Richard Tutak Jr., Neumann alum and a former political science student came back on Tuesday, November 19, to talk to Dr. Robert McMonagle and his POLSC-203 State and Local Government class.
Tutak has special knowledge and experience when it comes to state and local government. He has deep family political roots, with his grandfather being a party leader here in Delaware county and his two uncles also working in politics.
He has worked for members of PA state government, he was the Ridley Park borough manager, and now, he is currently the assistant manager in Springfield Township.
He described his job as borough manager of Ridley Park.
“My job was to oversee the operations of the town, public works, trash collection, snow removal, and administrating building permits.”
His current job, as assistant manager of Springfield, is similar.
Then, he talked about the importance of working in local government and it may feel different compared to working in other types of government.
Tutak said, “local government is where things get done” and “local government is where you can get your hands on everything.” He likes his work and enjoys it.
After his intro, we had lengthy discussions about a variety of topics, and the first that came up was the election.
A student asked, “Since the presidential election is over, what kind of questions have you been getting?”
Tutak responded with, “A lot of the questions we get are: What’s going to happen with taxes?” With a new president and new tax plans, many people in his district were worried about the new taxes and what that entailed.
He encouraged the students to go out and advocate for something.
“This is the opportunity for someone like you to get involved too. Either hitch your wagon to someone with values you agree with, or you start your advocacy for something you agree with. Advocacy does not have to be a billion-dollar industry.”
Not everything was just informational.
Students heard a funny story of Tutak’s craziest story as county manager, and he told a story about someone dragging a dead deer to his front lawn.
He left the class with the advice of listening to your professors and connecting with them once you leave, because they are great resources.
