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If the unofficial results hold, the Lycoming County Board of Commissioners will continue to be split 2-1 as Republican Scott Metzger retained his seat and will be joined by newcomers Marc Sortman, a Loyalsock Township Republican and Democrat Mark Mussina, of Montoursville.
Two seats on the board were left vacant when Commissioners Rick Mirabito and Tony Mussare chose not to run for another term.
Democrat Denitra Moffett was unable to secure a seat on the board getting 5,657 or 12.82% of the vote.
Vote totals for the three presumptive commissioners are: Mussina, 7,795 or 17.67%; Metzger, 16,422 or 37.22%; and Sortman, 14,193 or 32.17%.
New to the political scene, having never held an office before, businessman Mark Mussina said he was "thrilled" at the win.
"Just being a first timer, being kind of new to the races and the system, you know, we were hoping to win by maybe 500 to 700 votes. If we would have won by 1,000 votes, we would have been thrilled. And the fact that we won by, you know, over 2,000 votes you know...we’re ecstatic," Mussina said.
Mussina admitted that, for him, the most pressing need when he takes office in January is to learn how to navigate the system.
"For the meetings that I’ve had, and the people that I’ve talked to whether they are elected officials or whether they work there, the most pressing need for me is a learning curve. Like I’m going to try to learn as much as I can as fast as I can, and kind of rely on the people that are there that have experience that know how this system works," he said.
"So that is my biggest challenge between here and and not just January, but in the early part of my term, is just to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can from the people who are there who know what’s going on," he added.
Although it rarely happens, it is possible to have all three commissioners as members of the same party, however historically the Lycoming County board usually is a 2-1 split and the board that comes on in January will continue in that tradition.
Mussina doesn't see any difficulty working with that paradigm.
"Anyone who’s paying attention knows that the board would be to two Republicans and one Democrat because that’s how it always is and that’s how our county demographics are," he said.
"Being a guy who’s from here, who's born and raised here and who’s been a Democrat his whole life, most of the people that I’ve worked with are Republicans. So it’s not something that scares me. You know, being a guy from Montoursville the vast majority of my friends are Republican. What I’ve found through life, and through the election process is yes, obviously Democrats and Republicans disagree on things, but the reasonable ones agree on way more things than they disagree on," he said.
"I think with Scott and Marc, we will be able to work well together and get things done because logistically and community-wise and infrastructure-wise, I’ll bet you find that not just us three, but any reasonable people agree on way more than they disagree," he added.
Commenting the day after the election, Metzger first wanted to thank God "because none of this would be possible without Him. And I want to thank my wife and my family and my committee and their families for their dedication and sacrifices throughout my campaign."
"Lastly, I want to thank the voters who have supported me with their vote of confidence and I'm so honored to serve Lycoming County in the capacity as a commissioner for the past four years.
And I look forward to serving the community in the future for all voters. I look forward to working with Mark Sortman and Mark Mussina to make Lycoming County even better," he said.
Looking forward to the term beginning in January, Metzger emphasized the work that needs to be done in the county, first and foremost he believes is securing commercial air service for the area and working to repair the levee system.
"The levee systems are so important to have to recertify the flooding shorts as for the businesses that are in that area, you’re talking about four and a half billion dollars worth of economic development behind that levee. A large percentage of our tax revenue is behind that levee...so it’s important to get that recertified. We’re going in the right direction with it. It’s been a team effort between the city and the county, South Williamsport and Loyalsock and our state and federal legislators working on that. We’re just about ready to start to see some of the improvements being made on cross pipes and relief wells," Metzger said.
"It’s been a long process getting to that point. Then also a small stream cleanup. We have a lot of flooding in Lycoming County. The rural communities get hit hard with small streams and it’s important that we work with our state legislators to make sure that there’s legislation passed so we can get into these streams and get them cleaned up so that the flooding will decrease, because the property owner can’t continue to clean up flood after flood after flood. So that’s a major issue too," he added.
Like Mussina, Metzger, too, emphasized the teamwork that comes into play with running county government.
"I’m looking forward to working with the two new commissioners and helping them, and guide them along. So that we all can work together in unison and make decisions to make our community much better," Metzger said.
"We live in a beautiful community and it’s an honor to serve everybody. Those are probably some of the major issues working on the county. I’ve been proud that we haven’t had increased taxes in the last four years. That’s a big thing is you have to live within your means," he said.
"This is not a nine-to-five job. You know, you’re constantly working at night, on weekends. And you sign up to do that because you care about your community, you care about your neighbor and you care about your fellow residents because we have a beautiful community. We want to keep it that way and improve it. Every year you can always make improvements. And that’s what it’s about. It’s about keeping an open mind and listening to them. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You go out and listen to people. Read ideas, and you work together. Everything’s a team approach. Everything we do at the county is a team approach. And that’s how you get things done. You rely on other people’s expertise and you listen to have an open mind and you work towards a common goal," he said.
Metzger also made a point to thank Denitra Moffett for a "well-run campaign."
"I wish her the best," he added.