SPRINGFIELD: Pettit reflects on long career

By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — After over four decades in local government, Mayor Bill Pettit has retired from the Township Council.
    “I decided it was time for me to back off a little bit, and I figured, better for a younger person to be involved,” he said Dec. 31.
    After 30 years on the zoning board, 14 years on the Board of Education, and 12 years on the Township Committee (and later Township Council), he said the time is right to reduce his workload in the township. His term as mayor expired Dec. 31.
    “I’m 83 years old,” Mayor Pettit said. “It’s time to slow down a little bit.”
    In addition to staying on the township Planning Board, Mayor Pettit will continue to produce hay at his farm, which used to be a dairy farm. With milk production having largely moved out of the state, Mr. Pettit said farms like his had to adapt to survive.
    Councilman Dick Toone, who is also the president of the Springfield Township Historical Society, said the society honored the mayor at the township Christmas party Dec. 30.
    “It was a good chance to extol some of the virtues of having had this gentleman of a historic nature still living and working among us,” Mr. Toone said.
    In addition to Mayor Pettit’s work in township government, Mr. Toone said he also contributed a great deal to agriculture, both locally and nationally. He said that when the mayor’s farm did dairy, it was nationally recognized.
    Mayor Pettit also served on over a dozen major county, state, and national agricultural boards, spending time as chairman or president of each, according to Mr. Toone.
    “He’s had a phenomenal career that was multifaceted,” Mr. Toone said, “yet was able to give back to the community and society in general an immense amount of personal time over all those years.”
    State Sen. Phil Haines, R-8th, attended the Christmas party and recognized the mayor with a proclamation from the joint aAssembly he sponsored with Assemblywoman Dawn Marie Addiego, R-8th, and Assemblyman Scott Rudder, R-8th.
    Mayor Pettit also took the opportunity last week to discuss the township’s future in the new year.
    “There are a lot of good things going on in the township,” he said, but a few issues will need to be worked out.
    One will be negotiating a new contract with the township police, as the old four-year agreement expired Jan. 1. But even though a number of internal police matters will require attention, he said the township has “an excellent police force,” and expressed confidence that the new Township Council will resolve the matter.
    Another issue will be complying with the requirements of the Council on Affordable Housing.
    “We’re supposed to be building houses for lower income people… and it puts us in a terrible position,” he said. With about 7,000 acres of preserved farmland and a lack of public transportation, water or sewer, he said Springfield is an agricultural community, he said.
    “To tell us we have to put up a bunch of houses which are not agricultural… all this to me is totally wrong.”
    Although he is upset with the COAH situation, Mayor Pettit said Springfield as a whole is doing well.
    “Other than that the township is very peaceful,” he said. “We have things in good shape here.”
    Springfield’s reorganization meeting was scheduled for Wednesday in the township Municipal Building, 2159 Jacksonville-Jobstown Road. Two Republicans, incumbent David Frank and committee newcomer John Hlubik, will be sworn in for four-year seats on the Township Council, which will also elect a mayor from within its ranks.