In Etna’s council race, only the Ward 1 race is contested with incumbent Democrats Megan Tunon and Brad Iannuzzi and Republican challenger Nicholas Behr Leffakis running for two open seats.
The Ward 2 race only has Democrat Ronald Trader on the ballot.
In Ward 3, Democrat Jessica Semler is the only person on the ballot for the four year term and Republican Colleen E. Schaefer is the only candidate running for the two-year seat.
Here are the Ward 1 candidates and their responses to this question posed by the Tribune-Review: Etna is considering instituting a single-use plastic bag ban in the borough even though some businesses are skittish about it. Yes or no, is this a good idea? Why or why not?
Brad Iannuzzi
Iannuzzi did not respond to requests for comment for this article.
Nick Leffakis
Age: 35
Political party: Republican
Education: Master’s degree, public administration, University of Pittsburgh; bachelor’s degree, political science, La Roche University; associate’s degree, liberal arts, Community College of Allegheny County
Occupation: Taxpayer, information and services technician, PA Dept. of Revenue
Previous public office: Former zoning and code enforcement officer, Borough of Etna; former ordinance officer, Township of Stowe
No, it is not a good idea for the borough to ban single-use plastic bags. First, considering there are no major retailers or grocers, it would have zero impact on the environment. Secondly, I don’t believe local government should actively engage banning things in general without widespread agreement and evidence. To the supporters of such a ban I would ask, should we next start banning the use of plastic in food product packaging? I think not, because these are impractical solutions.
Megan Tuñón
Age: 38
Political party: Democrat
Education: Bachelor of Arts from Penn State, master of education from Bloomsburg University
Occupation: Executive director, Etna Community Organization
Previous public office: Etna Councilperson since 2018, vice-president since 2022
Ending our dependence on single-use plastics, and plastics in general, is one of the most important things we can do, and I am dedicated to finding solutions to move us in that direction. That being said, we are a small, tight knit community and our council will not pass any ordinances that put undue burdens on our businesses. Therefore, a plastic ban doesn’t seem to be the right approach. Instead, we’d like to find ways to work with our businesses by offering education and finding resources for them to make a shift away from plastic in a way that doesn’t hurt their bottom lines.
