Election 2023: Republican Gary Blickley For Hatboro Council

Candidates running in the Nov. 7 general election are providing background about themselves and their positions on the issues to voters in these profiles, which will run in Patch individually for each candidate.

HATBORO, PA —Gary Blickley is running as a Republican for a seat on the Hatboro Borough Council in the Nov. 7 general election.

Blickley and Republican challengers Justin Platt and Tom Rafferty are challenging Democratic Councilwomen Nicole McMenamin, Nicole Shay, and Nicole Sutton Reichner for three seats.

Biographical Information

Name: Gary Blickley

Age: 60

Town of residence: Hatboro

Position sought: Council / At-Large

Are you an incumbent? No

What Towns Does Your Position Cover? Hatboro

Party affiliation: Republican

Family: Life Partner and two children raised in Hatboro

Education: West Chester University and Drexel University.

Occupation: Retired from Tech Industry

1. What are the top issues currently facing your position and how do you plan to address them?

The top issues I will address are Hatboro’s Identity, Fiscal Responsibility, and Transparency. I will work to maintain and further develop our small-town identity by evaluating all available options to facilitate the revitalization of our main street district.

In conjunction, I will scrutinize the Borough’s budget and spending to ensure the public's tax
dollars are being spent as efficiently as possible. Lastly, the residents need to be part of and able to easily observe for themselves their local government. I will make Borough information more available and transparent for residents by improving the Borough’s user-friendliness both electronically and in person.

2. Identify specific goals or ideas you have to enhance life in your position:

• Develop a 20-year Identity plan that establishes specific steps and/or changes required to reach Hatboro’s future small-town identity.
• Establish and enforce fiscal responsibility in all aspects of the Borough’s spending.
• Change the Borough’s transparency and communication policies/practices to improve user-friendliness both in-person and electronic.

3. What in your experience or background prepares you for election to office?

I have been a resident of Hatboro for 33 years and raised two children who both attended Hatboro-Horsham school district. I worked in the Tech Industry for 30 years where I was responsible for personnel, vendors, and hardware. This included staffing acquisition and development, customer relations, customer support, service and product evaluation, product development, product testing, product delivery and installation, service support, vendor contracting, contract negotiations both vendor and client, and departmental budgeting along with additional responsibilities. I believe my above-mentioned personal and professional experiences provide me the ability to execute the office with the perspective of a resident and a business.