Packed with incumbents and familiar faces, this year’s Springdale Council race is set before the backdrop of ongoing hearings about a massive proposed data center in the borough.

Eight candidates — five of whom sit on council — will face off for four open seats.

Two of those same candidates are also in the running for a two-year term.

The longest-serving council member up for election is Mike Ziencik, 62, who has held his seat for more than 15 years. He serves as council president.

A Democrat, Ziencik said his focus would be on a long-term strategic plan for the borough if he were elected for another term.

Ziencik graduated from Springdale Jr.-Sr. High School and studied at the Community College of Allegheny County to become an EMT. A longtime volunteer firefighter, he serves in Harmar’s public works department.

As for the data center, he said he’s not yet sold either way.

Developers from Allegheny DC Property Co. seem cooperative, Ziencik said, but he wants to see guarantees in writing before a vote.

In addition to a strategic plan, Ziencik said he’d focus on keeping taxes low and drawing more young families to the borough.

“I take pride in my community,” he said.

Ziencik is a candidate for both a full four-year term and a two-year opening on council.

If elected, Logan Radovich, 22, would likely be the youngest council member in recent Springdale history.

The Republican recently graduated from Springdale Jr.-Sr. High School and works as a material handler at AHN Wexford Hospital.

Recently, Radovich said he has noticed division in the borough, which he said he’d focus on resolving.

“I just want to see the borough be a better place and everyone come together,” he said.

Radovich sees the data center as a “middle of the road” option for the site of the former Cheswick Generating Station, neither the best nor the worst option for the plot.

If the developers committed to investments in the community and certain benefits, he said he’d feel more inclined to support the project.

Also a volunteer firefighter, Radovich said he also would like to focus on the future of the now-vacant Veterans Memorial Field to bring more opportunities for local youths.

Another longtime councilman, Jason Overly, 51, is also seeking to defend his seat.

In recent years, Overly said, Springdale’s downtown business district has begun a resurgence, which he would like to work to continue.

If elected to another term, he said he’d focus on revitalizing dilapidated properties in the borough.

A Democrat, Overly is also a Springdale graduate, after which he attended Triangle Tech. He’s the owner of Pittsburgh Street’s Overly’s Electrical Services.

He said he’s still on the fence for the potential data center project.

While he waits for advice from the borough planning commission, Overly said he’s been researching similar centers elsewhere.

Josh Thompson, 43, would be a newcomer to council.

The Republican said he’d focus on strengthening local emergency services and collaborating with neighboring municipalities and Allegheny Valley School District.

Also a graduate of Triangle Tech, Thompson works as a computer drafter for the natural gas company Seneca Resources.

Concerned about noise levels from the data center, he said he’d focus on policing the center if it were approved.

“If I’m elected, I would make sure they’re following all the regulations,” Thompson said.

Another longtime firefighter, he said he’d also focus on finding uses for Veterans Field with local children in mind.

A real estate agent and musician, Jeff Hartz, 66, was appointed to council this year.

Like Overly, Hartz said he’d focus on rehabilitating abandoned or crumbling properties.

Hartz, a Democrat, graduated with an associate degree in electrical engineering from Penn State.

He said he’s working to gather more information about the potential effects of the data center, but its proximity to residential areas leaves him uncomfortable.

“I don’t know what to think yet,” Hartz said.

But, ultimately, he hopes to leave his personal feelings out of the vote.

Joe Kern, 42, said he’d like to see more community events, such as parades or movie nights, in Springdale.

He was appointed to council in early 2024 in the wake of an injunction to halt the implosion of the since-demolished power plant.

Part of the committee that manages nearby Agan Park, the Republican said he’d also like to bring more outdoor opportunities to local children like his own.

A Riverview graduate, Kern is a self-employed general contractor.

He said he’d work to improve borough infrastructure and manage decaying properties in the borough.

“It’s going to be vital for residents to look at the ballot and vote for the candidates who put the community, the youth and their interests first,” Kern said.

For the data center project, he said he’d like to enlist the help of an attorney with expertise in similar centers to advise council.

Before a vote, Kern said he wants to see a solid community benefits plan from developers.

Kern said he’d also push to livestream borough meetings to the public.

Toni Robbins, 60, said she wants to build “stronger bonds” with Springdale’s neighbors.

That could look like more joint community events with other Allegheny Valley communities, especially related to local cleanups.

The Republican incumbent is a Springdale graduate and holds an associate degree in business from Penn State.

Robbins said she’s a firm “no” when it comes to the data center.

She said she has researched other centers, and she hasn’t liked what she has seen.

“I see nothing good from this data center,” she said.

Instead, Robbins said, she’d focus on drawing a different industrial use to the site, which she hopes could provide more jobs in the borough.

She declined to provide a photo for this story.

A mainstay at borough meetings, Deborah Piontek, 63, is also seeking a seat on council.

The Republican said she’d also work with Springdale’s neighbors while focusing on long-term planning for the borough.

“It’s common sense to collaborate with local municipalities, the school district and community groups for the benefit of everyone,” Piontek said.

Now retired, she previously served as a respiratory care manager at UPMC. She holds a bachelor’s degree in resource management from LaRoche College and certificate in project management from the University of Pittsburgh.

Piontek said she’s waiting for the developer’s testimony to conclude before taking a firm position on the data center.

Still, she’d like to see the borough hire an independent consultant to perform a noise study. Piontek also said she’d push for community liaisons from Springdale and Cheswick to monitor the project’s progression and raise concerns to a designated individual from the property owners.

Like Ziencik, Piontek is seeking a full term as well as a two-year seat.

If the data center developer’s testimony continues at its current rate, it could progress into 2026. That means the decision to approve or reject the Allegheny DC’s conditional use application could fall to the next borough council.

Election Day is Nov. 4.

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