Martha J. Sanders, a lifelong Farrell resident, community organizer and former Farrell councilwoman, is running for mayor of the city on the Democrat ticket, according to a news release.

"I believe that those in places of responsibility; those rendering services and those who believe that those in places of responsibility and those who benefit from Farrell's statistics and get public money because of those statistics ought to be accountable to the residents of Farrell," she said.

"I believe that those people who get a share of funds designated to Farrell as a distressed city, ought to be monitored as to the usage of those funds."

She also wants to see jobs come back to the city of Farrell. "Farrell residents ought to receive first consideration for loans and have preferential consideration for jobs from those who obtain loans," said Rev. Sanders, pastor of Hour of Power Full Gospel Tabernacle, Inc., for the past 27 years.

"We have gone over the limit joining in with other communities in various endeavors. We have helped far more than we have been helped. I am more than disappointed and disillusioned by the businesses that started in Farrell, prospered in Farrell and moved to other communities without looking back. We cannot afford to be split up and divided between communities who make it apparent that they do not want us," she said.

She was the founding executive director of the Mayor's Human Relations Commission, Farrell, in 1968. In 1971, she became executive director of the Human Relations Commission of Erie, where she remained until 1976. She was also Human Relations Project Director for the Shenango Valley Urban League. She is presently a member of the Shenango Valley Ministerial Association, an ordained Bishop of ACTS Association, president of Shenango Valley Believers Against Drugs, a member of Mercer County NAACP, and the Coalition of African American Women.

She has been appointed to the Municipal Police Officers Training Commission by former Gov. Milton Shapp; a court-appointed special advocate for Mercer County by Judge Albert E. Acker; Mercer County Commission for Women; to Juvenile Probation Community Court, Farrell, by Judge Francis J. Fornelli; and as chairperson of Mercer County Anti-Discrimination Commission.

Rev. Sanders has also served as Democrat Committeewoman in Farrell 1-1 for 12 years, and was it's secretary for eight years. She was also the secretary for the Mercer County Democrat Committee for four years.

She served on Farrell City Council from 1991-1995, she was elected vice-president of Pennsylvania League of Cities Western Region, and served on the Fireman's Negotiation Committee and Pension Board. She was also a member of the Shenango Valley Enterprise Zone and the Mercer County Regional Planning Commission. She was also a member of the Pennsylvania Equal Rights Council (PERC), a charter member of Shenango Valley Initiative and a board member of MCAR.

Rev. Sanders was the 1983 recipient of the Sojourner Truth Meritorious Service Award from the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc., of Youngstown.

In 2002 she was awarded the Leadership Courage and Service Award in 2002 from the Mercer County Anti-Discrimination Commission. In 1981 she was honored for her 28 years of Dedicated Public Service by then Farrell Mayor Eugene C. Pasci.

"Farrell must save Farrell. We've shaken things off and kept moving on long enough. Now its time to tackle our problems one at a time and do whatever we must do to solve them," Rev. Sanders said. "It takes a visionary to see that Farrell can become a self-sustaining community once again."