| |
Working Together to Improve Southwestern PA
Posted 06-17-2000
Recently the elected leaders of nine of the region’s ten counties and the
Mayor of Pittsburgh met to discuss how we can better cooperate to improve
southwestern Pennsylvania. While we have the regular forum of the
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission to meet, this setting was less formal
and didn’t focus on transportation. With the new government in Allegheny
County, and a number of new commissioners in other counties, developing
positive working relationships among regional leaders is important.
Commissioners from Lawrence,
Greene, Beaver, Washington, Butler, Armstrong, Indiana, and Allegheny
counties (Executive Jim Roddey), Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy, and all three
Westmoreland County Commissioners attended the two-hour meeting. The focus
of the meeting was on ways that county governments in southwestern PA could
effectively cooperate. I must tell you that we already cooperate in a
six-county consortium to participate in the Health Choices program. It is
the managed care program for Medical Assistance mental health consumers. We
also partner with Fayette County to carry out the new Workforce Investment
Act. But this meeting focused on new areas, such as better marketing of the
region to outside investors and how we can jointly lobby our legislative
delegations in both Harrisburg and Washington on issues such as sewage and
transportation.
The challenges dealing with a
two-pronged sewage issue is one that will affect both urbanized and rural
areas. The cost to bring urban systems in compliance as many age and
deteriorate and the requirement to separate storm water from sewage will
place a huge burden on local governments and consumers. The continuing
problem of either no sewage, failing septic systems, or soil incompatible
with sand mounds are also serious issues in rural areas. Together as a
region, we must speak to our legislative delegations for regulatory,
legislative, and financial relief. We will certainly have a louder voice if
we speak collectively and even though the problem may be different from
urbanized to rural areas, the goal of safely disposing of sewage is the
same. It is a public health issue that is only going to get worse. Acting
together may allow for a more cost-effective solution.
The marketing issue is one of
real concern because we need to continue to attract investment to our region
if we want to expand our economy. Mayor Murphy expressed frustration that we
are still unable to get major companies like Dell Computers to look at our
region. That opened a discussion on how we can more effectively market our
region and share leads. To people outside of our area, our county boundaries
do not matter and whether they look at Allegheny, Westmoreland, or Greene
County, it is all southwestern PA. We also must appreciate that sharing a
lead to lure a new business that may go somewhere else in the region can
still benefit our county because our citizens may be employed there. We
agreed that it is important to make sure prospective investors understand
that our region is no longer polluted or has an unfavorable union
environment. We need to promote the image that our area has a lot to offer,
beautiful natural resources, a quality workforce, and is a great place to
raise families.
We also discussed jointly
hiring a lobbying firm for our common needs. Right now, Allegheny County and
Pittsburgh pay for formal lobbying efforts. Other counties in the region
have the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania to lobby in
Harrisburg. But that organization doesn’t work specifically for the counties
of southwestern PA and often our unique needs are not emphasized. If we
agree to share the lobbying expense, it would only be for clearly identified
issues that benefit all participating counties.
So that all the meetings are
not in downtown Pittsburgh, we agreed to begin visiting several of the
surrounding counties every few months as part of a bus tour that will allow
elected officials to view important projects in counties that they may not
regularly visit. It will help us better understand important issues of our
colleagues and traveling the roads of our neighbors will allow us to better
understand transportation issues in the region.
This first regional meeting
with the new Executive from Allegheny County, my new colleagues from
Westmoreland, and new and old commissioners from around the region was only
a start. The process must be ongoing, and while we all have county
governments to manage, keeping a focus on the bigger picture is important.
We want a strong vibrant, thriving Westmoreland County, but it won’t happen
if we function as an island. We need our neighbors in Washington, Armstrong,
Indiana and in every county in the region to prosper. We want to preserve
our region’s good qualities, but continue to transform southwestern PA to
meet the demands of an ever-changing global economy. If we want our young
people to stay here and raise their families, we must offer opportunities
comparable to other prosperous regions of the United States. |
