Municipal elections 101: Township supervisors, borough and city council members are on ballot

On Nov. 4, you may be asked to consider candidates who want to make decisions on local taxes, public safety, and more in your community. Here’s what you need to know.

By MIN XIAN
Spotlight PA State College

Municipal Elections 101 from Spotlight PA educates readers about the local positions on their ballots and empowers them to make informed decisions. Sign up for our free newsletters.

On Nov. 4, Pennsylvania voters will choose who they want to lead the local governments that most closely impact their daily lives.

Local races for borough council, city council, and township supervisors and commissioners will be on the ballot, depending on where you live. These elected officials have regular, close contact with the communities they serve. They make decisions on local taxes, public safety, affordable housing, and land use.

“Local elections have a greater impact on the lives of residents, as local leaders make decisions that directly affect them, more than those at the federal and state levels,” Pennsylvania Municipal League Executive Director John Brenner told Spotlight PA in a statement.

Pennsylvania municipalities have strong autonomy. Almost 2,560 local entities — 56 cities, 955 boroughs, one incorporated town, 93 first class townships and 1,454 second class townships — each have a governing board that exercises authority given to them by the state constitution. They are rarely overridden by higher levels of government or outside agencies.

This guide explains the powers and responsibilities of these positions, their tangible and potentially long-lasting impacts on your quality of life, and ways to evaluate candidates before you head to the polls in November.

Why municipal governing boards matter

Pennsylvania municipalities are governed by boards that vary in name and structure depending on the type of local government. It’s common to have between three and seven members on a city council or a township board of supervisors.

Despite the difference in name and size, the essence of the job is consistent: Municipal governing boards are the legislative bodies of each local community. Much like a state legislature or Congress, they approve public budgets, pass local laws, and direct employees to provide services for residents.

Most municipalities hire a manager or a secretary as the chief administrator to help run day-to-day operations, but smaller ones may require elected officials to also perform hiring duties and enforce ordinances.

The “amateur status of most elective officials” means that ordinary citizens can bring expertise from all walks of life into government operation, according to the Citizen’s Guide to Pennsylvania Local Government published by the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

These elected positions typically offer a stipend to compensate for volunteered time. Local governments have faced challenges getting people to run for and stay in these roles due to the time commitment required and other obligations in their lives. Recent legislative changes have allowed for increased pay to encourage more people to consider a run.

“The people who run for local government, they’re not doing it for the money, they’re not doing it for the power,” Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors Executive Director David Sanko told Spotlight PA. “They have that genuine interest in serving, and I think that voters will gravitate towards people who reflect their values.”

Some responsibilities of local governing boards are mandated by state law, but others are optional and can be tailored to the needs of each municipality. For instance, a municipality with a larger population might fund and operate its own police force, while a smaller unit might rely on State Police.

By electing municipal officials, you get to weigh in on critical questions like how much you will pay in taxes and what services those taxes will fund. Issues like whether an AI data center or an industrial warehouse can be built in a community are often decided at the local level. Board decisions, whether in the form of an ordinance or an internal policy, bind the present and the future of your community.

What positions will appear on the November ballot?

The best way to find out what races will appear on your ballot this fall is to reach out to your county election office. A full list of these offices can be found on pa.gov. All of the commonwealth’s 67 counties have an election office website that provides varying levels of election information and online voter services.

County election offices can provide sample ballots specific to a voting precinct. (Searching for sample ballots with the name of a particular precinct on the internet could also work.) Those will show all the races voters will decide ahead of time. You can choose from candidates listed on the ballot or write in your pick in each contest.

Members for borough or city councils typically serve four-year terms, while township supervisors and commissioners generally serve six-year terms. The terms are staggered, and in most cases do not come with a limit — although local rules can make exceptions for both.

Pennsylvania’s more than 2,500 municipalities require about 12,000 elected officials. A 2021 survey of nearly 900 officials found about half ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections, so voters’ voices in these often sidelined races might actually play a bigger role.

What makes for a good municipal leader?

In most cases, any registered voter who has lived in a municipality for at least one year is eligible to run for local office.

This means there is no requirement for a candidate to be knowledgeable or experienced in the public post they want — amateurs are welcome to run, in short.

Despite that low barrier to entry, serving as an elected municipal leader can be challenging.

Rules of governance — including proper conduct in public meetings, financial oversight, open records and meetings laws, as well as compliance with state and federal regulations — are often learned on the fly.

Even seasoned officials must keep up with increasingly complex responsibilities due to advancing technologies and ever-evolving regulations and mandates, Brenner previously told Spotlight PA.

“Voters should always look at a candidate’s background and qualifications,” Brenner said in an email. “Have they been positively involved and engaged in the community? Have they been transparent and open? Voters should specifically ask them, ‘Why do you want to serve as a local government official?’” Checking out campaign materials such as a website or social media page, talking with candidates directly, and looking into the track record of incumbents through meeting minutes or public documents are some of the ways you can evaluate candidates.

Another way to learn about incumbents is to view their conflict of interest forms. The Pennsylvania Ethics Act requires that elected officials annually disclose any such conflicts. The state ethics commission investigates complaints of improper influence or personal benefit from public office and posts sanctions to ethicsrulings.pa.gov/ weblink. You can search that database.

Whether any candidate can succeed as an effective and responsible municipal leader may only be judged by their actions, but voters can evaluate how prepared they are for public office by asking questions about their understanding of these universal good-governance principles.

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