Bradford County

Power Mapping

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Planning Commissioners

Members

This is the current roster for the nine-member Planning Commission. The year in which the member joined the Board is in parentheses by the member’s name.

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Leadership Roster

Chairman: Raul Azpiazu

1st Vice Chairman: Scott Williams

2nd Vice Chairman: Robert Storch

Secretary: Warren Knapp
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Glenn Aikens (2004)

Commissioner

Mr. Aikens has been on record as a Planning Commission member since 2004, when he was listed on the Comprehensive Plan adopted that year. He is a landowner in Litchfield who has been in litigation over three shale gas wells on his land. Mr. Aikens has 7 wells on his property. He was one of those interviewed for an episode of 60 Minutes in 2014. [Pennsylvanians Describe Costs of Fracking - DeSmog]

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Employment History: Unknown

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Education: Unknown

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Raul Azpiazu (2011)

Chair

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Mr. Azpiazu was an educator and athletic coach in the Wyalusing Area School District until 2008, when his certification was revoked in lieu of discipline for allegations of inappropriate relationships with students.

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Mr. Azpiazu’s uncle was born and raised in Havana, Cuba and was a well-known singer, conga player, and saxophonist in both Cuba and the U.S.

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His son Adam joined the U.S. Navy in 2009 and is an Aviation Electrician.

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Employment History

Current: Howard Hanna At Home Realty, Licensed Agent, 2016 to present. Mr. Azpiazu has intermingled board/representative positions with paid positions on his LinkedIn profile. 2016 is the earliest date that he is shown to be employed in a realty agent position.

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Past employment: Wyalusing Area School District, Spanish Teacher, Athletic Director, Basketball Coach, 1975-2005

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Boards/Community service

Bradford County Historical Society, Trustee

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Education:

BA, Secondary Education (Spanish), Penn State University

Certified residential Specialist (CRS)
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Email: razpiazu8253@gmail.com

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Andy Bishop (2019*) Member of Solar Subcommittee

*This is the earliest date on record for Mr. Bishop’s membership. His actual service may be longer.

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Mr Bishop owns and operates multiple enterprises in the county. These include Bishop Brothers Construction, established 1983, McGuire's Septic, Covey Painting, and Wysox Sand and Gravel. In 2013 he bought an existing quarry and sought to expand the mining permit into the Borough of Wyalusing. In news pieces about his businesses and dealings with the County Commission, Mr. Bishop appears to be a congenial community member who is transparent about his business intents and endeavors.

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Education: Unknown

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Roy Keiper (2022) Member of Solar Subcommittee

Commissioner

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Mr. Keiper was appointed to the commission on February 10, 2022 to replace a member who resigned. He was elected as Rome Township Supervisor in 2013, and records show that he did not run for re-election.

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He is an independent contractor who lives in Rome and is a member of Gideons International.

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Employment History: Independent contractor

Education: Unknown

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Warren Knapp (2004) Member of Solar Subcommittee

Secretary/Treasurer

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Mr. Knapp is on the Subcommittee to develop solar farm regulations.

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Employment History

Current: Presumed retired

Past employment: PennDOT, Highway Maintenance Manager for Bradford County, retired in 2015

Education: Unknown

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Don Murray (2004)

Commissioner

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Mr. Murray was on the Planning Commission for the 2004 Comprehensive Plan.

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Employment History

Current: Natural Resources Conservation Service, Engineer (as of 2018)

Past employment: Unknown

Education: Unknown

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Jim Souto (2018) Member of Solar Subcommittee

Second vice chairman

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Mr. Souto has been employed with PS Bank for almost 30 years. He is responsible for all oil and gas activity within the bank and lives in Wyalusing. He was elected to the Planning Commission in 2018 to fill a vacancy.

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Employment History

Current employment: PS Bank (formerly Peoples State Bank), Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative and Risk Officer, 2017-present

Community and/or board involvement

National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO), President (2017)

Wrestling coach

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Education

BS, Business Logistics, Penn State

MBA, Drexel University

Certified Minerals Manager (CMM) by the National Association of Royalty Owners.

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Robert Storch (2019)

Commissioner

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Mr. Storch is the Vice President of the Troy Sale Barn Operating Corp, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established to restore and operate an old dairy barn for community and private events. He is a former dairy farmer, and has been a resident of Troy since 1948. After graduating from Penn State, he worked with his father on their dairy farm, taking over when his father retired shortly thereafter.

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Mr. Storch bought surrounding farms and expanded the milking herd to just over 100.

