5 candidates compete for 4 Pitcairn council seats

Five candidates will compete for four open seats on Pitcairn council in the Nov. 4 election.

Democrats Cammeo Farally, Thomas Dick Jr., William Kornrumph and George Burkhardt, and Republican Domenic Roberta will be on the ballot. Burkhardt, a write-in candidate in the primary, will appear on both the Democrat and Republican ballot.

“Number one, you need four people on council to help with anything you want to do,” said Burkhardt, 68, who is retired after a career at the Kenny Ross auto dealership. “I think the council works decently together and they’re able to address problems in the borough. I’m not the type of person to say someone is wrong, I’d rather discuss issues and come up with a good solution.”

Incumbent William Kornrumph, 70, said the borough needs to invest in its infrastructure.

“We need to put money into redoing the roads,” he said. “And secondly, we have a lot of absentee landlords and property owners in town, and we need to be doing some more code enforcement to deal with that.”

Incumbent council president Thomas Dick Jr. agreed.

“We have roads and bridges that are aging and need to be improved,” said Dick, 31, an EMS driver and assistant chief at Pitcairn Hose Company No. 1. “And the cost to replace those is significantly higher than it used to be.”

Dick said he’d also like to try and get residents and the borough’s trash hauler “on the same page.”

“A lot of our alleys and side streets where folks put their trash out can attract rodents and other pests,” he said. “We need to have an effective trash service.”

Cammeo Farally, 41, wife of borough police Chief Scott Farally, is seeking to return to the council after stepping down to become a stay-at-home mother when the couple’s first child was born.

“I didn’t like what I was seeing, and standing on the sidelines and complaining is not the best way to help,” she said. “When I was on council the first time, I was able to bring back the Old Fashioned Christmas with bonfires and hay rides. I want to bring Pitcairn back onto the map, bring more businesses here and bring more attention to us in a positive way.”

Farally said one of her priorities if elected would be working to help bring the Turtle Creek Connector trail — proposed to join Mon Valley communities between the Carrie Blast Furnace and the Westmoreland Heritage Trail in Monroeville — to fruition.

“I’d love to put a flame under someone to make it happen,” she said.

Republican incumbent Domenic Roberta is a retail manager with GameStop, and said he wants to do what he can to keep Pitcairn the cozy neighborhood in which he loves living.

“We’re doing a lot of projects to get our public areas looking nicer and running more smoothly,” said Roberta, 32, who has lived in the borough for 24 years. “We’re making some improvements there and discussing some changes to offer more community-based resources.

“I want to help revitalize the town, make sure our kids have a safe place to play, and help it grow and become a place we’re all proud of.”