It wasn’t a debate and there were no harsh words, but Whitney Hoffman did flick a few verbal darts at state Rep. Stephen Barrar.

Hoffman, the Democratic Party candidate hoping to unseat Barrar as representative of Pennsylvania’s 160^th Legislative District, said, “It’s time for an upgrade,” in reference to Barrar’s 18 years in office.

During a response to a question about how to resolve an under-funded state pension system, both candidates said the problem could be attributed to the last three governors, but Hoffman added:

“A lot of the problems have come from the nine years of underfunding the pension plan, of having kicked the can down the road, of being overly optimistic and not being good stewards of the people’s tax money, and Mr. Barrar was there that entire time.”

Barrar and Hoffman, along with Marty Ellen Balchunis — who is running against U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan for Pennsylvania’s 7^th Congressional District seat — answered questions during a meet the candidates’ night at Fox Hollow Farm in Concord Township on Oct. 9.

Meehan, however, did not attend the event. His aide Caitlyn Ganley shared some remarks from Meehan, but did not answer questions. She said she would send the questions to Meehan and that he would respond.

The questions — from Fox Hollow residents  — were submitted in advance to the community’s Government Advisory Committee. The GAC’s Marty Frick was the event moderator.

After their opening statements, Barrar and Hoffman answered questions ranging from abortion to pensions to gun control and highway maintenance. They took turns responding to the same question. There was no follow-up rebuttal.

With regard to the pension problems in the state, Barrar said he wants to see a shift to a 401K-type plan, beginning with all new employees.

Hoffman agreed to a point, but said the shift should start with members of the legislature, both House and Senate. She said that would be a way to “beta test” the new system and work out any problems before it was applied to all other state employees.

Hoffman said she’s a firm believer in gun control, but she also acknowledges there is a Second Amendment right to own and carry firearms. She said she supports those rights, but believes there should be a requirement for training before a person is permitted to carry in public.

Hoffman also advocated stronger gun registration laws, universal background checks, and the elimination of the “gun show loophole.”

[That loophole is defined as a gap in the law that allows private citizens who are not federal firearms dealers to sell a gun without conducting a background check or keeping records. According to the Pennsylvania State Police, state law requires background checks for sales of all side arms, even between private citizens. That requirement doesn’t apply to the private sale of rifles and shotguns.]

Barrar said there’s a “delicate balance to our Second Amendment rights. and we live in a time when people are very skeptical of an increase in government surveillance over everything we buy and everything we do.”

Saying there are already hundreds of laws dealing with guns and criminals, Barrar wants those laws enforced. He cited a three-year period in which 72,000 previously convicted felons tried to buy a gun, which is itself a felony. However, he said, only 1 percent of those 72,000 were ever prosecuted.

Barrar said judges in Philadelphia, where gun violence is the worst, refuse to add the mandatory five years to a sentence when a gun is used in a crime. Efforts to impeach those judges have failed. He also referenced a comment from the state police commissioner who said criminals would always find a way to get a gun.

Both candidates said they’ve never taken any money from the National Rifle Association.

On abortion, Barrar said he’s pro-life except for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, but even then there should be no federal or state funding for the procedure.

He added that he’s only talking about restricting abortions, not birth control.

Hoffman said she’s in favor of a woman’s right to choose.

“I believe that’s a sacred decision that a woman has to make in conjunction with her doctor and her family,” she said. “The government doesn’t have any business in the middle of it.”

A question regarding maintaining roads and bridges led to another barb from Hoffman.

“He’s the only person in Delaware County, Republican or Democrat, who’s voted against the transportation bill,” she said. “Our roads are in disrepair because the people in Harrisburg keep on kicking the can down the road…Steve has been having hearings since the early 2000s about fixing Route 322, but it still hasn’t happened. And I’m just really wondering how many years we have to wait until it gets fixed.”

That transportation bill raised gasoline taxes in the state by 28 cents. Barrar defended his vote against the bill saying there could have been a better solution and that it was “irresponsible” to raise gas taxes by that much when the price of gasoline was already at a record high.

He said an increase of that size on gasoline would have a drastic impact on transportation costs, adding to the price of all goods, including food.

Barrar said there was an alternative.

“Republicans and Democrats wanted a bill that would have taxed the Marcellus Shale, a 5 percent tax, which would generate $600 million to $700 million. We could have gotten by then with a five- to nine-cent gas tax increase, which I was more than willing to support,” he said.

Barrar went on to say that he made a deal with former Gov. Tom Ridge regarding Route 322 that never materialized. The same thing happened with another former governor, and Barrar said he is skeptical even when it comes to the current governor.

“Gov. Rendell asked me to vote for his income-tax increase back in 2003. I voted for it, and he never did the project. So this governor [Tom Corbett] said ‘if you vote for this 28-cent gas tax increase, we’ll do Route 322.’ I told him, ‘I bought that road twice. I’m not buying it a third time, especially knowing that, if this governor isn’t re-elected, the promise will go out the window,” he told the Fox Hollow audience.

Barrar added that the delay, ironically, has helped save some homes. He said one of the last plans for the Conchester Road widening would have taken eight homes, but that he was able to work with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to save seven of them.

Democratic congressional candidate Balchunis said she wanted to see an increase in the minimum wage because people working a 40-hour week deserve a living wage, and their resulting extra buying power would help the economy.

She added that she’s an advocate for ensuring equal pay for women, maintaining health benefits for veterans, and keeping Medicare a federal program instead of privatizing it. Balchunis also wants to see an end to gun violence, she said.

This year’s election is Nov. 4.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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