New Benner Township supervisor appointed following recent resignation. What to know
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- Benner board appointed Richard Fenush from four applicants to fill vacant seat.
- Evey resigned in early December following two lawsuits, other conflicts.
- Residents raised questions about supervisors’ township health coverage and records.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misstated how long Richard Fenush will be serving in his role as Benner Township supervisor. He will serve for two years.
Benner Township supervisors Larry Lingle and Randy Moyer appointed a new supervisor Monday to serve through 2027, four weeks after the resignation of another supervisor.
Richard Fenush, a former township water authority member and Greymont project manager, was chosen from four applicants to fill the position, which was left open when former supervisor Kathy Evey resigned from her post earlier this month. Evey served two years of her six-year term, and Fenush will carry out two of those remaining years before a new election is held.
“I’m excited to be a supervisor for the township and to be a part of the team,” Fenush told the CDT on Monday. “I’ve got a lot of experience in a lot of different areas, so I think I’ll bring some good skills to the table.”
Lingle said Fenush’s appointment was “based on his record on the water [authority] and from a good conversation I had with him.” Lingle believed the new supervisor would “fit in very nicely with everything that we do.”
The opening was created after Evey told the CDT on Dec. 2 that she could no longer stomach the other supervisors’ “lack of integrity and disregard for the residents.” She ripped a page out of her notebook during a Dec. 1 meeting, scribbled a resignation and turned it in on the spot.
Evey previously twice took legal action against the board. The first time came in October 2024 when a Bellefonte woman was hired to perform transcription duties without notice to the public, and the second came when the other supervisors OK’d a conditional use permit for a contentious campground project at the Bellefonte airport.
But Evey’s frustration appeared to only recently come to a head. In a fall Facebook post, Evey accused Lingle and Moyer of unfairly receiving family health insurance from the township despite serving as non-employee supervisors. Township officials, including solicitor Rodney Beard, have said no wrongdoing was committed.
Fenush was also asked about his potential participation in the township’s health insurance. But he told the CDT that he “didn’t know much” about the coverage, and that he needed to do some more research on the topic before commenting.
More information on how the township treats health insurance is expected to come at the township’s reorganization meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 5, where resident and Mountaintop Insurance Company Owner Joe Urbanik requested to be put on the agenda to discuss the matter.
“The idea of having a non-employee on an insurance program, on a group insurance program, is not normal,” Urbanik said.
Supervisors are typically voted in by township constituents. But, due to Evey’s resignation, state law allows for a replacement to be appointed by fellow supervisors for a set period of time.
Fenush will be officially sworn in at the township’s reorganization meeting.
This story was originally published December 30, 2025 at 5:42 PM.