Officer Bios
John Tallman - John, a resident of Upper Merion Township since 1999 and is an active member of the Upper Merion Park and Recreation Citizens Advisory Board since 2000. Serving as Chairman for many years, John is intimately involved with planning and implementation of Upper Merion Park and Recreation Department’s efforts. Most notably, the development of Heuser Park, Upper Merion’s newest, largest and most popular park. John has also served as a member of the title one tax committee for the Upper Merion Area School District working against a local income tax. John has also served as a member of the Upper Merion Open Space Board, generating our latest open Space plan which is allowing Upper Merion to apply for open space funds as part of Montgomery County’s 150 million dollar open space initiative. John is currently serving as a board member on the Community Center sub committee that is assessing the needs of Upper Merion Township with respect to community meeting and activity space including the possibility of a community pool, gym, theater, activity rooms etc.
Professionally, John is a partner in Home Technology Partners on Gulph Road. In addition to home theaters and home control systems, Home Technology Partners works with their clients to improve energy efficiency and promote “green” systems for residences in the area.
Greg Waks - Greg Waks is one of the most active members of Upper Merion Township. In 2004 Greg was appointed to Upper Merion’s Economic and Community Development Committee (ECDC), where he quickly rose through the ranks. In 2005, he founded and chaired Greener Upper Merion, which placed the Open Space Referendum on the ballot. As part of the Open Space Campaign, Greg appeared on Township Talk and authored numerous pieces for the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Times-Herald and the King of Prussia Courier advocating the benefits of preserving open space and warning about the economic costs of overdevelopment and dependence on foreign oil. Ultimately approved by 84.4% township, the successful referendum gave us $5 million with which to preserve open space in Upper Merion Township. In May 2007, Greg ran an upstart campaign for Supervisor losing by a mere 26 votes. Currently Chairman of the ECDC, Greg Waks co-conceived (with fellow Friends of Upper Merion Trails founder John Tallman) the subcommittee that is looking into the feasibility of a community center/cultural center and currently serves as a member of that subcommittee. Additionally, in his capacity as Chairman of the ECDC, he has worked on improving the township website, beautifying the 202 corridor, fixing the Moore-Irwin House and working on other long term or neglected issues facing the township.
Greg received his college degree from the University of Maryland and he is President of the Greater Philadelphia Area University of Maryland alumni club. After graduating college, he attended law school at the University of Miami. A small business owner, his practice is concentrated on elder, business and class action law.
Peter Kuhn - Pete has been a resident of Upper Merion Township since 1997. He is an avid outdoorsman, hiker and conservationist. Pete also has a keen interest in open space preservation. Pete is also a small businees owner specializing in new media development.
