2 seeking Republican nomination for O'Hara council Ward 3

Tawnya Panizzi, The Tribune-Review, Greensburg
·2 min read

May 7—Editor's note: The Herald is only spotlighting contested races in the primary election.

According to the Allegheny County Office of Elections unofficial candidate list, there are two Republican nominees seeking a place on the fall ballot for O'Hara council in Ward 3. Here are their responses provided to Tribune-Review questions.

Gregory Caprara

—Why did you decide to run for election?

"Improving relationships between the township and the residents defines why I am running," Caprara said. "As the incumbent for the past four months, I have used my experience in the private and public sectors to increase interaction with our residents."

—What do you think the biggest issues are?

"The biggest issue on the table is finding a way to effectively engage residents and gain their perspective on how they want to be represented," he said.

—What should voters know about you?

"I believe that my job is not to 'Do Something,' rather it is to do what the residents want me to do," Caprara said.

Mike Hammill

—Why did you decide to run for election?

"I decided to run for councilman because I have some real concerns where the township council is going," Hammill said. "I have concerns that the voters won't have a say in local matters and absolute control will be done by the council and not the citizens."

—What do you think the biggest issues are?

"The biggest issue is flooding and way too many zoning issues that are out of control," Hammill said. "My issue is when new housing developers start grazing the land and are not held accountable for their actions. The past three years, heavy rains have flooded our local valley causing destruction and confusion on how to deal with it.

"When a new developer takes away the topsoil there has to be a drain pit/pond for this water to fill before it goes down the creeks or sewer drainage systems."

—What should voters know about you?

"I grew up in O'Hara and live by Meadow Park," Hammill said. "I was a paper boy, Boy Scout and graduated from Fox Chapel Area High School. I served 20-plus years in the Navy, on active duty and reserves. I served on the USS Saratoga CV-60 with two deployments and two tours in Iraq with a surgical unit. I currently work as a dialysis technician with FKC West Penn dialysis for over 25 years.

"My mission statement is to keep a good fiscal policy, support our EMS services and fire departments, back the men and women in blue, listen to the community always having an open mind and stop the cancel/woke agenda. I put in 20 years serving our nation, now its time to serve the community."

Tawnya Panizzi is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tawnya at 724-226-7726, tpanizzi@triblive.com or via Twitter .