Longtime councilman Bill McLaughlin runs for Chambersburg mayor

CHAMBERSBURG - William McLaughlin, a former Chambersburg councilman, has announced his candidacy for mayor.

McLaughlin, 67, was council president for 10 of the 24 years he served on council. He also chaired council’s finance committee for 10 years.

McLaughlin, a real estate broker, is the third person to announce a run for the office. Walt Bietsch, 65-year-old retired Chambersburg police sergeant, and Joan Smith, a 56-year-old businesswoman and member of the Chambersburg Area school board, previously announced their intentions. Mayor Darren Brown said he would not seek a second term.

McLaughlin, Bietsch, Smith and Brown are Republicans. No Democrats have announced. Candidates can begin circulating petitions on Feb. 14 to have their names appear on the May 16 primary ballots.

“I have a three-pronged approach to being mayor,” McLaughlin said. “Interacting with the police chief, which is the only thing covered under the Borough Code; being the ambassador for the borough on things such as economic development and downtown revitalization and being the borough’s advocate for dealing with the state and federal government.

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“A lot of things we do are controlled from outside and somebody needs to travel to Harrisburg to advocate for things that affect Chambersburg and occasionally go to Washington. This is something that isn’t being done.”

McLaughlin is a former president of the Pennsylvania Municipal League and was active with the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs.

He said he would welcome the opportunity to meet with the other candidates in an open forum to discuss their ideas.

“I am running because I feel there are things I can do as mayor that are being left undone,” he said. “I’m not an ideologue. I get along with people on either side. The mayor can serve as a force to bring people together.

“It’s a matter of listening to people, and not trying to impose things. Be willing to look at change and be reasonable.”

McLaughlin was a member of the group of municipal officials who struck a deal to upgrade the borough’s regional wastewater treatment plant. Chambersburg and the four surrounding municipalities agreed on how to share the $36 million cost.

McLaughlin did not seek re-election to council in 2015 and instead ran for Franklin County Prothonotary. He finished third in the GOP primary.

McLaughlin said he served on council during some of the toughest times for the borough and made his decisions based on the best interests of the people of Chambersburg.

“I had to look at things on council and be responsible for giving departments what they needed and not always what they wanted,” he said.

McLaughlin serves on the Campaign for Coyle library renovations and the Elm Street Advisory Committee. Born in Philadelphia, McLaughlin graduated from Penn State in 1972 with an undergraduate degree in hotel and restaurant management. He has lived in Chambersburg since 1976.

He and his wife, Sue, have two grown sons and a granddaughter.

Jim Hook, 717-262-4759