DINGMAN, PA — Two current Pike County Commissioners debated with two candidates who would like to take their place at a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters at the Dingman-Delaware Middle School on October 19. The debate brought hundreds of residents to the auditorium to hear the candidates’ views.

Incumbent Republicans Rich Caridi and Matt Osterberg were joined on stage by Democrats Dave Ruby and Steven Guccini.

Asked to address budget issues, Caridi noted that while the state has yet to adopt its budget, Pike has been able to avoid cutting services thus far, and the county has sufficient resources to carry on for a while without cutting services.

Guccini noted that income from the jail was down significantly, and that would have to be addressed at some point.

Osterberg said his spending priority is to find more funding to address the heroin and opioid addiction problem that is plaguing Pike and much of the rest of the country.

Ruby agreed that the heroin problem is a significant problem and one that needs to be addressed at the middle school level.

Historically there have been significantly more registered Republicans than Democrats in Pike County, but that has been gradually changing over the past several years.

The election will be held on November 3.