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January 9, 2008

Not afraid to ruffle feathers | Allegheny Co. exec pushing consolidation

Anonymous The Tribune-Democrat Wed Jan 09, 2008, 03:29 PM EST

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato is swimming in hot water right now, but we admire him for taking a public stand on consolidation.

Onorato last week kicked off his second term at the helm of the most powerful elected office in western Pennsylvania by vowing to make government consolidation – including mergers of some municipal police departments – a top priority over the next four years.

It’s going to be a tough sale, as we’re sure Onorato realizes, but at least he isn’t afraid to say what a lot of public officials already know but won’t push because of political backlash.

“Anywhere I can find a way to eliminate duplicated government to provide the services better at a lower cost, we’re going to do it,” Onorato said.

Touting consolidation could very well make even more enemies for Onorato, who has been highly criticized in Allegheny County for the new 10 percent tax on served alcoholic beverages and a $2 a day tax on rental vehicles as a way to supplement the county’s mass-transit funding.

Over the years, The Tribune-Democrat has discussed municipal and school consolidation issues with numerous state and county leaders. While nearly all have agreed on a need, they don’t see it as a mission of their public office to push the concept.

We think they’re wrong.

During a 15-minute inaugural address, Onorato pointed to his successful effort to eliminate six of 10 county row offices. He also said he was considering lump payments to financially distressed municipalities willing to combine their police forces, saying he has had conversations with some local officials about using county money to build centralized police or fire stations.

There are more than 100 police departments in Allegheny County.

While we realize Allegheny County, which includes the city of Pittsburgh, is much larger than Cambria and Somerset counties, we still think much of what Onorato says makes sense and could work in our region.

We hope area officials are at least listening to what he’s saying.

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