08/21/2026
Term limits are needed, case in point: Dan DeMarco. The following article from North Hills Independents is illustrative of the point.
Some may remember back in 2010 when Dan DeMarco ran a write-in campaign against Jane Orie for the State Senate seat covering Ross Township. As his own campaign site made clear at the time, he built his entire platform on being "The Choice for Change"—promising voters he would tackle corruption, stop insider dealmaking, and eliminate the "business-as-usual" mindset of long-tenured politicians.
Sixteen years after campaigning on those promises, DeMarco’s strong stance on ethics and accountability makes his actual record in Ross Township hard to ignore. Over two decades into his tenure, those foundational principles seem to have taken a back seat to standard local politics.
Take his 2010 promise to end insider dealmaking. Today, serving his seventh term as Board President, DeMarco presides over a township setup where Chief Building Code Official Evan Russell's family firm, Code.sys, maintains an ongoing municipal inspection contract. Allowing a key administrative official's family business to hold township contracts looks exactly like the "business-as-usual" culture DeMarco once promised to eradicate.
A similar dynamic surfaced during the township's engineering Request for Proposal (RFP) process. When long-time township engineer Travis Stanczyk moved to Michael Baker International, the board awarded the engineering contract to his new firm—despite Michael Baker presenting higher rates than the incumbent firm, which had offered a nearby office and no-charge attendance at township meetings. Swapping to a higher-cost vendor immediately after a key individual changes firms raises fair questions about whether administrative decisions are serving fiscal discipline or personal relationships.
Perhaps most telling is how DeMarco handles personal accountability after twenty years in municipal power. When a resident sued him for defamation over statements made during a public meeting, DeMarco attempted to get the lawsuit dismissed by claiming high public official immunity—arguing he was legally shielded from liability because he made those comments in his municipal role.
When an elected official spends decades in office and uses their title as a shield to avoid answering for their conduct, it proves that the very career-politician mindset DeMarco campaigned against in 2010 has become his standard operating procedure today.
It's something worth keeping in mind as DeMarco delivers his upcoming "State of the Township" address. For anyone watching from the audience, the speech is a reminder that true reform isn't measured by polished presentations, but by whether an official actually lives up to the ethics they once demanded of others.
*Edited to correct the image.