Anna Mae Ressler

Long-standing Republican Committee Woman Anna Mae Ressler passed away Wednesday at the age of 79.

Ms. Ressler was a committed member of the Ephrata Area Republican Committee, serving as secretary, treasurer and vice-chair. Just one week before her death, Ms. Ressler was in attendance at the RCLC endorsement convention in Lancaster.

“Although I did not know Anna Mae for very long, I feel fortunate to have known her at all,” RCLC Chairman Ethan Demme said upon learning the news Thursday. “Her impact on the Republican Committee of Lancaster County was immeasurable. She was an amazing woman who will be sorely missed.”

A patriotic American and ardent Republican supporter, Ms. Ressler also was a member of Lancaster County ACTION and served the Ephrata community with dignity and honor.

Born in West Earl Township, Lancaster County, her family moved to Manheim Township when she was a youngster, and she attended Manheim Township schools.

Active in the E.C. Church since 1961, Ms. Ressler served as Sunday school teacher, steward, Vice President of the official board, Lay delegate for 15 years, youth leader, choir member, soloist, worship leader and librarian. She was also an avid student of the Bible. As a 17 year Lay witness missioner, she traveled to nine Eastern states in addition to Germany, Scotland, and New Zealand.

Life celebration services will be held at Grace E.C. Church, 101 North 7th Street, Akron, PA on Sunday, February 5 at 4 p.m.

Meeting 6
Votes were cast on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 by members of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County in the 99th, 128th and 129th Legislative House Districts.
99th House District candidate Gordon Denlinger: 15 straw poll votes (out of 15 ballots cast)
128th House District candidate Mark GIllen: 4 straw poll votes (out of 4 ballots cast)
129th House District candidate James Cox: 5 straw poll votes (out of 5 ballots cast)
13 Senatorial District candidate Lloyd Smucker: 3 straw poll votes (out of 3 ballots cast)
7th Congressional District Patrick Meehan: 2 straw poll votes (out of 2 ballots cast)
16th Congressional District candidate Joseph R. Pitts: 21 straw poll votes (out of 21 ballots cast)
Twenty-three ballots were cast and collected: 20 were cast by Committee members in attendance; three were cast by proxy.

Meeting 5
Votes were cast on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012 by members of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County in the 41st and 98th Legislative House Districts.
41st House District candidate Ryan Aument: 33 straw poll votes
Thirty-four ballots were cast and collected: 27 were cast by members of the Committee in attendance, 7 were cast by proxy.
98th House District candidate Dave Hickernell: 19 straw poll votes
Nineteen ballots were cast and collected: 18 were cast by members of the Committee in attendance, one was cast by proxy.
15th Senatorial District candidate John McNally: 0 straw poll votes
Two members of the Committee attended; both abstained in favor of an open primary.
13th Senatorial District candidate Lloyd Smucker: 13 straw poll votes
Thirteen ballots were cast and collected: 11 were cast by members of the Committee in attendance; two were cast by proxy.
16th Congressional District candidate Joseph R. Pitts: 54 straw poll votes
Fifty-five ballots were cast and collected: 47 were cast by Committee members in attendance; eight were cast by proxy.

Meeting 4
Thirteen ballots were cast and collected on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012 by members of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County in the 13th and 100th Legislative House Districts.
13th House District candidate John Lawrence: 1 straw poll vote
100th House District candidate Bryan Cutler: 10 straw poll votes
13th Senatorial District candidate Lloyd Smucker: 12 straw poll votes
16th Congressional District candidate Joseph R. Pitts: 4 straw poll votes

Eleven ballots were cast and collected on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 by members of the Pequea Valley Area Republican Committee in the 7th Congressional District.
7th Congressional District candidate Patrick Meehan: 11 straw poll votes

Meeting 3
Votes were cast on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 by members of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County in the 43rd Legislative House District.
43rd House District candidate Keith Greiner: 32 straw poll votes
43rd House District candidate Glen Beiler, Jr.: 10 straw poll votes
13th Senatorial District candidate Lloyd Smucker: 37 straw poll votes
16th Congressional District candidate Joseph R. Pitts: 42 straw poll votes
16th Congressional District: Chet Beiler (write-in): 1 straw poll vote

Forty-three members of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County attended the informational/straw poll meeting.

The next informational/straw poll meeting is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012 at the Paradise Township Municipal Building. Votes will be cast by Committee members from the 100th and the 13th Legislative House Districts. Another second informational/straw poll meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Jan. 18, 2012 at Hempfield High School. Votes will be cast by Committee members from the 41st and 98th Legislative House Districts.

Meeting 2
Votes were cast on Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 by members of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County in the 96th and 97th Legislative House Districts.
96th House District candidate Tom Garman: 16 straw poll votes
97th House District candidate John Bear: 28 straw poll votes
13th Senatorial House District candidate Lloyd Smucker: 38 straw poll votes
16th Congressional District candidate Joseph R. Pitts: 41 straw poll votes

Forty-nine members of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County attended the informational/straw poll meeting. Sixteen members were from the 96th Legislative House District and thirty-three members were from the 97th Legislative House District.

