SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — The decision regarding who will be the next member of South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners has been delayed.
The board on Thursday interviewed eight candidates looking to fill a vacancy created when former Vice President David Kennedy decided to move out of the township to be closer to his grandson.
But the board decided to delay the decision for another meeting.
“A lot of information was shared, and I personally would want to schedule the vacancy board meeting to give this board time to consider and digest the information that has been presented to us this evening,” board President Diane Kelly said.
Because the commissioners only have until Dec. 30 to fill the seat, the township Vacancy Board will have to convene to fill it. The vacancy board consists of one township resident and the commissioners.
The vacancy board will meet to vote on who should fill the seat at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10.
Nine people applied for the vacancy but one dropped out before the interviews. The term would last two years, until the end of 2025.
Before the interviews began, commissioner-elect Thomas Johns asked the board not to make a decision so he could have a chance to give input and so more people could apply.
“Because of the holidays, I feel a couple people missed it,” Johns said. “I know we got a lot of good candidates, but I just want to give the citizens of South Whitehall who didn't see it, that were away, another chance to apply.”
Ultimately, the commissioners decided not to accept any other applications, saying they felt the township adequately advertised the position.
"Just the fact that we got nine applications, that's indicative to me that there was sufficient time and that people are paying attention," Commissioner Monica Hodges said.
The candidates
The eight people the commissioners interviewed were Manjit Singh Walla, James Sullivan, Adeel Ahmad, Glenn Guanowsky, Chris Peischl, Jamal Ahmed, Jeffrey Kemmerer and Michael Pascal.
Walla is an entrepreneur who owned several gas stations. He recently retired and said he wants to spend his free time in community service.
When asked what he would do if there was conflict between commissioners, Walla said those decisions need to take the law into account.
“Any case should be decided on the basis of the facts and within the boundaries of the local laws and all the government laws,” Walla said. “If it’s in the benefit of the citizens, I will try to pass it.”
The second candidate, Sullivan, also recently retired. When he lived in New York, he served as vice chairman of the Orange County Planning Board.
“It's very expensive to run your own sanitation department, and you'll never receive anything back for it. It becomes a black hole."James Sullivan, candidate for a vacancy on the South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners
Sullivan noted the township's waste collection fee increase, which will start in April. He said he thinks commissioners made the right choice in signing a five-year contract rather than the alternatives.
“It's very expensive to run your own sanitation department, and you'll never receive anything back for it," Sullivan said. "It becomes a black hole.
“And I think allowing individual citizens of the township to select their own carrier could also be problematic, as you're going to be adding more traffic, more vehicles on the roads.”
Ahmad was the third candidate interviewed. He owns a project management consulting firm and serves as an alternate on the Civil Service Commission.
One of Ahmad’s suggestions for the township to increase the police department's outreach beyond township residents.
He specifically mentioned Upper Macungie Township Police Department, which has advertised events such as National Night Out to the whole region.
“At the end of the day, they don't just want their citizens to think that they’re one of us, they're here to help us out," Ahmad said.
"The outreach has to be bigger than that. And I think we should do things that are able to generate that positive message towards everyone, especially toward kids.”
Guanowsky, the fourth candidate, was a solicitor for Lehigh Valley Health Network for 35 years. He was involved in the citizen pushback against the Parkview Manor housing development.
He said he is interested in developing a “look-back strategy” to assess the outcomes of development projects after they are approved by the township.
“In terms of development projects that have been approved, once they're up and running, to see how they pan out… and if it actually works out the way they indicated it was going to work out,” Guanowsky said.
“That goes for everything from negative traffic impacts to, if it's a commercial space being leased, how much of the space is really leased?”
‘Where we should be in the future’
The fifth candidate was Peischl, who has served in several positions in the Greenawalds Fire Company and on the Public Safety Commission for more than 12 years.
He ran in a candidate group with Kelly and Commissioner Jacob Roth in the 2023 election, but lost to Johns.
Peischl said historic preservation is one of his primary concerns. He mentioned Troxell House, the oldest residence in Lehigh County. He said when it was first built in 1756, the name was spelled “Trachsel.”
“Sharing with them [the future generation] the historical roots of our township, and where we came from, and how we grew to where we are today, helps shine some light on where we should be in the future, in my opinion,” Peischl said.
Ahmed, the sixth candidate, is retired, but previously was vice president of internal audit at Day & Zimmermann in Philadelphia.
"What could we have done to prevent it? Have we corrected it adequately to prevent such things from happening again?"Jamal Ahmed, candidate for a vacancy on the South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners
He referenced embezzlement that happened in the township a decade ago and said with his experience, he could help prevent it from happening again.
“My input that I can provide, looking at your work process, looking at your system of checks and balances, would be, what can we do to improve it?" Ahmed said.
"What could we have done to prevent it? Have we corrected it adequately to prevent such things from happening again?”
The township's former utility manager pleaded guilty to theft.
The seventh candidate was Kemmerer, who previously served as fire chief at Woodlawn Fire Company for 15 years and was involved with the township Public Safety Commission.
Kemmerer praised the work the township has done in open space and historic preservation, such as adopting the new comprehensive plan. He said the board should continue to emphasize it.
2023 SWT Comprehensive Plan by LVNewsdotcom on Scribd
“The development portion of it — there will be other people emphasizing that for us,” Kemmerer said. “But in terms of preserving what we have, it's unique.
"It's a unique area in the county, in the state, and there are a whole lot of things that need to be preserved. And if they're not, they'll be gone forever.”
The last candidate, Pascal, works in commercial real estate and serves on his local Homeowners Association. He previously served as a United States Capitol police officer.
Pascal said he has heard a lot of concern over overcrowding at Parkland High School, and he would take that into consideration when making decisions about housing developments.
“I am not against development in any way," he said. "And I'd be lying if I said I was… But my concern would just be mainly that it can be policed, it can be serviced, and aside from building a better tax base for the community, what else can it bring the community?”
