County Controller Corey O’Connor says he will announce candidacy for mayor
Advance word came during meeting at New Riverview Apartments
During a Dec. 9 meeting at the New Riverview Apartments, Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor told residents that he would announce his candidacy at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 10 for the office of Mayor of Pittsburgh.
O’Connor told those in attendance that he had a vision for the future of the city and believed that, because of his experience as a former city councilperson and county controller, he had the ability to start fulfilling that vision on day one.
The mayoral hopeful said that he had a plan for the city’s neighborhoods and its downtown district.
“Right now, you see a lack of approach,” he said. “If there’s a bad news article they switch and change and go do something else. You can’t do that. You have to have your head off social media and have a plan of how we’re going to guide the city to the next level.”
Part of his plan, he said, involved an increase in transparency, noting that a reported deal between Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and former police chief Larry Scirotto which would have allowed Scirotto to referee basketball games shouldn’t have happened.
“That’s a backroom deal and they can’t be made,” he said. “It has to occur in public.”
The city’s neighborhoods, O’Connor said, need growth and investment. He said that the Forbes and Murray avenues corridor is an example of what can happen with city investment, increased infrastructure and robust public transportation.
“You can do that with a million dollars in 10 different parts of this city and rebuild neighborhoods from the heart out,” he said. “People will see that investment and will hopefully follow suit.”
Attention must be paid, he said, to the city’s youth, as well.
O’Connor said that Pittsburgh Public Schools has revealed a plan to close 12 of its 52 schools. At the same time, he said, youth programs, including before and after-school programs, have been largely ignored. The lack of those programs, he said, affects when parents can work.
There is a disparity, he noted, between the resources of the city and the suburbs.
“Go to the suburbs and every playground has scoreboards that work, has lights. We’re lucky if half our playgrounds and ballfields have scoreboards and lights,” he said.
O’Connor bemoaned the lack of shovel-ready development projects in the city, saying that opportunity exists in areas that have blight and empty storefronts.
“I see opportunity,” he said. “I see opportunity to have people get in a room and fix the problem.”
The future candidate said he wanted to incentivize people to begin investing in downtown again.
“I think the time is right for visionary conversation,” he said.
Asked by an audience member, why, as a Democrat, he would run against an incumbent Democratic mayor, O’Connor said that he sees a path to victory in the upcoming primary.
“They need to be held accountable,” he said, “because they aren’t delivering.”
The controller did note, however, that he would be running against an incumbent with the power of the Democrat party machine behind him.
His time on city council and as controller, he said, means that he can do the job better than the current administration.
When pressed about his previous endorsement of Rep. Summer Lee, O’Connor said that they are in the same party, and it was something most party members did. However, he noted that he spoke out against Lee’s controversial statement on the anniversary of Oct. 7. Gainey, he said, signed onto the statement.
Questioned about the revitalization of the downtown district, O’Connor said that Gov. Josh Shapiro has committed a $62 million investment to projects downtown. He said the mayor has to work to make the area vibrant.
Creative conversations needed to take place between businesses and the city, he said, about reinvesting and moving back to the area.
“The first major company that comes downtown should have as many incentives as possible because they’re going to bring a couple hundred employees. They’re going to rejuvenate downtown.”
Increased public safety, aid for the unhoused and help for those with mental health and drug and alcohol addictions were also needed, he said.
And while he said he was anxious to work with the area’s universities, O’Connor also said a PILOT-Payments in lieu of taxes-program was needed for the city’s nonprofit organizations. Gainey, he said, turned down a $40 million offer from UPMC when he took office.
Infrastructure and public transportation were other areas, he said, that needed to be improved. The two could be linked, he offered, building up business districts in areas with popular public transportation stops.
“If we don’t start growing and investing,” he said, “We’re all going to have to pay more taxes because there’s no revenue coming in.”
O’Connor served on city council from 2012 to 2022, representing District 5. He resigned to take over the county controller office after being nominated by then Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.
His father, Bob O’Connor, was elected to serve as the city’s mayor in 2005 but was diagnosed with cancer in early 2006. He died while in office.
The Democratic primary takes place on May 5, 2025. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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