Westmoreland Co. officials miffed about mud-slinging

If there's one certainty ahead for the new board of commissioners in Westmoreland County, it is that some fence-mending will be needed if Democrats Tom Balya and Tom Ceraso are going to work with Kim Ward, the minority commissioner-elect.

Ward, a Republican, will join the board in January on the heels of a heated, testy campaign that featured ethical and political attacks lobbed at and by all the candidates.

Balya won a fourth term, while Ceraso secured his third.

Ward, a Hempfield Township supervisor and former chairwoman of the county Republican Committee, finished second in the balloting to win her first county office. She was unsuccessful in bringing along running mate George Dunbar, a Penn Township commissioner, so Republicans could control the board for the first time since 1956.

"I don't know at this point if we can work together," Balya said. "If Kim Ward would stand up and accept accountability and acknowledge that everything she accused us of doing she has done, that would be a start."

Ward said no apology is necessary.

"Why would I issue an apology• There are plenty of things I could ask them to apologize for. The campaign is over, and we're not elected to continue to campaign and take this stuff personally. They won. So why are they being sore losers?" Ward said.

Ceraso said Ward would have to adapt to the Democrats' agenda.

"It's not like I'm putting out any olive branches after what went on before the election. I don't have any real reasons to reach out to her at all," Ceraso said.

During the campaign, Ward and Dunbar accused the Democrats of ethical violations. Just days before the election, a group of Republican college students marched in front of the courthouse carrying signs that accused the Democrats of "corruption."

"Using that word crossed the line," Balya said. "We're not breaking the law."

Ward countered that the Democrats mounted improper personal attacks by filing a lawsuit in the waning days of the campaign to challenge the Republicans' financial disclosures and by sending negative mailers to voters. One mailer linked Ward to President Bush, while another discussed the bankruptcy of a company for which Dunbar once worked.

It is not unusual for one commissioner to be excluded from decision-making, although for the most part commissioners manage to get along.

Balya, when first elected in 1995, served as the minority voice while Democrat Richard Vidmer and Republican Terry Marolt ran county government.

Vidmer and Marolt had forged an alliance after Vidmer suffered a split with Democrat Ted Simon, who had brought in former Pirates great Bill Mazeroski, who ran unsuccessfully for commissioner.

Balya in 1999 teamed up with Republican P. Scott Conner for about two years, essentially shelving Ceraso.

When the Balya-Conner alliance dissolved in 2001, Ceraso became the key second vote. At that point, the commissioners openly debated most major decisions.

Former commissioner Simon, throughout 21 years in office, found himself on both sides --- as chairman of the board he was a member of the majority party controlling most decisions, and as the odd man out.

Simon, who retired after being defeated by Balya 12 years ago, urged an end to the present-day hostilities.

"I would like to see Kim Ward try to work with the two Toms and I would like the two Toms to try to accept her as a member of the team. I think it's possible," Simon said. "I recommend that all three of them try to work together because it's better for the public."