Incumbent Vandergrift mayor to face primary challenge from councilman

Democrat Barbara Turiak has competition from a familiar face in her bid for a second term as Vandergrift’s mayor.

Councilman Lenny Collini, also a Democrat, announced his candidacy for mayor after serving 12 years on council. Pennsylvania’s primary is May 18.

Both candidates said they are friends and there’s not going to be any animosity between them during the campaign.

“Lenny and I are friends,” Turiak said. “I’ve never had anything against him, for any reason.”

Collini added: “I’m not here for competition. I’m just the other person. I’ve had 12 years of politics in this town, and it’s time for me to move to the next level.”

There has been ongoing political drama in Vandergrift.

The borough, two Vandergrift police officers and all council members except Casimer Maszgay are named in an ongoing federal civil lawsuit filed last summer by Councilwoman Karen McClarnon.

McClarnon alleged in her lawsuit that council members have violated her constitutional rights and interfered with her ability to perform her job duties as an elected official by blocking her phone number, not returning her calls, leaving her out of key decisions and defaming her.

Turiak, originally named as a defendant, was removed from the lawsuit last fall.

Turiak, a Leechburg native, said she considers Vandergrift “her town” after living there 17 years.

“I love this town. I’m running again because I have been able to see ups and downs and help solve them,” said Turiak, 67, who defeated longtime Vandergrift mayor Lou Purificato in 2017.

A retired teacher with 34 years of experience in the Leechburg and Kiski Area school districts, Turiak said she believes an important part of her job is to be accessible to residents.

“I walk the streets here. I’m a good listener and I have an open-door policy,” Turiak said.

But the covid pandemic has made it impossible to conduct business as usual. The borough building remains closed to the public because of the pandemic. Visitors are required to call the borough office and set an appointment before conducting business.

A borough website remains down, and there’s no update from borough officials on when it may be restored.

The pandemic has presented other challenges.

“This past year was our 125th anniversary of Vandergrift, and we couldn’t have our big celebration,” Turiak said.

Turiak cited the ongoing pool revitalization as an example of progress in the borough, but she said she’d like to see more businesses opening downtown.

“We’re working on that,” Turiak said, noting that Allusion Brewing Co. recently opened.

Collini, 61, grew up in Vandergrift and graduated from Kiski Area High School.

A singer-songwriter who performs around the Alle-Kiski Valley, Collini is a highway maintenance worker.

If elected mayor, he said his first order of business would be to improve the borough’s curb appeal.

“I would find a way to clean up all the blighted areas that plague our town and get our streets fixed and cleaned,” Collini said. “Just a general cleaning of our community would make a world of difference, plus it would be more inviting to others to come here to live and maybe start a family or even just to visit.”

Collini said he’d like to see more unity in the borough of about 5,000 residents.

“There’s a lot of different ethnicities here. It’s a melting pot. Bringing everybody together is a joy for me,” Collini said.

In Vandergrift, the mayor presides at council meetings and votes on council agenda items only in the event of a tie vote. The mayor receives a monthly stipend of $50.