Where the Rubber Meets the Road

I’m up for re-election as a supervisor this year, going door-to-door throughout the township. Most people, including my opponent, have no idea what a supervisor does…or is. The usual business concept of a supervisor is someone who oversees people within his area of responsibility. In Pennsylvania, a supervisor is an elected official in townships of the second class in Pennsylvania. He or she is one of three or five members who sit as a legislative body, the board of supervisors, and oversee the management of the towsnhip. This body adopts policy and rules that govern the township.

Such as, you ask?

The supervisors address the issues which affect residents of the township most directly:

• Regulations on the type and quality of housing.
• Providing for disposal of human waste by means of on-lot septic systems or sanitary sewer systems.
• Protecting public health and safety, including police, fire and emergency medical services and systems
• Accommodating residents’ needs for parks and recreation
• Supporting local public libraries and recreation centers
• Providing street lights and fire hydrants
• Collecting or providing for the collection of household trash and recyclables
• Regularly maintaining a system of roads, including repairs, and clearing of roads during inclement weather (e.g. snow removal)
• Assuring an adequate supply of potable water for household, commercial and industrial use
• Maintaining a storm water system for retention, impoundment and transmission of rainfall
• Collecting or providing for the collection of leaves, yard waste and woody waste
• Enforcing a plan for land use by managing construction within residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial zones
• Protecting agricultural activities of farms and encouraging good conservation practices

These township services are not without cost. Thus, one of the key roles of township supervisors is to anticipate costs for these services and adopt a budget. Revenue to pay for these services derives from taxes and fees, the rates of which the supervisors adopt. A well-run township can and should live within its means, but that means revenues must match expenses as the essential services expand.

Finally, one of the major functions of the board of supervisors is to maintain adequate staffing to accomplish all of the services which residents need. That includes hiring a manager who handles the day-to-day functions of the township. He or she is the governmental equivalent of a a supervisor in a business concern.

Local government often gets lost in the news about national and state matters, but it is indeed that level of government where things can get done most quickly and efficiently. It’s where the rubber meets the road.