{"id":80389,"date":"2026-01-07T17:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/80389\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T17:00:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:00:06","slug":"meet-lower-merions-five-new-commissioners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/80389\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Lower Merion’s five new commissioners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lower Merion<\/a> swore in five new commissioners on Monday night, kicking off the board\u2019s 126th year of governing the Montgomery County<\/a> township. <\/p>\n

Between rounds of applause and family photos, commissioners outlined the major challenges, and opportunities, the body will face in 2026. Board members highlighted recent accomplishments \u2014 creating a process for establishing board priorities, restricting gas-powered leaf blowers<\/a> and plastic bags<\/a>, advancing capital projects, hiring a police superintendent, supporting the development of affordable housing, and reversing the post-pandemic decline in police staffing levels. <\/p>\n

Yet they also underscored that much awaits the new board, including negotiating two collective bargaining agreements, overseeing Main Line<\/a> Health\u2019s redevelopment of the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary property<\/a>, and addressing a difficult fiscal reality<\/a> (the board last month authorized an 8% property tax increase, citing the \u201cmistake\u201d of keeping tax rates stagnant for over a decade).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re solving problems, we\u2019re moving forward, and we\u2019re even having a little fun,\u201d commissioner V. Scott Zelov, who was sworn in for his sixth term, said. <\/p>\n

Zelov on Monday night became the eighth commissioner in Lower Merion history to serve for at least 20 years, board President Todd Sinai said. <\/p>\n

\u00bb READ MORE: Lower Merion commissioners approve 8% tax hike, citing \u2018looming cliff\u2019 after 13 years of no increase<\/a><\/p>\n

Sinai, who was first elected to the board in 2017, was unanimously reelected board president. Incumbent commissioner Sean Whalen called Sinai a \u201cstalwart leader of this board,\u201d praising Sinai\u2019s leadership through economic ups and downs.<\/p>\n

Jeremiah Woodring, also an incumbent commissioner, was unanimously elected vice president. Sinai described Woodring as \u201cthoughtful and inquisitive,\u201d \u201cbalanced,\u201d and \u201cdiplomatic.\u201d <\/p>\n

Jana Lunger was sworn in as Lower Merion tax collector. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a who\u2019s who of the five newly-elected Lower Merion commissioners, all of whom replaced outgoing commissioners who chose not to run again in 2025. <\/p>\n

Michael Daly, an attorney and the former president of the Gladwyne<\/a> Civic Association, was sworn in to represent Ward 2, which includes Gladwyne and Penn Valley<\/a>. Daly has lived in Lower Merion for around 15 years with his wife and three children, all of whom are products of the Lower Merion School District. In his law practice, he focuses on defending class action lawsuits and complex litigation. In a candidate interview earlier this fall, Daly said he\u2019s focused on quality of life issues, including walkability, public parks, and safe streets. He replaced outgoing commissioner Joshua Grimes. <\/p>\n

Charles Gregory, a longtime township employee, will represent Ward 4, which encompasses Ardmore<\/a> and Haverford<\/a>. Gregory, who was born and raised in Ardmore, worked for Lower Merion Township for 23 years until 2024. He\u2019s the former president of the Lower Merion Workers Association and a Boy Scout troop leader. During a candidate forum, Gregory said he believed he could \u201cmake a difference from a blue collar aspect.\u201d Gregory replaced outgoing commissioner Anthony Stevenson. <\/p>\n

Christine McGuire is a forensic psychologist and business owner who will serve Rosemont and Villanova<\/a> in Ward 6. McGuire lived in Gladwyne for nine years before moving to Villanova around three years ago. In a candidate forum, McGuire said she has been active in the Gladwyne Civic Association and in the parent group that studied Lower Merion\u2019s school start time change<\/a>. As the owner of a psychology practice, she said she understands \u201cwhat a budget is and that you have to work within the budget and not look at it like a blank check.\u201d She replaced outgoing commissioner Andrew Gavrin. <\/p>\n

Craig Timberlake, an Ardmore resident who was instrumental in the 2025 redevelopment at Schauffele Plaza<\/a>, will represent Ward 8\u2019s South Wynnewood<\/a> and East Ardmore. Timberlake moved to Ardmore around 15 years ago from Maine. He says he was drawn to Ardmore\u2019s high-quality schools, walkable neighborhoods, and transit options. He believes the township should incentivize \u201csmaller,\u201d \u201cincremental,\u201d and locally-funded development and decrease speed limits to protect pedestrians. Timberlake is a project manager at OnCourse, an education technology platform. He replaced Shawn Kraemer, the board\u2019s outgoing vice president. <\/p>\n

Shelby Sparrow, the former president of the Penn Wynne Civic Association and a longtime community organizer, will represent Penn Wynne and Wynnewood in Ward 14. Sparrow\u2019s priorities<\/a> include ensuring the community is engaged in Main Line Health\u2019s redevelopment of the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary property; addressing pedestrian safety; and encouraging sustainability and park stewardship. She was previously the director of development for St. Peter\u2019s Independent School in Center City<\/a>. She replaced outgoing commissioner Rick Churchill. <\/p>\n

Sinai and Zelov, who were reelected in November, were sworn in, and sitting commissioners Woodring, Whalen, Daniel Bernheim, Louis Rossman, Ray Courtney, Maggie Harper Epstein, and Gilda Kramer were welcomed back.<\/p>\n

This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer\u2019s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com\/donate<\/a>. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org\/supporters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lower Merion swore in five new commissioners on Monday night, kicking off the board\u2019s 126th year of governing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[183,185,184,186,40773],"class_list":["post-80389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lower-merion","tag-lower-merion","tag-lower-merion-headlines","tag-lower-merion-news","tag-lower-merion-township","tag-new-lower-merion-commissioners-swearing-in"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}