Allegheny County leadership candidates offer strategies to boost the economy and hospitality

Five candidates for Allegheny County’s highest elected office shared their plans to boost the economy and the county’s $7 billion hospitality industry during a forum hosted by tourism agency VisitPittsburgh.

The forum, held Thursday, presented four of the six Democratic candidates in the Allegheny County executive race: State Assemblyman Sara Innamorato, Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb, entrepreneur and activist William Parker, and Allegheny County Treasurer John Weinstein. The only Republican candidate in the race, former PNC executive Joe Rockey, also attended.

Candidates not present included former Allegheny County Councilman Dave Fawcett, D-Oakmont, and Pittsburgh Public Schools board member Theresa Sciulli Colaizzi, D-Pittsburgh.

Innamorato, of Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh, said her economic strategy will focus on “creating a place where we can all thrive” by creating a statewide housing plan to combat rising homelessness rates, help families buy homes, and Enabling seniors not to be overwhelmed residences.

She said the county Department of Human Services should be used more to support the delivery of childcare services to families, which allow families to save money and put more money into the local economy.

Innamorato also noted the economic success of Lawrenceville and its main street, Butler Street. She said the success came from a deliberate economic strategy, and she wants the county government to help more major roads throughout the county achieve similar successes.

“There are so many other high streets that are starving for more hospitality opportunities,” she said. “We know that investments don’t end at the city limits.”

In response, Weinstein said, “Unfortunately, Lawrenceville is not downtown.”

The district treasurer focused on the Golden Triangle, arguing that crime there was stifling economic growth. He hinted that some office workers don’t want to return downtown because “they’re scared.”

Kennedy’s Weinstein said increasing public safety and cleaning up downtown are key to encouraging businesses to move in.

“My job is to market Allegheny County, and we can’t market it until we fix things,” Weinstein said. “We can’t have open drug deals. The safer this community is, the more attractive it is.”

He said he wants to work with VisitPittsburgh to boost the hospitality industry and suggested Pittsburgh International Airport could use more marketing. If elected, Weinstein said he would approach major airlines like Delta to build at least a partial hub at the airport — which was a hub for the former US Airways until 2004 and is now a $1.4 billion terminal project goes through

Lamb of Pittsburgh’s Beechview said he will focus his economic development efforts on improving public safety and expanding partnerships with the county’s more than 100 communities.

“What we want is a vibrant economy and a great quality of life,” Lamb said. “We do this by keeping people safe, neighborhoods clean, and public safety.”

He said there has been too much focus on retention strategies for Pittsburgh college students and not enough on creating an environment that is attractive to grads and immigrants. He said these are the demographics that would help increase Pittsburgh’s population and boost Pittsburgh’s economy and hospitality industry.

“We need to be a destination for college kids who want to come here. We need to make international immigration more hospitable, we need to attract and retain it,” Lamb said.

Lamb also said the region’s film industry loans should be increased from $100 million to $500 million to spur the growing film industry.

Rockey from the Ohio Ward also spoke about reversing population losses in Pittsburgh. He said growing up on the North Side, Pittsburgh’s metropolitan area was the eighth largest in the country. Today it is the 28th largest.

“We are on a trendline to get out of the top 50,” he said.

Rockey said creating economic prosperity in the county could reverse that trend. He said the district needs to increase the number of sites ready for development and streamline the approval process for development projects.

He said global supply chain issues have prompted many large companies to consider relocating more operations to the United States and he would use his experience as a general manager to sell Allegheny County to such companies.

“We have to go out and sell ourselves, I’m going to sell Allegheny County to 100+ companies,” Rockey said.

He said hospitality could get a boost by bringing more events to the region. Rockey said the county board should lead the call to the Pittsburgh Steelers to lure the NFL draft to Pittsburgh.

Parker, from Garfield in Pittsburgh, said a focus on inclusion and retention would boost the region’s economy. He said breaking down barriers and tackling racism could help entrepreneurs thrive.

He said he will work with Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Economic Development to increase funding for tourism programs and forge more partnerships with VisitPittsburgh.

The Democratic and Republican primary will be held on May 16th.

Ryan Deto is a Contributor to the Tribune Review. You can contact Ryan via email at [email protected] or via Twitter.