Meet Lehigh County Executive Candidate: Dean Browning

LEHIGH COUNTY EXECUTIVE RACE

Candidate: DEAN BROWNING

Age: 57 – Born on Jan. 28, 1956

Family: My wife, Cheryl and two dogs (Josie and Leroy)

Political party affiliation: Republican

Tell us about your educational background:

M.S. in Industrial Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology, 1979

President's Fellowship Recipient 

B.S. in Chemistry with Honors from Denison University, 1978

Sigma Xi Research Honorary

Tell us about your professional/business background:

New World Aviation, Executive Vice President, Finance & Administration

and Chief Financial Officer (2000 to Present)

Harvel Plastics, Vice President, Finance (1993 to 1999)

Floravision, President (1990 to 1993)

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of the Lehigh Valley, Finance Manager (1988 to 1990)

Nutri/System, Manager of Operations Accounting (1986 to 1988)

Air Products and Chemicals, Manager of Operations Accounting (1979 to 1986)

Why are you running for Lehigh County Executive?

Lehigh County is home to over 350,000 citizens who are looking for a better, more prosperous life.  Lehigh County government has a small, but important role to play in that.  I am running to use my more than thirty years of business experince to make sure that Lehigh County government fulfills its responsiblites in an excellent and cost effective manner while living within its means.  That requires ending the County’s practice of spending more than it takes in.

What qualifies you to be County Executive?

Lehigh County has a $360 million budget and over 2,000 employees and we cannot afford on-the-job-training for our next County Executive.

I have over thirty years of experience balancing budgets, creating jobs and growing the economy while working as part of several successful Lehigh Valley companies.  

As Commissioner, I stood up to union bosses, initiated a pay freeze, reformed the county’s compensation and pension system and saved taxpayers $6.7 million. 

My spending reforms reduced the deficit by sixty-five percent and I worked with a leading conservative lawmaker in Harrisburg to change state law and give voters the right to reject future debt for capital projects. 

I will bring real world business experience and a proven track record of putting fiscally conservative principles into practice to improve the quality of life for the people of Lehigh County.

What do you see as the executive’s primary role and responsibilities?

To function as chief executive and budget officer for an organization that is a $360 million dollar operation with over 2,000 employees engaged in wide variety of activities ranging from the Courts, to the Prison, to bridge repair, to the Cedarbrook Nursing Home.

Tell us about three major challenges facing Lehigh County and how you would address them.  (Please be as specific as possible).

There are three key issues the next County Executive will have to successfully address:

First – Under the budget just approved by the current Commissioners, the County’s deficit has gotten bigger, not smaller.  We need to truly balance the budget and eliminate the deficit and we need to do that without raising taxes. 

Lehigh County government has to live within its means just like those residents who are reading this article.  That means having the knowledge to identify real spending reforms and the courage and ability to implement them.

As Commissioner, I stood up to the unions and implemented a pay freeze and I worked to reform the compensation and pension system.  My efforts helped to reduce spending by $6.7 million and produced two straight budgets with year over year spending reductions.

Second – We need to create a climate that will allow our economy to grow and provide an opportunity for businesses to expand and create more and better jobs in Lehigh County.

I have more than 30 years of experience in balancing budgets, growing businesses and creating jobs for local Lehigh Valley companies.  As County Executive, I will use that experience to position us as an economic leader in Pennsylvania and as a place where businesses want to settle and expand.

Third - We need to work to make county government more open, accessible and transparent.  As Commissioner, I passed measures requiring campaign finance reports to be posted online; for Commissioner’s meetings to be broadcast on the internet, and I worked with a leading conservative lawmaker to change state law to give voters the option of approving future debt for capital projects.  As County Excutive, I’ll work to see that voters are given the opportunity to determine if they want to impose term limits on career politicians.

I have the knowledge, skill and proven capabilities to actually manage and reform County government, I have specific plans to responsibly balance the budget without increasing taxes, to help grow our local economy and to make County government more transparent.

How much are you spending to run? How is your campaign being funded?

The campaign is being funded by individual donations.

What, if any, endorsements have you received?

District Attorney James Martin

Former Allentown Mayor William Heydt

Former Allentown City Councilman Thomas Burke

Republican State Committeeperson Wanda Mercado-Arroyo

Do you use social media? If so, please provide links to your Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DeanBrowningLehigh

Website - http://browningforexecutive.com/