Trending
Former Altoona Police Chief Pete Starr is planning to run for the Republican nomination for the new full-time mayoral post.
“I think the city needs some fresh leadership,” Starr said Thursday. “I don’t see where it has leadership at all.”
He said he would focus on the local economy.
Altoona is blessed with I-99; with its I-99 connections to the turnpike and I-80; with its accessibility to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, Baltimore and Cleveland; with the railroad mainline; and with its abundant supply of water, Starr said.
“Why we can’t attract some new businesses and do some economic development is beyond me,” he said. “We need somebody to get down, roll up their sleeves and work with other agencies.”
Those other agencies include Altoona Blair County Economic Development Corp. and its daughter organization, the Greater Altoona Economic Development Corp., which can’t do it by themselves, he said.
The decline has been happening over three decades, abetted by local officials not being responsive soon enough to ABCD head Marty Marasco’s warning that the area needed to transform from a manufacturing to a service economy, he said.
The city’s participation in the state’s Act 47 distress program is “nothing more than a Band-Aid,” he said.
The answer isn’t to sell off assets, he said, referring to City Council’s 2014 hiring of a consultant to auction the city’s water and sewer systems in a long-term lease for a big upfront payment.
Council has put that attempt on hold and is trying to work out an arrangement with the Altoona Water Authority to monetize the asset without forfeiting local control.
Selling assets can help for a year or two, but then the money is gone, Starr said.
Starr, 70, is a welfare fraud investigator for the state.
Previously, he served as deputy director of the state Capitol Police and an organized-crime investigator for the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, he said.
He has two criminal justice degrees, a master’s degree in public administration and a Ph.D. in administration and leadership.
He worked for the Altoona Police Department for 21 years, beginning in 1969.
He became chief in 1984.
He was demoted in 1989 by then-Mayor Alan Mikula, because, Starr said, Mikula was incensed that Starr had kept him out of the loop on a sensitive investigation.
Because of the demotion, Starr retired from the department at the beginning of 1990, he said.
Current Mayor Matt Pacifico and City Councilman Bruce Kelley are also running for the Republican nomination.
The county Republican Party is neutral for the primary, said Chairman A.C. Stickel.
Stickel said he has provided information to all three candidates and is “here to help,” to ensure that a Republican ultimately wins the general election.
Assistant Public Defender Jason Imler is running for the Democratic nomination.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.