Rudiak challenges Lamb for Pittsburgh controller
Two elected officials who started off as allies now are battling each other for the job of Pittsburgh fiscal watchdog.
Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak, 35, of Carrick is challenging incumbent Controller Michael Lamb, 52, of Mount Washington for the Democratic nomination in the May 19 primary. No Republicans are seeking their party’s nomination, so the Democratic nominee likely will cruise to victory in the November election.
The campaign is unfolding in the shadow of the Democratic race for Allegheny County controller, in which incumbent Chelsa Wagner, a fierce critic of county Executive Rich Fitzgerald, faces a challenge from her predecessor, Mark Patrick Flaherty, who is endorsed by Mr. Fitzgerald. Yet the same issues — the controller’s independence and approach to the job — are key elements in both contests.
Mr. Lamb and Ms. Rudiak share the belief they have the authority to audit city-related authorities, an issue at the heart of the disagreements between Ms. Wagner and Mr. Fitzgerald regarding county authorities. But the city candidates disagree on how aggressive the controller should be and how closely the office should work with city administration.
Now in her second council term, Ms. Rudiak has positioned herself as a voice for under-served southern neighborhoods and as a social progressive who thinks outside of the box. She took the unusual step of pushing for a study of day care center capacity, for example, then worked to create a fund for structural improvements to child care centers. She also sponsored legislation to increase the online
availability of data on subjects ranging from potholes to budgets.
Ms. Rudiak vowed to bring the same forward thinking to the controller’s office, claiming Mr. Lamb has not made maximum use of his watchdog powers.
“I think the controller’s office needs to be more proactive, to find solutions to the city’s fiscal problems,” she said, asserting that Mr. Lamb offered no help balancing the 2014 operating budget after he voted with other pension board members to lower the pension fund’s anticipated annual investment return to 7.5 percent from 8 percent. Mr. Lamb said the change was necessary for more prudent management of the chronically underfunded pension.
Ms. Rudiak said the change, which increased the city’s minimum cash contribution to the fund, complicated already-difficult budgeting efforts in late 2013. Mr. Lamb said the change had zero effect on the budget because the city already was pumping more cash into the fund than required whether the anticipated investment return was 8 percent or 7.5 percent. Ms. Rudiak disputed that interpretation.
Mr. Lamb, who also is in his second term, said he has been a model of transparency, a consistent advocate of good government and an effective counterweight to Mayor Bill Peduto and the previous mayor, Luke Ravenstahl.
“I have been the independent voice on Grant Street. There’s no doubt about that,” Mr. Lamb said.
Among the first to oppose Mr. Ravenstahl’s proposed lease of parking meters and garages in 2010, Mr. Lamb said he played a leading role in crafting an alternative pension fund bailout. He and a council majority, including Ms. Rudiak, were allies in pushing through the bailout and averting a state takeover of the fund.
Mr. Lamb was a frequent critic of Mr. Ravenstahl’s fiscal policies and, more recently, he has criticized the Peduto administration for failing to secure payments in lieu of taxes from nonprofits.
“They are major property owners in the city of Pittsburgh and need to contribute to city operations,” he said.
He characterized Ms. Rudiak as a council rubber stamp for Mr. Peduto.
Ms. Rudiak and Mr. Peduto have been allies since the days they served on council together, and the mayor has endorsed her bid for controller. But she said she never let the friendship cloud her judgment.
“I’m a watchdog now. I think that’s really important for people to realize,” said Ms. Rudiak, who chairs council’s Finance and Law Committee and last year opposed Mr. Peduto’s nominee for budget director, Edward S. Kiely, because he owed back taxes. Mr. Kiely eventually withdrew from consideration.
Ms. Rudiak said the controller should be a counterweight to the mayor while also collaborating with the administration to save money and improve efficiency. Mr. Peduto agreed, saying Mr. Lamb would rather make headlines than work with other city leaders.
Mr. Peduto described Ms. Rudiak as smart, hard-working and “the type of person that tends to stay away from the politics that really have held the city back.”
He said Ms. Rudiak would challenge the city “to do better.”
Ms. Rudiak has promised to promote female entrepreneurship, better monitor the city’s use of minority- and women-owned businesses and implement a claims management system to address “spiraling” legal costs.
She said the controller should be an advocate for the city and its taxpayers and noted that she recently testified at a legislative hearing on pension reform.
Mr. Lamb said he has already been an advocate. A lawyer, he personally represented taxpayers in appeal hearings after the county property reassessment and has called for closing a loophole in state law that lets expensive properties change hands without real estate transfer taxes.