Locals Get Help During State Rep.'s Satellite Office Hours

Bob Kilbanks is on his cell phone with the home office in Mount Bethel, trying to resolve a PennDOT issue for a Forks Township woman who had come to see him a half-hour earlier.

The district office manager for state Rep. Joe Emrick is making one of his numerous house calls in the 137th Legislative District as part of a program that takes place the first and third Thursdays of every month.

Since April, Kilbanks has represented Emrick during at the and the Nazareth Public Library.

"It has worked out very well. We have a steady stream of constituents who have problems with Pennsylvania. People are taking advantage of our office hours," he said. "I like getting out on the street. Our whole point is to be accessible to people."

He usually spends four hours at each location, hoping to help as many of the 69,000 constituents in the district, which serves 11 municipalities in Northampton County.

Kilbanks brings with him a few boxes of brochures on prescription drugs for senior citizens, consumer protection benefits and rights for older Pennsylvanians and ones on firearms, crime, motorcycle operation, energy saving, fishing and boating, game and wildlife and activity books for children.

"People are really happy about the map," he said. "They say that they haven't seen a map of Pennsylvania in a while."

He gets between five to 10 visitors to each session. A lot of the issues he deals with center around filling out property tax rebate forms and, like Thursday, a matter involving a driver's license discrepancy that Kilbanks was trying to cut through the bureaucratic red tape to resolve.

"She came to the right place," he said. "I think we're doing a good job of listening to the concerns of the constituents. Joe's votes in Harrisburg are reflecting the concerns of citizens."

Kilbanks said Emrick is hoping to open a second legislative office in the southern portion of the district. The district is comprised of the boroughs of Tatamy, Stockertown, Nazareth, Portland and Bangor and the townships of Forks, Palmer, Washington, Upper Nazareth and Upper and Lower Mount Bethel.

"That could be in Tatamy, Nazareth or the Forks area, within reach of Palmer Township," he said of the possible second office. "We're working on that right now."

While Kilbanks knows it's difficult to reach all constituents, he's hopeful about one upcoming program, -- a senior citizens fair on Oct. 21. About 300-500 people are expected to attend the event, which will offer free flu shots and include about 50 vendors from local and state agencies. It will be held from 10am to 2pm at the Forks Community Center, 500 Zucksville Road.

For more information, call Emrick's office at 570-897-0401 or visit RepEmrick.com.