1 Democrat, 1 Republican, 2 independents running to replace Corey O'Connor on Pittsburgh City Council

Four candidates will appear on the ballot in a special election race to determine who will fill a vacant seat in Pittsburgh City Council’s 5th District.

Democrat Barb Warwick, Republican Eugene Bokor and independent candidates Matthew Mahoney and Robert McClune are looking to replace Corey O’Connor on City Council after he left his role there to become Allegheny County controller. The special election will coincide with the Nov. 8 general election.

The district includes the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Glen Hazel, Greenfield, Hays, Hazelwood, Lincoln Place, New Homestead, Regent Square, Squirrel Hill South and Swisshelm Park.

Warwick

Warwick, 45, of Greenfield, was chosen as the Democratic candidate. She said she became involved in her community when she began fighting against the Mon-Oakland Connector, which Mayor Ed Gainey scrapped in February.

Warwick, who said she advocates for public transit, is pushing for more traffic calming measures. She lauded Gainey’s recent announcement that new traffic calming measures were slated for Glen Hazel, but said she’d like to see more emphasis on creating safe streets.

“Traffic calming is far and away the issue I hear the most about,” Warwick said. “People are just tired of these cars speeding on their streets.”

If elected, Warwick said she would support additional out-of-school programming. She said she believes every community should have a playground within walking distance, and recreation centers and pools should be fully staffed to ensure the city’s youth have safe places to go.

“I know these things cost money, but I think they pay off,” she said.

Warwick said she is supportive of inclusionary zoning measures, which require a portion of new residential developments be earmarked as affordable housing, as a way of addressing affordable housing needs in the city. The measure has been approved for the city’s Lawrenceville, Polish Hill and Bloomfield neighborhoods, and the mayor has said he is exploring the possibility of expanding it citywide.

“Developers are already getting significant tax breaks, and it’s not too much to ask in return that 10% or so of the units they build are designated as affordable,” she said.

Warwick said she also would like to explore ways to ensure that people with affordable housing vouchers are able to find housing before their vouchers expire, and suggested exploring programs that would allow residents to take control of vacant properties owned by the city’s land bank so they can put back to use.

Warwick said she is supportive of the mayor’s Plan for Peace, and its call to “treat violence in the city as a public health issue and address the violence at the root.”

She said she is eager to see reports commissioned by City Council to analyze police staffing in the city, and said she wants to talk with law enforcement and the communities they serve to “better understand how we can get the communities the type of policing they need.”

Bokor

Bokor, 72, of Lincoln Place, said he ran after seeing only one option on his ballot for City Council in the past two elections.

“I’m going to run so at least people have a choice this time,” Bokor said, adding that he feels having a Republican in Pittsburgh city government — where the mayor and all other council members are Democrats — would increase transparency and diversity.

Now retired, Bokor previously served as the director of finance for Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Pittsburgh and as chief financial officer of Focus North America.

If elected, Bokor said he would advocate for more City Council oversight in how money collected through the parks tax is used. Voters approved the new 0.5-mill tax on a ballot referendum in 2019. City Council does approve how the money is spent, but Bokor said he feels the involvement of separate nonprofit organizations hinders transparency.

He said he also would call for an audit investigating how the city addresses infrastructure problems and maintains its bridges in the wake of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse in the city’s Frick Park.

Bokor said he’d like to see more Pittsburgh police officers on the force.

“We definitely need more police, and we need to increase the pay for them to attract more qualified people,” he said.

On the topic of affordable housing, Bokor called measures such as inclusionary zoning “a two-edged sword.”

“The last thing you want to do is scare (developers) away if you tell them a fixed percent of their development has to be affordable for low-income people,” he said.

Mahoney

Mahoney, 38, of Greenfield, is running as an independent. After deploying to Iraq at 19 with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, he worked with AmeriCorps and now works with Sustainable Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania Solar Center.

“I have worked in public service for most of my working life,” he said. “Given the importance of this election for our district, I was inspired (to run for office).”

Mahoney said his work in the nonprofit sector has taught him how to collaborate with others, find resources and value community engagement. He said leveraging nonprofit partnerships could help the city to better provide for the homeless and other populations who need additional assistance.

He said he supports providing additional support for young people who may have fallen behind academically after the covid-19 pandemic forced them into remote learning.

Mahoney said he wants to provide incentives for long-term homeowners to stay in the city and offer wraparound services — such as making utilities more affordable — for people living in affordable housing.

He said he is supportive of crisis co-response efforts, like the city’s use of social workers to help first responders in answering emergency calls.

“We need to make sure the people that are on the ground are provided the right tools and resources,” he said. “We need to work more effectively with our police force. We need to work collaboratively.”

McClune

McClune could not be reached for comments on his campaign.