Issues

Promoting Mon Valley Jobs - The Mon Valley County Council member’s top priority must be steering good-paying family-wage jobs to our region, including support for a union-represented workforce.

It is crucial that we partner with state and federal agencies to leverage funds to create Mainstreet jobs and small business opportunities. This collaborative effort is key to our success.
Complete a needs assessment and create a comprehensive county-wide job program geared towards youth and lower-income residents. This is a significant step in addressing the job creation issue in Mon Valley.
Incentivize participation in trades-related educational programs at CCAC via reduced tuition, employer matching, and creating other direct classroom-to-worksite pathways.

Saving Taxpayer Money - Ensure utilization of budget process for annual review of efficiency of county departments.

Develop a study to examine possible savings by merging the Allegheny County Police ($41,968,922) and Allegheny County Sheriff ($22,918,716) into one department, the “Allegheny County Department of Public Safety.”
Work with the County Executive, District Attorney / Public Defender, and President Judge and "non-profits" such as UPMC and ANH to create a county-wide community diversion program for all non-violet, low-level crimes involving behavioral/mental health and substance abuse and reduce the Jail ($96,858,510), Booking Center ($7,288,418), District Attorney ($24,090,244), Juvenile Court Placement ($39,754,137) and Court of Common Pleas ($92,260,420) budgets by 25%.

Fair Reassessments - Create a fair and reasonable property tax system based on current market rates, not assessed values from 2012. Our current broken system has allowed wealthy folks in communities like Upper St Clair, Wexford, Bridgeville, Pine Township, and Mt Lebanon to pay lower taxes based on property values from 12 years ago. At the same time, folks in the Mon Valley have been locked into higher assessed values from the same period.

Use 2025 as the baseline value for assessment purposes for all property located in Allegheny County.
Pass an ordinance requiring reassessments every five years county-wide.
Establish an Office of Property Tax Advocate to assist lower-income and middle-income property owners when navigating the property tax appeals process.

Streamlining County Government - Ensuring the good stewardship of taxpayer dollars by encouraging resource collaboration and consolidation within county government.

Introduce ballot questions to limit the County Executive, District Attorney, County Treasurer, and County Controller to a maximum of two (2) consecutive four-year terms.
Introduce ballot questions to limit members of the Allegheny County Council to two (2) consecutive four-year terms.
Create the “Office of Good Government” and empower the Allegheny County Ethics Commission to make criminal referrals of officials and staff engaged in improper behavior.

Environmental Action - Allegheny County can both attract good jobs and enjoy a clean environment. Our County Council Member must direct County resources to bring more jobs and clean air and water to our region.

Create an Office of Environmental and Health Funding Oversight to administer and oversee all municipal grants and requests paid from impact/re-development funds set up by companies such as US Steel and other polluters to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.
Exclude all non-environmental and non-health-related projects from receiving monies from the environmental impact funds.
Work with state and federal policymakers to secure funding to install over 500 EV charging stations throughout the district and Allegheny County.
Increase permits and fees for polluters under the Federal Clean Air Act’s Title V, which requires sources of air pollution to obtain operating permits every five years from the County.

Tackling Mental/Behavioral Health - Further prioritize funding to expand behavioral and mental health services with the hope that those suffering will not enter the criminal justice system.

Expanding behavioral health services, including inpatient and outpatient services within the district.
Expanding mental health services, including inpatient and outpatient services within the district.
Expanding substance abuse treatment options, including inpatient beds in the district.