Innamorato delivers first quarterly address

County exec touts administration’s accomplishments

In her first quarterly address to the Allegheny County Council Tuesday, Chief Executive Sara Innamorato shed light on the direction of her administration and its accomplishments as she nears her first 100 days in office.

During the 40-minute address at the top of Tuesday’s council meeting, Ms. Innamorato touted her administration’s expansion of affordable child care, pay raises for non-union county workers, and an improved public safety communications system.

She also highlighted her collaborative work with the council to pass the Local Economic Revitalization Assistance (LERTA) Act in February, a tax abatement program that will incentivize new development Downtown and convert underused office spaces in the city center to affordable housing units.

Drilling down on her economic agenda, Ms. Innamorato pointed to the “hundreds of new jobs” the recent move by Bostonbased company Excelitas Technologies to Pittsburgh’s Strip District will create, but said there is still much more work to be done if the county wants to sustain long-term growth.

“Comprehensive economic development, it moves beyond these traditional tools we look at when we talk about economic development. ... It’s about investing in social safety nets, it’s about helping working families,” Ms. Innamorato said.

Investments in social services, like affordable child care and housing, has been a pillar of the administration’s economic approach, she said. In early January, Ms. Innamorato pushed for additional funding for the Allegheny Childcare Matters Program, which provides low-income families with child care access.

The county approved $500,000 in American Rescue Plan funds to be invested in the program, which Ms. Innamorato said Tuesday cleared the path for a backlog of applicants to receive benefits.

“This investment represents the importance to my administration of the efforts of supporting workingclass families,” she said. She also pointed to Department of Human Services efforts to expand shelter for the unhoused population and create a program for opioid use disorder.

Prompted by a question form council member atlarge Bethany Hallam about the clearing of unhoused encampments and new shelter options, Ms. Innamorato said the county is “missing” the capacity for people who don’t meet subsidized housing requirements or who have spent years on housing choice voucher waitlists.

Expanding shelter options for that group is a priority, she said. Responding to a question about the county jail, Ms. Innamorato said a report summarizing stakeholder input on its redesign will become public soon.

The redesign report will contain input from current and formerly incarcerated individuals, elected officials and community members.

Dan Grzybek, representative for council District 5, asked the county executive about air quality, pointing to record numbers of hydrogen sulfide exceedances.

“We are laser-focused on finding our next health director,” Ms. Innamorato responded. To help in the search, the administration has hired an external consulting firm, which plans to schedule “over 100” meetings to collect public input.

Finding a new warden for the county jail is also a top priority in the coming months, Ms. Innamorato said; she appointed three citizen members to the jail oversight board in January.

Before departing, Ms. Innamorato answered council-member questions on topics that spanned from the continuation of benefits for communities affected by the 2018 Clairton Coke Works fire, which expire in June 2024, to her plan for the shuttered Shuman Juvenile Detention Center.

She also heard praise from the council for her extensive efforts to collect community input for her comprehensive plan via the All in Allegheny committee, which surveyed a diverse base of constituents across all 130 of the county’s municipalities.

Ms. Innamorato touched on efforts to implement five new ballot drop-off locations across the county ahead of the primary election, but did not address a lawsuit from council member Sam DeMarco that questioned her authority to do so.

The council also voted to approve Ms. Innamorato’s second slate of board appointees and conducted second readings of two bills currently in Budget and Finance Committee review.

More than 10 people gave emotionally charged speeches in response to the council’s decision to vote down a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the IsraelHamas war that would have called on the Biden administration to end all violence in the region.

Public comment and discussion on the matter will likely be added to the agenda for the council’s next meeting, according to Ms. Hallam.