May 12, 2005

---

Independent candidate to enter Ward 14 race
By: Richard Ilgenfritz

---

Penn Wynne - With no Republicans running in Lower Merion's 14th Ward, the conventional wisdom might suggest that whoever wins next week's primary election will have a clear road to a November win. This year, the conventional wisdom could be wrong. Besides the winner of the Democratic primary, there will also be an independent on the ballot in November.

Lance Rogers, who became known in the community with his work as a member of the Penn Wynne Civic Association, said he plans to launch an independent campaign for commissioner this year. Rogers said he believes Lower Merion needs a board member who is independent of party loyalties. "The issues facing our community are best tackled in a bipartisan manner," Rogers said in an interview last week.

Currently, the 14-member Lower Merion Board of Commissioners is made up of eight Democrats and six Republicans. Republicans hold four of the seven seats up for election this year. So Democrats stand a good chance of holding on to the majority. Rogers believes an independent candidate is in a better position to work around the normal political party squabbling.

"An independent is best suited to lookout for the community," Rogers said. Rogers plans on officially kicking off his bid to become a commissioner after next week's primary race. Rogers, 30, will face the winner of the May 17 Democratic primary race between incumbent Commissioner Felice Wiener and political newcomer Andrew Tanzer. Wiener has served on the board for eight years. Lower Merion's 14th Ward covers the far southeaster corner of Lower Merion Township along the City Avenue border with Philadelphia and Haverford Township.

Nearly two years ago, Rogers began working as co-chairman of the Lankenau Committee for the Penn Wynne Civic Association after Main Line Health proposed using Manoa Road as a second access point into Lankenau Hospital. After months of negotiations between the Lankenau Committee, the township and Main Line Health, the health system essentially tabled the road access issue.

Born in Miami, Fla., and a 1996 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Rogers attended Northwestern School of Law where he graduated in 2001. He has been an associate attorney with the Philadelphia law firm of Dechert LLP since October of 2003. He has also worked as an internal auditor for the city of Norwalk, Conn.

Although the biggest issue to face the Penn Wynne community in recent years was the Lankenau debate, Rogers said there are other issues in both Penn Wynne and throughout Lower Merion that must be addressed. Rogers is also pushing for traffic safety measures to be implemented in Penn Wynne. They include reducing the speed limit on Manoa and Haverford roads; installing lighted crosswalks at major intersections, similar to those in Ardmore and Bryn Mawr; creating longer crossing times for pedestrians at major intersections; and a traffic signal at Harrogate and Manoa roads.

İMain Line Times 2005