SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — A longtime South Whitehall Township resident and Public Safety Commission member is running for a seat on the township Board of Commissioners.
Chris Peischl, a Republican, moved into the township in 1968 at age 4 and has lived there ever since. He graduated from Parkland High School in 1982 and raised three children in Parkland School District.
- Public Safety Commission member Chris Peischl is running for a seat on the township Board of Commissioners
- Peischl has lived in the township since 1968. He has worked in Emergency Management Services for 30 years and has served in several positions in the Greenawalds Fire Company, including firefighter and assistant chief
- His priorities include farmland preservation, moderate growth and fiscal responsibility. He would like to bring back the township's Board of Authority, which oversaw the township's water and sewer systems
Peischl is a veteran of the United States Naval Reserves. He served in several positions in the Greenawalds Fire Company, including firefighter and assistant chief, and has worked in Emergency Management Services for the past 30 years in various roles.
Peischl has served on the Public Safety Commission for more than 12 years.
“I'm not a politician," he said. "I'm not looking to move on to the next position, I'm not looking to climb the political ladder."
“I'm looking for an opportunity to serve in a different manner to the township, and that's what I've done my whole adult life.”
Criticized growth balance
Peischl said he has similar ideas as the current board members about key issues such as transparency, fiscal responsibility and development.
He said he decided to run for the board after learning that Commissioner Brad Osborne is not running for reelection.
“I wanted to step up and put my name in the hat to keep the momentum of what this current board has been doing,” Peischl said.
Peischl published an op-ed in The Morning Call newspaper in 2021 voicing his support of current commissioners Monica Hodges and David Kennedy, who were running at the time. He wrote that the board at the time was not doing enough to balance farmland preservation and moderate growth.
“It is imperative that we elect new, change-oriented leaders in South Whitehall,” Peischl wrote at the time. “Two candidates for township commissioner, David Kennedy and Monica Hodges, are strong advocates of balancing the forces of growth and preservation.”
Peischl’s views on development, Ridge Farms
In a news release announcing his campaign, Peischl said his main goal is to “ensure that our township remains a highly desired place for people to settle down in and raise their families.”
“My vision for South Whitehall Township is to have close-knit neighborhoods, safe streets, preservation of open space to enjoy and offer dynamic programs that improve the quality of life for our residents,” Peischl wrote in the release.
“Some of it was done with the eye of having this development, and not really taking the ramifications that come with it.”Chris Peischl, candidate for the South Whitehall Board of Commissioners
Peischl said in an interview that he was not happy with how previous commissioners handled the approval process for the controversial mixed-use development Ridge Farms.
Peischl said he thinks the actions the commissioners took indicated that they prioritized approving the development over the interests of the residents.
“Some of it was done with the eye of having this development, and not really taking the ramifications that come with it,” Peischl said.
Peischl said he approves of the current board’s philosophy toward development, even though it can't change what was previously approved.
“This board, they gotta follow what was passed,” Peischl said. “But they have the idea that open space is important.”
Other priorities
Peischl said he would like to bring back the township’s Board of Authority, which was an appointed body that oversaw the township's water and sewer systems.
“I think having a separate board overseeing the water and sewer for the township makes sense,” Peischl said.
Peischl served on the board for five years and briefly was chairman before the Board of Commissioners voted to dissolve it in 2017.
“They [the commissioners] were at a joint meeting, and they said, ‘Oh, by the way, we're disbanding the water authority.’ And we're like, kind of shocked,” Peischl said.
Commissioners voted unanimously to dissolve the Board of Authority at their meeting on May 3, 2017. The minutes of that meeting do not include any discussion of why commissioners decided to dissolve it.
Peischl said he would also prioritize ensuring that the township’s emergency services are adequately funded.
The upcoming election
The primary election is set for May 16.
The three seats up for re-election in 2023 are those held by board President Diane Kelly and commissioners Jacob Roth and Osborne.
Kelly and Roth are running for reelection and both will be on the Republican primary ballot with Peischl.
Former commissioner and business owner Ben Long also will be on the Republican primary ballot.
Thomas Johns is the only Democrat running for a seat on the board, which is currently made up of only Republicans. Johns, a former commissioner, ran unsuccessfully in 2021.
Peischl encouraged Democrats to write his name on the Democratic primary ballot.
