Former township supervisor and school district administrator Jason Davidek is fully embracing his roots in public policy as the newly-selected executive director of the Allegheny League of Municipalities.
“My experience working in the school realm provided me with necessary skills to be successful in the role as executive director,” he said. “Combined with my prior experience (in local government), I think that blend will help me.”
Davidek started the job last Monday and spent his first week working with outgoing Executive Director Richard Hadley, who is retiring after serving in the post for five years.
Before moving into his most recent role — the South Butler School District spokesman and transportation director — Davidek, 36, of Fawn, spent most of his career in government.
He served as a legislative assistant to former state Rep. Jane Orie from 2002 to 2004, then as an aide to former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum from 2004 to 2007.
When Santorum lost his re-election bid, Davidek moved on, working in public relations in the McKeesport Area School District until 2009, when he was hired in South Butler.
He never fully left politics, though. He was a Fawn Township supervisor for nearly 12 years, until resigning recently to take the League of Municipalities job.
He also served as board president of Allegheny County Association of Township Officials, which is part of the Allegheny League of Municipalities.
The League is a nonprofit organization that helps boroughs, townships, cities and municipal authorities in Allegheny County by offering a coordinated approach to legislation and services.
The League, according to its website, encourages intergovernmental cooperation by facilitating communication, cooperation and coordination on matters of areawide concern.
Its training programs for municipalities evolved into a separate, independent organization known as The Local Government Academy.
Davidek said the advocacy component of the League is part of what drew him to the job.
“I still consider myself to be in the early part of my career, and (this job) was an opportunity to manage an association where I could provide strong ideas and accomplish some goals and we can be a resource across the county,” he said. “I think how we do that is based on what their needs are. Over the next several months, I plan to reach out and talk with them about what we can do to help.”
Hadley said that's one of the most challenging parts of the executive director position – addressing the diversity and differing sizes of the county's 130 municipalities.
“You have some that are very sophisticated to some that are very small and don't have many resources; so how do we take issues and try to help everybody — when they may be looking at issues from different points of view,” he said. “Take Marcellus shale for example: some may be totally against it, and some may be all for it.”
The challenge is to provide information in a manner that can help everyone, he said.
Davidek said as a township supervisor, he took advantage of what the League offers and is looking forward to using that interaction to formulate ways to make better connections with municipalities.
“The networking opportunities made me realize the issues and challenges in Fawn also took place in other municipalities, and they have come up with creative ideas and have managed to work through those challenges,” he said. “You're not on an island, so to speak.”
As Hadley leaves for retirement, he said if he had to point to one of his proudest accomplishments, it would be the Banner Community program he implemented three years ago to recognize municipalities that are doing a good job of local governing.
The program recognizes municipalities that make a commitment to effective, efficient and accountable government principles, actively participate in showcasing how government works, ensure the voice of their municipality is heard and work with other communities to provide effective and efficient services.
“In local government, we don't do a particularly good job in promoting the good work that we do,” said Hadley, who was Reserve Township's manager for eight years. “We want to help promote back to their constituents that they're working hard to provide services.”
Jodi Weigand is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-226-4702 or jweigand@tribweb.com.
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