The Election is over. Unfortunately, I did not prevail. Thank you for your support.

“Let’s Move Schuylkill County Forward Together”

Meet Ray

Home life

Ray and his wife, Gail (McFadden) have been married for 31 years. The couple have one daughter, Megan and Granddaughter, Briella. Ray and Gail reside in Ashland.

Community

Ray Jones is heavily involved with his local community serving as an assistant fire chief and volunteer firefighter for over 38 years. In 2012, He turned to municipal management when he was hired as Borough Manager and Municipal Secretary for Ashland Borough. Ray recently retired as a career fire chief for the Army National Guard.

As Borough Manager, He is active in the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce, recently appointed to the Board of Directors and served Government Affairs and Infrastructure (Transportation) Committees for many years. He joined the Broadband Task Force to seek funding to provide internet service to the underserved areas of Schuylkill County. Ray is a firm believer in the partnership between business and government for community success.

Ray serves as the Vice-Chairman (founding member) of the Schuylkill County Land Bank. The Land Bank is a flexible and optional tool to combat blight. It was created to help strengthen our cities and towns by enabling them to systematically remove problem properties from an endless cycle of vacancy, abandonment, and tax foreclosure, and return them to productive use.

Ray also serves on the Board of Directors for the Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine & Steam Train and is a municipal representative to the North Schuylkill Council of Governments.

Through all of his 38+ years of public service, he had one goal in mind….

“Moving Schuylkill County Forward!”

Why I am running

“Public service is my passion. As the Son of a Nurse and Coal Miner, my parents taught me a strong work ethic, conservative values, and to give back to my community. After many years of thought, I feel that it is time to step up and serve the residents of Schuylkill County. With the right kind of leadership, Schuylkill County can become a destination for businesses looking to relocate, providing good jobs and families looking for a great place to live, work and raise their families.

I am a fiscal conservative. I want to ensure that we are operating our county government and providing services, effectively and efficiently. I am interested in increasing our tax base through economic development and not raising taxes.

As your County Commissioner, this will be my only job, listening to and working for the citizens of our county. I have no other job or outside business interests. I am a lifelong Republican. I have witnessed the harm of partisan politics, especially at the local level. One of the goals that I want to achieve is to bring civility, common sense, and a teamwork”

VISION

Rebuild Trust, Demonstrate Integrity, Rebuild Public Confidence in County Government.

PROMOTING PERFORMANCE AND PROFESSIONALISM. Abolish the current dysfunction in the Commissioner’s office. Ensure that county offices operate with one objective in mind, serving the public in the best way possible. Serving the taxpayer is job one.

Transparency and Open Government

Good government is built on the understanding that information must be communicated between governments and the public they serve. Government officials need to act openly, with citizens’ knowledge of the decisions the officials are making. Open availability of information on government actions and policies creates a clear sense of governmental responsibility.

Getting Our Fiscal House in Order

Reckless spending and wasteful government programs threaten the safety, security, and economic well-being of this county. For Schuylkill County to continue to improve, we need to ensure that our fiscal house is in order.

CONTROL SPENDING AND IMPROVE EFFICIENCY. I am committed to providing excellent community services and charge the county departments to effectively manage public resources, encourage innovation and continuously improve business practices.

Support First Responders

As a 38 year firefighter and 33 year career as a firefighter and chief, I know the importance of supporting our fire responder community. Our county first responders, firefighters, police, and EMTs are imperative to the safety of our residents. It’s a perilous job that often times must performed with limited resources. I will work to support their needs.

Economic Development

I will be working with communities, private companies, SEDCO and the Chamber of Commerce to support growth, help create good jobs, and invest in our workers. Continuously seeking improvements in affordable housing, and health care. I will reorganize the economic redevelopment authority to serve many projects in communities throughout all of Schuylkill County.

Veteran’s Services

Schuylkill County is home to over 13,000 veterans. Our nation is what it is today because of their service and sacrifice. We owe our active duty and former military, reservists, National Guard and their families our sincere gratitude, respect and support. I have worked in support of our military for the past 33 years. I will honor our military community and work to support them and improve county veteran’s services.

Over 38 years of Public Service