This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

D'Emilio Runs For Third Term In 1st Ward Commissioner's Race

The 51-year-old said it is an "honor" to have already been elected for two terms.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: After reading the article, please .)

Republican 1st Ward Commissioner Steve D’Emilio is aiming for 12 years.

D’Emilio, who has been representing Haverford Township’s 1st Ward for nearly eight years, is running for a third, four-year term in a race next month against Democratic newcomer Tom Shiffer.

Find out what's happening in Haverford-Havertownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“People should vote for me because they know I don’t play party politics,” D’Emilio said. “It’s about representation of residents and the 1st Ward.”

D’Emlio said residents need that representation along with strong leadership.

Find out what's happening in Haverford-Havertownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“If they want strong leadership, it’s me,” D’Emilio said.

D’Emilio, who is married and has children, said he has lived in the 1st Ward for “11, or maybe 12 years.”

He graduated cum laude from Neumann College, with a bachelor of science.  Since then, he has spent more than 30 years working as a practice manager for the University of Pennsylvania Health System, with orthopedics foot and ankle surgeons.

Before serving on the Board of Commissioners, D’Emilio served on the township’s Zoning Hearing Board and was a member of the Westgate Hills Civic Association.

Currently, D’Emilio volunteers on the Manoa Fire Company Board of Directors, where he serves as the board’s treasurer.

The 51-year-old said he decided to run for a third term as 1st Ward commissioner “because we made a tremendous amount of progress in eight years.”

D’Emilio said one of his accomplishments as commissioner was being instrumental in bringing Haverford Reserve “to what it is today.”

“That was going to be overdeveloped with homes,” D’Emilio said. But instead, the area now includes “beautiful fields,” D’Emilio said.

D’Emilio said he supported efforts to add a recreational building to the reserve and was instrumental in making sure that the recreational center will be entirely “green.”

De’Emilio was also a part of the Board of Commissioners that was responsible for hiring a new township manager.

“We hired a new township manager, Larry Gentile, who is innovative and has change the way the township does business,” D’Emilio said.

The Board of Commissioners accomplished a zero percent tax increase last year “in one of the worst economies this nation has seen in years,” by getting rid of “waste” in township programs and generating new revenue, D’Emilio said.

D’Emilio used the township’s new leaf composting program as an example.  Composting the township’s leaves saved $500,000 but also generated new revenue because the township sold the leaf compost to private companies, and provided residents with the compost “for a reasonable fee,” D’Emilio said.

D’Emilio said he was also instrumental in establishing a township curfew for teenagers through a bipartisan ordinance, and for creating a Citizens’ Community Watch, which is headed by the Westgate Hills Civic Association, so that residents can aid the police by reporting suspicious activities and crimes.

“I have my finger on the pulse of what goes on in this ward and this township and I think that’s what’s needed here,” D’Emilio said.

One of the issues of concern for 1st Ward residents is the proposal to install billboards in the township, D’Emilio said.

D’Emilio said he has fought and will continue to fight the installation of billboards, which he said would affect residents’ quality of life and could decrease property values.

“You’re talking about a residential neighborhood which is just off the Blue Route,” D’Emilio said.

D’Emilio said he questions why billboards could be placed in a residential neighborhood right off of the highway, when billboards are prohibited on the Blue Route itself because the highway is protected by the federal government.

Another issue of concern for residents is the Radnor Haverford Marple Sewer Authority’s proposal to install a 10-million gallon, above-ground sewage tank in Haverford Township to deal with sanitary sewer overflows in Merry Place, D’Emilio said, adding that he prefers alternative solutions to deal with the overflow.

“I think the right way is to put a sanitary sewer line in,” D’Emilio said.

If the sewer authority does not want to install a sewer line, then D’Emllio said he would prefer underground sewage holding tanks, as opposed to the above-ground one which is being proposed.

Underground tanks would cost more, but they would not hurt property values in the way that an above-ground tank would, D’Emilio said.

D’Emlio said it is an honor to already have been elected for two terms as 1st Ward commissioner.

“It’s an honor to know people are depending upon you and people have chosen you because they know nothing’s going to happen on his watch,” D’Emilio said.  “They know I’m on the wall.”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?