Councilman Joe Flickinger is seeking re-election to Lehighton Borough Council, with a "common-sense approach for a better Lehighton."

A 2001 graduate of Lehighton High School, Flickinger has always looked out for the residents and visitors of the borough and has been involved in its emergency services since 2001.Flickinger enjoyed participating in the Sesquicentennial Celebration events daily and strives to build community strength with the various businesses, residents and civic groups.Flickinger is currently the chairman of the streets, buildings, and codes committee, and the co-chairman of the Power and Light Committee. While on these committees he was active on the planning committees for both the new fire station and Power & Light building.He worked with the Power & Light superintendent with new LED streetlight upgrades, which through their energy efficiency will save the borough an estimated $387,192 over 10 years.He has also worked on acquiring paving equipment for the borough Public Works Department, so they would be able to maintain the streets to a higher standard. His actions echo his stance on proper future planning and budgeting, instead of unnecessary wasteful spending.In 2012, Flickinger was also awarded the Firefighter of the Year Awards from the Lehighton VFW Post 256 and Shoemaker-Haydt American Legion Post 314.Two years later, in 2014, Flickinger was appointed as the borough Emergency Management coordinator and has obtained the Advanced Level Accreditation through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.In an effort to build safety awareness in the community, Flickinger began working with various agencies and community groups to install more than 450 smoke detectors in Lehighton area homes. For this program, he was awarded the 2016 Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Red Cross Pocono Mountains Chapter.As a borough representative, Flickinger has a perfect attendance record at all regularly scheduled monthly meetings.His belief is that council members should be present at all meetings - barring emergency circumstances.Borough members are to represent the residents, and the importance should be right here with Lehighton Borough residents.