To the Editor:

Monica Hodges has been a magnificent addition to the South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners, and we need to keep her there.

Monica has championed a number of positive, forward-looking efforts, including supporting a balanced township budget, ensuring financial accountability and long-term stability, crucially with no additional tax increases.

She also backed a prospective ballot initiative focused on preserving South Whitehall’s valuable green space, and also advanced park improvement projects that have both beautified and enhanced the usability of public spaces.

In our neighborhood, we’ve seen real, tangible results including tennis courts resurfaced after years of neglect, windshields installed for improved playing conditions and pickleball lines added, making the space more versatile for all ages.

As promised, Monica has also supported transparency and modernizing township communications, engaging the public and keeping the residents informed.

Elsewhere, Monica played a key role in hiring an outstanding township manager and police chief, strengthening the township’s leadership team.

On a personal level, I’ve experienced the difference her leadership — and the leadership she was instrumental in hiring — makes.

Where the permitting process was once frustrating and difficult to navigate, it is now far more streamlined and resident-friendly, thanks in part to the improvements she has supported.

Probably most importantly, Monica has brought a more balanced and thoughtful approach to development in South Whitehall.

In the past, large corporate interests often steamrolled their way through the permitting process.

That is no longer the case.

Projects like the Kay Builders development on Walbert Avenue are now being met with careful, measured oversight, not automatic approval.

In conclusion, Monica Hodges has made a meaningful, lasting impact on our township.

Let’s re-elect her and keep South Whitehall moving in the right direction.

Steven Silvonek

South Whitehall Township