web1_Columnshot-1-.jpg

In Focus: Oh deer! What will happen next in Plymouth

web1_AAA-Mid-Atlantic.jpg

Average gas prices for July 31

<p>WEST WYOMING &#8212; State Rep. Aaron Kaufer is going the extra mile to reach to out citizens.</p><p>The 120th Legislative District representative will hold a series of morning talks with his constituents throughout the area featuring coffee, doughnuts, and a chance to let it all out.</p><p>At the first &#8220;Coffee with Kaufer&#8221; event on Friday, topics of discussion ranged from tax revenue, education funding, pension reform, welfare reform and others.</p><p>Kaufer, R-Kingston, stopped at the West Wyoming Hose Company No. 2 and chatted with nine residents for nearly two hours. He said it was a great way to break the barrier between the government and its citizens.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just so people can come, sit down and have a true conversation,&#8221; Kaufer said. &#8220;It&#8217;s like having an informal town hall where people can come in and talk about what&#8217;s on their minds. When I&#8217;m in Harrisburg, it&#8217;s kind of like I&#8217;m separated from the districts so to be able to come back and hear what&#8217;s on people&#8217;s minds is the number one issue.&#8221;</p><p>Though it was Kaufer&#8217;s first open discussion event in the district, he said it&#8217;s important to allow citizens a chance to meet face-to-face with governmental leaders.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m used to talking with people,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Having gone to thousands of doors, I&#8217;m used to these discussions. Sometimes it&#8217;s a family, sometimes it&#8217;s a couple of people; you just never know and you don&#8217;t want people to be fighting within the group and going at each other. But, it&#8217;s nice to sit down and have an honest conversation about what&#8217;s going on in our area and our region. People have their own set of experiences, bringing in their own perspectives, and it&#8217;s nice to hear what those perspectives are.&#8221;</p><p>Of the items discussed, Kaufer said property taxes is one of the the biggest concerns for residents. He said he&#8217;s working on a plan to eliminate them completely.</p><p>&#8220;We talked about property tax for a while and listening to stories about housing going up for sale. I wish it was a story I could say I heard once, but it is the number one issue,&#8221; Kaufer said. &#8220;It&#8217;s the number one issue of our area and it needs to be addressed. We&#8217;ve been pushing for property tax elimination with the house bill reduction plan and I&#8217;ve been talking to the Senate and governor in hopes to get a full property tax elimination.&#8221;</p><p>It wasn&#8217;t just West Wyoming residents in attendance at the discussion with Kaufer. Margaret Kile, a 65-year-old Kingston native, said she was eager to attend the gathering Friday morning.</p><p>&#8220;I talked about the welfare,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s fair straight across the board and for instance, I know for a fact that there are some people cut off with children at 9 or 10 years of age due to casualties in their family.&#8221;</p><p>Kaufer said he plans to take stories like Kile&#8217;s back with him to Harrisburg to help deal with situations like what she went through.</p><p>&#8220;When you hear people talk about how they fell through the cracks, those are the things that are hurting right now,&#8221; Kaufer said. &#8220;We can&#8217;t rebuild the middle class while we&#8217;re in need of helping others. We have to find that balance, and when you get to hear those personal stories, it resonates with you. It stays with me.&#8221;</p><p>Kaufer said he is excited for his next open discussion with locals and hopes this is something he can do more of in the future.</p><p>&#8220;We have three more planned and I do plan on doing some other town halls as well in the future,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s great to have something like this.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_Coffee-with-Kaufer-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">State Rep. Aaron Kaufer, left, speaks to constituents during &#8216;Coffee with Kaufer&#8217; in West Wyoming. Tony Goraczka, West Wyoming, listens in to the right. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_Coffee-with-Kaufer-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>State Rep. Aaron Kaufer, left, speaks to constituents during &#8216;Coffee with Kaufer&#8217; in West Wyoming. Tony Goraczka, West Wyoming, listens in to the right. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jimmy Fisher</p><p>jfisher@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>&#8216;Coffee with Kaufer&#8217;</strong></p><p>State Rep. Aaron Kaufer will hold three more sit down discussions with residents at the following dates and locations:</p><p>8:30-10 a.m., Friday, Aug. 7 at the Kingston Township Municipal Building, 180 East Center St., Shavertown.</p><p>7:30-9 a.m., Friday, Aug. 14 at the Maltby Fire Department, 253 Owen St., Swoyersville.</p><p>7:30-9 a.m., Friday, Aug. 28 at the West Pittston Borough Building, 555 Exeter Ave., West Pittston.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jimmy Fisher at 570-704-3972 or on Twitter @SD_JimmyFisher</p></shirttailMeta></div>

State Rep. Aaron Kaufer has open discussion with area constituents in West Wyoming