Crowded arena for Seven Fields election
With three seats open and seven candidates — two Democrats and five Republicans — running, it's a crowded field for Seven Fields Borough Council.
Despite the competition, the candidates seem to share similar priorities and ideas regarding the issues the borough may face in the future.
<b>Republican candidates</b>Of the five Republicans running for council, three are incumbent council members: Brian Trimble, Kevin Caridad and Kim Regan-Koch.For Trimble, who is running for his second term on council, the goal of any councilman shouldn't be to come in and make a lot of change; instead, it should be to maintain the quality of the borough and improve where things can be improved.“I think I did a pretty decent job of representing the residents here for the last three years, and I want to continue that,” he said. “I see some challenges ahead here in Seven Fields and want to make sure the government does the right thing.”Those challenges include the expansion of Route 228. To Trimble, Seven Fields has a small-town feel that he thinks is lacking in bigger areas like Adams or Cranberry townships. Expanding the borough's arterial route might fracture that community between north and south.
Route 228 “already separates the north side from the south side, and there's a certain amount of that language,” Trimble said. But, he added, it's important council focuses on “maintaining a sense of community from all corners of the area.”Caridad also said he likes the “small-town feel” of Seven Fields, and with nearly all of the borough's developable land utilized, he believes it's time to focus on keeping the sense of community within the borough.Some ways of doing that include prioritizing recreation and expanding sidewalks and other amenities, Caridad said. He added residents have had an increased focus on their own communities over the past year, and said that makes the present a prime opportunity to invest in community-focused amenities.“Our world has been more focused locally, and so our communities have become more important than ever,” he said. “Like everyone else, I've felt that shift, and that's what makes me want to run again.”
<b>Ensure events continue</b>Sandy Hein, one of the newcomers to the race, also thought about the importance of “keeping that small-town feel.” An important way of doing that, Hein said, is to ensure community events, such as the food truck nights during the summer, will continue.She also noted she is “big on financial stability,” and said she will look at decisions analytically rather than listen to the loudest group of people. That ability, she said, to cut through the noise is an important way of keeping the borough together and making the best decisions.“A lot of times, people want to look at a small group of people, and the adage of 'whoever makes the biggest noise gets things done,' but that's not always the best for the community,” Hein said. “To keep the integrity, you really have to look at all the sides and make sure you're making decisions that are best for the majority and not the minority.”
Jeff Smouse focused more on the dollars and cents, saying he has previous experience in managing bigger community projects as part of a homeowners association. He pledged to “improve efficiency and execution and transparency,” saying being responsive to residents' concerns is important to him, as is ensuring the proper use of residents' funds.“The biggest thing, really, is to maximize our return on investment from taxpayer dollars,” Smouse said. “I'm not really in favor of raising taxes, so I think there are things that can be done to analyze our spending and maybe do things in a more efficient manner.”<b>Responsible decisions</b>Regan-Koch, who serves as council president, believes the past four years have shown the current council makes fiscally responsible decisions that she said have been “for the greater good of the community and not some knee-jerk emotional reactions.”
The council president said that, because Seven Fields is almost fully developed, one of her priorities will be on ensuring the borough keep up with its appearance while making strong financial decisions.“We are constantly upgrading and keeping the place in pristine condition, and that is a priority for me,” Regan-Koch said. “Our roads are good, our public works crew is efficient, our landscape is beautiful. My main concern is keeping the aesthetics of the neighborhood up to par and providing more amenities for the citizens of our neighborhood.”<b>Democratic candidates</b>On the Democrat side of the ballot are two nonincumbent candidates: Kim Grasso and Angela Nickum.Grasso agreed with Trimble's assessment of the Route 228 expansion as further dividing north and south in Seven Fields, but thought of the matter as physical disconnectedness in addition to the metaphorical division.
She said she would like to be proactive in interacting with PennDOT to discuss ways to connect the northern and southern sides of the state highway via pedestrian or bicycle routes.It's not just north-and-south connectivity that matters to Grasso, she said. She would like to connect the borough with Adams and Cranberry such that residents of the borough who may work, shop or recreate in a nearby community can travel there on foot or by pedaling safely.On the topic of Route 228, Grasso said she wants to “strengthen” borough ordinances to ensure the community retains its small-town feel.“There's a certain look that is present in our zoning, and I would like to see that further enhanced to keep our small-town appeal,” Grasso said. “I would hate to see (Route) 228 turn into something you would see in Monroeville.”
Nickum, a current planning commission member and graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh studying social work, said she wants to get more involved with her community and has seen some issues related to inclusion and implicit bias, which she wishes to improve.“I would also like to see more community involvement and activities around the local community like food trucks and a community cleanup day,” she said.
