Sara Innamorato, Democratic nominee for Allegheny County Executive, takes questions from reporters following her acceptance speech for the role on election night, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, at Mr. Smalls in Millvale. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
The new Allegheny County executive has urgent problems from homelessness to the environment. She inherits a government system with a deep internal feud.
by Charlie Wolfson, PublicSource
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, to be sworn into the region’s highest elected office today after campaigning on a “county for all,” has been thrust into leadership of a government roiled by internal lawsuits and big personalities.
She will need to confront urgent policy problems, from homelessness to the jail to the environment, working alongside a County Council that spent the last few years aligning itself in opposition to her predecessor, Rich Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald, who began his political career as a member and then president of council before ascending to the executive’s office in 2012, saw the legislative branch work in recent years to override his vetoes and elect a vocal critic as its president in Pat Catena. In the last year alone, the legislative and executive branches have been locked in three lawsuits over who has the power to do what in county government.
For council members, who serve part-time and many of whom did not sign on to be political combatants, Innamorato could present a new beginning and a reset. The biggest change they hope to see?
“Transparency, first and foremost,” said Councilor Bobby Palmosina. “For us to work together.”
Fitzgerald’s loudest critic over the last four years, Councilor Bethany Hallam, an Innamorato ally, is cautiously hopeful for what’s to come.
“I’m really optimistic, but again I’m still forever being cautious because I know the power that that office holds,” Hallam said. “… I’m optimistic that Sara will do what is right, always. And council will be there to support her in doing that and also to make sure that she does.”
Pressing issues for Innamorato — and council
In an echo of Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s ascent two years ago, Innamorato has a host of pressing policy problems to attend to.
Two of the most prominent county government agencies, the Health Department and the jail, are leaderless. Her hires for those roles could define the early part of her tenure and will have a lasting impact on criminal justice and public health policy in the region.
The county’s largest agency, the Department of Human Services, has been struggling to deal with an increase in the number of unhoused people. The agency made the controversial decision to shutter a winter seasonal shelter on Smithfield Street last year, leading to confusion among its clients and anger among advocates and some council members.
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