Meet Forks Township's New Supervisor

Forks Township has a new supervisor.

Ed Moore, a member of the township's recreation board, beat out seven other candidates Thursday evening to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of supervisor David Billings.

Supervisors had spent the last week interviewing candidates, including some former supervisors. All of them were impressive, but Moore stood out. 

“Ed’s the only one so far who’s currently involved in the township, and that means a lot," said Chairman Erik Chuss. “Past experience means a lot, but current experience means a lot more.”

The other six candidates were former supervisors Bonnie Nicholas, David Hoff and Ritchey Ricci along with primary election candidate Blandine Mballa-Fonkeu, Jeanne Coy and James English.

“We were really pleased with the number of candidates that did apply. It was definitely not an easy process," Chuss said.

Supervisor John O'Neil said he was looking for someone with confidence, but also someone who knew the township's inner workings.

“Did you do your homework and see what the state of the township is?” he said.

Board members said Moore impressed them with, among other things, his command of the township budget.

Moore will complete the final five months of Billings' term this year, but Chuss and other supervisors said they hope he'll want to run for Billings' seat and spend the next two years in office. He is expected to be sworn in next week.

Billings announced last month in a letter to Palmer-Forks Patch that he was stepping down as part of a job transfer to another state.