Editor’s note: The Hampton Journal is only spotlighting contested races in the primary election.

According to the Allegheny County Office of Elections unofficial candidate list, there are two Democratic nominees on the ballot for the two-year term on Hampton Council. One candidate has withdrawn from the race but his withdrawal came after the deadline to have his name removed from the ballot.

Alexander Spiess

Spiess withdrew from the race but not in enough time to have his name removed from the ballot.

Richard “Rock” Kernick

• Why did you decide to run for election?

“Although I grew up with a strong awareness of government and have always stayed informed, I more or less ignored local issues until after the 2016 election,” Kernick said. “Sadly, it became apparent that the country needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

“Since that time, I’ve increasingly shifted my focus from my architecture practice to local activism, attending council and other local meetings while trying to understand how our system works (or doesn’t).”

“When Hampton’s council adopted a comprehensive fee schedule a few months ago, the management team also included a number of increases for this year’s outdoor activities that I opposed because we’re in a pandemic and the municipality had banked a surplus for last year,” he said. “The increases were opposed by only two members of council, both of whom, incidentally, are running for reelection. If my vote were added to theirs, we’d have been able to avoid the increases.”

• What is the biggest issue that needs to be addressed?

“I believe that in Hampton we need sustainable growth, controlled development and responsible spending,” Kernick said. “Much of what our council does is related to land use and maintenance of the township’s facilities and infrastructure.”

“As an architect who has been involved in projects ranging from an addition to the HSWA office to the massive corporate campus of a local sporting goods company, I have expertise that can help. Although I have specific policy proposals for growth, development and spending, I’ll identify the one related to spending. My website, rock4hampton.org has more information about this but it’s easy to summarize: we should stop hiring design professionals based on a percentage of project cost.

“Paying designers by percentage of construction cost gives them zero incentive to reduce overall cost for our Hampton taxpayers. This applies to the municipality, the school district and the water authority. I encourage voters to contact me for more.”

• What should voters know about you?

“Pittsburgh is my hometown and I’ve only lived away from it to go to architecture school in Chicago and to attend an energy and environmental design program in London,” he said. “I could have stayed in either of those places or gone to another big city after school but my wife, Linda, and I chose to raise our family here because we knew our children would be better off. We’ve never regretted it.

“Although I retired from it after 2016, I’ve spent almost 20 years in scouting to support my sons, serving as committee chair of a very strong local troop and staying involved on a district level to train other adults in leadership and team development after our sons made Eagle.

“I take the Scout Oath and Law seriously and believe the program, although not perfect, has laudable goals and, like our country, is gradually improving with age.”

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