She’s been a chemist, a school board representative, Pittsburgh’s first Black female council representative, Allegheny County’s first Black female row officer, manager of the county’s Real Estate Department, and the city’s Director of Neighborhood Empowerment—and after submitting her resignation letter to Mayor Bill Peduto, Dec. 21—in two weeks, Valerie McDonald-Roberts will officially be retired…again…maybe.
“No, I have never actually retired before,” she told the Courier as she and her husband—who is retired—prepared to fly to Dallas to spend New Year’s with family. “There has been not one day where there’s been a break. I went from council to the county because that was an elected position. And when I came to the mayor’s office, I was essentially doing both jobs for a while. So, there really hasn’t been a break in 24 years.”
She said she started to realize it was time for a change when she and her husband moved from the Heinz Lofts on the North Side to Oakland in May.
“I had to take an extended leave just to move, to put the boxes away. I broke my ankle this year and was back in two days. I broke my wrist and my toe too, this year,” she said. “As for coming in every day to a full-time job, I’m retired. Those eight to 10-hour days are gone. That doesn’t mean I’m going to do nothing—I’m just not doing that. It ain’t happening.”
Of all her experiences in 24 years of government service, McDonald-Roberts, 63, said modernizing the Recorder of Deeds office was the most fun, most crazy, and most challenging.
“They had DOS screens on the computers. There was a lot of customer service training, but it was a great experience,” she said. “There were 60 of us there—the county is big. That was my OJT (on-the-job training) experience in office and personnel management.”
When the office transitioned to the county real estate office with an appointed rather than elected director, then-County Executive Dan Onorato asked her to stay on and she did. And when Mayor Bill Peduto asked her to run his newly formed Neighborhood Empowerment office, she also said yes.
But now, she insists she won’t say yes to any more offers.
“Oh, I can say no. The mayor asked me to stay,” she said.
The Neighborhood Empowerment Department provides direction to the City of Pittsburgh on topics such as equity and inclusion.
“I said I would continue to be supportive of his administration and the vision he has for the city—I just won’t be employed doing it,” McDonald-Roberts said. I’ll be engaged, but at my pace. I’m looking forward to catching up and catching my breath.”
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