More than a dozen local residents sat down with U.S. Senate candidate Joe Sestak at the Wheel House Café in Shippensburg Tuesday morning to hear about his plan to improve emergency services in the commonwealth.

Sestak, 63, who is a former three-star admiral of the U.S. Navy and a former representative from Pennsylvania’s 7th congressional district, is walking 422 miles across the state as a part of his political campaign to unseat incumbent Sen. Pat Toomey.

“People have no trust in our political leaders,” Sestak said, after nearly finishing his day’s trek from Carlisle to Shippensburg. “That’s why I’m walking — to gain their trust.”

Trust, which Sestak believes is the biggest deficit America faces, is exactly what he was trying to establish early Tuesday as he drank coffee and discussed local issues with members of the community.

One such issue, and the central theme of Sestak’s visit, was the funding of municipalities to improve their emergency services, including EMS, fire departments and law enforcement.

Sestak said Toomey, who beat Sestak in the 2010 senatorial election by a margin of approximately 2 percent, has publicly voiced his appreciation of emergency personnel but has repeatedly voted against grants for their funding in Washington, D.C.

Among the many topics discussed, including human trafficking, abuse of the elderly, healthcare, foreign policy and the ideology of his campaign, Pennsylvania’s infrastructure became another focal point.

One individual questioned Sestak concerning the low funding of the state’s highway trust fund, to which the political candidate suggested doing three things: introducing a mileage use program for highway drivers; invest in public-private ventures (PPV’s) to maintain highways; and to more efficiently use Pennsylvania’s Infrastructure Bank.

Pennsylvania comes in 41st place in the nation for highway standards, according to Sestak.

While he recognized the problems with the state’s roads and bridges, one of Sestak’s main focuses is to improve the commonwealth’s education system.

“I think education is our homeland defense,” he said.

After answering several questions, Sestak spoke with attendees one-on-one before heading out to Route 696 to begin walking the next leg of his journey across the state. Several people joined him as he made his way through Shippensburg, southbound on Route 11. His next stop is in Shade Gap, Pennsylvania, to discuss recreational rights.

The story of his on-foot campaign starts with a drawing Sestak’s daughter made years ago of two red shoes with a slogan beside them saying, “Joe Sestak is walking in your shoes.”

The drawing, along with a famous quote from Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” about understanding people when you are in their shoes, inspired Sestak last year to organize the trek, which began on March 4.

Sestak hopes to gain both the trust of Pennsylvanians and the perspectives of numerous people as he makes his way from town to town.

He said his favorite part of doing this is when people stop to talk to him, and when he is in solitude he thinks about what the lives of others are like.

“If trust is so important then what I say isn’t enough, it’s that I must do what I say,” Sestak said. “I’m a big believer in accountability.”

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