Women in Politics - Part 8 - Getting Involved at a Local Level
by ROCHELLE A. SHENK

How time flies! This is the final installment in our multi-part series on women in politics. Since August, we have provided insight into the political. One piece of advice has been echoed by a number of women interviewed, and that's to start getting involved at the local level.

Pennsylvania has 67 counties and 2,567 municipalities. Residents of local municipalities have a number of opportunities to serve their community as an elected or as an appointed member of a board or commission.

Borough council members, borough mayors, township supervisors or commissioners are elected officials. A borough mayor is elected for a four-year term, while council members are elected for overlapping four-year terms. A township is generally governed by three supervisors (or five, if approved by referendum) who serve staggered six-year terms. A first class township is governed by a commission of five elected members serving staggered four-year terms. Often commissioners informally divide governmental areas, with each overseeing the ones in which she takes an active interest (public works, finance, safety, planning & zoning, etc.).

The elected council, board or commission, appoints members to serve on the municipalities' various commissions and boards such as the zoning hearing board or planning commission. Some municipalities may also have other boards such as a park and recreation board, sewer and water authority. Elected officials also may need to appoint residents to other boards such as a library board or an ad hoc committee created to study a specific issue.

The elected officials often work closely with the township's staff including the borough or township manager or assistant manager and department heads. "The elected officials are the visionaries—the big picture folks—I'm the detail person. The elected officials have their own view of how they want to see the municipal government function either as a regulated community or a laissez faire community. Rural communities tend to be more laissez faire and have fewer regulations while larger communities have more regulation; the larger the community gets and the closer people live together the greater the demand for services such as public water and sewer or police," explained Nancy Halliwell, Rapho Township (Lancaster County) manager.

She explained that a municipal manager is essentially an office manager with some specific duties that range from being the point person for the elected officials to being the source of information for the general public and coordinating the activities of employees. "It's varied—one day is never the same, and a lot of what I do on a daily basis depends on what's going on at the time. I talk to residents about home additions as well as developers and engineers about small and large subdivisions," she remarked.

Lynn Rinehart, assistant borough manager of Red Lion Borough (York County) agrees that the job is varied. She's been with Red Lion Borough for 10 years and has served in her current position for 4 years. "I deal a lot with residents—I answer questions, investigate, mediate and resolve complaints on a variety of issues such as trash pickup or placement of sheds in a back yard," she said. She also interacts with the mayor and borough council, prepares agendas and gets necessary documents ready for council meetings and attends meetings as well.

All of the municipalities in the state are governed by state codes that set forth specific procedures for a variety of issues including bidding or contracts and the budget process. Halliwell indicated that it's the job of the manager to be cognizant of those codes and when in doubt, to confer with the municipality's solicitor. Rinehart noted that the office staff provides the information council needs to make its decisions. While the borough manager creates the budget, the council (or board of supervisors) approves it.

She explained that Red Lion's mayor, Robert Frutiger, began his first year in office in January. He is trying to assume an active role in municipal government; however, there are limitations placed on the role of the mayor by the state code governing municipal officials and their actions.

"There is a learning curve when you're an elected official. Sometimes when people run for office, they run for the right reasons but do not understand or know about the process or even what may be in the municipal ordinances. Some of what happens here is cyclical, like the budget process or road improvement projects, so there's at least a year learning curve for a new official," Halliwell remarked.

A municipal planning commission serves a number of functions including reviewing proposed development plans, zoning ordinance text amendments, and making recommendations to the municipality's elected officials. In addition the planning commission may be charged with preparing or amending municipal documents. Kelly Fedeli was appointed to serve on the Derry Township planning commission at the beginning of the year.

As one of five members of the planning commission she looks at her role as being that of an average citizen—I represent my community. I'm not an architect or engineer, so I look at a plan to make sure it's good for the community and enhances our quality of life. You make sure all the infrastructure (water, sewer, roadways} is in place to provide for whatever's proposed, and find answers to questions," she said.

She had served for three years on the board of the Hershey Public Library and is also an assistant Derry Township Republican Committee person. "I've always been drawn to community service. I like to work with people, work on projects and to see projects completed. I believe it's important not to just live in a community but to also be part of that community; we all have an obligation to give back to our community," Fedeli remarked.

Before each meeting, planning commission members are provided with a packet of information containing architecturals, stormwater plans and traffic impact on each project as well as a review of the plan from a municipal engineer or in the case of Derry Township by director of community development Jeff Keiser. "Our job is to listen, ask questions, and then make an informed decision on the plan so it can move forward for action by the supervisors," she explained. She likens the role of the planning commission to that of the 22 standing committees in the House; when a bill is presented the committee examines it and refines it before it is presented to the House for action.

The zoning hearing board interprets and applies the municipality's zoning ordinance. The board also acts as a decision-making body for hearings related to certain zoning regulations, authorizes special exceptions, and approves or rejects variances from the zoning ordinance. Zoning hearing boards are sometimes referred to as the "smallest court" because their decisions are legally binding and an appeal of a zoning hearing board decision is appealed through the court system.

As Jackson Township (Lebanon County) zoning enforcement officer, Candie Johnson works closely with the township's three-member zoning hearing board. She explained that as zoning officer she enforces the zoning laws of the township, issues building permits and serves as the township's building code inspector as well as being the liaison between the municipal office and the township's zoning hearing board. "You have a code book and zoning laws {ordinances} that were established by the supervisors. What I do is pretty much black and white—a proposal either meets the requirements of the zoning ordinance or it doesn't. If it doesn't the applicant can go before the zoning hearing board and ask for a variance," she said.

