By Amy Cherry
Daily Press Staff

As one of only three democrats running for the 5th Congressional District seat, Mark McCracken hopes his experience and proven results as a Clearfield County Commissioner will help him in the race.

Over the past 14 years McCracken has dedicated himself to public service. He has served on the Clearfield Area School District Board of Directors for 10 years and as a Clearfield County Commissioner for five years.

“I will offer a solution to problems facing northwest PA (war, budget, gas prices). We need to select leader who will confront these issues head on,” McCracken said.

Upon taking office as a county commissioner in January 2004, Clearfield County had a deficit budget with a dwindling general fund balance. After working with his fellow commissioners, other elected county officials and department heads, Clearfield County government now has had successive years of balanced budgets with the general fund balance a healthy $2.9 million at the end of 2007.

“This happened through hard work and prudent spending,” McCracken said. “We need fiscal responsibility at the federal level. I understand the problem and deal with it everyday. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to clean up the federal government’s financial mess once and for all.”

He noted that we are also seeing the effects of a bad legislature and need more help at the local level as the trickle down effect has greatly impacted the fifth district.

The 44-year-old grew up in Woodland Township. He is married to Kelly with one daughter, Amanda. McCracken attended Clearfied County Career and Technology Center and continued his education in information technology at the ICM School of Business in Pittsburgh.

McCracken was formerly employed as a data systems programmer with in the engineering department of North American Refractories Company, (NARCO) in Curwensville.

For the past 16 years, he has been employed by the Clearfield County Government as Director of Information Technology.

McCracken noted that Clearfield County will welcome the state’s first biorefinery, Bionol Clearfield. The county is also slated for a second ethanol facility to be constructed in Curwensville by Sunnyside Ethanol. Together these entities will bring in an estimated 150 jobs to the county, a fact McCracken is very proud of.

“We should have been progressing on these issues of energy independence in the 70’s. We have learned our lesson,” McCracken said. “With American ingenuity we can create alternative energy technology, especially by using our colleges to help make energy domestically produced.”

In regards to the country’s immigration policy, McCracken said in order to help alleviate the problem the U.S. can work to help raise the standard of living in Mexico, to prevent more immigrants coming to the U.S. illegally.

“We have been a compassionate country for 200 years,” McCracken added.

As for Social Security reform, McCracken notes that the system must be maintained for future generations and to keep these funds separate from other government funds.

“In the future, we need to educate young people about investing and to stress the importance of having a plan in place for retirement,” McCracken said.