TEMPERANCE -- The race for Bedford Township Supervisor has become competitive.

Greg Stewart, the Luna Pier administrator, is challenging incumbent Walt Wilburn.

Mr. Wilburn is in his eighth year as supervisor and seeks a third term. Both are Republicans and will face off in an Aug. 7 primary. They are the only two candidates.

The supervisor is a member of the township board and the community's highest elected official.

The position pays $67,300 annually.

Mr. Stewart, 61, became Luna Pier administrator in 2008, and before that he worked at the Regional Growth Partnership and Edison Industrial Systems Center, both in Toledo. He and his wife, Marti, live in Lambertville.

The RGP is a privately funded, nonprofit economic development group covering 11 counties in northwest Ohio, while EISC is a technology center that assists manufacturing companies in business and engineering issues.

Mr. Stewart said that if elected, he would leave his Luna Pier post but would have time to train a replacement.

As supervisor, he said he would put his background in economic development to work for the township.

"I see economic development as an issue that every level of government has to take seriously," Mr. Stewart said, adding this means having a good infrastructure, including roads, which are the perennial township complaint.

"We're often looked at as a bedroom community of Toledo, but the fact is that we are the largest community in Monroe County. We need to take our case to the county and the state of Michigan," he explained.

Mr. Stewart said the township had a reputation "for having a bad attitude when it comes to business" that he would improve.

Moreover, he said, Mr. Wilburn had a top-down style of management that he would not adopt.

"I want to build consensus. He's making a decision and then going to the board rather than having the board help him make that decision," Mr. Stewart said.

Mr. Wilburn scoffed at the idea that the township was unfriendly to business, noting that he was a business owner himself.

He said he was a past president of the Bedford Business Association, a member since 1988, and attended the group's meetings.

He also denied he excluded board members from township business and cited the unanimous voting that characterized board meetings.

"I think he's wrong and he doesn't know what he is talking about," Mr. Wilburn said. "We have a road committee, a finance committee, a budget committee -- the board is very well informed."

On the subject of roads, Mr. Wilburn said, "We've redone more roads in the last six years than had been done in the previous 20 years. As a board, we have brought in [in grants and other funding] approximately $18 million for roads. We have not bonded a penny for road work. We have a balanced budget and made cuts when necessary."

Mr. Stewart said Mr. Wilburn was a popular supervisor who would be difficult to defeat.

He acknowledged that the supervisor "had done many good things for the community. He's a stand-up kind of guy, but I just feel there should be an opportunity for a choice."

First Published May 16, 2012, 4:00 a.m.