Bristol Twp Government Study Committee

From the BCCT.

Candidates sign up to change government

By JAMES MCGINNIS
Bucks County Courier Times

Nine people in Bristol Township, among them a minister, a disabled veteran and leaders in the local Democratic and Republican clubs, believe they have new ideas on how to fix the township government.

All filed petitions this week with the county Board of Elections to sit on the Bristol Township Government Study Commission. Voters in the general election must decide whether to have a study commission and who will sit on it. Seven seats are open.

The candidates who want to be charged with considering a new plan of local government are: Cindy Peto, Anne Titus, Melvin Howard, Jack Baradzeij, Mike Slipp, Helen Cini, Janet Keyser, Bob Ausura and Councilman Don Mobley.

Many are regulars at town hall meetings, with the exception of Howard and Titus.

The first black person ever elected to a position in Bristol Township, Howard served on the board of commissioners in the 1980s. Since then, he said he got out of politics only to be drawn back in “as the township crumbled.” He's also a bishop with the People's Church of Christ on Durham Road.

“This township is falling apart and people can see that,” Howard said. “We need some kind of government system that brings back the accountability and maybe the best way to do that is to go back to the ward system with each official representing a certain area of town.”

Several candidates echoed support for a system of elected officials representing specific districts.

“I think we need some councilman dedicated to certain wards and also some councilman-at-large representing the whole town,” said Helen Cini, who is also a Bristol Township school board member. “There's an awful lot of problems in this town and I don't know that five council members can handle it all.”

As a longtime Republican and onetime chairman of the local GOP club, Baradzeij said the government structure should provide for at least one minority-party member in any chosen government.

Baradzeij ran several times for a council seat as a Republican candidate, but always lost.

“There are a number of people in this township who aren't represented because they're in the minority,” he said. “But I also believe we need to re-think the mayor position. Either we need a full-time mayor with more power or no mayor. The situation now doesn't work.”

Once a township commissioner, Slipp also had argued that some areas of the community are too often overlooked.

A regular at town meetings, he has served on the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee, the county housing development corporation and the Penndel Mental Health Board. He ran for council in 2003, but lost to Councilman Don Lorady.

Nothing bars elected officials in Bristol Township from sitting on a government commission, and Mobley wants to do both.

After more than a decade of lawsuits and political attacks chiefly aimed at Mayor Sam Fenton, Mobley was appointed to the township council last year. Since his appointment, he has hotly criticized department heads for failure to respond to resident complaints and has argued for more open public records.

An accounts manager for the Bucks County Transportation Management Association, Peto became active in the township by raising money for playgrounds and fields in 2003.

Another name familiar to voters is Keyser. She's the longtime director of the Bristol Township Democratic Club and also heads the Lower Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority.

And anyone who watches or attends council meetings knows Ausura. A disabled Vietnam veteran, Ausura is a constant critic of the township government, speaking several times at almost every public meeting.

He also has volunteered his time to create electronic versions of township documents for easy access on the township Web site. More recently, he became a passionate advocate for the proposed skate park off Wistar Road near Five Points. He made PowerPoint presentations for the kids.

As the chief of staff for state Rep. Tony Melio, Titus is well-known to many in township government. Melio credits her for handling much of his constituent service. And he often jokes that he'd never get anything done without her.