Elizabeth Township chiropractor Rob Rhoderick believes the township would be better off with five commissioners instead of seven, and that commissioners should be elected at-large instead of by ward.

It's a proposal that's been backed by 493 residents on a petition and Mr. Rhoderick believes it's time to put it on the ballot to let voters decide.

But, he said, the board of commissioners dragged its feet in considering a referendum, so he went a different route and filed a petition with the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

Ironically, now a judge will decide how the township will be run.

Mr. Rhoderick took his proposal to a May 5 commissioners meeting and presented it again at the board's June 2 meeting. He said township solicitor John Rushford, who was to explore the legal issues around a referendum, told him June 9 he would call him back within the week.

He filed the petition eight days later, on June 17.

It's a move that he hopes will encourage the commissioners to reconsider a referendum. He said he was frustrated by the board's lack of action on the issue and felt a petition was the only way to get things done.

"Right now there is no other alternative," he said. "I would like to give them a second chance to rethink the issue."

In a joint statement issued recently, the commissioners said the "township needed more time to review the legal and factual issues connected with such a significant issue."

"Given that the Township Board of Commissioners has been elected by wards since the township's founding in 1788 ... the haste with which this petition was filed is unfortunate."

Mr. Rhoderick's proposal for a referendum did face some unseen legal barriers. Pennsylvania laws regarding first class townships, such as Elizabeth, do not allow wards to be merged and commissioners' governance to be changed by a referendum.

"The first class township code ... requires the court action," said William Vinsko, a municipal law expert and the chief counsel for Wilkes-Barre, who has dealt extensively with ward changes.

It's the only classification of municipality that cannot use the referendum system to change wards and others actually require it, he said.

The only way for Mr. Rhoderick to get his plan considered is to petition the court himself, as he did, or to have the commissioners file a petition. The commissioners also could change the wards themselves through resolution.

Regardless, Mr. Rhoderick said he was frustrated by the commissioners' lack of action and felt that filing a petition was the only way to get things done.

Under Pennsylvania law, the petition will be considered by a judge who will then appoint a commission that includes two impartial people and a registered surveyor or engineer to examine the proposal.

The commission then will hold a public hearing and write a report of its findings and conclusion as to how the court should proceed.

Though the judge makes the ultimate decision, the commission's recommendation usually stands.

Mr. Rhoderick's proposal has some vocal opponents, including Joan Nickerson, president of the Smithdale Community Organization.

If the township goes with Mr. Rhoderick's plan, she said, she fears Smithdale, a small neighborhood whose elderly residents are mostly on fixed incomes, will be ignored.

"I feel if we go to five and we go to at-large, the larger communities with the most money would get the action," she said. "The littlest communities would be left out."

The current system allows commissioners to be more responsive because they deal with fewer people. She has the phone number of her commissioner, Robert Thomas, on her refrigerator.

When she complained that the gravel lining the side of her street needed to be replaced, it was done within a couple of weeks, she said. Mr. Thomas also has helped her neighborhood get a grant for a new playground.

Mr. Thomas would not comment on the petition, but he said, "I just think that we have a system that serves the public very well right now.

"The people know who they can go to ... I have never not returned a phone call."

But Mr. Rhoderick said electing the commissioners by ward limits their ability to do good beyond their ward boundaries.

"I just think it's foolish to say they wouldn't help another area of Elizabeth Township because they're from a different area of Elizabeth Township," he said.

The current system requires commissioners to live in their wards, so only one person from each ward can serve as commissioner. The at-large system would allow the best candidates in the township, regardless of ward, to serve as commissioners, he said.

This is not the first time Mr. Rhoderick has taken action over something he felt strongly about. In 2006, he ran for the state House because he didn't agree with a tax issue. In 2007, he unsuccessfully ran for Ward 1 commissioner because he disagreed with the commissioners' plan to start a pension.