Charles Grady wins as supervisor of Damascus Township

Attention to local roads is key to election win

By TOM KANE

DAMASCUS, PA - Charles Grady didn’t say a word at the April 18 Meet the Candidates Night held in the Damascus Township Hall for candidates for township supervisor.

Just the same, he won the primary election and beat incumbent Bill Gager by 34 votes. Gager had won supervisor elections for over 16 years.

“Instead of opening my mouth and not knowing what I was saying, I just listened,” Grady said. “It’s safer to listen. It’s nice to be quiet.”

He kept fingering a small box on the table in front of him but never referred to it or opened it.

“I beat a lot of bushes,” Grady said. “I went door-to-door and held informal discussions with voters,” he said.

What was on the minds of voters?

“The poor condition of the roads,” he said.

It was Gager’s undoing. The township has 90 miles of road, of which 20 are paved.

“I propose to develop a maintenance schedule for the fixing of the roads, as well as a similar plan for the repair of our road equipment,” Grady said. “I campaigned on this issue and it’s clear that the people heard me.”

Grady said that there are grants the township should go after to make up for the lack of state funding for roads. To raise taxes to pay for maintenance of roads is not an option, he said.

Whether Grady will serve the position of road-master is a subject that he will address after he talks to his fellow supervisors.

Grady said he wanted to know more about the recent efforts of the township planning commission to involve some neighboring townships in the development of a comprehensive plan. “It sounds like a good idea if the township benefits,” he said.

Grady said he was in favor of efforts to preserve open space.

“There’s a lot I need to learn in the coming weeks,” he said.

Grady’s name will still be on the Republican line on the ballot in the election this November, and there is no Democrat opponent.

Click here for a summary of other election results.