The next informational/straw poll meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17 at the West Lampeter Township Municipal Building. Votes will be cast by committee members from the 43rd Legislative House District.

Meeting 1

Votes were cast on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 by members of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County in the 37th Legislative House District.
37th House District candidate Mindy S. Fee: 19 straw poll votes
37th House District candidate Stephen Black: 11 straw poll votes
16th Congressional District candidate Joseph R. Pitts: 29 straw poll votes

Thirty-one members of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County attended the informational/straw poll meeting. Thirty ballots were cast and collected; four were by proxy.

Commissioner Martin Requests Current Jury Commissioners Resign

Commissioner Scott Martin

LANCASTER, PA – At their Dec. 28, 2011 weekly Public Meeting, Commissioner Chairman Scott Martin and Commissioner Craig Lehman voted to abolish the Office of Jury Commissioner. Commissioner Dennis Stuckey was absent for the vote.

“Since the 1980s the County of Lancaster has paid outside entities to maintain records of eligible jurors and to make a random selection from those databases; we have been and remain confident in the capabilities of these entities to do such,” Commissioner Martin said. “As a result, the Office of Jury Commissioner has no real authority or role in Lancaster County Government.

“Until recently, the County of Lancaster was mandated by State law to uphold these positions–including salary and benefits–regardless of their necessity,” Commissioner Martin said. “However, when Gov. Corbett signed Act 108 of 2011 into law, it enabled county governments of the Second Class A or Third through Eighth Classes to adopt a resolution or ordinance abolishing the office of Jury Commissioners; this is what we did at yesterday’s meeting.”

Under the new law, counties may not eliminate the office in a year in which the Office of Jury Commissioner is on the ballot, nor can the Commissioners abolish the office prior to the completion of the current Jury Commissioners’ term of office. Lancaster County’s two Jury Commissioners are serving a term through 2013.

“Although we cannot require that the two current Jury Commissioners step down, in fairness to the taxpayers of Lancaster County, I respectfully request that both Jury Commissioners resign their positions immediately. Doing such will save the taxpayers of Lancaster County over $85,000 over the next two years,” Commissioner Martin said. “I believe it is the appropriate thing to do, especially since computers have been doing the work of jury commissioners for almost 30 years.”

Commissioner Martin also noted that the two Jury Commissioners are very nice people, that this was not personal and thanked them for their service to the public.

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This resolution was passed in 2009 regarding the Jury Commissioners and is in line with the Republican Party’s good government ideology:

RESOLUTION of the REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE of LANCASTER COUNTY ENDORSING the ABOLISHMENT of the OFFICE of JURY COMMISSIONER as ADVOCATED by the LANCASTER COUNTY BOARD of COMMISSIONERS

WHEREAS, Lancaster County Jury Commissioners have capably served the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas and the citizens of Lancaster County for many generations; and

WHEREAS, as long as the office continues, the office of Jury Commissioner must be filled by competent individuals; and

WHEREAS, the office of Jury Commissioner was established in 1867 for the manual compilation of a pool of potential jurors, an integral function essential to our judicial system; and

WHEREAS, today, the courts of the Commonwealth perform this task electronically, thus eliminating the intended duties of this office; and

WHEREAS, every county of the Commonwealth must be particularly prudent in the expenditure of its citizens’ financial resources, and strive continuously, most especially in this time of economic stress, to undertake cost efficiencies; and

WHEREAS, it is imprudent, wasteful, and unacceptable to mandate taxpayers pay for the continuation of an antiquated governmental position that benefits their government very minimally at best; and

WHEREAS, most Boards of County Commissioners of the Commonwealth, including that of Lancaster County, do not have the authority to abolish the office of Jury Commissioner; and

WHEREAS, legislative action by the General Assembly and the Governor, comparable to that accorded Berks County in 2002 (viz., Act 41 of 2002), would permit the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners and other, similar Boards in the Commonwealth to also abolish the office of Jury Commissioner, thereby providing those Boards the opportunity to govern with the utmost of financial responsibility; and

WHEREAS, legislative bills are presently being proposed in both houses of the General Assembly proposing that the governing bodies of counties be granted such an option; and

WHEREAS, the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners has unanimously advocated it be granted the authority to abolish the office of Jury Commissioner; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Republican Committee of Lancaster County, assembled this seventeenth day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, endorses the stated position of the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners in seeking the legal authority to have the option of abolishing the office of Jury Commissioner; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Republican Committee of Lancaster County supports very expeditious consideration and adoption of legislative initiatives that would permit every county government in the Commonwealth to exercise this same option for the benefit of its tax-stressed citizens; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Republican Committee of Lancaster County convey this Resolution to the Lancaster County delegation to the General Assembly and to the primary sponsors of applicable legislative proposals in the General Assembly, and also present a copy of the Resolution to the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners.

ADOPTED this seventeenth day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine [...]