Allegheny County Council District 4 Race

Of the seven Allegheny County Council seats up for election Tuesday, only two have contested races including District 4. Democratic incumbent Michael Finnerty is seeking a second 4-year term and is being challenged by Republican Dean Petrone, who is making his first run for an elected office.
The 64 year old Finnerty is a retired reading specialist at Chartiers High School. He says one of the key things he's learned in his first term is getting along with his colleagues to get things accomplished and provide the best service possible for the people of Allegheny County.
Finnerty says an on-going challenge in the county is property reassessment. The county is under court order to end its 2002 base year property tax system and come up with a timetable for a reassessment of all properties in the county. Finnerty told DUQ he wants the state to come up with a uniform system "for all 67 counties to make the assessment process fair for everyone." He admits that other counties might balk at changing their systems and it will likely take lawsuits to force a change...as it did in Allegheny County when 4 homeowners challenged the base year system.
Finnerty says the county has been making progress consolidating some services with the city, but he would like to consolidate the county solicitor's and city solicitor's offices to have just one. He acknowledges that would require a voter referendum but "it could save a large amount of money."

The 40 year old Petrone is from North Fayette and is co-owner of an industrial and commercial automation company based in Collier Township. Petrone told DUQ that his business background in meeting a payroll and balancing a budget will help..."the day to day basics, the interactions with the business community goes a long way to help in the political spectrum especially the basic business practices are applicable in day to day planning of county government."
Petrone says the biggest issue is the tax burden on residents including the drink tax and car rental levy and what he calls the "house assessment debacle." He says spending needs to be controlled and taxes cut.
Petrone says one of his pet peeves is Pittsburgh International Airport and doesn't believe enough is being done to attract more airlines to the airport and more businesses around the facility.