Meet your Ward 4 Candidate: Dan Denslow

Early Years

Dan Denslow was born in Abington Hospital in 1958. For the first few years of his life, Denslow lived in Upper Moreland. He was christened at St. David’s Church in Willow Grove, where he is currently a parishioner. He later attended schools in the Upper Dublin area.

By age 13, Denslow held his first job going door to door selling newspaper subscriptions. And, after his graduation from North Penn High School, he continued a career in the newspaper industry.

“I went right into working for newspapers in newspaper management.”

Professional Life

One of his earliest professional jobs was assistant circulation manager in the Southampton office of the famed, but now defunct Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, a position he held when he was 18.

Working for a few years at the Bulletin, Denslow next got another circulation managing position with the Philadelphia Inquirer, working the paper’s Montgomery County circulation.

“The Bulletin was evening, and this was the morning – get up at 3 a.m. in the morning kind of deal,” Denslow recalled.

After two years at the Inquirer, Denslow held a string of different non-editorial positions with several notable newspapers, each one with a tenure of two to four years.

He worked as the circulation director for the Santa Monica Times in Californa, moved to Florida to manage sales with the Daytona Beach News-Journal in Florida. There, he helped manage the circulation for U.S.A. Today in Cocoa Beach.

He eventually made his way back to the Philadelphia area, with a job at the Courier Post . His final position in newspapers put him in charge of sales in Upper Moreland with the Intelligencer, where he met his wife in 1990, though he is now divorced.

According to Denslow, he came back to Upper Moreland to move closer to his family, who remained in the township.

“I didn’t like Florida, there was no snow. I didn’t like California, because there was too much wind, and people in New Jersey weren’t as friendly,” Denslow said. “This was the only place I felt comfortable.”

For the next decade, Denslow became a realtor, working five years for Coldwell Banker Realty and then Prudential Real Estate.

During this time, and living in Upper Moreland, he cultivated an interest in finding and selling antiques, which has become a successful side-business for him.

He described his antiques business as one of the most enjoyable jobs he’s had, especially when he makes a good antique find.

Denslow did own a storefront antiques shop, but has since gone mobile with his business. He also owns rental properties within the township.

Family life

Denslow has two children, a son and daughter. His son is a sophomore at , and plays for its football team. Denslow has helped to coach Willow Grove Bears football and Upper Moreland Little League, when his son played. He can now be seen driving his son to and from UMHS football games.

His daughter, a UMHS graduate, is a junior at the University of Maine, where she is focusing her studies in French, Women’s Studies and International Political Science. She is currently studying as an exchange student at the University of Ottowa. 

His reasons for running

Two years ago, Denslow had undergone major surgery, receiving a new heart.

Due to his heart transplant, Denslow mainly focuses his attention to his antiques business, but now has more time to socialize with his neighbors and lends a helping hand when he can.

It was in this fashion that Denslow first found that several of his neighbors shared similar viewpoints on how the township was being run.

“I always thought, getting out of your comfort zone, you’ll learn some things,” he said.

As he has stepped-up his campaign in the last several weeks, Denslow’s conversations with Ward 4 residents have only bolstered his resolve to run for Ward 4 commissioner.

“Knocking on the doors of my neighbors, I found it very stimulating,” Denslow said. “I found that most of my neighbors have the same views on the township as me.”

And, although Denslow has had no prior political career to his bid for Ward 4 commissioner, during his time as a realtor and as a landlord, Denslow has had much experience in working with the township over ordinances and codes.

But, he said, the experiences were unpleasant, as he claims that the township became aggressive with him when he would protest ordinances he saw as incorrect and over code violations at his rental properties that he said couldn’t be dealt with at the time, which he said resulted in police citations against him over the years, among other police violations.

“I think government should be for the people, and advocate for the individual person here,” Denslow said. “And, since I had this heart transplant, I wanted to give back to the people.”

In the past year, Denslow has attended nearly all the township committee meetings, learning more about local government and vocalizing his opinions at those public meetings.

In his campaign literature, Denslow, a Democrat, described the current board of commissioners as being controlled by a four-member voting bloc, calling those commissioners, “a small, highly partisan minority.”

“I feel that this is the only chance to have change in this ward in many years,” he said.

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A more in-depth look into the positions on community issues and the politics of candidates will be presented in future Upper Moreland – Willow Grove Patch campaign coverage articles.

Look for more profiles on ward commissioner candidates in the coming days.