This week Shana sat down with Noel Rivera. Noel is the Green Party candidate for the 127th Pennsylvania House District. The district includes parts of the City of Reading and Kenhorst. Noel is originally from Lebanon, PA, and is an Air Force Veteran. He served and was deployed to Bagram AB, Afghanistan, and was awarded the Air Force Achievement Medal for volunteerism and excellence in service. After the military, he moved to Reading, PA, and earned a B.S. in Accounting in 2019 and an MBA focusing on community engagement and economic development in 2020. Currently, he works in the Accounting Department of a company in the Reading area. Throughout his work and experiences, he knew that he always wanted to get involved in the community and politics.

Throughout their discussion, Noel talked about some important issues that are of key interest to him. One of them, is developing Reading into an Ecodistrict and finding creative ways to bring the city into an up and coming green and sustainable city! If elected, he hopes to work with other elected officials in Harrisburg to develop a network of Ecodistricts across Pennsylvania. Shana and Noel talked about other issues that he is concerned about and what influenced him to run. One of the key issues is passenger rail being brought back to Reading. Together they talked about how crucially important it is for the service to come back to Reading and it also should be implemented in a fair and just way for all of the city’s residents.

To find out more about Noel’s campaign please visit his website or Facebook page.

We all need to vote in this very important election on November 3rd! Here in Pennsylvania, you have the choice of voting early, by mail-in paper ballot, and in person. Your mail-in ballot MUST be postmarked before November 3rd to count. Don’t forget if you decide to vote in person, Election Day is November 3rd. Polls in Pennsylvania are open from 7 am-8 pm. If you are a Pennsylvania voter and would need any necessary voter information, please go to votespa.com.

Episode 016: Running for Reading, PA’s Green Future