North Huntingdon commissioner, predecessor face off in GOP primary

May 6—Republican voters in North Huntingdon's Fourth Ward will see two familiar names on the township commissioners ballot in the May 18 primary.

It will be a replay of the 2017 primary and general election, only the roles will be reversed because Brian Blasko, then the challenger, now is the incumbent and Richard Gray, then the incumbent, is this year's challenger.

Unless some Democrat gets at least 10 write-in votes in the primary, the winner of the Republican primary is virtually assured of winning the seat in November. Gray came very close to beating Blasko as a write-in candidate in the November 2017 election.

Blasko, 35, a Yough School District teacher, promised he will not run for re-election if he does win a second term. He said he believes in term limits at all levels of government and does not intend to become a career politician.

Blasko lost bids in the 2006 and the 2008 Democratic primaries to unseat former state Rep. James Casorio in the 56th District. In the 2006 general election, Blasko ran as an Independent against Casorio, garnering just 3% of the votes in a three-candidate race. In 2007, he also lost to Anthony Martino in the Democratic primary for commissioner in the Fifth Ward.

Blasko, like his fellow commissioners, voted to hold the line on taxes during his tenure. In the budget discussions in November, he said he would be willing to discuss eliminating the police and fire dispatching services as a way of reducing costs, because the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety offers that service to most municipalities.

He recently pushed for increasing the amount of money eligible volunteer emergency responders, like firefighters, can receive through a rebate of their earned income tax from $250 to $500.

Over the past 12 months, Blasko was one of the commissioners who supported tighter restrictions on the raising of backyard chickens in residential neighborhoods, a controversy that lingered for months until the board majority found a solution by requiring those homeowners with less than 10 acres in a neighborhood to seek a zoning variance.

Although no longer on the seven-member board of commissioners, Gray, 63, a technician for Verizon Communications-Wireline, has been a fixture at the meetings since he lost his bid for re-election.

During his tenure as a commissioner, Gray said he focused on government transparency, ethics, public safety and fiscal responsibility in budget management.

He said he promoted professional management and enacted merit-based hiring, as opposed to hiring by political affiliation.

Gray said, during his tenure, he worked to transform the road-paving program by determining which roads to pave based on need, "not the political vote-getting whims of partisan politicians."

During his last term in office, Gray pushed for an investigation into allegations that former commissioner David Herold, a political rival, used asphalt millings from the township to pave his son's driveway. The probe was turned over to the state Attorney General's office, which closed the investigation in 2018 without filing any charges.

Gray said he began Internet streaming of the township commissioner meetings at his own expense, while still in office.

In the Sixth Ward, incumbent Republican Fran Bevan withdrew from the race in March, leaving Lyndsay Wengrzyn, deputy chief for the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds, as the only candidate on the ballot.

Commissioner Zachary Haigis, board president, does not face any opposition in the Republican primary.

Those serving as township commissioners receive an annual payment of $4,375, as set by the First Class Township Code, said Jeff Silka, township manager.

No Democrats filed for their party's nomination in any of the three wards.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .