3 vie for 2 Franconia supervisor seats
FRANCONIA » With two sixyear terms on the Franconia Township Board of Supervisors up for election this year, the candidates are Doug Killough on the Democratic ballot and Charles Amuso and Grey Godshall on the Republican ticket.
Killough has been on the township’s parks and recreation board for 18 years. Amuso and Godshall are incumbents on the board of supervisors, where Godshall has served for 17 years and is the current chairman. Amuso, a former Souderton Area School District superintendent, was appointed to the board of supervisors last year and previously was on Franconia’s zoning hearing board for five years, the last four of which he was chairman.
Each of the candidates was emailed a questionnaire for this article asking their present and past involvement in the township and community; why they are running; goals if elected; issues Franconia faces and how to tackle the issues; what voters should know about them; and where voters can get additional information about them and their candidacy.
Charles Amuso
In addition to having served as school superintendent and on the Franconia Zoning Hearing Board and Board of Supervisors, Amuso said, he is a former Indian Valley Chamber of
Commerce Board of Directors member and is a member of the Rotary Club of Souderton-Telford, where he is currently on the board of directors.
“I am running for the Board of Supervisors to continue my service to the people of Franconia Township, where I have lived with my wife since 2005. Franconia Township is a great place to live and to raise a family,” he said.
His goals are to continue to support keeping Franconia safe, expanding open space preservation, providing services efficiently while keeping costs and taxes as low as possible and maintaining openness with the residents of the township, he said.
“The Board of Supervisors must continue a fiscally conservative approach to keeping our local government as small as possible while still providing the needed and expected services,” he said.
“It takes an experienced public servant, knowledgeable in the management of taxpayer funds and willing to make difficult choices in order to keep government as small and as efficient as possible,” Amuso said. “I have the needed experience in 35 years in public school administration and 6 more years working as a township official. I know what is important and I also know how to preserve what is important, while keeping costs down. That is what I have done in all of my work with public tax dollars.”
Information on Amuso and Godshall is available at franconiatownshiprepublicans.com, which is also the Good Government for Franconia Township Facebook page.
Grey Godshall
In addition to serving on the Franconia Township Board of Supervisors, Godshall said, he has been on the Franconia Township Park and Recreation Board and the former Franconia Township/Salford Township Joint Park Board and is a past member of the North Penn Water Authority Board of Directors.
The challenges of running a township are different than the issues that grab the headlines on the state and national level, he said.
“No matter what party you are, as a township resident we all have a lot of the same concerns: police protection, well maintained roads, quality parks, and preserving open space — all the time managing spending and taxes. I believe I have done that, and would like to continue to do so,” he said.
After a decade of little development, Franconia is again seeing an increase in development plans, he said, and one of his goals is to use the zoning and planning knowledge he’s gained while in office to have development that best fits the township.
“As municipalities across the state struggle with the cost of providing police services Franconia is well positioned for the future,” he said. “We are one of the 10 safest communities in the state. My goal is to continue to give residents peace of mind that is provided by our excellent police force.”
Another goal is to use a planned new open space study and input from residents to decide where the township goes next in the areas of open space and recreational opportunities, he said.
“Franconia Township has one of the lowest millage tax rates in Montgomery County. However our police department, highways, and parks are envied by other communities. Our Administrative staff provides township residents excellent service,” Godshall said. “My goal is to not change any of that.”
He said he has lived in Franconia his entire life and takes pride that Franconia has grown responsibly.
“But nothing gives me more satisfaction than helping residents with the day to day things like how to put a shed in their yard, how to add an in-law suite, or getting a pothole filled,” Godshall said.
Doug Killough
Killough, who also ran for the board in 2015, said he has been a resident of Franconia for 20 years.
“I am running for the board because I believe that our township government should be transparent and its leaders should be accountable to the residents,” he said.
“I hope to make the township more transparent by televising the public meetings and posting our financial statements online, in real time. Doing so, would give our residents the ability to see what’s happening and contact the township with questions before any issue is beyond addressing,” Killough said. “I also hope to connect our parks and communities with trails in order to make our township walkable/rideable without risk of getting hit by a car. Finally, I hope to bring back Franconia’s National Night Out so that we can celebrate our community and its first responders.”
He said he is a public school teacher, Iraq War veteran and holds a doctorate in educational leadership.
Additional information is available at dougforfranconia.com.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7.