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Employment History

Past employment: Retired Dairy Farmer, Storchmont Dairy Farms

Education

Agricultural Economics, Penn State University

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Community and/or Boards

Regional Cooperative Marketing Agency (dairy), board member
Bradford-Sullivan Forest Landowners Association, board member
Alparon Park Association, board member
Troy Fair, board member
Bradford/Sullivan Farm Bureau, board member
Leroy Heritage Museum, board member
Chemung Financial and Chemung Canal Trust Company boards
Bank of Canton, Director
Troy Rotary, longest-standing member, 47 years of service

Scott Williams (2011*)

Vice chair (2022)

*earliest record on Planning Commission

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No additional information was found. (common name)

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Bradford County Commissioners

Doug McLinko (R) 2004

Vice Chairman
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Year elected: 2007; this was the earliest year that election records were available, but he was a commissioner in 2004, as his signature is on the 2004 Comprehensive Plan.

Commissioner McLinko announced in February 2023 that he is running for re-election.

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Other elected positions and campaigns

Commissioner McLinko served two terms as a Wysox Township supervisor.

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In 2018, he unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent U.S. House Representative Tom Marino, a fellow Republican. During that campaign he stated that he had never gotten any campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry.

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He was a “write-in alternate delegate” for Donald Trump after the 2020 election, and unsuccessfully brought suit to stop mail-in balloting. [McLinko v. Pennsylvania - Act 77- Vote-by-Mail (PA)]

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Current employment: No additional positions found

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Stated priorities are:

Keeping taxes low
Natural gas production in the county

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Position on solar/wind: Mr. McLinko describes himself as “100 percent a shale gas guy”, and says he is a staunch supporter of “safe and responsible development”, which he believes the industry has a strong track record on. He is quoted in 2014 as saying that shale production in the county has not ruined scenic vistas, “I challenge you, where’s the scarring and devastation in that beautiful scenery? Where is it?”, he remarked during an interview for 60 Minutes.

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Commissioner McLinko wrote an Op-Ed in The Express on February 20, 2023 Pennsylvania’s in support of shale gas wells while also attempting to project some kind of support for “clean energy technologies”:

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Embracing the next steps in our clean energy future shouldn’t include our lawmakers completely writing off our best assets. There is a range of technologies that can help us boost manufacturing jobs and not overhaul Pennsylvania’s energy economy, including carbon capture and storage (CCS) and blue hydrogen.

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His opinion piece made no mention of renewable energy generation. [Pennsylvania's energy industry needs protection]

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He penned a similar piece in support of fracking in 2021 for the same publication. [Killing fracking kills our communities The Express]

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Past employment

Mr. McLinko’s campaign materials say he has run several successful businesses, but no details on these businesses were found.

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Community and/or board involvement

American Rural Energy Coalition, President
Order of the Oddfellows, member
Salvation Army Service Unit, chair
Wysox Chamber of Commerce, President in 2018
Wysox Planning Commission, member (2018)

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Education: Unknown

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Daryl Miller (R) 2011

Chairman

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Year elected: 2011. Mr. Miller was re-elected in 2019. He has filed for re-election. Mr. Miller is a resident of Wyalusing, in Terry Township.

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Current employment: None found.

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Stated priorities are:

Critical infrastructure
High-speed internet access for rural areas
No severance tax on natural gas
Flood prevention

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Position on solar: Miller supports the County’s natural gas industry. In a quote from his reelection campaign in 2019, Mr. Miller had this to say about the county’s gas production:

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“The Natural Gas Industry has continued a rapid expansion of development as have business opportunities and development relating to and supported by that industry. Working in conjunction with the County’s Progress Authority, we continue to anticipate strong economic growth and an increased provision of family sustaining job opportunity,” Miller said.

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Past employment

Cornell Industrial Corporation, CEO and co-owner, 30+ years. Cornell is a sawmill equipment manufacturer.

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Community and/or board involvement

Bradford County Conservation District Board, appointed 2017 to a four-year term
County Commissioners’ Association of PA, chairman and immediate past president
Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development Commission, board member
Bradford County Republican Committee, Terry Township representative

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Education

Unknown

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John Sullivan (D) 2000, 2007

Commissioner
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‍Mr. Sullivan is a past Commissioner who was appointed in 2020 to replace Ed Bustin, a democrat who passed away in office. Mr. Sullivan served two prior terms and was Chairman of the Board from 2000 to 2003, and Vice Chairman from 2008-2011, when he retired.

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Commissioner Sullivan wrote an Op-Ed in Morning Times in response to Mr. McLinko’s attendance at and subsequent extolling of the January 6th event in Washington D.C., Covid-19 protocols, and the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s Act 77, a no-excuse mail-in ballot law that was adopted by the State in a bi-partisan vote. Mr. McLinko unsuccessfully challenged the state in the courts over the law’s constitutionality. [The truth matters]

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Current employment: Unknown.

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Stated priorities are: