Marple Commissioner to Head State Association of Township Commissioners

BROOMALL–Fourth Ward Commissioner John Lucas, vice president of the Board of Commissioners, will be sworn in next week as the 88th president of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Commissioners, Lucas said during a Marple Board of Commissioners meeting June 11.

Lucas said he will be the first person from Marple Township to head the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Commissioners (PSATC).

PSATC “represents Pennsylvania’s first class townships and their elected governing officials before the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the commonwealth’s various agencies,” according to a website for the PA League of Cities & Municipalities.

Several commissioners said they were proud of Lucas during the commissioners meeting last Monday.

Lucas said he wanted to thank his family.

“My wife and my kids have been behind me from the beginning,” Lucas said.  “It’s going to be a challenging year for me and my family because I’m going to spend any free time I have in Harrisburg.”

According to the PSATC:

PSATC was founded in 1925 to distinguish itself from the second class townships which are much larger in number.   Pennsylvania currently has 91 townships of the first class compared to 1,456 townships of the second class.  

First class townships are generally regarded as the “urban ring” around Pennsylvania’s cities.  Many of our first class townships face issues similar to those of our Commonwealth’s cities and urban boroughs, thereby making the association’s affiliation with the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities (PLCM) a natural fit. The PLCM has been providing lobbying services to the PSATC for over 20 years