School director, restaurant owner vie for Unity supervisor post

Michael O’Barto has spent two years on the Greater Latrobe School Board, but he hopes Unity voters will return him to his previous longtime role of township supervisor.

Doug Murphy, who fell short in a 2017 bid to join the three-member board of supervisors, is vying again for the position.

The winner on Nov. 5 will succeed Supervisor Tom Ulishney, who, unlike his fellow board members, does not also serve as a roadmaster.

Murphy, a Democrat, said he wants to work as a full-time roadmaster. “I’m going to put a full focus on Unity Township,” he said.

O’Barto, a Republican, handled both supervisor and roadmaster duties before resigning from the latter to accept a private sector job and from the former to accept his elected post on the school board. O’Barto said he’s prepared to resume work as a roadmaster if he wins the election.

In addition to experience working with heavy equipment, Murphy said he would bring more than 30 years of business management skills to local government. He cited experience in human resources, budgeting and working with vendors.

“I’m good with numbers, and I can trouble-shoot really quickly,” he said, adding that he would emphasize teamwork among township staff. “People don’t work for me, they work with me.”

Murphy said he’d want to attend meetings of Unity’s appointed planning commission and zoning hearing board as a supervisor, “so I know what’s going on and there are no surprises.”

O’Barto pointed to his 24 years of experience in township government. “On the very first day, I am able to function as I did on my last day as a supervisor,” he said. “There will not be a learning curve for me.”

As the cost of maintaining and improving roads keeps rising, O’Barto said, “we have to be smarter in the way we do municipal business. Using the best oils that are available for seal coating (roads) will, in the long run, save the township more money.”

“On a lot of our country roads, the edges are breaking off,” O’Barto noted. He suggested the township consider investing in a “road widener” piece of equipment to “give us the ability to fix these road a little more efficiently.”

Both candidates said they want to support continued business development.

O’Barto, who also serves on the Unity Township Municipal Authority, pointed to planned extension of public sewage service to three businesses on Donohoe Road. “These are the kind of things that need to happen more,” he said.

To avoid unnecessary delays when businesses seek township zoning or planning approval for proposed developments, Murphy suggested “some kind of a check-off” to make sure all related documents are in order before the project comes up for a vote at a meeting.

In 2015, the township entered into an agreement with the Greensburg YMCA to provide recreational programming after supervisors pulled out of a previous partnership with Latrobe and Greater Latrobe School District, arguing that Unity was paying more than its fair share for the joint program.

Murphy said he’d like to see the township once again cooperate with the city and school district for recreation. “We’re hurting the kids, they’re getting divided from Unity Township to the city,” he said. “It needs to be all together.”

But, he added, “it has to be a win-win for everybody.”

O’Barto said he believes Unity’s agreement with the YMCA “has been working well” but said, “we can probably do a lot more” if the city and school district become involved again.

“The more partners you have, the better,” he said, adding, “It would have to be fair to the residents of Unity township because they deserve it.”