6 people running for 3 seats on Jefferson Hills council
Three seats on Jefferson Hills council are open and six people would like to fill them, according to the Allegheny County Office of Elections unofficial candidate list.
Incumbents Karen Bucy, Nicole Stoicovy-Ruscitto and Joseph Lynch will face newcomers David Bentz, Edward Manfredi and Kevin Polick.
All seats are four-year terms.
Diva Mares and Brian Militzer are running for one two-year term.
Here are the candidates and their responses to questions posed by the Tribune-Review.
4-year term
David Bentz
Age: 52
Political party: Republican
Education: Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh; baccalaureate in Spanish education from the University of Pittsburgh; master’s in education from Phoenix University
Occupation: Behavior health school educator for AHN
Previous political experience: Elected member of Jefferson Ridge HOA
How much growth and development in the borough is too much? Has Jefferson Hills already hit that threshold? I do not believe that the growth we are experiencing now is too much. We need to find the resources and create opportunities for everyone that wants to live in the Borough of Jefferson Hills. Maximizing opportunities will help make sure that all of our constituents are served appropriately.
Karen Bucy
Age: 66
Political party: Democrat
Education: Bachelor of Science from University of Pittsburgh, Master of Science from California University of Pennsylvania
Occupation: Retired South Park teacher (37 years)
Previous public office: Current 4-year Jefferson Hills council member
How much growth and development in the borough is too much? Has Jefferson Hills already hit that threshold? The question of the amount of growth and development in Jefferson Hills borough is a question that is complex and requires in-depth analysis to determine options and solutions. Jefferson Hills borough is a residential community consisting of 16.9 square miles with predominantly single-family homes. Throughout the history of the community, residents purchased small and large farmland acreage. As time passed, many farmers’ family members did not choose to operate the family farms and maintain the land parcels. Therefore, in our capitalistic society and according to the residents’ rights stated in the Pennsylvania municipal planning code, acreage was sold off as a financial investment to developers. This has resulted in more individual homes being built. Recognizing this trend, the JH council approved the International Building Code and updated the current zoning ordinance that incentivized additional green space in new housing developments. JH council’s comprehensive plan process is currently addressing the concerns of the residents regarding development of single-family homes, planned residential development, additional green space, and improved recreational facilities and parks. The JH council has acknowledged the need to attract more commercial and environmentally friendly industry to the area as a priority for generating more tax revenue. Hopefully, the JH borough will investigate tax incentives, grant proposals for more river front property development, and the study of the flood prone areas on Route 51 to allow for more commercial and industrial growth to occur.
Joseph Lynch
Age: 38
Political party: Republican
Education: Bachelor of Arts in political science (Southern New Hampshire University), Master of Arts in international relations (Norwich University), current Ph.D. student in instructional management (Robert Morris University)
Occupation: Manager of maintenance and service, Pittsburgh Regional Transit
Previous public office: Current member of council (2 years)
How much growth and development in the borough is too much? Has Jefferson Hills already hit that threshold? Our rapid growth is a good problem to have. We have younger families moving in and we need to reflect that. At the same time, we need to be careful and not grow too fast with our residential development, so we don’t drive property values up to the point where we cripple our senior citizens and middle class families, which make up the bulk of our community. Late last year, we updated our zoning laws, which gave us more oversight so we can influence more reasonable business development. Now we need to take the next step and expand our private-public partnerships with our local businesses while attracting more investment. This way, we can take the burden off the taxpayers and allow us to enhance development that hasn’t occurred yet. Furthermore, we can grow a sustainable resource of revenue and expand our public services such as our parks and recreation that residents have long awaited for, continued modernization of our public safety corps and evolvement of our library.
Edward Vincent Manfredi
Age: 70
Political party: Democrat
Education: Bachelor of Science from Duquesne University, Master of Science from Penn State University
Occupation: Retired public school teacher, more than 35 years
How much growth and development in the borough is too much? Has Jefferson Hills already hit that threshold? Jefferson Hills is a growing community. I would like to attract more businesses to our commercial areas in order to reduce the tax burden for the residents. At the same time, we should be mindful of our recreation and green spaces.
Kevin Polick
Age: 60
Political party: Republican
Education: Master of Business Administration, 1992, University of Pittsburgh; Bachelor of Science in computer science, 1986, University of Pittsburgh
Occupation: Master data governance manager-sales and operations planning at United States Steel Corp.
Previous public office: Member of the borough’s planning commission and comprehensive plan steering committee
How much growth and development in the borough is too much? Has Jefferson Hills already hit that threshold? When I was a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School, the 1980 census listed Jefferson Borough (which then became Jefferson Hills in 1998) with a population of 8,643. The 2020 census for Jefferson Hills listed a population of 12,424. Much of this population increase is recent, between 2000 and 2020. Many of our new residents now reside on parcels of the family farms of the past. These farms were sold due to a variety of reasons, but the demand for housing plans outweighs the current request for farm ownership. In addition, to protect the owner, Pennsylvania law properly does not have any restrictions regarding who an owner can sell to.
