Ross residents to choose commissioners in 4 of 9 voting wards

Ross residents will be electing commissioners in four of the township’s nine voting wards on Nov. 4 — but there is a wrinkle in one of them.

Ross has nine commissioners, each from a ward, who are staggered so that roughly half of the board is up for election in each municipal election year.

The Ward 2 race sees incumbent Democrat Chris Rand Eyster challenged by Republican Joseph Aguglia.

In Ward 4, Democrat Dwayne Lee Allen and Republican Jared Miller are vying for the seat currently held by Commissioner Joe Laslavic.

The Ward 6 race is between Democrat Haley Warden-Rodgers, who defeated incumbent Commissioner John Kettering for the party nomination in the primary, and Republican Justin Jeffrey, who was unopposed in the primary.

Commissioner Denise Rickenbrode, a Democrat, is seeking reelection in Ward 8. While a Republican challenger, Dean Riegel, will be on the ballot, he is no longer eligible to hold the seat after confirming to TribLive that he moved out of Ross following the primary for health-related reasons.

Riegel remains on the ballot because he did not withdraw his candidacy, Allegheny County spokeswoman Abigail Gardner said.

If Riegel wins the election and remains ineligible, the seat would be declared vacant and Ross commissioners could make an appointment, county elections Manager Dave Voye said.

Because Rickenbrode is effectively unopposed, she was not included in this question-and-answer.

WARD 2

Joseph Aguglia

Age: 46

Party: Republican

Education: Duquesne Law School, 2004 graduate; Westminster College, political science major, minor Spanish, 2001

Occupation: Regulatory legal compliance manager

Community involvement/volunteer work: I volunteer with Meals on Wheels McKnight through Berkeley Hills Lutheran Church. I also play Santa Claus at Ruby’s Angels Charity Event for children.

Years residing in municipality: 16 years

With state funding often limited, how would you balance the need for new projects or services with the responsibility to keep taxes manageable?

We have seen an increase in property tax sales since the taxing bodies keep increasing taxes on people of limited income. Many people are shocked when they realize the government has the power to sell their home out from under them. In my first 30 days, I would disseminate information about the sheer number of tax sales in Ross Township to create a consensus of the commissioners that a further tax increase is not sound public policy, and lower the cost of our waste hauling contract by encouraging competitive bidding and soliciting bids outside Allegheny County so that no one company can render waste hauling a monopoly. By encouraging competition through competitive bids, costs will decrease. 2026 will be coming soon. It holds precious time to do good for Ross Township. I would examine each and every line item of every bureau to determine which line items may have an excessive spending quotient within the purview of the line item. Is the line item valuable to the community? Are we using the most cost-effective means to achieve the goal of the line item? We must open the books to examine if there is redundancy within its purview. Indeed, the commissioners must be guardian of the citizens’ dollar and custodian of all government bureaus.

With the results of the Robb Consulting study of the township’s fire departments in-hand and the township going about hiring a director of fire services, briefly explain your position and thoughts on the current state of fire protection services in Ross and what changes, if any, you feel are necessary — including the development of performance standards and if you believe mergers, consolidations or closings of departments are needed.

The Robb Consulting report was published in July 2024. A full year and three months passed before any action was done to implement the objectives of the report. Further, the firefighters should have been consulted in regard to every action proposed, and the commissioners should have been transparent every step of the way. The real issue that has not been addressed by the Robb report are strategies devoted to increasing the amount of active volunteer firefighters, which only number 85, as noted on page 55 of the Robb report. The commissioners, nor the Robb report, have adequately addressed strategies to increase volunteer firefighters. My open question to the commissioners has not been answered: Will you consider having paid firefighters and will you implement a fire tax to fund paid firefighters? To date, this question has not been answered and, in my view, we should exhaust every strategy possible to increase active volunteer firefighters. As to consolidation, I am concerned that if consolidation/mergers are implemented, that the firefighters who are working at the stations that may be consolidated may not transfer to the departments that are sustained. Thus, we may further decrease the active volunteers if we consolidate departments. Additionally, I have not seen any suggestions as to what to do with the consolidated department(s)’ equipment. What happens to their station? Everything needs to be explored before I would consider consolidation/mergers of fire departments.

