Bollens wins Primary, poised to make history as Lansdale’s first female mayor

Lansdale Borough Councilwoman Rachael Bollens is potentially six months away from being elected the town’s first female mayor in its 153-year history.

Bollens, the endorsed Democratic Committee candidate, nearly gained double the votes of her Democratic challenger Bill Henning in Tuesday’s Primary – unofficial Montgomery County tallies show Bollens with 1,017 total votes over Henning’s 527 votes.

This locks Bollens in as the Democratic challenger to Republican Greg Gilrain in November.

“Congratulations to Rachael. Naturally, I am very disappointed with this setback, but despite that, I will continue the hard work and dedication to our town as I have,” Henning said Tuesday night.

Bollens received 589 votes on Tuesday to Henning’s 355. Mail-in votes tallied 428 for the victor and 172 for Henning. There were no provisional votes and two unresolved write-ins.

Gilrain, who had no Republican challenger, received 430 total votes – 342 on Election Day and 88 mail-in votes.

The Republicans also had 43 unresolved write-ins on Election Day and 12 mail-in write-in unresolved votes, according to unofficial county records.

According to Montgomery County Voter Services, unofficial results showed out of 11,546 total registered voters in Lansdale Borough, 1,569 ballots were cast in the Democratic primary. In the Republican Primary, 571 votes were cast in the election. The county posted voter turnout countywide at 20%.

Read about the county turnout and other primary results here.

Below are Bollens’ answers to The Reporter’s Primary questionnaire:

Describe your background and qualifications for the position of Lansdale Mayor.

My background is primarily in grassroots organizing, political advocacy, marketing, public affairs and accounting. I was born and raised in Lansdale, and am currently raising my family here, though I spent a few years out of college traveling as a union organizer and campaign manager.

I have seen first-hand successful build outs of other towns, and bring these unique insights and experiences with me. I have worked with and for local governments and know how they operate (or cease to).

Currently I work with a state-wide coalition of both Republicans and Democrats on environmental issues, and this kind of alignment, advocacy, compromise and building across aisles is what is needed in modern politics to get things done.

A modern and revitalized borough will need strong vision and leadership, and experience with marketing, communications and coalition building to propel us into our future. I believe I bring this unique perspective and set of skills to the table.

What would your main goals or priorities be as mayor?

First, we need to continue the revitalization of our town, support our local businesses, connect with non-profits and get more constituents engaged in building the Lansdale of our future. Creating a modern and economically viable infrastructure will take significant grassroots organizing and coalition building to establish the entities and investments needed to affect real change.

I would take charge in assisting to create a Business Improvement District and hiring a Main Street Manager to encourage growth, tackle vacancies and attract private investment.

At the federal level we are seeing significant cuts to environmental policies and protections. One way to combat this is to make investments and protections at the local level. I am in support of a Shade Tree Commission, limiting our Public Works’ use of toxic chemicals in our parks, protecting our open spaces, and finding investment to add more affordable and reliable energy sources to our Electric Department.

What do you see as the biggest issues the mayor and council must address in the next four years?

Unequivocally the answer is our budget. Many of the policies and initiatives we would like to see enacted are stymied because of lack of funding. Our infrastructure is crumbling, and previous councils did not stock away money for the road and sewer infrastructure from the 1970s that we now have to rebuild, literally from the ground up. Our challenge is to focus on revitalizing, while we are quite literally also rebuilding.

Currently, we tackle our budget one year at a time, and each year we, not surprisingly, come up short. I am a proponent of a five year budget plan and encouraging ten year or more build out plans for capital investment projects. Capital projects should seek private investment collaboration, when possible, and also utilize to the full extent, federal, state and county grants. We cannot continue to fund this monumental rebuild on the backs of one generation’s taxes.

Residents have discussed revitalization and vacant businesses for much of the 2020s. How would you approach filling in empty storefronts and attract and retain businesses in town?

This is hard to answer in limited words — my downtown action plan is online. The biggest opportunity for our borough is the creation of a Business Improvement District. This is an independent board/legal entity, composed of businesses themselves — able to access revenue streams like public/private grants, donations, loans and local subsidies. A BID can make decisions and access funding, without being shoe-stringed by council. In concert with a Main Street Manager, a BID could improve facades, signage, cleanliness and accessibility, attract investment, and diversify businesses through marketing and promotion of real estate.

If it sounds too good to be true, check out all of our successful neighbors who have this or a similar entity to bolster revitalization. Businesses, nor council, can single handedly address an entire economic rebuild, but together we can uplift business voices and create a culture of collaboration and problem solving to build the Lansdale of our future.

Council has approved tax, electric, and sewer rate increases in recent years. How would you balance maintaining town infrastructure against increasing costs for residents?

We are in unprecedented economic times. Both parties at the federal level have done little to alleviate the financial burden of working families, stabilize inflation, address our post-covid economy, or follow through on promises of financial investment and development. It feels that we are alone in our towns, trying to keep the lights on. This burden subsequently falls to the borough’s tax base — us. My family is not immune to getting the electric shut-off notice, so this is a personal as well as moral issue for me.

I do believe there is significant private investment available to support the rebuilding of our borough. We need to market Lansdale and create a plan to attract outside investment to alleviate the burden on our tax base. We will not price residents out of this borough at the cost of revitalizing, and finding that balance between new investment and being an affordable community for all is a necessity.

Your campaign website, social media pages, and/or anywhere else our readers can find you.

Website: www.votebollens.com

Socials: Bollens Link Tree

Editor's Note: This article erroneously printed that the county turnout was 5.72% and has now been amended.