By: Erin Yudt
Yesterday on April 18 candidates for the next Allegheny County Executive met in Lawrence Hall 200 at Point Park University to debate before the primary elections. The event was put on by the Center for Media Innovation (CMI).
With four weeks to go until the primary election, the seven candidates addressed questions about policy and experience, most of them submitted by citizens and audience members. The debate was moderated by NEXTpittsburgh columnist Tony Norman, PublicSource reporter Charlie Wolfson and journalist Natalie Bencivenga. About 400 people attended either in person or online.
All candidates were presented and included democrats Dave Fawcett, a lawyer and former Republican, Aara Innamorato, current state representative, Michael Lamb, current city controller, Will Parker, a mobile app developer, John Weinstein, current county treasurer, and Theresa Sciulli Colaizzi, former school board member. The one republican candidate is Joe Rockey, former PNC financial services executive.
Points of discussion included the candidates’ envision for the position, their previous professional experiences, the allegheny county jail, affordable housing, the COVID-19 pandemic, property tax assessments, air quality and the environment, public transit fees, and the quote white elephant in the room, which was tax free nonprofits like UPMC and Allegheny Health Network (AHN).
Affordable housing
Sara Innamorato said she’d push for more use of Section 8 voucher funding to place current renters in homeownership.
“I believe everyone deserves a safe, stable and affordable place to call home,” Innamorato said.
Michael Lamb blamed the housing shortage in part on the liens and debts attached to many abandoned properties, which makes it impossible for new owners to take title.
“We want to create a countywide tax claim bureau that’s going to expedite that process,” Lamb said.
John Weinstein also proposed a tax claim bureau to clear debts on abandoned properties but added that he’d build a countywide land bank and an office dedicated solely to connecting investors with properties.
Theresa Colaizzi blamed large nonprofits for buying up land and failing to provide housing and healthcare for displaced people.
“I think these people [UPMC and AHN] need to be held accountable for all the land they’ve bought up,” Colaizzi said.
Will Parker promised that he would take $200 million from the county budget to dedicate to black-owned businesses.
“None of these people on this stage are people that I trust,” Parker said. “None of them are going to do what I will be doing for the black community.”
Joe Rockey agreed, but said he would go about it a different way by “bringing in outside funding.”
Property Taxes
Rockey said he’d first “fix the problem that we have in the current assessment process” which includes miscalculation of the taxes due from many recent purchasers of property, which many candidates agreed to.
Innamorato was the only candidate to clearly call for a full countywide property tax reassessment, saying that the current system overtaxes Black neighborhoods.
Parker said the real issue is “racism in Allegheny County. … This is why I keep running. … Uproot the systematic oppression.”
Allegheny County Jail
All candidates agreed that the leadership and operations at the Allegheny County Jail are faulty.
“We’re not applying enough resources and raising the salaries to the level that we can hire well-qualified people, including mental health professionals,” Dave Fawcett, who says he would bring in independent third-party auditors with expertise in corrections, said.
Air Quality and the Environment
All candidates also agreed that much needs to be done to improve the air quality in the county, especially in the Mon Valley, and make efforts to combat climate change.
Fawcett stressed the need to increase ridership for the Pittsburgh Regional Transit and build better bike paths.
Lamb urged that creating a stronger workforce would help these issues.
“With my plan to make the Community College of Allegheny County free for all Allegheny County graduates, we can create an environment workforce and hold corporations accountable,” Lamb said. “I also want to stress to employers to give bus passes to their employees.”
Tension
While the debate was fairly calm, some tension arose right from the beginning, as Innamorato was a few minutes late.
Colaizzi brought up that Innamorato questioned her signatures to be on the ballot, causing her to be “late and behind to the campaign.”
“Yes, I have been sporadic at some events, but it is because of Ms. Innamorato,” Colaizzi said. “She questioned my legitimate signatures.”
Innamorato’s response was that she “had a right to question based on events” she observed.
The debate was livestream and is available to watch on Public Source’s website, and the primary election will be held on Tuesday, May 16th.
