Swissvale Council Vice President Running for District Judge

Swissvale Councilman Martin F. Busch is running for the magisterial district justice position in Forest Hills on the platform that he is the “common man for the common people.”

“This is the only judgeship where you can be a normal person and you don’t have to be an attorney, and that’s great the state has left it that way,” Busch said. “A lot of this law is common sense law. There are statutes to abide by, but it’s a lot of common sense.”

Busch, 57, was born and raised in Swissvale and now lives in the house his wife grew up in there. Co-owner of Busch Brothers Tire Service, Inc., a 26-year-old family business, the local leader said he is ready to move forward as a district judge.

“I would do a fine job and it’s something I have always wanted to do,” Busch said. “Being the past mayor and a councilman now, I have an idea of both sides of what goes on in the community. Being a business owner for 26 years, being in the auto business, it’s very important you keep clientele coming back so you have to be honest, true and treat people with respect. That helps me to handle the problems that would arise.”

With experience as the past mayor of Swissvale from 1991 to 1997, along with his daily work with people from all walks of life, Busch said he is prepared to take on the challenges of a magisterial district office that will soon be facing

“Now that we will have the high school and the junior high together in the same district, I want to get together and do different programs for the kids when they aren’t behaving the way they are supposed to and create a better system,” Busch said. “When I am judge, I want to get the kids instituted into programs and get them off the streets.”

currently holds the office in Forest Hills and is running to keep the position. Swissvale and Swissvale Council also are running in the race for district judge.

As mayor, Busch helped to create a program called YES -- Youth Enthusiasm in Swissvale -- which started with a group of volunteers.

“We had two nights a week where we got the kids off the streets and they could come up to the church across from Madonna Del Castello and also at Dickson Elementary,” he said. “They would come and do activities, play baseball and basketball and it went really well until we lost volunteers.”

Busch also instituted the Swissvale Crime Watch in the early ‘90s as mayor. A 1972 graduate of St. Anselm’s High School, Busch went onto technical school after discovering his passion for working on cars. As current vice president of Swissvale Council, he said he has seen the community through its ups and downs as a local leader, and believes he has the passion to be district judge.

“The reason I want to do it is because I feel I could do a 100 percent job at it,” Busch said. “I know the community very well, I am dedicated and it’s a tough job to be district justice. You have to be neutral and detached and you can’t be involved like a politician. I think I can handle that really well.”

Busch said he is looking forward to meeting even more people in the community as he embarks on his campaign for district justice.

“Right now, we are out campaigning, knocking on doors, meeting people and asking how they feel and what needs they have,” Busch said. “As a district judge, there is only so much you can do but you need to know the problems in the area.”