Jan 4, 2018 3 min read

With two new supervisors at the table, South Strabane Township’s reorganization meeting was not without tension.

Bracken Burns and Richard Luketich, elected in November, were sworn in for their six-year terms as supervisors Tuesday. But taking the oath may have been the only time the two were in sync for the remainder of the evening.

Throughout the meeting, the supervisors voted on committee assignments, appointments and advisory boards to prepare for 2018. Burns, a former Washington County commissioner, often abstained or voted against motions. One was a motion to create a resident advisory board, of which supervisors Robert Weber, Tom Moore and Luketich were in favor.

Weber said the advisory board would be composed of residents from across the township, with the intent to gain additional community participation and communication on township issues.

But Burns said he didn’t think adding a committee would be helpful. He said instead of meeting with advisory board members, the supervisors should be encouraging residents to come to the township’s public meetings to address issues with supervisors directly.

“I feel that’s our job,” he said. “We were elected to represent the residents. To create a shadow board of supervisors is redundant.”

Luketich said the same handful of residents attend the township’s meetings, which are often marked by conflicts and arguments. He said the advisory board could provide the supervisors with a more diverse group of residents voicing concerns.

“I’ve been coming to meetings for about three years now,” he said. “There’s a lot of arguing. We need to unite, or we won’t get anything done.”

The board decided to table the issue after township manager Brandon Stanick suggested the motion needed “further exploration.”

Burns also took issue with supervisors reappointing people to committees without advertising those positions to the public. After the board reappointed Ed Mazur, a previous supervisor, and Ron Carrola to five-year terms on the sanitary board, Burns made a motion to change the township’s policy, requiring it to advertise openings to the public within 30 days of a vacancy. His motion passed on a 5-0 vote.

Burns said after the meeting he “got the distinct impression” Luketich seemed to have had previous conversations with Weber and Moore on many of the agenda items, as they were on the same page with their votes without having any public discussion.

“I don’t vote from a position of ignorance,” Burns said. “I would like to focus on doing the job in a mature fashion. I’m just going to always be pushing for a more thought-out process. I don’t get intentional division.”

Burns was not the only supervisor who expressed frustration with the board’s “polarization,” as Moore called it. He said the board should “put our heads together, because we can’t lead if we’re going in several different directions.”

“I will probably make some mistakes, and you can come and scream at me if you want to,” Luketich said. “I hope everyone up here works together for the township.”