Jean Foschi Steps into County Leadership
Zack Hoopes The Sentinel | February 23, 2021
When Jean Foschi ran for Cumberland County commissioner in 2019, she knew the job could be intense, but having 2020 as your first year as a public official puts it on a whole other level.
For what can be, at times, a low-profile job, the county commissioners have shouldered an increased amount of responsibility over the past year, particularly with the COVID-19 pandemic and the presidential election.
“Very quickly, COVID happened and it really changed the landscape of a first year in office,” Foschi said. “It was really a trial-by-fire thing.”
The county commissioners quickly became responsible for trying to coordinate government operations during the pandemic — operations that were often underfunded by state and federal authorities even before COVID-19 hit.
Once federal CARES Act funds trickled down to the local level, the commissioners found themselves setting up a system to distribute $23 million in aid to businesses and nonprofits, a task of unprecedented fiscal scale for the county.
“That was really a heck of an accomplishment for us,” Foschi said.
In some ways, the realities of the pandemic served to reinforce the key issues Foschi had been concerned with before COVID.
The lack of consistent state and federal support for local governments with limited taxing power was a problem before the pandemic, as were the number of county residents being left behind economically even as growth boomed.
“The people who deliver our human services, they go above and beyond on everything,” Foschi said. “But those things truly take money to change. This can’t be a county where we’re always telling people ‘you can’t have that.’”
The level of anxiety that appeared, as businesses closed and unemployment skyrocketed with the pandemic, really drove the point home.
“That is the largest number of phone calls and emails I have ever received,” Foschi said regarding the outset of the pandemic. “People in Cumberland County do not have a lot of wiggle room in their finances.”
At the same time, the 2020 election placed further strain on the commissioners, who also serve on the county’s board of elections.
The county had to implement Pennsylvania’s new mail-in voting system, with state guidance that was often subject to change through court decisions, all while Donald Trump continued to sow doubt about the integrity of the election nationwide.
The commissioners faced criticism from both the left — that the county was not prepared to count ballots fast enough to fend off Trump’s challenges — and from those on the right who bought into Trump’s conspiracy theories.
“We were expected to deliver this election with all of these things that were moving targets,” Foschi said. “The election code needs to be changed and state guidance needs to be more than guidance. That’s a conversation that’s still ongoing.”
While Foschi knew coming into the job that it may involve working with the county’s state legislative delegation, 2020 saw a considerable amount of outright conflict between the commissioners and the delegation.
The commissioners rebuked legislators who pressed the county to try to unilaterally reject Gov. Tom Wolf’s COVID-19 restrictions, a move the county had no legal power to make. Many of those same legislators would go on to spread unfounded theories about election fraud.
“I never realized how self-serving most of that delegation is,” Foschi said. “To have gotten behind that election fraud narrative and talked about election fraud in Cumberland County, that became personal for me.”
Foschi is also somewhat of a demographic outlier for the county commissioners — although it’s part of what steeled her resolve in 2020, she said. Foschi is relatively young compared to other county elected officials, and is the mother of small children. It’s not hard for her to put herself in the shoes of a struggling working parent during the pandemic.
“It’s not just me, it’s tough for everyone,” Foschi said. “Lots of people are dealing with that. They’re dealing with COVID, with the stresses of not having children in school, of not having enough money.”
Jean Foschi
Age: 51
Time in current position:
One year
Hometown:
DuBois, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Current place of residence:
Upper Allen Township
Educational background:
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, Pennsylvania State University; Paralegal Certificate, Pennsylvania State University
What do you like best about what you do?
People want to be heard. They want to know they are important, their views matter. And as their elected official I am truly listening and engaged in the work of representing them. I relish connecting with constituents and am honored they take time out of their busy lives to let me know what they are thinking and feeling. I enjoy listening and work hard at understanding their needs and wants. Some people are surprised that I answer my own phone or personally respond to emails. I can’t solve every issue but sometimes I’m the connection that gets a person the help they need; those little moments are my favorites.
Part of my journey as a public servant is actively seeking experiences and viewpoints that are outside my bubble. I’ve met wonderful people while engaging in activities and conversations that take me out of my comfort zone. Sometimes, I’m presented with a challenging conversation or a point of view I’ve never considered. I’m grateful for these encounters; I’m sure they are molding me into a more inclusive, thoughtful representative of the people who make up Cumberland County.
What is the toughest challenge you face in your leadership role?
My first year was challenging as I was learning the ropes, working as the minority commissioner and understanding how I fit into the dynamic while at the same time the county was dealing with the realities of a pandemic. COVID and its aftermath will continue to be countywide concerns for several years to come. Our human service departments are stretched to their limits as demand for services has gone up and funding has remained flat. The biggest challenge for county government in the coming years will be the everyday problems facing the people of Cumberland County on top of anticipating COVID-related stressors and planning accordingly.
What would you like the public to know about what you do?
Cumberland County government is adaptive and progressive and our people do great work and really care. As I write this paragraph, I’m thinking about Robert Shively and Michele Parsons at Public Safety and the work they’ve done to be certain that if and when Cumberland County receives COVID vaccines, we are ready, in coordination with our local partners, to operate a community vaccination clinic and deliver much needed care to our residents.
Our employees do fantastic work but their reach is limited by the fact that county government is an instrumentality of state and federal government. Some of what doesn’t appear to work in county government is driven by higher governmental authorities. Our last election is a great example of clear-as-mud, antiquated, unfunded, state law and lawmakers creating issues for county governments across Pennsylvania. Well thought-out, bipartisan election code reform will serve our residents, poll workers and Bureau of Elections employees well and solve those issues. Often, the things people are most upset about at the county are problems that can only be remedied at federal and state levels.
What is your proudest accomplishment so far?
There are no individual accomplishments in government or politics. Successes at the county are true team efforts. Here’s some that quickly come to mind.
In the first weeks of my term, my colleagues and I unanimously voted to allow immigrants to continue to settle in Cumberland County.
I’ve brought to the Board of Commissioners a more collaborative approach to problem solving.
My work with Kirk Stoner, our director of planning, led to millions of dollars in additional funding for roadway improvement projects in Cumberland County.
My colleagues and I, as the Board of Elections, delivered a secure, fair and reliable election in 2020. I will forever be amazed by the work and dedication of Bethany Salzarulo, our director of elections, and her team as they did all of the labor of delivering an accurate, fair and reliable election, in unprecedented times, under tremendous pressure to count votes as quickly as humanly possible.
I’m really proud of the work my colleagues and I accomplished in conjunction with our communications director, Samantha Krepps, and her team regarding the #MaskUp Cumberland campaign.
I’m excited that my colleagues and I supported the undertaking of a Cumberland County greenhouse gas inventory by our partners at Shippensburg University and Dickinson College. I look forward to the next phase of our greenhouse gas reduction initiative.
What do you think are the keys to effective leadership?
Leading is all about building good relationships.
I find that I build productive relationships when I listen and engage with emotional intelligence. The bull in the china shop approach does not work at any level of government. There’s a way to be at the table, and bring others to the table so that ideas presented are inclusive and there’s an esprit de corps that leads to negotiation and compromise so we create workable solutions for our problems rather than gridlock. Fighting for the sake of fighting is so passé.
What goals do you have for the upcoming year?
To keep taxes in check and be fiscally responsible while delivering much needed services to Cumberland County. I will work on bettering our relationship with our delegation and implore them to bring more state and federal funding to Cumberland County so our residents don’t have to go without. I will fight harder to ensure people are heard and cared for to continue Cumberland County’s status as a first-class community.
