Hempfield supervisors race attracts 4 candidates for 2 seats

Four candidates for Hempfield supervisor have separated themselves into two opposing teams with each side hoping to win both open six-year terms.

Becky Durbin has paired up with longtime incumbent Doug Weimer, while Paul Kosko is campaigning with Jerry Fagert, who served on the board 10 years ago.

All four candidates hope to make varying changes and improvements in the township, if elected Tuesday . A township supervisor makes $5,000 annually.

Becky Durbin, 53, wants to focus on getting commercial buildings occupied and updating the looks of some business centers of the township.

She thinks aesthetic improvements are needed in areas like the Routes 30/66 interchange and the Route 30 corridor from Westmoreland Mall to the new municipal complex the township is constructing between the Mt. Pleasant Road and Cedar Street exits.

She hopes to pursue grant funding to help commercial buildings improve their facades, if elected.

As a member of Hempfield’s planning commission, she’s already been involved in some decisions regarding projects around the township. Durbin wants to continue pushing for balanced growth between commercial and residential developments, as well as finding ways to keep graduates of local colleges in the area.

Durbin and Weimer said they are running as a team after getting the Republican nominations because they have common goals.

“We balance each other out well,” she said. “It works.”

Jerry Fagert, 65, wants to seek out ways to work with neighboring municipalities to regionalize both Hempfield’s fire departments and police service in a township that’s currently covered by state troopers. Fagert said he doesn’t want to create a township police force, but examine ways to work with existing departments to cover Hempfield.

If elected, Fagert said he wants to stop the township’s current move to consolidate all of its neighborhood fire stations under one umbrella. Rather, he wants to look at where fire stations are in neighboring municipalities and see if resources could be pooled somehow.

Fagert used West Point, which is in Hempfield, and Dryridge in Unity, which is planning to merge with another station in Unity, as an example. West Point and Dryridge are about a mile apart from each other.

“I think … coverage would be better,” he said.

Fagert served as a township supervisor from 2011 to 2017 when he lost a re-election bid. Then, he was a Republican. He claimed he was forced to change his registration to Democrat because of issues within the local Republican committee.

Paul Kosko, 64, is a registered Republican, but he will be on the Democratic ticket with Fagert after earning enough write-in votes during the May primary election.

His goal is to focus on bolstering the township’s emergency services. Kosko said he wants to look into working with neighboring municipalities on a regional police force and to come up with ways to combine fire services.

He also wants to put more money into township roads.

“In some of the other outer areas they’ve been neglected,” he said.

If elected, Kosko said he wants to increase access to township documents that are discussed at public meetings and look at making changes with some staff members. He expressed displeasure that supervisors don’t respond directly to a resident when they ask questions during public comment sessions at meetings.

“I’m not a politician, but a fed-up public servant that’s going to make some changes,” he said.

Doug Weimer, 55, is seeking his fifth term on the board. He will be on the Republican ticket.

There are plenty of ongoing projects in the works he hopes to see come to fruition, including the new municipal complex and consolidation of fire departments. If elected, Weimer wants to go after grant funding to help modernize the township’s fire service, pay for training and build new consolidated stations.

He expects to continue seeing residential growth in the coming years and emphasized that building and updating parks is important to attract new residents and families, he said.

“It boots confidence in the business community whenever you have home growth,” Weimer said. “New people coming in reduces the need for increased property tax.”

He is proud of the millions in state grants the township has gotten during his tenure that have helped Hempfield with major projects, such as the acquisition and demolition of former SCI Greensburg state prison and construction of a park at the new municipal complex on Route 30 between the Mt. Pleasant Road and Cedar Street exits.