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And he's the one who can bring the experience in local municipal government to benefit township residents, East Hempfield supervisor candidate Russell said Sunday.
When she looks at the township, Lori McGowan sees and hears residents who "are concerned about the way East Hempfield is growing and the pace of development."
And she's the one who can be "the voice of the people of East Hempfield" if elected, supervisor hopeful McGowan said.
Russell, the Republican candidate, cited his background in local government and ways of "managing our roadways in a little bit smarter manner than we've done in the past" at an East Hempfield candidates' forum Sunday night.
Democratic candidate McGowan said voters need to elect a supervisor who can "look at the big picture ... and the big picture is, what's going to happen in 10 years to the township?"
Russell and McGowan were invited to speak at a candidates' forum Sunday night at Grace Baptist Church on Marietta Avenue. The forum drew some 30 people.
Growth and increasing traffic are the twin top issues in the municipality, the county's second-largest township.
Russell, who's 39 and a professional engineer, won the spring GOP primary by a 3-to-1 margin in the largely Republican township.
McGowan, 45, a medical doctor and adjunct college professor, was unopposed in her party's primary.
The two candidates, both Landisville residents and non-East Hempfield natives, are making their first runs for elected office in Tuesday's election.
They are running for a six-year term being vacated at the end of the year by Supervisor Heidi Wheaton, a Republican who chose not to seek re-election.
Sunday's forum at Grace Baptist was organized by the group Citizen Activists Against Rail Road Transgressions, or CAARRT.
The group was formed by residents who have opposed the relocation of the Dillerville rail yard closer to their homes, and the proposed Crossings at Conestoga Creek shopping center plan.
Russell said the township needs the traffic impact fees to keep its property taxes lower and that in his work as an engineer with local municipalities, "I have a working knowledge of the rules and regulations.
"I think I have a pretty good game plan that I want to bring to this township," Russell said.
He also promised to be "my own person" and not be tied to party politics: "I have my own independent voice."
McGowan said the township needs to take steps now to ensure it doesn't run out of volunteer firefighters in years to come, and she suggested light industrial development as a positive alternative to high-density residential growth.
She also asked voters to make the township board, which would be all-male once Wheaton leaves, "more representative" by electing her as a first-ever Democratic supervisor.
McGowan, of 1391 Nissley Road, is a doctor of podiatric medicine and surgery who moved to East Hempfield a decade ago because of its quality of life.
Russell, of 1048 Lambley Road, is with the civil engineering firm Herbert Rowland & Grubic Inc., and has been a township resident for eight years.
