New Bald Eagle Township Supervisors Sworn In
LOCK HAVEN – Bald Eagle Township, for the first time in two months, is back to its full complement of three supervisors.
Clinton County President Judge Craig P. Miller, assisted by Judge Michael Salisbury, Monday afternoon administered the oath of office to Gerard Banfill, left, and Clarence “Tuff” Rhine, right. The court had announced last Friday its selection of the two after interviewing 12 applicants who had offered their services to fill the two empty seats on the board.
These appointments are in effect only through the end of this election cycle. Banfill told therecord-online he will be seeking a 4-year term on the board in the November election while Rhine said he has not yet made a determination as to whether he will be on the ballot in November. Both are Republicans, as were their predecessors.
Banfill is the longtime operational director of the Lock Haven EMS program while Rhine retired in 2014 after 37 years with Croda. Banfill had served as an interim township supervisor following the death of the late Chris Dwyer, serving a year and a half through the 2015 election. Banfill has been serving as the township’s operational coordinator and assistant treasurer since January. Rhine had no previous experience in Bald Eagle Township affairs but said he put his name forward to serve the township community.
The next supervisors meeting will be Monday, July 24 at 6:30 p.m.
The court became involved after a petition from township residents, this after supervisors James H. Bechdel Sr. and Jack B. Bechdel resigned in May. Their departure came after James Bechdel was ordered by the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission to pay more than $100,000 in penalties for violations of state ethics law. The state agency charged him with using the authority of his office to make purchases from the Federal Surplus Supply Property Program and “subsequently converted those items to his personal use and/or conveyed them to a member of his immediate family.” Bechdel and his brother/fellow supervisor Jack Bechdel were both implicated in the ethics report and subsequently resigned, leaving the township with one supervisor in Ken McGhee Jr.
