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Dennis Biancuzzo (Clearfield County Commissioner, Pennsylvania, candidate 2023)
Dennis Biancuzzo (Democratic Party) ran for election to Clearfield County Commissioner in Pennsylvania.[1]
Elections
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Dennis Biancuzzo completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Biancuzzo's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Dennis Biancuzzo is a 1979 graduate of Clearfield Area High School. He attended Penn State University, HACC, and numerous other educational institutions throughout his career. He relocated to Virginia and worked in the hospitality industry as a restaurant and hotel manager at the Best Western Quantico.He returned to Altoona, PA and worked for Skills of Central Pennsylvania as a program manager working with individuals with developmental disabilities. Biancuzzo later relocated to Harrisburg where he worked as the assistant to the director of Dauphin County Domestic Relations. Upon returning to Clearfield County, he and his partner opened Place of Rocks Roadhouse.
Biancuzzo has always made community service and volunteerism a priority throughout his life. He is the 2011 recipient of the Pennsylvania Crime Prevention Citizen of the Year Award. In 2020, Biancuzzo relocated to Jacksonville, N.C., where he founded the Onslow County Community Center, and the Jenna Franks Transitional Housing Program for the homeless. In 2022, he was awarded the 2022 Lightkeepers Award of Volunteerism by the Onslow County United Way and the 2022 Award of Excellence for Outstanding Community Advocacy and Humanitarianism while living in Onslow County, N.C.
- I know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck,” he says. “I have been willing to work hard for everything I have and I think the people of Clearfield County share that trait. I want to work to build the county into the best area for the residents who live and visit here. I want to work hard for each taxpayer and give them the best effort to live, play and love Clearfield County.
- Local citizens do their best to vet their political candidates to ensure they get public officials into office that are honest, have integrity, and will work for the best interests of the community. When the media comes forth with news about fraud in government, it's a huge letdown, especially when it happens in local government. Secrecy creates an environment where there is the potential for the lack of accountability and abuse of power. When information about how a local government operates isn't forthcoming, it causes the public to be skeptical. Best practices for good governance recommend that transparency is a vital component of good government and strong communities. One of the challenges in making local government transparent to an
- Creating Equitable, Healthy, and Sustainable Communities. Strategies for Advancing Smart Growth, Environmental Justice, and Equitable Development aims to build on past successes and offer low-income, and overburdened municipalities approaches to shape development that respond to their needs and reflect their values. We must provide land use and community design strategies that bring together smart growth, environmental justice, and equitable development principles and that community-based organizations, local and regional decision-makers, developers, and others can use to revitalize our communities. Strategies can grouped under seven common elements that connect environmental justice, smart growth, and equitable development: Facilitate M
Community and Economic Development (Three parts)
Economic growth and development can be measured by a marked improvement in total value of products and services, usually in an annual period. So what does it take to improve our economy? Enforce Solid and Effective Economic Planning Economic planning is defined by key economic decisions as to the proper allocation of resources. These decisions are based on the economic system’s comprehensive assessment or evaluation. Unfortunately, inefficient public enterprises and heavy bureaucracies impede economic growth. When it comes to economic planning, there should be a strong implementation of economic policies, and commissioners should have the political will to enforce these policies. Without a strong political will, economic planning objectives or short-term and long-term goals won’t materialize as they’re expected to be. Capitalize on Infrastructure According to research, infrastructure is considered an economic stimulus, or one factor that drives the economy. If a county has reliable infrastructure, jobs will surely be created. That’s why capitalizing on infrastructure is crucial for economic growth and development because it attracts both local and foreign investors. Make Businesses More Competitive Regulation is burdensome for business, most especially for small businesses because it means more time and money spent on fees, business permits, licenses, and other documents to run a business legally. Complying with regulation
Cook at the Dutch Pantry Restaurant - 3 years
Assassination of Robert Kennedy 1968, i was 7 years old.
My Father, he's honest, hardworking and a dependable man that was on our city council for 18 years. He always makes the right decision for his family first, then himself.
Leaders must nurture diversity for community wellness.
Our local leaders must embrace intentional strategies to nurture demographic diversity. By supporting locally owned small businesses, implementing environmental and quality-of-life improvements, and nurturing new community-led structures we will build capacity and advance community wellness.
Creating a Shared Vision
Successful collaboration focuses on the long-term goals of community members, while both embracing their differences and recognizing their commonalities.
Long-term goals must be defined early and revisited. Doing so, community members can (re)focus their attention to the overall mission and shared goal of the collaboration.
Engaging Stakeholders
Stakeholders are individuals who are affected or could potentially be affected by a decision or circumstance. Stakeholders come to the table with different perspectives and interests in the issue, whether it be a problem or an opportunity.
Stakeholder Inclusion
Communities might face challenges in building trust to achieve inclusion and participation of commonly excluded perspectives. Including stakeholders early in the process and engaging them throughout the process ensures collaborative efforts will focus on the public’s values and needs. In turn, the public gains insight into the complexity of the current issues and opportunities.
Community inclusion is a legal and human right that addresses social determinants of well-being. The increased opportunities to live a meaningful life in the community enhance general wellness, economic stability, and future sustainability.
It can be difficult for rural communities to compete, but there are incentives that a County can offer to increase their economic vitality, and bring new businesses and industry into the area. We need to start using these incentives to boost the appeal of our County to these developing industries through several actions:
1. Focus around marketing transportation hubs and rail connections near Interstate 80, Route 322, and other highways to prospective developers of commercial, residential, and industrial opportunities.
2. Develop one or more "Business Incubator" type facilities, which can provide an entrepreneurial ecosystem for businesses and workforces to access resources, support and technology instruction, while having a brick and mortar space to expand their business if applicable.
3. Work with State Officials and broadband service providers to come to an equitable solution to our rural broadband needs, while ensuring a cost effective way for our residents to have access to our global knowledge.
4. Identify public transportation needs, enhance equity and access in under-served communities, and increase funding to shuttle services to better serve industrial parks & local business areas, educational institutions, and healthcare facilities.
5. Provide tax incentives to small businesses to encourage creation and or movement of new opportunities within the County
6. Work with relevant organizations to encourage and enhance training in expanding industries, with a focus on alternative energy, advanced manufacturing, cannabis, tourism, hospitality, and film.
7. Work to define the relationship between the County government and the current economic development organization, ensuring that the taxpayer monies being provided to them are used for projects benefiting County economic development.
8. Create an inventory and marketing plan for “shovel-ready” properties in order to analyze and support sites for development and prospective industries.
The old saying "it takes a village" has always provided itself to be true. We must empower our residents to take a stand, when they see something the must say something.
I believe our first responders must all have training in solving the 21st century problems when it comes to crime and public safety. We must do better.
I believe in law enforcement assisted diversion programs for first time offenders and will work to ensure Clearfield County implements a full program.
Finally, I believe our judicial system in the county is and has always been overburdened with only two judges. I will focus energy on providing the judicial system with at least 3 justices.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
External links
[1] ↑ Submitted to Ballotpedia's candidate survey in 2023.
