A city councilman helped initiate the recent court challenges that led to petition dismissals for two of seven Republican primary council candidates.

Michael Haire, one of four incumbents running to retain the four council seats that are open for election this year, reviewed all the council petitions to determine whether they met the requirement for 100 valid signatures, composed legal briefs on the ones he believed did not, then passed his findings to Bill Strasser, who filed those and other challenges in Blair County Court.

“It was me,” Haire said readily last week, when asked who was behind the council challenges.

Candidates who lacked the competence to complete their petitions properly, despite help from the Blair County Republican Committee and a list of registered Republican voters provided by the county, “didn’t need” to be on the ballot, Haire said.

“(Doing it right) is not that hard,” he added.

The court tossed the petitions of Ron Adams and Samantha Paule after finding a sufficient number of non-qualifying signatures to drop their valid count below 100.

Incumbents Haire, Dave Butterbaugh, Christie Jordan and Matt Cacciotti remain on the ballot, as does former councilman Bruce Kelley.

Former councilman and mayor Bill Schirf withdrew his name.

Haire worked with Butterbaugh to ensure they met the standard — each collecting 100 signatures for themselves and 100 for the other.

Haire guessed that he ended up with 160 or 170 valid ones.

It took him 15 hours of going door-to-door, guided by the county “walking” list, he said.

“It’s work,” he said. “It’s what you do.”

Haire pushed for the challenges even though Mayor Matt Pacifico discouraged him and Butterbaugh declined to help — unlike four years ago, when he and Haire worked together on a similar challenge, Haire said.

Haire said he feels he needs to challenge faulty petitions because the county doesn’t.

“(A candidate) could write Mickey Mouse on all the lines,” Haire said. “You have to take the avenue I took.”

Strasser filed the challenges after “multiple people” came to him with concerns about petitions done incorrectly, said Dan Kiss, the attorney who represented Strasser.

Kiss declined to say whether he was paid to help Strasser, citing attorney-client privilege.

Paule might have objected to Strasser’s challenge with an allegation that he didn’t properly notify her, but couldn’t, because her attorney wasn’t available in time, she said.

She learned about Strasser’s challenge when the county notified her the day before the hearing, she said.

Adams also questioned whether Strasser properly notified him. He also spoke about “technicalities” that led to the court’s tossing of signatures, including zip codes written in boxes for dates.

Paule is considering a write-in campaign for the upcoming primary and another traditional run in the next municipal election.

Adams has already begun a write-in campaign for the upcoming primary.

It’s his first time in politics, “and people will respect me more if I keep trying,” he said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.