Finally, performance standards are helpful in maintaining active and trained firefighters. The fire services director, when hired, will be the leader in making sure firefighters are trained to lead the way in fire safety and prevention.

Chris Rand Eyster

Age: 65

Party: Democrat

Education: Pitt Law School, JD, 1985; Gettysburg College, BA, history, business administration, 1982; William Allen High School, diploma, 1978

Occupation: Commissioner, Ward 2, Ross Township, 14 years; criminal defense attorney, 40 years

Community involvement/volunteer work: Commissioner, having served on various boards (e.g., library board) and committees (community development, public safety, etc.); served as president of board. Attorney, selected to mentor attorneys practicing in federal court; frequent lecturer on criminal law subjects, most notably criminal defense ethics.

Years residing in municipality: 33

With state funding often limited, how would you balance the need for new projects or services with the responsibility to keep taxes manageable?

Sound fiscal management requires the commissioners to budget expenditures for the necessary functions of government (e.g., police, fire, public works, EMS) and determine the amount of tax necessary to cover those expenditures for the ensuing year. I am not in favor of cutting vital government services which would compromise our community. However, the township must exercise strict fiscal discipline to keep taxes low. The commissioners should be open to voter participation (surveys, referenda) whenever practicable with respect to certain expenditures (e.g., parks).

With the results of the Robb Consulting study of the township’s fire departments in hand and the township going about hiring a director of fire services, briefly explain your position and thoughts on the current state of fire protection services in Ross and what changes, if any, you feel are necessary — including the development of performance standards and if you believe mergers, consolidations or closings of departments are needed.

I believe the current state of fire protection service in Ross Township is satisfactory, but our departments face funding and staffing challenges. I would like to maintain the existing fire departments unless it is clear that consolidation or elimination of departments would provide better fire service and reduce costs. The township has broad legal authority to condition fire service funding on performance standards, workload and volunteer levels, provided the criteria used are reasonably related to legitimate fire protection objectives. Hopefully, with the director of fire services, the township can achieve the proper balance of these objectives to enhance fire service in the township.

WARD 4

Dwayne Lee Allen

Age: 60

Party: Democrat

Education: 1983 high school graduate

Occupation: First responder

Community involvement/volunteer work: Civil Service Commission member

Years residing in municipality: 21 years

With state funding often limited, how would you balance the need for new projects or services with the responsibility to keep taxes manageable?

Declined to answer.

With the results of the Robb Consulting study of the township’s fire departments in hand and the township going about hiring a director of fire services, briefly explain your position and thoughts on the current state of fire protection services in Ross and what changes, if any, you feel are necessary — including the development of performance standards and if you believe mergers, consolidations or closings of departments are needed.

Declined to answer.

Jared Miller

Age: 42

Party: Republican

Education: MA, economics, 2007, The University of Akron; BA, economics and Spanish double major, 2006, The University of Akron

Occupation: Senior director, web analytics and personalization, Kendra Scott Jewelry

Community involvement/volunteer work: Highland Estates HOA president, 2022-24; Economics Advisory Board, The University of Akron, 2021-current; board member, Literacy Pittsburgh, 2020-23; volunteer tutor for adult literacy/skills, Literacy Pittsburgh, 2015-17; volunteer tutor for adult literacy/skills, 2004-06, Project Learn

Years residing in municipality: 15

With state funding often limited, how would you balance the need for new projects or services with the responsibility to keep taxes manageable?

We need to ensure an efficient capital planning process that clearly defines the justification and priority ranking of each proposed project or spending line item. Once priority is aligned upon by commissioners, we only go as deep into the priority list as current anticipated tax revenue allows. We have to spend and govern and create a pleasant community, but we have to do so with thoughtfulness and fiscal diligence. Another tax increase on the heels of last year’s increase would be untenable at this time for our residents.

With the results of the Robb Consulting study of the township’s fire departments in hand and the township going about hiring a director of fire services, briefly explain your position and thoughts on the current state of fire protection services in Ross and what changes, if any, you feel are necessary — including the development of performance standards and if you believe mergers, consolidations or closings of departments are needed.

