E. Penn interviews candidates for open supervisor seat

Three East Penn Township supervisors on Thursday interviewed residents who are interested in a vacant seat on their board.

Steven Heckman resigned his seat in January. The remaining board members have until Feb. 7 to find his replacement. If they are unable, a vacancy board will vote to fill the position.

On Thursday, they held public interviews with four candidates interested in the position. A fifth candidate was not available, so the board decided to wait until their regular meeting on Monday to interview her and make her decision.

The supervisor would be paid $1,500 per year. They must be a resident of the township for one year, and cannot hold any positions on the school board or with Carbon County.

William G. Schwab, John Strockoz and Alice Berger were present. Deanna Cunfer was absent.

Lisa Kishbaugh discussed her experience managing a senior housing complex with hundreds of tenants in her current position. She said she also worked in government for several years when she worked in the Court Administration office in Monroe County. She said she has lived in the township for four years. She currently serves as an alternate member of the township planning commission.

“I want to be able to give back and just get a little more involved,” she said.

Dennis Pearson said he moved to the township only a year ago, but was active in his Allentown neighborhood. He said he was part of two efforts to save the local pool, and also helped advocate for road projects to help his neighbors.

“When people came to us complaining about the roads, we tried to get the roads fixed,” he said.

James Lambert served in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom as part of a team transporting heavy equipment. He transitioned to a job at Tobyhanna Army Depot, where he provided logistics support for a team of 115 people who maintained anti-IED technology in the field in the Middle East. He also has experience managing a small trucking company.

Gary Kuehner, a township resident since 1960, served before on the board of supervisors, for 12 years. He served as chairman for some of that time. He also oversaw the township road crew. He recently retired after 14 years with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Carbon County maintenance, and he said he sees potential for the township to work with PennDOT to improve the township roads.

He is currently the chairman of the township planning commission.

The fifth candidate who submitted a letter of interest is Susan Rhoads-Procina. The supervisors will interview her during Monday night’s regular meeting. Rhoads-Procina previously served as township treasurer, but resigned from that position in January.