Allegheny County Council turned up the heat on the Innamorato administration Tuesday when it rejected all five of the executive’s nominations for an advisory board meant to oversee the county’s newly reopened juvenile detention facility.

Council voted 14-1 to reject Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato’s picks for the Juvenile Detention Board of Advisers, which is meant to advise on actions at the Shuman Juvenile detention center in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar neighborhood.

The center reopened last week following a multiyear closure. In 2021, the state revoked the facility’s license over a history of violations and investigations. The county entered into a five-year, $73 million contract with Westmoreland County-based nonprofit Adelphoi to run Shuman.

The rejections came during an ongoing lawsuit filed by County Council against Innamorato, over the Adelphoi contract, alleging that council approval was required.

Councilwoman Suzanne Filiaggi, R-Franklin Park, said council’s nearly unanimous rejection of the nominees came because the process felt rushed and members wanted a more collaborative process with Innamorato.

“From what I understand, it was a complete surprise to my colleagues on council and was given to us up against the summer break, thus leaving all of us very little time to review and contemplate the appointments, let alone the structure of the advisory board,” she said.

The rejection was bipartisan with 12 Democrats and two Republicans rejecting the nominations. Councilman DeWitt Walton, D-Hill District, voted against rejecting the nominees because he said he was kept out of council conversations on the matter.

The nominations all had extensive experience in the legal system and juvenile detention services. They included Kathi Elliott, CEO of Gwen’s Girls; Richard Garland, director of Reimagine Reentry; Allegheny Court of Common Pleas Judge Tiffany Sizemore; Kristy Trautmann, director of the FISA Foundation; and Mica Williams, a senior program manager at the Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities Center for Health and Justice.

Councilwoman Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, D-Plum, runs the council’s committee on appointment review. She said the committee returned the nominations with no recommendation due to ongoing litigation over Shuman and interest from councilmembers in engaging more with Innamorato’s office over the role of the advisory board.

Abigail Gardner, spokeswoman for Innamorato, said the administration’s priority is to have an advisory board operating as soon as possible since Shuman currently is open and a state statute grants Innamorato the authority to appoint members.

She said the nominees had “excellent credentials” and that collaboration with council would be easier if a settlement was reached in the ongoing lawsuit.

“Over the last several months, there have been conversations with County Council and their legal representative about reestablishing a strong advisory committee to complement the oversight already outlined in the contract with Adelphoi,” Gardner said in a statement. “The obvious opportunity for collaboration is through a settlement of the pending litigation, which we remain very open to and willing to consider.”

Councilman Dan Grzybek, D-Bethel Park, said council’s objection was mostly about the lack of time to consider the nominees.

“The general process felt like a short time line,” he said following the meeting.

Council went on summer recess after the meeting and will reconvene Aug. 20.

He said the break wouldn’t delay the start of the advisory board for too long, and it should give councilmembers enough time to weigh in on the board and its potential members.

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