About Rick - his Campaign Announcement

Help Lock Haven Mayor Rick Vilello demonstrate his proven leadership at the next level – in Congress.  Mayor Vilello asks for your vote April 22, 2008 in his run for the Pennsylvania 5th Congressional District seat.

Rick & his wife Marie with PA Governor Ed Rendell

In his third term as mayor of Lock Haven and his 11th year on City Council, Rick Vilello is proud of Lock Haven’s accomplishments and the direction it is going under his leadership, and ready to bring the same level of leadership and commitment to the citizens of the Fifth District and their communities.

Mayor Vilello is concerned:  the economy is sliding into recession, the war on terrorism marches on, health care costs spiral at double or triple the rate of inflation, more and more American jobs are shipped overseas, our borders aren’t protected or honored, our infrastructure crumbles, and oil exceeds $100.00 a barrel.  Yet Congress finds time to subpoena professional athletes to find out if they broke the rules in their sport and betrayed the trust of the American people. And the federal government pours billions of dollars down the drain while local governments are stuck fixing the plumbing and paying for the repairs.

Rick Vilello believes that Congress has lost the will to do its job, and spends too much time playing politics and not enough time addressing the real issues that affect families in our district. He worries about our children’s and grandchildren’s future in light of the national debt and how quickly it is growing. Congress must get spending under control.  Congress must be a partner with the new president to address the real issues facing Americans.  We must hold our elected leaders to a higher standard; the citizens of Lock Haven know that Mayor Vilello already meets and holds those high standards.

Two major issues directly threaten economic development and the quality of life in the 5th District and throughout Pennsylvania. Tolls on Interstate 80 must be stopped and alternative funding to maintain roads and bridges must be found. Another key issue facing our district is stringent new water and sewage regulations imposed by the state and federal governments. These will require municipalities to upgrade treatment plants, and individual rate payers will see enormous rate hikes, with significant, negative consequences for industrial recruitment and retention, taking another bite out of family budgets already strained to the limit. The federal and state government must partner with local government to help pay for these unfunded mandates. Mayor Vilello’s experience as a municipal leader gives him the skill and the expertise to tackle these challenging issues and find creative solution.

Rick Vilello was born and raised in Upper Darby, PA. His father, Richard, Sr., was born and raised in Lock Haven, entering the Navy after Pearl Harbor. He met Rick’s mom, Betty, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and after World War II they married and settled in Upper Darby.  Rick spent summers in Lock Haven, and from the time he was three years old, he said he would live in Lock Haven someday.  Nobody believed it then, and few believed he would one day become mayor.  He moved to Lock Haven from State College in 1989 to care for his 89 year old grandfather after his grandmother passed away.

Rick graduated from the Pennsylvania Rural Leadership Program (RULE) at Penn State University in 1999. He completed Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities leadership training in 2003 and has served on the PLCM board of directors since 2004. He is Co-Chair of the Pennsylvania University Community Network addressing town and gown issues in university host municipalities across the Commonwealth.  He was awarded Lock Haven Universities President”s Award for University-Community service twice in 2002 & 2003.

Governor Rendell appointed Mayor Vilello to the Pennsylvania Rural Development Council in 2004. In 2007 he was reappointed to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Rural Affairs (formerly the Pennsylvania Rural Development Council) as co-chairman (the first local government co-chair). Rick has served two separate terms on the Susquehanna Economic Development Association’s (SEDA-Cog) board of directors, representing 11 counties in central Pennsylvania.  He was on the steering committee that launched Leadership Clinton County and served on that board for 6 years. He serves on the Lock Haven Hospital board of directors (since 2002) and on numerous city boards and committees as part of his mayor’s responsibilities.  He met his wife, Marie, in Lock Haven in 1992 and they were married in 1994.  Since Marie’s sister Diane died in 2003 they have helped raise their niece Sara, now 13 years old. Sara helps with their two dogs:  a Newfoundland, “Bill” and a Yellow Lab, “Gypsy”.

Rick started his business, Vilello Building Inspections, in 1997 and has been self-employed since then, providing complete construction inspection services.  Vilello Building Inspections is a PA Department of Labor and Industry Third Party Agency, and Rick is a combination commercial certified inspector. He also consults with school districts on school construction projects to facilitate those projects and save taxpayers money.  He taught plumbing and pipefitting at the Keystone Central School District Vocational School during the 1998-1999 school year, covering for a teacher’s sabbatical.  Vocational education is a top priority of his and vital to the work force development of the 5th District. Marie is a self-employed Title Abstractor.

Rick’s home phone number is 570-748-3886, and he invites you to call with any questions that you may have. We need your support and vote to:

SEND MAYOR VILELLO TO CONGRESS!