STATE COLLEGE — When some residents of a rural Pennsylvania county go to the polls on May 20, they’ll pick who they want to represent a city that doesn’t yet exist.
The City of DuBois and surrounding Sandy Township in Clearfield County will consolidate in January 2026 and become a new city, still called DuBois. The pairing is only the third such occurrence in Pennsylvania since a 1994 state law established the procedure for a municipal consolidation or merger.
Before that happens, roughly 12,000 people will be eligible to pick seven city council members and a treasurer. The choice affects about 25% of the county’s registered voters, Commissioner Dave Glass told radio station Connect FM.
It took four attempts over several decades for voters to approve the consolidation, and a 2021 referendum passed with only 33 more yes than no votes in Sandy Township.
As elected officials worked to combine the finances and services of the communities, a sweeping corruption scandal involving DuBois’ former City Manager Herm Suplizio complicated the effort. Some residents began to doubt the city leadership and lost confidence in the merger.
New city officials are tasked with unifying the two municipalities — both logistically and emotionally.
Thirteen candidates — two Democrats and 11 Republicans — are running for council seats in the May 20 primary. Voters from each party can nominate seven candidates to advance to the November election, meaning the race will be contested on the Republican side. The top seven vote-getters in the general election will become council members for the new city.
“I do get the impression that people are tuned into it,” Ben Kafferlin, manager for both municipalities, told Spotlight PA. The rare chance to elect a whole new slate of a governing board is driving voter interest, he said.
No candidate is running for the city treasurer’s office, which is an important position that sets policy relating to how finances are handled. If no one is elected, the new city council will appoint the position. Kafferlin said he hopes a candidate might emerge before November so voters can have a say at the ballot box.
Voters from both communities initiated and approved a referendum in 2021, setting the consolidation in motion.
Gerald Cross is a local government researcher and author of a Pennsylvania Economy League report that recommended the consolidation of DuBois and Sandy before the referendum. He said leaders of the new city should be people who recognize and are prepared for the unique charge they will face.
“They’ll have to understand that it isn’t business as usual any longer,” Cross said.
The new city council will need to hit the ground running after their election, because the consolidation “won’t just end at that January moment in time,” Kafferlin told Spotlight PA. Reorganizing staffing, negotiating union agreements, managing the budget and accounts, and passing a new set of ordinances for the city are among the myriad tasks that new leaders will be responsible for.
Experience and knowledge of local government operations will be important, Cross said, but new leadership that is not attached to the previous municipalities could also benefit the new DuBois.
Nine of the 13 city council candidates running in the primary have held elected or appointed positions in either DuBois or Sandy Township as Republicans:
J Barry Abbott Sr., Sandy Township supervisor
Randy A Beers, deputy fire chief of the West Sandy Hose Company
William A Beers Jr., Sandy Township supervisor
Blaine David Clark, former DuBois police chief
Samuel J Mollica III, Sandy Township supervisor
Duane Patrick Reasinger, DuBois mayor and council president
Mark T Sullivan, Sandy Township supervisor
David Alan Volpe, DuBois city controller
Richard A Whitaker, Sandy Township supervisor
None of these candidates held a role of authority over Suplizio when he was city manager.
Other candidates include Democrats Melissa G Keen and Michael J Piccirillo, and Republicans Shirley M Dahrouge and Devon Duane Vallies.
After the corruption allegations against Suplizio came out, Sandy Township sued to put a pause on the consolidation, a scenario not explicitly addressed by Pennsylvania law. Township supervisors voted unanimously to terminate the lawsuit last year, after the city began a forensic audit aimed at straightening up questions surrounding its finances.
Since then, officials from both municipalities have proceeded with the union in what DuBois Council Member Elliot Gelfand previously called “an unprecedented period of cooperation leading up to formal consolidation.”
The official unification of the two communities next year will represent “a significant milestone in our region’s history,” Reasinger and Sullivan wrote in a letter to the White House last month, inviting President Donald Trump to a celebration in 2026.
“After years of careful planning and cooperation, the consolidation of DuBois City and Sandy Township into a single, unified City will bring new opportunities for growth, efficiency, and unity,” the letter said. “We believe this moment is worthy of national recognition, and your presence would make the occasion even more memorable for our residents and local leaders.”
Cross said he believes voters were right to choose consolidation and that they will see the benefits of it in due time.
“The citizens owe the new government patience, [and] the new elected officials owe the new government patience,” he told Spotlight PA. “You got to give the plant time to blossom before you pick the fruit. And that takes a season.”
