May 16, 2003 By Christine Haines 7 min read

WASHINGTON – Seven candidates are seeking the two Democratic nominations for Washington County commissioner, including incumbents John Bevec and Bracken Burns. The Republican race features just two candidates, incumbent Diana Irey and her running mate, Louis Waller Sr. Both are assured of appearing on the ballot in November.

Bevec, who paired with Burns four years ago, is running on his own this year, while Burns is teaming up with Larry Maggi. Maggi is currently serving as the Washington County Sheriff. Also running are Randy Barli, David Bober, Bob Domske and Joe Manning.

Barli, 48, is a disabled coal miner, electrical contractor and steelworker. He is currently a Coal Center Borough councilman. He also served six years on that council in the 1980’s. He holds an associate’s degree in education from Penn State University.

“This area is a bad area. There’s something wrong some place. The only place to start is in government. You have to roll your sleeves up and get in there and see that everything is run right,” Barli.

“The whole area needs good employers and by that I mean the relations between employers and employees. I don’t know what one commissioner can do about that. The employee is the most valuable asset of any organization,” Barli said.

Barli said his past experience includes serving as a project manager for the DynaTran Division of DynaElectric in Washington, D.C., where he managed $650,000 a month for projects.

“I recovered a half million dollars within the first four and a half months,” Barli said.

Bevec, 40, is completing his first term as a commissioner. He is currently serving as chairman.

“There’s still a lot that needs to be accomplished. There’s a lot that is being done on the economic development side: the expansion of California Technology Park, the creation of Starpointe and Western Center,” Bevec said.

“We had a deal to buy Western Center at $2 million cash at closing. I was able to negotiate it down to 10 percent down at zero interest for 10 years. That’s a considerable savings.”

Bevec said that deal must still be approved by the state legislature and has not yet been voted on. Bevec said the focus of all of the projects he’d like to see accomplished is job creation.

“If you look back in our recent history, the job growth was at its highest during the Mascara years and the Casey administration. That’s because of the relationship Mascara had with Casey, which is similar to my relationship with (Gov. Ed) Rendell,” Bevec said. “I think my relationship with the governor will be beneficial to the county.”

Burns, 59, is in his second term as county commissioner. Burns said he is seeking a third term because he feels there are unfinished projects he would like to see to fruition.

“There are so many unfinished things that need to be done that I think I am capable of,” Burns said. “Retention of young people, rails to trails, health of the community, development of the county-wide plan, proper respect for our veterans, etc.”

Burns said there are also a number of economic development issues before the county, including addressing the best way to utilize the economic development potential of the Mon-Fayette Expressway and the Monongahela River.

“We have some absolutely stunning tourism opportunities. Route 40 is of tremendous national historic importance,” Burns said.

Burns said he also wants to see changes in how Washington County government operates.

“I’d like to see peace in the courthouse. I’ve been embarrassed over what has been going on over the past several years,” Burns said.

Bober, 48, is currently making his living working odd jobs, but is an accounting systems professional with a master’s in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a B.A. in political science.

“I needed to put my career on hold for personal reasons a few years ago,” Bober said.

Bober worked for 14 years at McGraw Edison/Cooper Industries and served as a consultant to West Virginia University from 1995 through June 2002.

“I’ve been interested in politics all my life,” Bober said. “My campaign themes are that I have new themes, new styles and a new face to politics. We have a lot of acrimony in Washington County at the commissioners’ level.”

Bober said he was taught to manage by developing win-win solutions to conflicts.

Bober said the county has also abused the right of eminent domain in a land-swap deal for the Starpointe development that eliminated $1.2 million in tax revenue in Blaine Township.

Domske, 47, is a steelworker and a junior political science student at Bethany College in West Virginia. This is his fifth run for public office, though the first time he’s run for county commissioner. His other four runs, for district justice, the 20th Congressional District, U.S. Senate and 18th Congressional District, were made as an independent.

“I was a Democrat way back. People’s perception is that the third party doesn’t count, so I went back to the Democratic Party,” Domske said.

His campaign style is not typical.

“I don’t accept donations. I go out and meet the people and see what their grievances are,” Domske said.

Domske said he would like to go to Germany to study economic development plans and to attract German and French companies to Washington County.

“I want to create some higher paying jobs,” Domske said. “Hopefully, some of the kids who are being educated here will stay here.”

Maggi, 52, is currently serving in his sixth year as sheriff. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State Police for 24 years and served two years in the Marine Corps. He graduated from California University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science degree in education.

“I’ve lived and served here my entire life, except the two years I was in the Marines. I like Washington County. I’ve seen the problems and I’d like to do something about them to help keep our young people here. With my deep roots here, I think I can do something about that.”

Maggi still has two years on his term as sheriff, but said he feels he can do more for the county as a commissioner.

“I want to attract more jobs to Washington County and I think that’s done by having commissioners who work together, cooperating and compromising. It’s my understanding that a lot of businesses are afraid to locate here because of what’s going on in the commissioners’ office,” Maggi said.

Manning, 41, is a firefighter for the City of Washington.

“I see a lot of problems in the county. I work as a firefighter, so I’ve been serving the community for about 15 years, and I want to do something to improve things,” Manning said.

Manning said the biggest problem facing the county is lack of opportunities for the young people looking for work.

“My plan calls for a building of the infrastructure that will attract businesses back to the county and bring jobs here,” Manning said. “I think there has been too much emphasis on Southpointe, which is a mixed-use light industrial park. It’s done good, but at the expense of the rest of the county.”

Manning said the county needs a Renaissance, including reforming county government and possibly combining some of the smaller municipalities to streamline services.

“You have to have leadership in place to get the ball rolling. You have to have leadership at the top willing to sit down with the people in each municipality. The whole county needs to be overhauled,” Manning said.