and wheelchair accessibility through the active transportation planning grant. Moving toward safer and more accessible sidewalks and biking areas will allow our residents to spend more time outside, whether for transportation, health or fun.
Denise Drobnick, Justin Choate and Tina Shenk did not provide responses.