PENN TWP — Bert Mowry is running for his third consecutive term on the township's board of supervisors. However, he faces a challenge on the Republican ballot in local contractor Doug Sober.

There are no Democrats on the ballot.

For both Mowry and Sober, being a supervisor means bettering the community and improving residents' lives.

Mowry has been a lifelong township resident. He is in his second term as a supervisor, with each term six years long.

“I'm third-generation here and I'm committed to serving the residents in our township,” Mowry said.

He described the last two terms as “interesting, challenging and rewarding.”

“I believe in controlling growth while maintaining reasonable tax rates and maintaining our quiet setting,” Mowry said.

Some actions the township has taken while Mowry has been on the board include adjusting the township's zoning ordinance and beginning work on a community park.

The township recently received a matching state grant to help complete work paving trails, creating a parking area, improving playground equipment and installing restrooms and a pavilion.

Mowry said the zoning ordinance that was revised in recent years included upgrades that “strike a balance” between residents and businesses.

“It's an in-process thing,” he said.

Mowry is also chairman of the Butler Area Multi-municipal Oversight Committee and a member of the Pennsylvania State Association of Rules Committee. He also worked for 42 years at AK Steel in Butler.

Sober has been a township resident for the past 17 years and is a general contractor. He previously ran for a position on the board of supervisors in 2005.

“I want to improve the community and make it safer,” Sober said.

He said he would like to provide police and firefighters with equipment.

Sober also said the community needs to grow.

“Everywhere else around us is growing and we're just a drive-through community,” he said. “We need to increase our growth here business-wise and our residency.”

He said he would like to see vacant and unused commercial properties along Route 8 be occupied and make the area more attractive for businesses.

“That way, you won't have to go out of the community just to get groceries,” he said. “It'll never be a Cranberry (Township), because there is just not enough property to do that, but it needs to grow and that tax base needs to be brought into the township.”

Mowry said the township is a “quiet, bedroom community,” and that more controlled development would be beneficial for the area.

“I don't know if it's a goal,” he said. “We have quite a few businesses on Route 8 now. But I would like to see some more.”