Township Offices — Candidates Endorsed by Springfield Township Democratic Committee
No Mayor for Springfield Township. Instead, we have a board of seven commissioners to conduct the business of the Township. Commissioners are elected by Ward for 4 year terms. This year, 4 are up for election, 1 incumbent and 3 newcomers.
Township Commissioner Candidates Endorsed by STDC: From left to right, Ward 1 – Beth McNamara ,Ward 3 – Jim Lee, Ward 5 – Ed Morris, (Not pictured) Ward 7 – Brendan May
2023 Springfield Township Commissioner Candidates
Ward 1 – Beth McNamara (New): Beth has been a resident of Springfield Township for 35 years. She has 3 children, and has led various events at her children’s schools as well as served on local and national boards. Her professional background is in mental health and wellness. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a local practice, a member of adjunct faculty at Drexel University, and consultant to a major pharmaceutical company’s Employee Assistance Program. She hopes to use her listening skills to mediate hard conversations, and wants to make sure constituents have the information they need to be involved.
Ward 3 – Jim Lee (Incumbent): Jim has represented Ward 3 since 2020. He is the present President of the Board of Commissioners, “I have sought to increase the transparency and effective communication of our local government to engage our constituents …” He has been a voice for preserving open space and for engaging in important conversations that affect Springfield Township. He lives in Oreland with his wife and 3 children. He is the Founder and Principal of a company dealing with commercial real estate.
Ward 5 – Ed Morris (New): Ed lives in Wyndmoor with his family. He is an attorney and real estate broker. He has a B.S. in Management Information Systems, and a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He has experience in all aspects of real estate development, including integrating technology. From 2017 to 2021, he was the Real Estate Manager for the Mt. Airy Community Development Corporation. One of his responsibilities was to procure and administer federal, state, municipal, and private development grant funding.
Ward 7 – Brendan May (New): Brendan lives in Laverock with his wife and two sons. Presently a director of investment analysis at an asset management firm, he has 23+ years of experience in sales, marketing, and investment analysis within the industry. He graduated from Rutgers University and has been involved with local youth sports as a board member, sport director, and coach in multiple sports over the last 13 years. With his children nearly off to college, he’d like to channel the energy he’s applied to cultivating a rich sports community environment for his sons and their friends into serving the neighborhood at large.
2023 Springfield Township School Director Candidates
Ilene Bell (New) – Ilene has lived in Springfield Township for 25 years with her husband, 2 children who graduated from Springfield Township High School, and 1 child presently at the Middle School. Comparing her childhood educational experience to what her children have received at Springfield Twp. schools has helped her to appreciate the small class sizes, clubs, and sports programs available at SDST. She wants to be sure that all voices are heard, and will be an advocate for Special Education. Ilene has a BS in Chemistry from Temple, 2 Masters degrees, and is currently pursuing an MS in Organizational Leadership. She has worked at Merck and Co. since 1997, and is currently Product Quality Manager.
Sean Jordan (New) – Sean has lived in Springfield Township for 10 years, and lives in Wyndmoor with his wife. He is currently a Senior Information Technology Manager with SEPTA, and responsible for a team that provides technical and application support for the Vehicle Maintenance Systems. He has experience with financial oversight, training, and Information Technology implementation of major projects. Included in his previous work experience was employment with the Philadelphia Housing Authority as a Senior Financial Systems Analyst. He was an active member of the Neighbors of Overbrook Association. In Springfield Township, he has attended many School Board and Board of Commissioner meetings, and hopes his professional experience will benefit the School Board when faced with complex issues.
Jeff Bedard (Incumbent and Present SDST School Board President) – Jeff and his wife Jaime chose to move to Springfield Township because of the strong public schools. Jeff has a B.A. from LaSalle, and an MBA from Wharton. He currently has extensive regional managerial experience and responsibility within Compass Real Estates. If you want to know how he feels about SDST, just ask him. He is proud of the Board’s accomplishments during a trying period, and he is very proud of Springfield’s focus on STEAM education – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.
Neil DiFranco (Incumbent) – Neil has been a School Board Director since 2019, and his daughters attend Springfield Township Schools. Neil is presently the leader of a Girl Scout Troop, and a strong supporter of the opportunities SDST present to its students. He has a B.S. in Business Administration from Drexel, and is currently a realtor serving the greater Philadelphia area. He believes that SDST is an excellent school district, and the administrative team should continue to receive the support and oversight it needs to continue to make improvements.
Michael Needleman (Incumbent and Present SDST School Board Vice-President) – When Michael and his wife were looking to move, they chose Springfield Township because of the schools. He is an attorney, and active in volunteer work, including the Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. When thinking about the impact of the School Board budget on the Springfield Township community, Michael thinks it’s important to manage it so it doesn’t negatively impact the future. It would be important to provide the level of funding necessary to maintain the educational level Springfield schools are noted for.
Magisterial District Judge, Springfield Township District Court
Judge Kate McGill: Endorsed Candidate for Magisterial District Judge, Springfield Township District Court.
Judge Kate McGill has served Springfield Township since 2012 as our Magisterial District Judge. At the Springfield District Court, Judge McGill handles a variety of cases including criminal matters, civil and landlord tenant disputes, traffic cases, township code violations and truancy. Her goal in every case is to listen to all sides of a dispute and apply the law fairly.
Judge McGill works diligently to help resolve disputes between people in the community. Her favorite part of her work is when she speaks with students in the community. Over the years she’s partnered with the schools in the community to bring students to court and to learn about the judicial system and participate in mock trials.
Judge McGill is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where she received her B.A. in Political Science and graduated cum laude. She went on to Temple Beasley School of Law where she received her J.D. and participated in Temple’s National Trial Team and twice was awarded the Barrister’s Award for excellence in trial advocacy. Prior to her service as Judge, Judge McGill was an Assistant District Attorney with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office where she specialized in sex crimes and economic crimes prosecution.
Judge McGill was recently president of the Montgomery County Special Court Judges Association and is currently an active member of the Montgomery Bar Association. She also serves Magisterial Judges around the state as a member of the Ethics and Professionalism Committee for the Special Court Judges Association of Pennsylvania.
She lives in Springfield with her family.