The current state, unfortunately, features a shortage of volunteer firefighters. I support a consolidation of departments, particularly to address the current shortage of volunteer firefighters. This likely means we ultimately finalize by keeping five or six of the departments. However, the transition must occur in a phased approach and must be done with absolute transparency: Fire chiefs and fire captains must be able to provide input and recommendations throughout the process. Current funding levels from the township to the fire departments must be left in place at least until later phases to ensure a smooth transition. I envision that the phasing will look something like:

Phase 1

• Allow fire captains and fire chiefs to interview all candidates for the director of fire services role, and only choose a candidate from their approved pool, while strongly considering their rank-ordering of candidates.

• Make the current fire marshal role a full-time role rather than a part-time role.

• New director establishes township Department of Fire Services.

Phase 2

• Partner with fire department leadership to identify which departments to consolidate; this phase likely means a consolidation to five to six departments to ensure adequate response time to all areas of the community.

• Roll-out program to drive volunteer sign-ups to support our departments and monitor progress.

Phase 3

• Implement other recommendations in partnership with fire department leadership.

• Evaluate whether there is a need for full-time employees versus volunteers.

• Reevaluate funding level.

WARD 6

Justin Jeffrey

Age: 49

Party: Republican

Education: Dual bachelor’s degrees in psychology and fine arts

Occupation: Professional education sales administrator

Community involvement/volunteer work: Involved in youth sports

Years residing in municipality: Nine

With state funding often limited, how would you balance the need for new projects or services with the responsibility to keep taxes manageable?

As Ross Township residents, we already face a high cost of living, and our local government must do its part not to add to this burden. As commissioner, I would prioritize important core services including public safety, infrastructure maintenance and community programs before taking on costly new projects. By modernizing our processes, pursuing grants and soliciting valuable feedback from our residents, we can be resourceful and push every dollar further without raising taxes. Through disciplined spending and open communication, we can keep Ross Township affordable, accountable and prepared for our future together as a strong community.

With the results of the Robb Consulting study of the township’s fire departments in hand and the township going about hiring a director of fire services, briefly explain your position and thoughts on the current state of fire protection services in Ross and what changes, if any, you feel are necessary — including the development of performance standards and if you believe mergers, consolidations or closings of departments are needed.

Ross Township is very grateful to have a team of dedicated volunteer firefighters who have faithfully served our community with selfless courage for many decades. The Robb Consulting study shows the value of hiring a director of fire services who would provide strong leadership and valuable experience to strengthen our fire safety services. This way, our volunteer firefighters can stay focused on what matters most: protecting our residents, our homes and saving lives. I believe that mergers, consolidations or closings should be considered carefully and never at the expense of resident safety. By building a strong and coordinated fire protection network, we will support our volunteer firefighters, protect every neighborhood and prepare Ross Township for a safe and secure future.

Haley Warden-Rodgers

Age: 39

Party: Democrat

Education: JD, Duke University; BA/MA, Yale University

Occupation: Attorney for a manufacturing company

Community involvement/volunteer work: Merit selection panel for U.S. Magistrate Judge; ACBA Judiciary Committee member

Years residing in municipality: 10

With state funding often limited, how would you balance the need for new projects or services with the responsibility to keep taxes manageable? I’d like to explore other avenues for generating revenue instead of taxing residents, especially those with fixed incomes. We could consider, for example, higher business property taxes for large out-of-state landlords, expanded facility rentals, stricter fees and fines for nuisance abatement and fire code violations, and exploring new sources of grant funding. I’d also support graduated property and income taxes with homestead exemptions, so that high-wealth homeowners bear a higher share of taxes.

With the results of the Robb Consulting study of the township’s fire departments in-hand and the township going about hiring a director of fire services, briefly explain your position and thoughts on the current state of fire protection services in Ross and what changes, if any, you feel are necessary — including the development of performance standards and if you believe mergers, consolidations or closings of departments are needed.

The Robb Consulting study has some valuable recommendations — including making our fire marshal full-time, and implementing a community advisory board. These are easy steps we can and should take now. Having a director of fire services is an important step, and will surely benefit the fire service overall and alleviate some of the administrative burden on our volunteer firefighters. That said, I do not support the mergers or closings proposed in the Robb report. Our volunteer firefighters need support, not punitive standards. And importantly, the Robb consolidation proposal would seriously harm coverage and response times for Ross residents in Ward 6 on the west side of I-279.