Lou Barletta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lou Barletta | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January, 2000 |
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| Preceded by | Mike Marsicano |
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| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | MaryGrace Malloy Barletta |
| Children | 4 daughters |
| Residence | Hazleton, Pennsylvania |
Louis J. Barletta is the current mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Republican Party and is currently a candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district.
Born in Hazleton to parents Rocky and Angeline, Barletta graduated from Hazleton High School and later attended Luzerne County Community College and Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. He left school early to pursue a career in Major League Baseball, trying out for the Cincinnati Reds. He returned to Hazleton and joined his three brothers in their family businesses with A. Barletta and Sons Road Construction and Barletta Heating Oil. He married the former MaryGrace Malloy with whom he had four daughters.
In 1984, Barletta and his wife founded Interstate Road Marking Corporation, a pavement marking business which is the largest pavement marking contractor in Pennsylvania and the sixth largest in the nation. In the mid-1990s, he won a seat on the Hazleton city council as a Republican despite the heavily Democratic make-up of the city and having been the only Republican on the five member council. In 1999, he ran for mayor and won by a two to one margin. After taking office in January, 2000, Barletta found the city government in poor condition with a large deficit, budget shortfall and illegal contracts with all four of its unions. He sold Interstate Road Marking in order to focus on his work. As mayor, he erased the budget shortfall and renegotiated contracts which led to Hazelton earning the Governor's Award for Fiscal Accountability and Best Management Practices.
Barletta ran for the United States House of Representatives in 2002 for Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district which includes Hazelton. He received the Republican nomination and faced incumbent Democrat Paul Kanjorski. Kanjorski won the election. Since then, Barletta has made a reputation for himself for his outspoken views against illegal immigration. As mayor, Barletta and the city council attempted to pass the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, an ordinance that instituted to discourage hiring or renting to illegal immigrants. However, it was ruled unconstitutional by federal district Judge James Munley. Another act passed concurrently made English the official language of Hazleton. Barletta will be facing Kanjorski for a second congressional race in 2008.[1]
