Taylor to run for Blair Commissioner Seat

Carol Taylor has announced her intention to run for Blair County commissioner. She was the Democratic nominee for the Pennsylvania state senate seat in 2022.

Taylor, an Altoona resident, has a bachelor of arts degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Connecticut, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Houston.

She started her career in Texas as a human services planner, getting the necessary funding and planning for the first EMS system in a seven-county, largely rural district. She had a trial practice in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Taylor was a frequent educator in various areas of the law for other attorneys, and in the local schools here in Blair County, substitute teaching. In 2019, she devoted herself to counseling adults with mental health and substance abuse issues in a residential rehabilitation facility.

She is active on the board for United Families for Change. She is an advocate for those who have physical health needs, including funding for Lyme disease and chronic illness. She has been active in community organizing, and a voice for equal rights, those with mental health issues, and those who struggle with addiction.

“A commissioner needs a real world understanding of the priorities of the county,” Taylor said.

“This county has been using the prison system as a way of dealing with substance abuse and mental health issues. The approach has been disastrous,” she said. “Mental health fuels substance abuse, and the addiction to opioids and meth have added to the need for mental health support. Currently, individuals have nowhere to go to address serious mental health issues that are minimally dealt with in crisis or in rehab. We emptied sanitariums long ago and replaced them with prisons.

“Our criminal justice system, our children and youth services, are overwhelmed with problems that are multifactorial and have not been addressed by attacking the cause. The cost of our lack of focus is having an exponential deleterious effect on multi-generations of families, our communities, and our resources, not to mention the cost in human life.

“I do not hear the other candidates talking about how they will approach the true issues we face. I am in favor of keeping spending in line, and not burdening taxpayers. I do support devoting our economic resources wisely to address problems that hamper the county’s future if they are not addressed.”