Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey O’Connor is slated to take over as Allegheny County Controller, the county’s top fiscal watchdog.
The position opened up after former controller Chelsa Wagner was elected as an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge.
O’Connor said he sent a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf earlier this year requesting to be nominated for controller. Wolf then nominated O’Connor. On Wednesday, O’Connor moved a step forward in the process after he was confirmed by a Pennsylvania state Senate committee.
He then would need to clear a vote from the full state Senate.
O’Connor, of Swisshelm Park, has served as a councilman for the city’s fifth district since 2012. In accordance with Allegheny County rules, he would resign from his city council seat if seated as county controller.
His council district includes Squirrel Hill South, Regent Square, Swisshelm Park, Greenfield, Hazelwood, Glen Hazel, Hays, Lincoln Place, and New Homestead.
Wagner, the former controller, was elected judge in 2021 and vacated the seat this January. Tracy Royston has served as acting controller since then.
O’Connor said he hopes to get approval from the full state senate and would hit the ground running if seated. He touted his experience on city council, where he said they always balanced the budget, helped to get the city out of Act 47 financial distress, and worked with the city controller on paid sick leave legislation.
“I think my experience will help a lot of residents in the county,” O’Connor said Wednesday evening. “I saw an opportunity where I believed I could help more people and I believe I can do that countywide.”
If confirmed, O’Connor said his first initiative would be to add more transparency to Allegheny County’s budget process. County leaders recently received criticism for large pay raises for top staffers, and Allegheny County Council members said those pay raises were not detailed in the budget they voted on.
“We need more transparency with the budgets,” said O’Connor,. “In the city, we line-item and all this stuff, and the county should too. We want everyone to see where their money is going.”
He said he also wants to follow-up on the county’s environmental goals and if those have been met.
The Allegheny County Controller has a seat on the Jail Oversight Board, and O’Connor said he intends to hire a staffer with a criminal justice background to help him have an active role on the board.
He said, if seated, he would be looking to run for re-election in 2023 but left room for other possibilities.
“We want to get in there and get started right away,” he said of the controller job.
O’Connor is the son of former Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O’Connor, who died Sept. 1, 2006, of brain cancer, eight months after being inaugurated.
