Kathy Dahlkemper // GlobalErie.com Profile 12.13.08
 Kathy Dahlkemper |
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When Kathy Dahlkemper embarked on her campaign for Pennsylvania’s 3rd House District more than a year ago, the country wasn’t facing the economic meltdown.
Detroit’s Big Three automakers were not on the verge of bankruptcy.
Credit was easier to access. Unemployment was low.
Now, as she prepares to take office after her victory over incumbent Phil English, Dahlkemper is being thrust into a tumultuous situation.
The decisions she and her colleagues make on Capitol Hill will likely determine the length and severity of the current recession – and will help determine Erie’s long-term economic fortunes.
I recently had the opportunity to talk with Dahlkemper as she prepares for her new role in Congress.
Here are some highlights from the interview:
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Can you talk a bit about the campaign and when you thought you really had a chance to win this seat?
"It was an incredible year in many different ways. I had never really known how much work it would be. It took over my life. I have a complete new respect for anyone who runs for any office. People don’t realize how much time and effort goes into it. I can count the days on one hand the days I wasn’t campaigning during the past year.
"Having never run for office before, it was a big learning curve for me. As you go through, I almost had that feeling over the summer where I thought 'This could really happen.' The feeling hit me earlier than the actual election itself."
You’re taking office at a time of economic crisis. How are you balancing the task of preparing for your new role while also dealing with this issue?
"It’s basically like starting my own business. They give me a budget and I have to decide how I want to staff up. I have to focus on all of the things that you do when you start a business.
"We have to get our staffing up to 16 full-time employees pretty quickly. That’s a challenge to do that in 5-6 weeks. Part of that depends on what committees I’m on."
How does that process work?
"It gets assigned. I put in requests. I tried to request committees that I thought would be beneficial to the region and ones that fit my skills.
"But in the end, there are certain slots that get filled because they need to have certain representatives by party."
You recently went down to Washington for freshman orientation. What did you learn during that week?
"There was a lot of nuts and bolts. I will also be going to the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. We’re going to have the best and brightest experts teaching us about issues like Afghanistan and energy issues.
"In Washington, we attended sessions on topics like appropriations for the budget. We went to a budget briefing in D.C. that was fantastic. It was very frightening and daunting to see where we are on the federal level on the budget.
"The Kennedy School will get me more into the meat of being a representative. Issues like national security, the economic crisis, health-care policy."
Has this experience changed your thinking on any of the issues you campaigned on?
"When I started running on Oct. 24 of 2007, one of the biggest issues I was talking about was job creation in this region. The number one issue in this region is jobs and the economy. Other regions of the country are now talking about that. We saw that as a need from the beginning.
"The quality of the life in this region is fading. The jobs that supported generations of workers have left. Children can no longer stay there after school and have a job. The community is becoming more of a retirement community.
"When those retirees pass away, how do we bring new jobs here? We have to find new jobs that are going to come in here.
"One avenue is energy technology, which I truly believe is going to be the next big economic growth in this country."
How will you differ from your predecessor on these issues?
"There’s some federal programs that are in place now that we’re not taking as much advantage of as we should in this community. I need to try to find out what we have been utilizing in this region and see if we can tap into more financing programs and tax-incentive programs for businesses. Things that are already in place that we need to take advantage of.
"On the issue of energy technology, we need to have a true energy policy in this country. How can I be part of that?
"There’s going to be a lot of interest among the new members of Congress on that issue.
Many of us were pushing that issue in our campaigns. Fifty four of us.
"The Republicans were campaigning on ‘Drill, baby, drill.’ It should be ‘Invent, baby invent.’ We really have to be looking about using the entrepreneurial spirit in this country. We have to tap into that, because it’s there.
"How do we better engage everyone in this country knowing that we have such huge issues in front of us?"
What do you think we need to do to address the economic crisis? Are bailouts really the answer?
"It’s going to have to be more infrastructure based. Whether you’re building a road or a bridge, you have an asset rather than just giving people a check.
"Not only does it create jobs. Not only does it give people paychecks. If you put people to work, they are getting a paycheck, they are going to put that to work.
"I hope to be extremely responsive to people and involved. I hope to be a leader and move projects forward. We have to have forward-thinking ideas for this region.
"I met with the Manufacturers’ Association (recently). There are a lot of very intelligent people in this room to have great ideas. Call me with your new ideas. Call me with the thinking that you have on these issues.
"It's going to involve combining different ideas. That collaboration of ideas can help bring us better solutions: gathering as many ideas as we can from different constituencies. We need to put our agendas aside as much as we can to move things forward."
How do you think people will perceive Congresswoman Dahlkemper?
"I'm going to be very visible. People know I’m going to be very out there.
"I'll be going out to different communities. I’ll be setting up tables at grocery stores — being out there and being in touch with people wherever they are.
"This is seven counties. This is a big area. There’s a concern that because I’m from Erie, that I will be centered on this region. But there are a lot of places to the south that we want to pay a lot of attention to."
Stay connected to GlobalErie for highlights from my interview with Dahlkemper’s predecessor Phil English. Rep. English shared some interesting thoughts about his tenure, his legacy, and his future.
-- Peter Panepento
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