As the municipality of Harpers Ferry heads toward an upcoming mayor and council election, both mayoral candidates, both reporter candidates and eight vying for five council seats gathered at Camp Hill United Methodist Church on Saturday to answer questions about their goals.

Current Mayor Greg Vaughn is seeking re-election, for what he said would be his final term if successful. He is challenged by lifetime resident Zachary Morse who currently sits on the town’s council. Vaughn said, in his opening remarks, that he is currently in the process of securing millions of dollars in grants for the town and wants to continue in office to complete that work. Morse shared that he simply loves the town, has worked hard on the town council and wants to continue to serve.

The town’s recorder seat, a voting position, is sought by previous recorder Kevin Carden who lost his bid for re-election during the last election. Also seeking the seat is relative newcomer to town, Paul Bullock, who moved to the town five years ago.

“I was recorder for 14 years,” Carden said. “My experience should speak for itself. I hope it does,” he added.

Bullock expressed that his goal in running for the office is to bring back community and a small-family mindset to Harpers Ferry.

Of the eight running for council seats, three are incumbents, one is a former mayor and one is a former councilmember while the remaining candidates are hoping to secure a seat for the first time. Chris Craig, Storm DiConstanzo and George Owens currently serve on the council, as does Morse. Former councilmember Christian Pechukonis, lost his bid for re-election in the previous election. Former Mayor Wayne Bishop now is hoping to serve on the council. Also hoping to win a spot on the small town’s governing body are Brenda Christensen, Jesse Melton and David Simmons.

In initial questions, each candidate spoke briefly to what their main goals were and why they were seeking office. Answers ranged from Christensen’s hope to develop an aging in place program to Simmons’ desire to have more community-oriented conversations to Pechukonis saying he ran because Vaughn had asked him. One question focused on the need for working with other towns, the state and the federal government and how each candidate saw themselves fitting into such a role.

“It is critical to join with the county and the towns,” Bishop said, specifically addressing Harpers Ferry’s water concerns. Melton chimed in with the opinion that Harpers Ferry needs to be more forceful in leveraging its position with regard to tourism.

Mayorial candidates had several questions posed directly to them, one asking Vaughn his opinion on whether the mayor would be able to do the job if he had a full-time job and traveled for that job. Vaughn replied that he did not have a full-time job—his full-time job was being the mayor. While Morse was not initially asked the same question, he requested to answer it saying that while he does have a full-time job with NASA and travels, should he win the election, he will reduce his hours to half-time which will allow him ample time to serve as mayor.

A series of yes or no questions posed by moderator Susan Pipes appeared to address some concerns from citizens. The first, whether the candidates supported the Harpers Ferry Police Department, had everyone answering affirmatively. They all also answered the same to questions on whether they would be guided by integrity and ethics, whether they would support the rights of minorities and whether they would commit to being held to the same historic standards with their own properties as all other residents.

Morse commented that he saw the line of questioning as a sign that there is still deep division in the town—something that has been seen for several years.

“We need to work together,” Morse said, as some other candidates agreed that it is time to move on.

“I moved on, I trust others have as well,” Simmons said.

Pechukonis, on the other hand, encouraged audience members to Google the 2019 town election. During that election, provisional ballots were not counted until a judge ordered them to be counted. The case was taken to the State Supreme Court who agreed the ballots should be counted. Bishop, at the time of the election, was one member of the original Tribunal who determined the ballots should not be counted.

Carden encouraged voters to keep that past election fresh in their minds as DiConstanzo expressed his thoughts that elected officials are in a position of trust. He could not support those who broke that public trust, he said.

Bullock, who said he has had conversations with others about the past, said that the most important thing is the future.

“The most important thing is what we are going to do now—look forward,” he said.

“We do need to work together,” Craig affirmed.

The election will be held June 10 with voting occurring at Camp Hill-Wesley United Methodist Church. Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.