Allegheny County Councilman Matt Drozd says that all his life has been about service.

As an Army medical readiness officer, Mr. Drozd helped to facilitate medical aid and protection to American soldiers stationed in Korea and in the Middle East. As a reservist in the U. S. Air Force, from which he retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel, he worked at the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

And before he retired as an administrator at Penn State University's western campuses, he said, he helped to raise nearly $20 million for low-income students to attend Penn State.

His challenger in Tuesday's election for council's District 1 seat, Avalon Councilman Thomas Michalow, 38, and a Democrat, has a similar background in military training and education.

Mr. Drozd, 64, said his family emphasized public service as he was growing up. A Republican, he was elected to County Council District 1 in 2004.

The district includes Aleppo, Avalon, Bellevue, Ben Avon, Ben Avon Heights, Coraopolis, Crescent, Edgeworth, Emsworth, Kilbuck, Leet, Leetsdale, Moon, Ross, Sewickley and West View.

On council, Mr. Drozd said he strives to represent his constituents with purpose and fervor. For him, he said, that entails attending municipal meetings in his district, returning constituent calls and sometimes, even calling them just to let them know they can count on him.

For all his gusto and years of public service, though, Mr. Drozd has established himself as a firebrand who sometimes wags his finger and pounds the table to stress his positions on cutting property taxes and reducing the size of government.

As one of the four Republicans on the 15-member council, his critics say Mr. Drozd's approach often undercuts his positions, relegating him to the periphery of key council debates.

Last year, for example, he was on the losing side with three other Republicans in trying to stop county Executive Dan Onorato from implementing the drink and car rental levies. He has consistently challenged Mr. Onorato to cut property taxes and to seek $40 million from Harrisburg in unpaid court administration costs.

Mr. Drozd describes his position on council as necessary to the legislative process. "I speak for the unheard people. ... It's good to have a healthy debate on the issues," he said.

Among his biggest political achievements, he said, was the push to reduce the county's drink tax from 10 percent to 7 percent early this year. Last week, he introduced a proposal to cut the county's real estate tax rate.

Thomas Michalow contends that Mr. Drozd's seeming marginalization on council, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 11 to 4, is one of the reasons voters in the North Hills should replace him.

"He has isolated himself politically on County Council [so] that even if he had a good idea, it would be ignored," said Mr. Michalow, the Democrat hoping to unseat Mr. Drozd Tuesday.

A history and German teacher at Northgate High School, Mr. Michalow, 38, said he decided to challenge Mr. Drozd because he believes that he can better deliver on promises and services to the district.

A member of Avalon Council, where he also served on its planning commission, Mr. Michalow said he has spent a decade immersed in the intricacies of local government and that the experience has readied him for Allegheny County Council.

"I have both raised and cut taxes, and I helped to resolve the budget problems in Avalon, which was in the red for a couple of years," said Mr. Michalow, who is chairman of the borough's finance committee.

A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, where he received a degree in international relations, Mr. Michalow started teaching at Northgate 10 years ago.

Politics and seeking public office, Mr. Michalow said, were never personal ambitions.

"Growing up, my dream was to spend a career in the military," but he was medically disqualified, he said, because of a heart murmur.

In 1996, Mr. Michalow moved back to the area and pursued a master's degree in education at Duquesne University.

But a call to arms that was ingrained in him in military school would eventually lead him into politics, he said.

"I learned that if no one is in charge, then you are in charge," he said.

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