The applicant makes his or her case before the zoning hearing board, the board considers the request and its impact on the community if it is a special exception or in the case of a variance, determines if there is a need for the request and if it is indeed a hardship. The board can reject or grant the applicant's request, and if it is granted can also impose conditions.

Johnson noted that it's her job to enforce the conditions. She explained that sometimes a decision may not be popular with the residents. "If the applicant's request meets the criteria, and even if the zoning hearing board does not like the request, their hands are tied and it has to be granted," she explained.

Jackson Township's residential area is located in the center of the township, which is surrounded by agricultural land. Johnson noted that the most heated zoning hearing board debates often involve a clash between residential and agricultural development.

Like Halliwell and Rinehart, Johnson's worked with a number of elected officials as well as the residents like Fedeli who volunteer to serve on the municipal boards and commissions. "Municipal government is really the grassroots level of politics. It's where decisions are made that affect people's day-to-day lives—decisions about trash collection and recycling, about new housing developments and commercial activity, or what road improvements will be done that year. The elected officials as well as those appointed are the ones who have the say in all of that," Johnson said.

Once the decision has been made to run for office, no matter what that office is, one needs to organize a campaign. Two veteran campaigners-Sue Savage and Kathy Snavely-have given us the benefit of their experience.

Sue Savage is one of the partners of Abel-Savage Marketing & Communications, Lancaster. "I feel that I have a talent, a gift to share and activist bent-if I don't like something I work to change it. The world can be a better place if we work at it," she said.

Kathy Snavely is a partner in OSL Direct and Lightkeeper Consulting; both businesses are located in Mount Gretna. "My dad was on the school board, and I was brought up in a family where if you breathe you vote. I absolutely detest 'politics,' but in order to get good government you have to become involved in politics," she explained.

Her involvement in political campaigns dates to 1993 when a friend ran for a seat in the senate and asked her to help with the campaign. Since then she served as a volunteer in Mauree Gingrich's state house race in 2002, and as campaign leader for Ralph Heister in his bid for a North Cornwall Township supervisor seat. "When I look at a candidate I look for someone who has community service or government service. In politics it's important to understand the way things work-the process-and how to get people to work together," she remarked.

Savage worked on numerous campaigns including handling public relations in Lancaster County for Tom Ridge during his first campaign for Governor-she also assisted in Erie on Election Day; and worked on State Representative Mike Sturla's first campaign. She also ran for delegate to the Republican National Convention, served on NARAL's political action committee and has assisted on a number of school board campaigns. "All politics is local. I'm issue-driven so I work both sides of the aisle," she remarked.

She stressed that when you're organizing a campaign, what you're doing is creating a marketing plan. "You're selling a product-yourself. One of the things that I learned by being on the front line is how difficult it is to sell yourself," she said.

The starting point is with why the candidate is running-what she can bring to the table; determine "who am I versus the opposing candidates?" Savage noted that input from a campaign committee is important at this point since members of that committee can look at the candidate objectively.

Snavely noted that with Mauree Gingrich's 2002 campaign, the seat was open since incumbent Ed Krebs was retiring. "Mauree had proven experience in local government and name recognition in the community, which is an important quality," she explained. She noted that Gingrich decided to become a candidate for Krebs' seat approximately eight months into his final term; about a year and a half out from the election. "You need every moment of that time," she said. During that time one needs to organize support, find out who the competition is and get a feel for them, get a feel for voters' thoughts about your candidate, and organize financial support. "As a candidate you have to be comfortable asking people for financial support. That's also critical for a campaign manager as well," Snavely said.

Savage indicated that it's imperative to have someone involved in the campaign who's been involved in the campaign process before. "This is issues marketing and you need to have a sense of the process. Someone who's experienced with the campaign process understands the timing and how to ride emotion," she commented.

The primary goal is to win-candidates and campaign manager need to keep that in mind as they devise their strategy to convey where they stand on the issues. "As a candidate you're running because you see something you can change or you're replacing an incumbent. You need to bring your passion to the campaign and tell that story," she urged.

As for media, both Snavely and Savage noted that TV can be cost prohibitive, especially in local races (supervisor, school board), so direct mail and "pounding the pavement" are the methods used in those situations to get the word out about your candidate. "You need to figure out who will vote for your candidate and focus on those people. If it's a school board race, work through the PTOs in the schools," Savage said.

Snavely added that special events related to your message can be created. Another tactic is to connect the candidate with something people already know and connect with. If the campaign has the funds for media buys, Snavely recommends that the wisest course is to look at the radio and/or TV stations your voters view or listen to. She noted that cable companies such as Comcast have packages that include a number of networks like Lifetime or ESPN.

As for negative campaigning, Snavely says-don't! "Negative campaigning turns people off and keeps people at home on Election Day. Remember, there's a positive way to say everything and make your point," she stressed.

Sue Savage
Partner of Abel-Savage Marketing & Communications

Who are you trying to connect with when campaigning? Everyone?
The message should be a very simple one, and remember that it's geared to the voters-the candidate is not talking to everyone. The candidate should react to new developments in the campaign, but not over-react or react every night.

What advice do you have for women entering the political arena?
Make a difference in your community-be out front as the candidate. Women are very honest about themselves; we know our weaknesses. We may think we can't be the candidate, but we can do it-there are many qualified women out there. A campaign may get nasty, but we need to rise above the negativity and go on.

Kathy Snavely
Partner in OSL Direct and Lightkeeper Consulting

Who are you trying to connect with when campaigning? Everyone?
A candidate must have a message and image that resonates with the voters-something that local voters can emotionally connect with…on a specific issue.

What advice do you have for women entering the political arena?
Learning the political process will take you a lot more time that you imagined, so don't get discouraged. You need to know your community. As an elected official, no matter what position you hold, you are there as a public servant of your community.

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