POINT TOWNSHIP - Township Supervisor Justin Dunkelberger, 35, has announced he will not seek a second six-year term because he is a candidate for Northumberland County prothonotary. The current prothonotary, Kathleen Wolfe-Strausser, is not a candidate for re-election.
Dunkelberger has been watching the office for several years while news of legal disputes in 2010, a firing of an office deputy for theft by unlawful taking in 2011, the public notice in 2011 that $17 million in court fees, fines and restitution went uncollected for several years and several public standoffs with county commissioners over staffing and budgetary problems were all made public.
"I would like to work with the full board of county commissioners to return trust and accountability to the prothonotary's office," Dunkelberger said. "Furthermore, I want to increase the staff of the office and return services to the office that were taken away by the county commissioners for lack of processing and oversight. I would also like to see a streamlining of prothonotary office processes and functions through technological upgrades and training so that better and more timely results are afforded to the Northumberland County court system."
In the last year. the Northumberland County Board of Commissioners has appointed Dunkelberger to the SEDA-COG Foundation and Local Loan Review Board of Directors, the Northumberland County Industrial Development Authority Board of Directors, and returned him to the Northumberland County Planning Commission, where he was the secretary for many years. Aside from those volunteer positions, Dunkelberger is involved with the Northumberland County Recreation Committee, the Central Susquehanna Thruway Task Force, 17857.org Board of Directors, the Sunbury Area Health Foundation Board of Directors, a trustee of BPOE 267 in Sunbury and the head coach of Shikellamy's junior high wrestling team.
Previously, he served two terms on the board of directors of the Central Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce, Sunbury Revitalization Inc. Board of Directors, Susquehanna Valley Young Professionals, on Gov. Tom Corbett's Energy Policy Development Committee, the Northumberland County Republican Committee and is past master of Sunbury Lodge No. 22 F&AM.
Dunkelberger, a 1996 graduate of Shikellamy High School, earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Penn State University in 2001. He became a registered engineer in training. Recently, Dunkelberger completed the required course work and testing to become a notary public in the commonwealth, which is also a function undertaken in the prothonotary's office.
Dunkelberger is married to Jayme, the former Northumberland County Republican Party vice chairwoman and has two children, Caden, 4, and Caitlyn, 2.