PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — History was made in Allegheny County on Tuesday as Sara Innamorato became the first woman to serve as county executive.
Voters decided this past fall that Innamorato was the best fit for the county’s highest position in a tight race, defeating Joe Rockey.
She’s young at only 37 years old, but she’s Pittsburgh-born-and-raised and now she’ll oversee thousands of employees and the county budget worth over $3 billion.
She may be young, but she’s got experience. To run for this position, she quit her job as a Pennsylvania state representative.
Innamorato’s campaign focused on having a “County for All,” but the question now is whether or not she can back up her campaign promises. She posted on social media on Monday, asking people to take an Allegheny County survey.
She says that the community’s priorities will be the county’s priorities and to do that, she needs to hear from everyone.
Innamorato quickly embraced her unique status as the county’s fourth executive and first woman, adding, “I think I am also the first county executive to have tattoos, although no one has been able to confirm or deny whether Jim Roddey had any ink. If you know, let me know,” she said.
Innamorato — elected in a squeaker over Republican Joe Rockey — reiterated her progressive agenda, promising to create an affordable housing director, a new office of worker protection and a director of climate resilience and clean jobs, and she noted big disparities in our communities.
“We have to be comfortable identifying injustices, naming them and understanding them, because only then can we root them out, repair our foundations and rebuild on stronger footings,” she said.
And to grow this region, Innamorato said her administration would develop policies to attract immigrants to Pittsburgh.
“Our economic recovery post-pandemic is one of the slowest in the country. We’ve known for decades that we have to grow our population, but we have one of the lowest immigrant populations of any major city,” she said.
As Innamorato heads into the office of county executive, she’ll face challenges and issues we’re already seeing in the county including public safety problems, homelessness, affordable housing and a lack of a county-wide property tax assessment in more than 10 years.
Also on Tuesday, Magisterial District Judge James Hanley swore in Democrat Corey O’Connor as the new Allegheny County controller inside courtroom 104. It marks the start of his first full term as the new Allegheny County controller.
“We’re excited to see what happens with an entirely new county government that we haven’t had in 30-something years,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor won the position against Republican Bob Howard in the November election by a landslide, with more than 242,000 votes. That’s the highest total number of votes when compared to any countywide candidate.
“We’re very happy with the results obviously and it gives us a mandate to do what we believe we’ve been doing the last couple months,” said O’Connor.
You may recognize he’s already serving in the position, because Gov. Tom Wolf appointed O’Connor to the position in July 2022 after former County Controller Chelsa Wagner left the position when she was sworn in as a Common Pleas judge.
Now O’Connor told KDKA-TV he’s ready to jump into his work and he’s already spoken with Innamorato.
“You know, we already have audits planned in the next few weeks that we’re excited to get started,” he said.
O’Connor has a history of public service. He previously represented Pittsburgh City Council District 5. It also runs in his family. Corey O’Connor is the youngest of Pittsburgh’s late mayor, Bob O’Connor. Now his family continues to support him through this next phase.
His wife, Katie O’Connor said, “We’ve been in office for a couple of months and already done some impressive things. So, the future will hold a lot of opportunity, certainly the next four years, and we’re ready for it.”
The next step for O’Connor is an audit on services for the homeless population in Allegheny County. You can reach him at his website.
