3 Republicans in contention for 2 Fawn supervisor seats in primary election

Three Republicans are facing off in the May 18 primary for two seats on Fawn’s board of supervisors.

The seats up for election this year are held by the current chairman, Republican David Montanari, and Democrat David Norris.

No candidates will appear on the Democratic ballot.

Norris withdrew from the Democratic primary before a challenge to his candidacy could be heard. The challenge claimed there were problems with Norris’ nominating petition and he lives in Florida.

Montanari is facing two Republican challengers, Daniel Selfridge Jr. and Paula Legge, as he seeks a fifth six-year term.

Selfridge did not respond to repeated requests to be interviewed for this report.

Legge, 55, never has sought elected office before. A native of Lower Burrell, she has lived in Fawn for more than three years. She owns Paula’s Wholesale Furniture in Buffalo Township and has two grown children.

“I believe that there needs to be some change in Fawn Township,” she said. “We need more unity between the supervisors and Fawn residents. They deserve that.”

Legge said greater transparency is needed.

“We have five supervisors, and there’s three that, no matter what, are always teaming up on the other two,” she said. “We need to level the playing field.”

Legge said the two newest supervisors, Jay Swager and Phillip Smozski, are always outnumbered on votes by Montanari, Norris and Chuck Venesky, such as when they recently voted 3-2 to hire a new police officer.

Legge said her election might change the board majority but not always. Whether she would be in agreement with Swager and Smozski “would depend on what it was about,” she said.

“I have my own mind to make up my own decisions on what I think is right or not,” she said. “Our beliefs tend to be similar.”

If she were elected, she said, “We would get more done for the people.”

Montanari, 61, has been a Fawn supervisor since he was first appointed to fill a vacancy in 1996. A former plant manager, he has been retired for six years.

In arguing for his reelection, Montanari points to the township having a fully funded pension, that it has no debt and has not had to take out a tax anticipation loan in more than 25 years.

He also said five township roads have been rebuilt to PennDOT standards over the past seven years.

“The biggest challenge as a supervisor is recognizing issues and providing solutions before they’re problems. You can’t ignore problems,” he said. “All problems have a solution. If you understand the problem, the solutions are voluntary.”

Montanari said he wants to stay in office because there is still work to do. He said he is running on his record, and his past performance speaks for itself.

“I believe the people of Fawn Township are comfortable with having the current bedroom community environment,” he said.