Collier Township Primary Election

Three Republican candidates are running for two seats on the .

Michael D. Crosby is the newcomer, running for office in Collier for the first time. His reason for running: “I want to contribute to bettering our community.”

As an operations manager for Diversified Commodities Inc. in Collier, he hopes to use his management skills to benefit the community and help the board work together to run smoothly.

“I’ve always adapted to be able to work with anyone,” he said.

Crosby would also like to contribute to help build and maintain the roads in the township, as well as parks and recreation facilities. Talking to many residents, he discovered that those issues are major concerns of the public as well.

“Our parks are important to help keep the kids active and provide a place where they can safely play,” he said.  

Crosby grew up in the South Hills and settled in Collier five years ago, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

“Collier is a very big area. I am hoping that we can fill the new home developments and bring revenue to the township,” Crosby said. “I feel that working on the commission, I could help contribute to the quality of life that makes this an attractive place to live.”

Wilson Durisko is finishing his first term as a commissioner after being elected in 2007. A political science major in college, he said he loves being involved in what’s going on and helping the community.

Durisko is currently on the public works, administration and public affairs committees, where he organizes communication and the administrative staff.  One of his future goals is develop a better system of electronic communication for use in emergencies and other important events in the community.

“As I am campaigning, I am getting email addresses for the system and am always talking to residents to get their feedback on all of the issues,” he said.

As a professional landscaper, he feels he wants to stay on the public works committee because he’s familiar with the process and equipment. He is also working on the Nike site plan in acquiring the property transfer.

Before he ran for commissioner in 2007, he attended meetings and said this current board works very well together in comparison to previous groupings.

“We can air out our grievances and are not afraid to ask each other for help on something.”

Durisko lives in Rennerdale with his wife, and they are expecting their first child this summer.

George Macino was appointed to the board last July when another commissioner moved out of the township. He was interviewed by the other commissioners and selected out of five candidates. Prior to that appointment, he served on the planning commission for more than two years.

In his short term on the board, he has been intimately involved with the Kelly support facility at the Nike site, as well as helping to establish the gas and oil well ordinance that was recently passed.

“We wanted to be sure we had the tightest controls to protect our residents as well as provide the opportunity to those who may benefit from drilling,” he said.

He plans to get more involved with developers, businesses, residents and homeowner’s associations in the future to gain support and make the best decisions for Collier.

“(The board) has a great working relationship where we are able to voice our own opinions and vote our conscience,” he said. “We’ve gotten a lot done in the last 10 months, and I am looking forward to continuing that.”

Macino is a 10-year resident of Collier and lives with his wife in Summit Ridge. He owns and operates G & S Signs in Great Southern Shopping Center.

All of the candidates and profile stories can be found on our .