Whether the times are good or bad, boom or bust, or somewhere in between, one issue always seems most important to East Hempfield Township voters.
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"Traffic and development always seem to be the top issues," says Scott Russell, the Republican-endorsed candidate for township supervisor in Tuesday's primary, who offers what he feels is the experience to deal with them.
For her part, Lisa Shaw pledges to "uphold what the people of the township want ... and what they don't want is the urbanization of East Hempfield Township."
The two may sound like they're with the same campaign, but they're actually both vying for the GOP nomination for the same six-year seat on the township Board of Supervisors.
Russell, 39, of 1048 Lambley Road, Landisville, is an engineer with the civil engineering firm Herbert Rowland & Grubic Inc., and cites his years of experience working with local municipalities.
"The biggest thing I bring to the table, I feel, is my ability to deal with traffic," says Russell, who grew up in Langhorne and served in the military before moving to East Hempfield eight years ago.
Through his work at the engineering firm, Russell offers what he calls familiarity with the ins and outs of local government.
He is campaigning on the theme that "in challenging economic times, experience matters most" in East Hempfield, Lancaster's second-largest suburb after Manheim Township.
As he started campaigning, he "thought that the budget would be the biggest issue with the voters, especially the way the economy is," but has heard clearly from residents that traffic and development are most important.
Russell, who's making his first run for public office, and his wife, Cheryl, have four children.
He served on active duty in the U.S. Army and then in the National Guard before being honorably discharged as a captain in 2002.
He will carefully weigh the pros and the cons of any development, Russell pledges, and plans to use his experience to address traffic-related issues on Centerville and State roads and other often-congested routes.
He also pledges to help East Hempfield "in developing budgets that manage costs and keep taxes low."
Rohrerstown resident Shaw, 51, of 2341 Wood St., is making her second run for supervisor.
She regularly attends supervisors' meetings and has been a frequent critic of township government, and says now that "someone has to say 'Stop!' to development."
Supervisors "have the power and authority to draw the line ... because once we plow (the community) over, it's gone."
The former county West Nile virus coordinator, Shaw, a New Jersey native. stepped aside from that post due to a knee injury.
Shaw and her husband, Michael, have three grown children, have lived in East Hempfield for 15 years, and she agrees with Russell that development is the most pressing issue.
As a township, "We're in between suburban and rural, and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want Hempfield to become 'Cement-Field,'" she says.
Her other top issues are open and accountable government ("we need for someone to advocate for what the citizens want") and conservative fiscal management.
Shaw, who has missed few supervisors' meetings the last several years, got involved in local government after growing concerned about mosquitoes coming from a tire dump near her Rohrerstown home.
Shaw also ran as an unendorsed candidate for supervisor in the 2005 Republican primary.
The two are running for the supervisor's post being vacated by current board member Heidi Wheaton, who decided not to seek re-election.
Staff writer David O'Connor can be reached at doconnor@LNPnews.com or 481-6033.
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