Upper Providence Republican Contest Could Prove Interesting

Even to those Upper Providence residents who don't closely follow local politics, Robert Fieo's name is a familiar one. He has been on the Upper Providence Board of Supervisors for 12 years, and he is quick to name some of his accomplishments during that tenure.

"I created 5,900 jobs. I preserved more than 700 acres of open space for parks and recreation. We purchased five new fire engines, and we got rid of the township property tax," Fieo, a Republican, said Monday.

That résumé was not enough to convince the Upper Providence Republican Committee to give Fieo its endorsement in the primary election Tuesday. That honor went to Fieo's opponent, Lisa Mossie.

Fieo said the Upper Providence Republican Committee's failure to give him the official endorsement was personal.

"One of the members of the committee has a vendetta against me," Fieo said. Asked whether he would be willing to name that member, Fieo said, "He knows who he is."

Mossie offered an alternative explanation.

"I think the committee recognized that he [Fieo] has angered a good many of our residents. He's been on the board for 12 years, and I think people think it's time for change," Mossie said, adding that she has a better chance than Fieo to defeat Democrat George Faris in the general election.

Mossie, a financial analyst with the Bryn Mawr Trust company, is a first-time candidate, but she is no political neophyte. Citing her conservative talk show on WFYL-AM and her columns for the Norristown Times Herald and the Pottstown Mercury newspapers, Mossie said her local media presence made her more of a known quantity than she might otherwise be.

She doesn't think Upper Providence Township has been run badly. She just thinks she can help do it better.

"I don't think the township has been mismanaged," Mossie said.

Mossie said obtaining money from developers to pay for township projects while advancing their own business objectives is "not a sustainable way of getting funding." She believes her financial experience will enable her to find more creative ways to generate revenue.

She also hopes to eliminate a perception that "developers can come in here [to Upper Providence] and do what they want, while everyone else has to jump through hoops to build a deck on the back of their house."

"I'm not anti-developer by any means," Mossie said. "I'm just 'residents first.'"

Fieo disputed the idea that developers have run roughshod over the municipal government.

"We hold builders and developers to a higher standard. They hate coming in here and dealing with me," Fieo said.

He said residents were "held to the same standards as everyone else."

"There are no special interests here," Fieo said.

"We have no property tax, and no debt. In this day and age, what other township can say that? My record stands for itself. I think I'm going to win," Fieo said.