May 11, 2007 By Jackie Beranek 4 min read

BULLSKIN TWP. – Incumbent Democrat William “Bill” Geary faces a challenge from Democratic David E. Butler in this year’s primary election. Geary, who is a two-term (six years each term) supervisor, said he’s proud of the township and he wants to continue to serve its residents.

“I decided to run again because I like helping people and I need the job,” said Geary. “Our township has really turned around over the past couple of years and it looks real nice. Things are going great here in Bullskin Township and we three supervisors work really well together.”

Geary said he wants to see the township continue to grow and taxes stay low. He said the reason the taxes have remained low is because of grant money that has allowed the supervisors to do a lot more work.

“I want to apply for more grants and keep our roads paved,” said Geary. “I also want to make sure that our equipment is updated and keep mowing because I think that Bullskin is a nice looking township and we have gotten a lot of compliments on the work we do.”

Geary, 56, is a working supervisor who wants to keep on extending water lines to residents who do not have city water. He said he and the other supervisors made sure that water was extended to the mountain area to the tune of about $500,000.

“We worked hard on the low to moderate income survey and even went out on Mother’s Day a number of years ago to make sure that we could catch people at home to get the much needed information for the survey,” continued Geary.

Geary said he would do whatever it takes to help the residents of the township. He additionally said that he takes phone calls every day of the week and he and the other two supervisors go out on Christmas or whenever in the wintertime to clear snow from the roads.

“We are here to serve the people,” he concluded.

Butler, 54, ran as a write-in candidate two years ago but lost in that election. He said if elected this time he would work as a full-time roadmaster.

“I decided to run because my dad (the late Charles Butler) served as supervisor for many years and people have come to me and said ‘I think we need a little change so I’m there,'” he said.

Butler said he would also like to see a more open government.

“I believe that more information should be made available to the public,” he continued. “And, I think that township money could be put to better use.”

Butler said if elected he would do the best job that he could possibly do. He additionally said that he would like to see the supervisors keep a daily log that way if a resident has a question the supervisors could refer to the log and tell them what they spent and what they did on a daily basis.

Butler said his father kept a daily log and it was an asset to meetings when people wanted to know exactly what the supervisors were doing. He said the supervisors do clock in and out but there is no record of what they did during the eight hours they spent at the municipal building or out on the road.

“There’s just a lot of little simple things that could be done to help the process,” he said. “I just want to do things that will benefit all of the residents of the township and as a full-time supervisor I would be available to talk to anyone anytime.”

The life-long resident said he’s not sure that he can walk in the footsteps of his father but he sure would like to try.

Butler is self-employed.