Incumbent Franklin Township Supervisor Robert Thompson and business owner Joe Schubert are squaring off in the Nov. 7 general election.

Schubert won a three-candidate race that included Thompson in the May 16 primary for the Republican nomination, but Thompson received enough write-in votes to appear on the Democratic ballot for a six-year term as supervisor.

The main issue is the property maintenance ordinance township supervisors adopted by a 2-1 vote in August 2021.

Thompson said he is being held accountable for the ordinance even though he voted against it.

“There’s a coalition saying I voted for the noise ordinance,” Thompson said. “I was the only supervisor that voted against it. They accuse me of being complicit. A certain group wants to oust everyone who was on the board at that time.”

The ordinance contains “minor restrictions” including a limit on the volume of noise emanating from a property and a prohibition against outdoor storage of junk vehicles, but Thompson stressed that he voted against it.

“My main goal is to listen to the people, do what’s right for the people, keep this a nice farming area and not impose big-city looks,” Thompson said.

In addition, he said the supervisors have done a good job of running the township over the years.

In the 16 years he has been in office, Thompson said taxes have never been increased, but a 2-mill fire tax was added to provide funding for the fire department.

“We’ve done a good job as supervisors. I’ve done a good job, and I think I can continue to do a good job. We have a surplus in the budget despite never raising taxes,” he said.

Schubert, who owns an excavation business and a small beef-cattle farm, said his goals are keeping taxes low and rescinding or significantly changing the property maintenance ordinance.

He said the supervisors held a meeting on the ordinance at the Atrium, and the majority of the standing room-only audience opposed the ordinance.

“That seemed to fire up the community when they passed it,” Schubert said. “Everyone was mad about it, but they passed it anyway,”

He said there have been only one or two enforcement actions relating to the ordinance, which he says is not needed in the rural township.

“I don’t want to be in everyone’s business,” Schubert said.

He said the issues addressed in the ordinance should be handled on a case-by-case basis.

“The township can now tell you you have too may cars in your driveway. It’s just madness. This is a rural community. I don’t need to have an ordinance that Cranberry Township has,” Schubert said.

He said township residents are “on edge” with concerns that an ordinance-related complaint made by one neighbor against another would result in the neighbor retaliating by making a complaint against the neighbor who made the complaint.

Schubert said what he has learned about spending as a small-business owner –common sense and being willing to listen to residents – as his qualifications to become a supervisor. He said he is not pursuing a career in politics.

Joe Schubert