The Board of Health and its committees currently have members who have conflicts of interest that make it difficult for them to hold polluters responsible. New members must be committed to addressing the health crisis that air pollution represents, placing us in one of the worst 1% of locations for cancer, lung and heart diseases caused by air pollution.
Will you promote rooting out the conflicts of interest which weaken the ability of ACHD to do its job effectively?
Absolutely. I have dedicated my career in public service, as well as this campaign, to shining a light on conflicts of interest and corruption that lead to inefficiency and injustice. If our public officials do not hold themselves accountable, there is no hope of creating a government that is accountable to its citizens. I have spent the last 15 years in the controller’s office auditing departments in our city government as Pittsburgh’s fiscal watchdog. I have called for ethics reforms of our pension board specifically around conflicts of interests and who gets to pocket our retiree’s money. I pushed for the elimination of my own position as Allegheny County Prothonotary because it was the right thing to do for the people of the county. I plan to continue to fight for more accountable, responsive, and efficient county government and its departments and that includes at the ACHD.
ACHD is being led by an interim-director without public health or medical training.
Will you ensure the new ACHD Director has public health credentials?
Yes. It will also be critical that whomever is appointed is a champion for abortion rights. While the county has tangential influence on our laws around abortion in this state, we need to recognize this position for what it is: the chance to advocate for bodily autonomy as the leader of Western PA. We need the County Executive who will use that office as a bully pulpit to defend the rights of women and people across this state. It is the duty of our county executive to ensure that people have the right to adequate and necessary healthcare not only through a strong relationship with statewide and federal leadership, but also through appropriate appointments within the county like at our Department of Health. As County Executive, I will make sure that we have strong and outspoken abortion rights and environmental justice advocates leading the departments in charge of protecting people’s health and wellbeing in Allegheny county.
The ACHD is critically underfunded, having just approved diverting 25% of the Clean Air Fund composed of fines paid by polluters to fund its own operations. These funds should be used to directly help those in environmental justice communities who live closest to major sources of toxic emissions, and the ACE must provide adequate funding for ACHD to do its job.
Will you ensure that the Clean Air Fund is used to help those in environmental justice communities and others who suffer from toxic emissions, and that the County meets its obligation to adequately fund our air pollution enforcement arm?
The key to cleaning up our air and water is empowering our ACHD and keeping Clean Air Funds monies in the communities it is meant to serve. I led the fight to keep our parking authority public in order to save our pension board, which went from 20% funded to 70% funded. There are funds currently available at the county, funds we can get in creative ways, and funds that we can draw down from state and federal reserves.
To draw down federal funding, you must apply for it. We need to recognize that we are in competition with all other counties also fighting for this money. We need somebody in the county executive seat who has a knowledge of how the county works and a deep understanding of how environmental investment pieces fit together to concretely demonstrate how those dollars will be used.
ACHD’s online county air pollution complaint system is far too complicated to navigate, given today’s open communication capabilities.
Will you support funding for a system that is easier to use, while ensuring open and timely communication regarding air quality issues?
Like I mentioned above, I have worked to create open communication with residents at the controller’s office. I created tools like Open Book Pittsburgh and Fiscal focus so people could actively engage with government by using our public and searchable databases of all campaign, lobby, and contract dollars. I would bring this model to ACHD to make sure obstacles from an open line of communication and accountability are removed.
ACHD has not responded to over 70,000 Smell Pgh app complaints since 2016, even though ACHD collaborated with Create Lab at CMU in the app’s creation.
Will you support improving ACHD operations by taking advantage of the tremendous 21st century technological assets that exist in our region?
Absolutely. There are technological advances that have improved operations in many of our departments. As an example, when I was first elected to the Prothonotary’s office, we took an office that looked like something from a Charles Dickens novel to the most technologically advanced court recording office in the state. There is no reason these tools should not also be used at the ACHD.
Addressing the catastrophic potential of an East Palestine-type disaster happening in Greater Pittsburgh requires immediate preventive action.
Are you open to the exploration of life or death scenarios aimed at increasing preparedness on the part of ACHD?
Yes. We have to recognize the damage that money and corporations do when it comes to our health. Over 250 trains derailed in the last decade and almost half contained hazardous materials. The Dept of Transportation has jurisdiction over safety standards, which are quite weak due to lobbying by railroad company lobbying. We need to stand up to corporations, something I have done my entire career, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our community.