Politics & Government

Meet the Cranberry Supervisor Candidates: Eric Gordon

A Seneca Valley school board member, Gordon is seeking the Republican nomination in the May 21 primary election.

The spring primary is Tuesday, May 21. Do you know who you’re voting for?

In an effort to help readers get to know those running for Cranberry Township’s Board of Supervisors, Patch is running a series of candidate profiles.

Up next is Seneca Valley School Board member Eric Gordon, who is one of two candidates seeking the Republican nomination for the seat being vacated by Supervisor Dave Root.

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

The other Republican candidate is The winner of the May primary will face the Democratic contender in the fall general election.

  • Position sought: Cranberry Township Supervisor
  • Candidate Website: www.ElectGordon.com, www.facebook.com/ElectGordon
  • Family: Wife, Wendy; daughter Anna (13) and a baby girl on the way, due Oct 5
  • Education: Bachelors of Science, Applied Science and Technologies, Nuclear Engineering Technologies, Thomas Edison State College
  • Occupation: Senior Reactor Operator Instructor Unit Supervisor in the Navy Reserves

Related experience:

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I have been responsibly managing taxpayer resources since 1999. I coordinated nuclear personnel and maintenance resources during my tour on board the Trident missile submarine USS Nebraska SSBN-739.

Following my active duty service, I enlisted in the Navy Reserve, where I currently manage a unit dedicated to serving maintenance needs in our public shipyards.

I have served the educational needs of our children as a member of the Seneca Valley School Board, additionally serving as Board Vice President in 2012.

I have participated in bimonthly public meetings, numerous student adjudication hearings, committee meetings and executive sessions to support district objectives, represented taxpayer interests during a lengthy federal court meditation, attended graduation, sports and JROTC award ceremonies. This was all at my own expense as volunteer community service.

Finally, I serve on the executive board of the Butler County Republican Committee as Treasurer.

During my tenure, I developed a custom electronic financial management system, allowing us to develop in depth balanced budgets and more efficiently utilize resources. As a result, we have almost tripled the assets of the committee in one year.

What is the primary reason you are running for this office?

Cranberry Township is a uniquely wonderful place to live. People feel safe, they talk to their neighbors and they send their children to superior local schools. I, like most of you, am proud to live here.

I also believe that we have a model government and a fairly solid plan for the future. Right now, most Cranberry residents rate their quality of life as "good" or better, 89 percent to be exact.

I’m running for this office because I believe that it requires constant vigilance and awareness to keep it that way. I will ensure that our budget is balanced using sustainable revenue sources, to eliminate sudden tax spikes or cuts to programs and services.

I will support our community parks and recreation facilities. I will always support our outstanding police and volunteer fire departments.

Cranberry residents know that I have been the reliable conservative voice at Seneca Valley, advocating for fiscal responsibility, balanced budgeting, and employee accountability.

I would like to bring that same level of oversight and transparency to Cranberry Township government.

What will be your single most important priority if you get elected?

Improving our traffic-related issues that concern so many of our residents!

My plan includes a continued push to widen Freedom Road to five lanes (two,two and a turning lane) out to the township line. I would also vote to increase the speed limit on Executive Drive to 35 mph.

I would work to restart the conversation in Harrisburg to widen Route 228 out to Route 8 and ask that Rep. Daryl Metcalfe work with his colleagues and Jackson officials to add north entry to Interstate 79 at Jackson Pointe.

That's just a start!

At budget time, I would make it a priority to ensure that traffic impact fees are actually used to fund road improvements. I will not support a budget that uses tricks or gimmicks to shuffle money to pet projects.

What sets you apart from the other candidates?

I am the only candidate in this race who has experience serving on a board and working with residents as an elected official. Also, no other candidate has experience developing balanced budgets and policies based on the values of our community.

Serving as an elected representative is a challenging duty for sure, and it’s important to spend the time to do it right.

I have built personal relationships with residents whose favorite programs have been on the chopping block due to budget cuts. One time, I sat in the kitchen of a nervous stay-at-home mom and helped her develop a four minute speech, just so she would have the confidence to speak at a school board meeting on an issue that I knew was extremely important to her regarding her daughter’s history book.

I have voted to extend meetings, just so that everyone who wanted to speak could be heard.

As a Township Supervisor, you must be a customer service specialist. I will always be available to my constituents, just as I have been during my term as a School Director.

I’m even coordinating the only public candidate’s night in Cranberry because I strongly believe that the residents of Cranberry Township should be able to hear from their candidates and have the opportunity to ask them questions in an open forum before they make their choice on May 21.

What's your favorite thing about the community?

Cranberry Township is about as close to a modern day Mayberry as you can get!

We have a very low crime rate, excellent shopping and dining establishments, many parks and recreation facilities, friendly people, and—my favorite—we are so blessed to have a great public school system and quality education program at Seneca Valley School District.

What is a quality education program?  A quality education program is one that provides world class academic instruction in math, English, science, social studies and the arts, balanced with a wide variety of student electives and extra-curricular activities.

Seneca Valley kids are better prepared to handle the rigors of college or the demands of the labor force than ever before. During my term on the school board, we were nationally recognized with multiple designations, including most recently as a National Blue Ribbon school.

A great school district also offers residents the benefit of increased property values. Great families have made Cranberry Township their home and have improved the quality of life that we all enjoy.

What is the biggest problem facing the community?

I, like many residents, would like to see Cranberry grow as a nice suburban community, building homes with yards, kids, front porches, etc.

Unfortunately, a dirty little secret is that Cranberry has been fueling increased revenues by zoning higher density housing. Why would the township do that? Higher density housing brings in more EIT (Earned Income Tax) revenues per unit area, thereby minimizing the short-term need to raise taxes to support government growth.

The long term issue is that when Cranberry is fully developed, revenue growth from new residents will essentially flat-line; it’s not sustainable.

A large government infrastructure will still require new revenues each year to sustain itself. Therefore, Cranberry will be forced to make a decision: either raise property and EIT taxes, or cut programs and services.

All of that is why I've pledged to minimize the growth of township government now, before we get ourselves into a situation where we are tempted to sock it to property owners on fixed incomes and wage earners trying to raise a family.


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