Mark Pinsley has announced his intent to seek the Democratic nomination for South Whitehall Township commissioner.

He made his announcement April 9 at Hops at the Paddock Restaurant.

Pinsley is the owner and president of DermaMed Solutions LLC, Philadelphia.

A member of the Robin Hood Ventures, Greater Philadelphia Area, he has served on the marketing committee at Lehigh Valley Zoo.

He also has served on the board at his synagogue, Congregation Kenneth Israel, and the Jewish Family services, both in Allentown.

Pinsley received a Master’s of Business Administration degree from Indiana University-Kelley School of Business, a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration in finance from Northeastern University and is a graduate of Kutztown University. He served with the Army Reserves while in college.

Pinsley was asked how he became involved with politics.

“I guess what happened was the day-after syndrome,” Pinsley said. “I woke up the day after and I was like ‘Oh, My God what just happened,’” he said. “I got on my computer and was whining. What ended up happening was I met seven other people and we formed a little group called United for America.

“So, I went to the head of the [Pa.] Democratic Committee Marcel Groen and pitched to him about bringing all of us together. He told me I should run for something, so here I am.”

Pinsley said his main issue is to seek balance in South Whitehall.

“There are five Republican commissioners in South Whitehall, and two are up for re-election, Tori Morgan and Thomas Jones. There are no Democrats,” he stated. “South Whitehall is a great place to live. We have a good police force. A lot of it is about balance, five Republicans to zero Democrats doesn’t seem right.

“Overall they do a good job.”

Pinsley said his values include cultivating community and supporting local businesses.

“Cultivating community is about a bunch of things,” he said. “We need to find things that bring us together.”

Pinsley closed by giving statistics on voters in the township.

“First off, it is ours to lose. Let me tell you a little bit about the stats in South Whitehall, there is 6,378 Democrats, registered Democrats.

“There’s 5,746 Republicans, so there is no reason why we should lose this, and then 2,100 Independents, so we should win, right?”

Pinsley and his wife, Nina, daughter Jada, and son, Grant, have resided in South Whitehall Township for 12 years.

Attending Pinsley’s announcement was Phillips Armstrong, who is running for a seat on the Lehigh County Commissioners Board and Joshua Siegel, who is running for Allentown mayor.