Rachael Bollens won May primary, then Andy Szekely stepped into race in summer
Voters will have two familiar names on the ballot for the next mayor of Lansdale.
Current Councilwoman Rachael Bollens and former two-term mayor Andy Szekely are squaring off for that post, after Bollens defeated former Councilman Bill Henning in the May primary. Current Mayor Garry Herbert ran unopposed for the Ward 1 council seat Bollens holds now, and Szekely filed over the summer to run in place of primary candidate Greg Gilrain.
Both candidates were asked the same questions, and below are their answers.
Bollens
Councilwoman Rachael Bollens (Credit: Rachael Bollens)Describe your background and qualifications for the position you are seeking.
A proud NPSD alum, I was born and raised in Lansdale and am currently raising my family and running a small business here. My background is in grassroots organizing, political advocacy, marketing, public affairs and accounting.
I spent the 2010s traveling the country managing local campaigns, so I have experienced, first-hand, the successful build-out and revitalization of other towns, and bring these unique insights with me.
As a current borough councilmember, I also have seen both the aspirations and limitations of local government. As a committee member on Electric, Public Works, & Parks and Finance committees, I have advocated consistently for a five-year budget forecast, to modernize our parks system and to invest for more independence in our electric infrastructure.
I’m proud to say that we have made progress on the downtown action plan, worked to get our finances up to date for 2025, and invested significantly in our pools and parks systems by accessing substantial grant funding.
I have worked on budgets and legislative issues at the statewide level with coalitions of both Democrats and Republicans, and believe this kind of alignment, advocacy, compromise and building across aisles is what is needed in modern politics to get things done.
What are the biggest issues or concerns you hear from local residents? How would you address those?
The two things that come up most frequently at doors are our infrastructure and our unhoused neighbors. Our under- and above-ground infrastructure from the 1970s is quite literally crumbling, and previous councils did not stock away any money for the town that we now have to rebuild, literally from the ground up.
Our challenge is to focus on revitalizing while we are also rebuilding. Many of the policies and initiatives we would like to see enacted are stymied because of lack of funding. I am a proponent of a five-year budget forecast and seeking private, federal, state and county investment for capital projects.
We cannot fund this monumental rebuild on the backs of one generation’s taxes. A recent success story of county-funded collaboration and problem-solving is our new transitional housing facility.
Our current mayor and council advocated at the county level to secure ALL county funding ($1.3 million a year) to build and run a 20-bed transitional housing facility in Lansdale. This is not a shelter, but a housing pathway with behavioral health services, resources and housing placement to help get folks out of the cycle of homelessness. When met with a problem, Lansdale needs leadership that will fight to find funding, collaboration and real solutions.
Your campaign website, social media pages, and/or anywhere else our readers can find you.
Website: www.votebollens.com
Social media: https://linktr.ee/friendsofrachaelbollens
Szekely
Describe your background and qualifications for the position you are seeking.
I think my almost ten years as the mayor has acquainted me with the duties and responsibilities of being the mayor of Lansdale. I believe I served the Borough well and with distinction. I worked hard to bring businesses in, such as Molly Maguires, which became Stove and Tap, Boardroom Spirits, Round Guys, Tabora Farms, Virago Bakery to name a few. Some have survived and some haven’t, but there was no lack of trying on my part.
I also created Lansdale’s first Oktoberfest, which gave birth to the Beer Festival. I attended countless events and ceremonies. I worked across the political aisle with Democrats such as Jack Hansen, Rich DiGregorio and Leon Angelichio. And when I felt it was right, I wasn’t shy in criticizing some of Council’s decisions on major projects such as the expansion of Borough Hall and the Madison Apartment project, which were supposed to revitalize the town.
Ten years after the completion of these projects, which cost taxpayer dollars, the revitalization is yet to happen.
Council and the Borough Manager at the time said if we didn’t spend money on ourselves in the form of the Borough Hall, businesses and companies wouldn’t invest in Lansdale. Well, spending all that money on Borough Hall didn’t bring businesses in. The Madison Apartment didn’t do anything for Lansdale either. In fact, it drove out one of the larger businesses on Main Street, Wister’s Barbeque, because there wasn’t enough parking. I used the bully pulpit of the mayor’s office to bring attention to these projects.
What are the biggest issues or concerns you hear from local residents? How would you address those?
The biggest issues facing the Borough right now are its finances and the ongoing homeless issue. Back in March of this year, the S&P credit rating agency placed Lansdale on a negative watch because it hadn’t performed an audit of its budget since 2022. Part of this delay in auditing the budgets is because of going through five finance directors in five years. Both of these are red flags. If the Borough credit gets downgraded, then the taxpayer is going to foot the bill for higher taxes due to higher interest rates on bonds due to increased risk.
The Borough wanted to borrow ten million dollars in the spring for major projects, including Whites Road Pool, but because of the negative watch, the Borough couldn’t borrow any money because it has no credit rating. We’ll have to wait and see what the audit of the 2023 budget reveals.
I would encourage more financial transparency and more intensive monthly budget reviews to avoid what also happened recently regarding the police budget being currently $500,000 over budget. This shouldn’t happen.
The other issue is the homeless situation in Lansdale. Based on my interactions with residents and the chatter on social media, this is a problem. While there needs to be compassion for the homeless, sometimes the compassion is misguided and it makes the problem worse, as we have seen.
Certain Council members have made this issue a priority, but Lansdale doesn’t have the resources to deal with the homeless situation. Currently, the County has 500 empty beds at Community Corrections at Eagleville. The County should look into reconfiguring this space to accommodate the homeless.
Your campaign website, social media pages, and/or anywhere else our readers can find you.
Facebook: Andy Szekely for Lansdale Mayor
My blog, Everything Lansdale https://mayorszekely.wordpress.com/
My website: https://www.andyforlansdalemayor.com/
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