Facing Challenges: Two Candidates Running for Stone Harbor Borough Council
By Dave Bontempo
Wendi Powers looks forward to a new challenge.
Ken Biddick looks forward to continuing one.
The two paths reflect the near-future look of the Stone Harbor Borough Council. The Republican Committee endorsed each of them for a three-year term on the council. They will run unopposed in the June 2 primaries.
Biddick will run for his own three-year term after serving out the remaining term of Mayor Tim Carney’s seat. Carney moved from the council to the mayor’s chair in January 2025. Biddick, an accountant by trade, chairs the council’s Committee on Administration and Finance.
Powers is a retired health-care executive. She will be running for a seat being vacated by current council president Robin Casper, who won’t seek reelection.
Here’s a closer look at Powers and Biddick.
Wendi Powers
Powers grew up in central Pennsylvania, then Syracuse, N.Y., and settled in West Chester, Pa., where she and husband Tom raised their family.
She brings a newcomer’s enthusiasm to the office.
“I think it’s important to serve something in your life and I am happy to have the chance to serve in Stone Harbor, a place Tom and I absolutely love,” says Powers, who retired from a sales position in the health-care industry in March 2025 and begins her 30th year as a Stone Harbor homeowner.
Powers has an excellent background for public service. She launched her “next career” by being a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines, serving customers on every flight.
She’s also been a commodore for the Stone Harbor Yacht Club, a perfect prelude to this role.
Commodores essentially manage the membership relationship and the membership experience for the clubs, she indicates. That job calls for the same assets of organization and public relations that this one does.
“I feel like I have a unique ability to bring people of all facets together,” she says. “That was important in serving members of the club and is equally so in serving the taxpayers of Stone Harbor.”
Powers set two specific targets for her role, which will begin early in 2027.
“There is so much construction here, so many new things happening, and it’s important to maintain a fine line to both maintain the charm of a family-friendly atmosphere and move on with the progress of infrastructure and growing,” she asserts. “As you are doing this, you want to make sure that taxpayer money is being wisely spent.”
Powers says she looks forward to working with Carney, who “has done a terrific job in bringing people together.”
Ken Biddick
The Woodbury-area native, who has lived here since 2015, considers it important to educate homeowners about the origins of the borough’s debt. He believes the Council is on a nice roll in doing that. Biddick has made a significant impact since taking office early in 2025.
Last year, he worked on a revamped water and sewer billing system that will be rolled out during the second quarter of this year. It eliminates tiered billing. Customers will pay only for the water that they use.
“It’s a completely fair system,” he says, adding that the department ran at a deficit last year. The new setup figures to eliminate that problem.
Besides being fair, it also is expected to be clear. Customer bills will be easier to understand.
In his role with administration and finance, Biddick must establish a 2026 budget and a long-term plan. He’s done that while juggling pensions and the high cost of health care within the budgetary mix.
“We are really trying to operate the borough on a lean structure,” he indicates. “Hopefully we will be able to stay that way. We are trying to introduce automation to get a lot of work done without having to hire additional staff.”
Biddick also wants to establish a healthy fund for future projects.
“We want people to know where the money is going and why we issue debt,” he says. “Because the town is 100-plus years old, things have to get fired and replaced.
“Unfortunately, going back to the early 1900s until now, the borough never really built the resources so that you could put money away and pay for these things. You don’t need to have projects 100 percent funded, but if you have at least 35-50 percent of that, you don’t have to go out a lot for debt service.”
Biddick adds that the borough will be reassessed in 2026.
Biddick owns the Stone Harbor-based KB Consulting Group. Kenneth Biddick & Co., PC is a certified public accounting firm. Founded in 1993 and trading as KB Consulting Group, the company was solely focused on forensic accounting and financial expert witness services. In 1998, it expanded service offerings into traditional CPA firm service areas, including financial statements, tax, and accounting services.
He established himself as an innovative leader who consistently develops and implements cutting-edge processes. Biddick was an early adopter of data analysis and management techniques, making him the go-to person for unique, complex, and large engagements. He also lectures at accounting firms and professional organizations on professional ethics, investigating financial fraud, insurance claims, CPA responsibilities in both attest and non-attest services, and work-paper documentation issues.
