Dr. Patrick Holland has announced his candidacy for the Penn Forest Township board of supervisors. He is running on the Republican ticket. Holland, a Jim Thorpe native, is a local physician, small-business owner and distinguished alumni of Jim Thorpe Area School District. He has called Penn Forest his home for the past five years.

“As Penn Forest Supervisor, my goal would be to serve the community I love by bringing efficiency and transparency to local government,” Holland said. “As a young graduate who started his own health clinic right out of school, my business experience has bestowed me with determination, dedication and the ability to think outside of the box to make ends meet. I feel these traits are directly transferrable to local government, where I can serve the community through a strong work ethic and fiscal responsibility.”

Holland wants to maintain the low tax burden that Penn Forest currently enjoys. He believes this is a special community, and he would consider it an honor to help preserve it for generations to come. His mantra: Throwing money at a problem only makes that problem more costly and expensive.

“We have it really good right now, however it only takes a few poor decisions to change that,” he said. “Throughout my life, I have had to find fiscally creative ways to solve financial challenges. As a result, I learned to problem solve with my head and not someone else’s money.

“For example, back in high school when our Jim Thorpe powerlifting team aspired to compete at nationals, I started the Lift-A-Thon to raise the money as my graduation project. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that experience would empower me to become the creative problem solver that I am today.”

Holland currently resides in Penn Forest with his wife, Sara, and their two daughters. He has a B.S. in kinesiology from Penn State University and earned his Doctor of Chiropractic from Palmer College. He is the owner and head physician of LiveWell Empowerment, located in Jim Thorpe.