Fawn supervisor not eligible for reelection because he lives in Florida, objection claims
Mar. 19—A Fawn supervisor seeking reelection should be removed from the Democratic primary ballot in May because he does not live in the township, an objection to his nominating petition claims.
The objection filed by resident Tracy Volk, a registered Democrat, claims Supervisor David A. Norris, 79, has lived in DeLand, Fla., for more than a year and has not lived in Fawn for almost two years.
DeLand, the county seat of Volusia County, is about 34 miles north of Orlando and 23 miles west of Daytona Beach.
The objection claims Norris "deliberately falsified affidavits and campaign reports to deceive the electorate into believing he is eligible to run by falsely claiming he resides in Fawn Township when he has resided in DeLand, Florida, continuously in excess of a year."
A Tribune-Review reporter attempted to reach Norris on Tuesday for his response to the objection and claim regarding his residency. Norris hung up before he could be told the reason for the call.
"I ain't talking to you, thank you," Norris said.
Legal challenges to nominating petitions for municipal offices, except for the city of Pittsburgh, are scheduled to be heard beginning at 1:30 p.m. March 26 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
Seats held by two of Fawn's five supervisors, Norris and Republican David Montanari, will be on the May 18 primary ballot, according to Allegheny County.
Norris' residency became an issue in July 2020, when supervisors attempted to hold a hearing for suspended township police Officer Keith Lazaron II. The hearing, held outside because of the covid pandemic, was cut short over concerns that Norris, who participated in the hearing by phone from Florida, could not hear.
Supervisors continued the hearing in September, without Lazaron or his attorney, Craig Alexander, participating. Supervisors fired Lazaron for alleged misconduct in November. Lazaron has a lawsuit against the township and three supervisors, including Norris and Montanari, pending in federal court.
Alexander is also representing Volk. She said Lazaron, who lives in Allegheny Township, contacted her, looking for a Democrat to file an objection to Norris' candidacy.
A Fawn native, Volk said she has been attending supervisors meetings for more than a year, and has never seen Norris at one. Norris participates by telephone or Zoom, she said.
"To be a supervisor, you need to live in the township," she said. "If you're not living in the township, let somebody else handle it."
According to the objection, Norris lives in DeLand, Fla. with his wife, Marlene Norris. It includes an image of Marlene Norris' Facebook page indicating she lives in "DeLand, Florida."
Volk's objection cites two other reasons for why Norris' name should be removed from the primary ballot — that the person who purportedly circulated Norris' nomination petition, Harry M. Negley, is not a registered Democratic voter as required; and that Norris did not personally appear before the notary, Kelly J. Ross, who notarized his petition and other documents.
The objection states that no record of a registered voter named Harry Negley could be found in Allegheny County.
Negley could not be reached for comment.
According to the objection, Ross attested in two separate affidavits that Norris personally appeared before her when signing the affidavits she notarized. Norris did not do this because he lives in Florida and was not physically present in Fawn on March 4, when Ross notarized the documents.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, Ross' notary commission is associated with D&D Auto Salvage, the Norris family business, which is also given as David and Marlene Norris' home address on Sun Mine Road in Fawn.
Contacted by telephone at D&D Salvage, Ross said she had no comment and hung up.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Brian at 724-226-4701, brittmeyer@triblive.com or via Twitter .
