Feb 24, 2005 By Paul Sunyak 3 min read

If you live in South Union Township and want a job that will put $62,523 a year in your pocket, you might want to pick up nominating petitions for township supervisor at the Fayette County Election Bureau. Ten signatures from registered voters in your political party, submitted by the March 8 filing deadline, is all you need to get on this year’s primary election ballot – although the election bureau routinely encourages potential candidates to get more signatures than the required minimum as a cushion.

The retirement of longtime South Union supervisor Rock Coville has created an opening for a job that pays substantially more than the much higher-profile post of Fayette County commissioner – $17,306 more, to be exact.

According to South Union Township secretary Shauna Frankhouser, supervisors Coville, Bob Schiffbauer and Tom Frankhouser each receive $55,515 per year for being roadmasters.

They also each get “meeting pay” of $270 per month for attending the township’s business meetings, which amounts to $3,240 per year per supervisor. Plus, each supervisor gets $12 per day for using his personal vehicle on township business, a benefit that Shauna Frankhouser said amounted to $3,768 per supervisor in 2004.

Dividing that amount by $12 means that each South Union supervisor qualified for the vehicle reimbursement for 314 days, or six days per week over the calendar year. Shauna Frankhouser said they don’t have to submit any proof of vehicle use to get that stipend.

The base pay for Fayette County commissioner is $45,217, which Commissioners Joseph A. Hardy and Vincent A. Vicites will earn this year. Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink gets $1,000 more for being chairwoman; she qualifies for a $46,217 salary but will make $45,040 in 2005 because she declined this year’s pay raise.

None of the county commissioners gets extra pay for attending meetings. Nor do they get a set daily vehicle use stipend, although they can submit for mileage reimbursement for any county-related travel using their personal vehicles.

When all monetary compensation is considered, the job of South Union Township supervisor pays nearly 28 percent more than the job of Fayette County commissioner.

Long-time Magisterial District Judge Rick Vernon has resigned that $64,669-a-year job in order to make a run at succeeding Coville. Vernon is the only announced candidate thus far, but more may materialize by the March 8 filing deadline, when nominating petitions for all primary races are due in the Fayette County Election Bureau.

Anyone wishing to succeed Vernon as magisterial district judge – a job formerly known as district justice – needs to obtain at least 100 signatures of registered voters.

Art Heinz, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, said that if a successful candidate for magisterial district judge isn’t an attorney, he or she must take classes and pass an examination prior to taking office. But they do not have to go through that process before running for office or winning an election, he added.

“They need not be members of the bar or attorneys (to run),” said Heinz.