Four Democrats are challenging four incumbent Republicans for their seats on the Slippery Rock Borough Council on Nov. 4.

The borough’s voters will be tasked on Election Day to choose three out of six candidates to serve a four-year term and one of two to serve a two-year term on the council.

For the four-year seats, Robert Bowser, Jonathan Foust and Douglas Cook are running against incumbents Jeff Campbell, Alexandra Franco-Tuten and Paul Lueken. For the two-year seat, incumbent Denton Zeronas is set to face off against Sean Logue. Subscribers can read more.

Jeff Campbell

Campbell works for WNA Engineering in Portersville and is currently council president. He is running for reelection for a four-year term as a Republican.

Previously, he worked as an electrician, operations manager for power strategies and as the director of buildings and grounds for the Moniteau School District before retiring in July. Besides two four-year terms and one two-year term in the borough, he also served 12 years on Rimersburg Borough Council in Clarion County.

Campbell said he is proud of council’s accomplishments during his tenure, including keeping public safety at full strength, making major changes to streets and eliminating the borough’s debt service all without raising taxes.

Campbell said he’s satisfied with the borough’s current trajectory and progress and would like to continue said progress for another term.

Alexandra Franco-Tuten

Franco-Tuten has served on the borough council for four years and currently works as a substitute teacher and the producing liaison and assistant director for the Slippery Rock Area High School musical. She is running for reelection for a four-year term as a Republican.

She said her family has a long history in politics, which encouraged her to work as a page in the House of Representatives, an intern for the Joint Tax Committee and D.C. Superior courts and finally as a lobbyist for a law firm.

Some of Tuten’s favorite accomplishments are the establishment of a junior borough council member position and voicing concerns for constituents to the Slippery Rock school board. Since moving to the borough, she said she’s continually looked for ways to give back and that, with her experience, serving on council was a “no-brainer” decision.

Franco-Tuten said she will work to continue making Slippery Rock a community where families want to live and feel safe. She said continuing events and programs help to both bring new people into the community and bring residents together.

Paul Lueken

Lueken has been serving as the streets and facilities liaison in a two-year term that he was appointed to. He is running for election to a four-year term as a Republican.

He retired as Slippery Rock University’s director of athletics in 2021. While working for the university, he also served on the borough’s park commission, planning commission and strategic plan committee as well as the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau.

Lueken said he enjoyed working with council and serving the community, something he hopes to do if he is elected to a four-year term.

Lueken said his goals will be to continue to assist council in maintaining a sustainable budget and quality services for residents. He said ideally, these things can be done without any tax increases.

Robert Bowser

Bowser is a retired printer who has lived in Slippery Rock for 25 years. He is running for election for a four-year term as a Democrat.

He previously served on borough council between 2005 and 2017.

He said he decided to run again after conversations with borough residents who expressed dissatisfaction with the negative impact local politics are having on the borough’s reputation.

Bowser said his biggest focuses on council would be initiatives to improve public safety in the area, working to ensure low prices for residents and trying to stimulate development in the borough.

Douglas Cook

Cook is an alumnus of Slippery Rock University and currently serves as the chairman of the borough’s planning commission. He is also seeking election to the mayoral office as a Democrat.

Previously, Cook worked across the nation, from Pennsylvania to Nebraska, as a municipal employee before retiring and moving back to Slippery Rock in 2020.

He said he decided to run because he has never been on the “other side of the table” when it comes to municipal government.

Cook said he wants his vision of Slippery Rock to match the vision of its residents, and said he would encourage massive open communication to recognize, and eventually realize, that vision.

One idea he suggested was hosting periodic town halls. He also believes the comprehensive plan, which he helped create, will serve as an excellent guideline and reference for the borough.

Jonathan Foust

Foust is a Slippery Rock University graduate who pursued his 3D modeling hobby as a career and currently serves on the borough’s planning commission. He is running for election for a four-year term as a Democrat.

Previously, Foust said he pursued his 3D modeling hobby as a career and supported himself through contractor work by taking part-time jobs throughout the borough. He said as he spent more time there, he fell more in love with it and his residents.

Between his work on the planning commission and feedback from “people wiser than me,” he decided to run for a position on council. He said he is always looking for ways to give back to the community that enriched his life.

Foust said he would love to encourage and incorporate public participation as well as strong communication between the borough and the entities around it. He said institutions including the township, emergency services and the Slippery Rock Business Association would be open to a forum. For businesses, he said he would perform market analysis to recognize gaps and court businesses to relocate to the area.

Denton Zeronas

Zeronas currently serves both on borough council and as executive director at Slippery Rock Parks and Recreation. He is running for reelection for a two-year term as a Republican.

He said he first moved to Slippery Rock in 2014 for college and ran for borough council in 2017, where he has served for seven years.

Zeronas said during his time on council, it has reduced fees for new businesses; balanced the budget and expanded services without raising taxes; and updated restrictive ordinances that hindered business development. One of the biggest accomplishments in his mind, however, is building collaboration between the borough, township, university and other entities.

Zeronas said he views his role on council as an opportunity to give back to the community and has worked to make the borough grow, rather than being restrictive or condescending to students or younger residents. He said if he is elected, he would continue serving that role into another term.

Sean Logue

Logue is a senior at SRU where he is majoring in political science and philosophy with a minor in gender studies. He is running for election for a two-year term as a Democrat.

He said he believes he has the education and training in politics and policy that would make him a good fit for the role, where he would aim to serve as both a more progressive voice on the council and as a representative of the university’s student body.

He said he felt the desire to run because borough government has not always been receptive to university students, especially the younger and more progressive of them.

Logue said he would like to forge stronger bonds between the university and the borough through more partnerships, either in infrastructure or in community involvement.