Editor’s note: This story was changed to reflect that former candidate Thomas Rupert is a Democrat.
The list of candidates for Gilpin supervisor in the primary is significantly shorter after a court ruling knocked three of six candidates from the May ballot.
Armstrong County Common Pleas Judge Chase McClister ruled candidates Tina Thompson, an incumbent currently serving as board chairperson; Thomas Rupert; and Joseph Sabot did not file financial disclosure and ethics forms on time.
The paperwork is required to be filed with the state, county and township.
Gary Hall, a newcomer in local government, now is the lone Republican on the ballot for nomination to two supervisors seats up for election this year.
“I haven’t run for political office before and, now, I’m 65 and have time to do it,” he said.
Hall was one of two people who challenged the validity of the other candidates. He challenged Republicans Thompson and Sabot.
Hall said he turned in all of the required paperwork and followed up with the township secretary to ensure the paperwork was submitted. He said he asked whether everyone else had turned in the required paperwork, and three candidates had not.
“They didn’t do things the way they’re supposed to be done,” Hall said. “They just didn’t follow the rules.”
The other petitioner was Gilpin resident Anna Bauer. A Democrat, Bauer successfully challenged the paperwork for Rupert, also a Democrat.
That leaves Democrats Chaz Minnich and Terri Vakulick Smith on the ballot.
“We’re trying to bring candidates in that will put the taxpayers before themselves,” she said. “These particular candidates aren’t taking it seriously.”
If the candidates had done their “due diligence,” Bauer said, then the financial statements would have been turned in with the rest of the required paperwork.
She said recent decisions made by current supervisors have significantly decreased the confidence she has in local leadership.
“This showed me (the candidates) are not doing their due diligence, so what is going to inspire confidence that they’re going to do their due diligence once on the board if they can’t even submit their paperwork correctly?” Bauer said.
Rupert declined to comment about the situation.
Thompson called the ruling a technicality. Her term will be up in December.
As a supervisor, Thompson said she’s required to turn in a financial interest statement annually. It’s a form from the State Ethics Committee that shows an elected official is not receiving financial gain from the position they’re holding.
She said she filed the required paperwork with the state on Feb. 28; she said a copy of it didn’t make it to the township building by the March 11 deadline.
“I was removed from the ballot for not having a copy of my financial statement in the township office by March 11,” Thompson said.
Thompson said she found out about the challenge when she was served with a subpoena during the March 18 public supervisors meeting. Sharon Long, the township secretary, was also served at the same time, Thompson said.
Both women and Sabot were required to show up to court March 25.
Sabot, another newcomer to local politics, said he had a similar situation to Thompson’s. Sabot said he decided to run in an effort to give all residents a source of equal representation.
He said he completed all required paperwork, but the township building’s hours made it difficult for him to turn in the application to the township’s secretary.
The building is open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Mondays and 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. It’s closed on weekends.
Sabot said he ended up turning in his paperwork to Jeremy Smail, supervisors vice chairman, without realizing Smail did not have the authority to accept the paperwork. Sabot said he gave the paperwork to Smail the day before the deadline.
“It was turned in the Monday before (the deadline) with Vice Chair Jeremy Smail, who turned it in the following morning, which was technically 12 hours late,” Sabot said.
Attorney Chuck Pascal of Leechburg said candidates being removed from the preliminary ballot is an annual occurrence. He filed the court challenges against the Gilpin supervisor candidates on behalf of Hall and Bauer.
“I do a lot of these challenges all over the state,” Pascal said.
He said two years ago, during the last local election cycle, there were 15 candidates removed from local ballots because of the challenges he filed. This year, only six or seven were removed, he said.
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“Every March, I’m doing several of these,” Pascal said. “In the even-numbered years, it’s candidates for state Legislature, and, in odd numbered years, it’s these local races.”
Pascal said paperwork deadlines, the lack of signatures and updated addresses for voting registrations are some of the common reasons a candidate is removed from a ballot.
Pascal said the Armstrong County elections office gave out a handbook with instructions for candidates, and all the required forms had instructions as well.
Sabot said he felt Hall’s actions followed an anti-competition tactic.
“He got every last Republican candidate kicked off the ballot,” Sabot said.
Hall said eliminating competition was secondary to the fact that he felt the required paperwork was necessary for voters to grasp the full picture of the candidates.
“My main goal of running is because there are way too many private agendas (in the current supervising board), and it’s bad for the township,” Hall said.