The undeveloped acreage in the borough is particularly enticing to developers knowing that there is demand for family homes within the borough for its affordability, green spaces and a quality school district. This demand is reflected in the ongoing developments for an additional 300 homes in the borough. To me, this continual desire for someone to pick Jefferson Hills as their home for their next chapter of life needs to be embraced. This challenges us all to seek new solutions to find the proper balance for the borough and our existing, new and future residents.
I am able to continually connect with residents in the community through door knocking. I enjoy hearing their desires and ideas for the future of Jefferson Hills to support its growth. Some ideas include additional recreation facilities such as a recreational or community center, additional athletic fields to support youth sports, and upgrading our existing recreational amenities. These desires are going against a borough government with limited land ownership and a challenging topology, in addition to the inevitable raising of taxes to accommodate these aspirations.
The borough needs to develop new revenue sources and not just depend on property taxes to accomplish these ideas. To attract new businesses to the area, it is necessary to begin reaching out to businesses and promote the benefits that our growing borough has to offer. These concepts for future business owners will hopefully generate the same level of excitement that our new residents experienced when first moving to the borough. This can be done while still retaining our core values. Both the Route 51 corridor as well as 837 along the river can be the site and source for these new revenue prospects. It will not be easy, nor a quick solution, but it will never be done if we don’t start.
Nicole Stoicovy-Ruscitto
Age: 52
Political party: Democrat
Education: California University major in education; Duquesne University master’s secondary education; University of Pittsburgh Master of Library Science
Occupation: Middle school librarian
Previous public office: 4 years Jefferson Hills council
How much growth and development in the borough is too much? Has Jefferson Hills already hit that threshold? As a growing community, we must maintain our focus on our families, our resident safety and our community’s amenities. We have, in my opinion, not yet reached or are even close to the borough’s fullest potential.
For most of my life I have been a resident of the West Jefferson Hills School District community. As a current council member, I will continue to be committed and passionate about working hard to make sure that our borough is the best place it can be to seniors like my mother, small business owners, and to families and future generations like my own family.
As a reelected council member I will continue to embrace the voices in our community and make sure they are heard. The people of Jefferson Hills want successful developments, however, everyone needs to be included in the conversation. Our fine borough needs a direction that will be responsive and responsible, not reactive.
We must ensure that Jefferson Hills makes economic development decisions that keep the interest of our families and children in mind. Our precious resources must be spent in a way that strengthens the prosperity of small businesses and does not put the interest of big developers first over the well-being and safety of our community. The voices we hear should always speak to how we create livable communities for our families.
2-year term
Diva Mares
Age: 40
Political party: Republican
Education: 2002 graduate of Elizabeth Forward High School, 2006 graduate of Pittsburgh School of Massage Therapy
Occupation: Licensed massage therapist, certified yoga teacher and small business owner of Masaya Wellness
Previous public office: None
How much growth and development in the borough is too much? Has Jefferson Hills already hit that threshold? My husband and I chose to move our family from South Park to Jefferson Hills in 2017. We were mostly intrigued by the school district and the reputation of both the athletics and academic opportunities. When searching for our home, we were looking for a friendly, quiet neighborhood on a dead-end street. We were fortunate enough to find exactly that.
To reside in such a safe and desirable community like ours is not just something to be proud of, it’s also something worth protecting, which requires making responsible decisions when it comes to growth and development. How to implement better recreation opportunities while preserving and maintaining what’s already available for the growing families in Jefferson Hills should be at the forefront of our conversations in addition to fostering potential future businesses, which is also a vital part to a thriving community. During our campaigning process we have engaged with the public going door to door, and this has been one of the top requests our team has heard repeatedly.
We have a dedicated recreation board and various other committees who can help guide our thoughts and decisions in a responsible way while considering the needs and concerns of all residents to achieve what’s best for our community. Thoughtfully exploring business opportunities within reasonable development could help to better stabilize our borough and not depend single-handedly on the residents.
Brian Militzer
Age: 65
Political party: Democrat
Education: 1976 graduate of South Hills High School, Connelly Trade, Airco Technical School welding course
Occupation: Owner of B & R Starters since 1981
Previous public office: Jefferson Hills planning commission, Jefferson Hills environmental board, Jefferson Hills council for seven years, two years as Jefferson Hills council president
How much growth and development in the borough is too much? Has Jefferson Hills already hit that threshold? When we talk about a community’s growth, it’s important to balance residential neighborhood planning with economic development to support the population and boost the borough’s tax base. While much of Jefferson Hills is a bedroom community – where our rolling landscape is patterned with single-family housing developments for residents of moderate-to-high income levels and a handful of townhomes – we must look toward the Route 51 corridor for business and industrial opportunities.
The question of whether Jefferson Hills has reached its maximum capacity for residential growth should be directed toward the West Jefferson Hills School District. Our borough services have the ability to grow in terms of public resources (i.e., road maintenance and police coverage) to suit our needs, but we must consider whether our school district can handle the influx of families.
Katie Green is a TribLive deputy managing editor, overseeing features as well as the Trib's weekly and monthly community newspapers and websites. A former magazine editor, she's serious about coffee, is a proponent of the Oxford comma and enjoys tracing her family tree when she has the time. She can be reached at kgreen@triblive.com.
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