Looking ahead to 2022: Pandemic continues, campaigns heat up, new mayor for Pittsburgh and more

The New Year in Southwestern Pennsylvania is expected to carry over storylines popular in 2021 — especially in how the pandemic will play out in its third year and intense political races among the crowded field of candidates vying for U.S. Senate and governor as well as those slugging it out in mid-term congressional races.

Pittsburgh will usher in a new mayor and administration. Westmoreland County commissioners will decide to spend $105 million in covid relief money. And in the Alle-Kiski Valley, two large developments are expected to be completed.

Pandemic continues

New year, same pandemic – at least for a little while, experts say.

With the fast-spreading omicron variant sweeping across most of the country – Southwestern Pennsylvania has not been immune – it is possible and even likely that numbers will get worse before they get better.

“We still have lots of people who are not only unvaccinated but out without precautions,” Dr. Donald Yealy, chief medical officer at UPMC. “I was at sport events over the holiday, and oftentimes I was the only person masked. We have to be a little more diligent during this wave.”

It remains to be seen what impact a continued wave of omicron cases might have on the health care infrastructure, Yealy said.

“I can’t predict how it will come with needs for health care,” he said. “All of us have heard omicron may be a little less intense than delta, but it’s so early on that I can’t be sure about that now.”

He said around 20% of patients that come to the hospital end up in the intensive care unit.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease and critical care expert based in Pittsburgh, said cases will continue to rise for at least a few weeks into the new year. But he stressed case counts should not be the focus.

“Hospitalizations will hopefully plateau in the next weeks as well, but it will be tough going for hospitals because of staff shortages,” Adalja said.

On Friday, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, called delta and omicron “twin threats” causing a “tsunami of cases.” Still, he said, the new year could bring with it an end to the worst of the pandemic if wise decisions are made and vaccinations increase.

“If the right choices are taken,” he said, “we can turn this pandemic around.”

Mid-term election

This year’s elections in Pennsylvania will feature some high-profile races that figure to be highly contentious.

Voters across the state will elect a new governor and a new U.S. senator. Having both seats up for election at the same time hasn’t happened in 50 years, according to Christopher Borick, director of Muhlenberg College’s Institute of Public Opinion.

Ballots also will feature races for U.S. Congress in all of Pennsylvania’s 17 congressional districts, one fewer district than we had two years ago. There also will be races for 25 — or half — of the seats in the state Senate and all 203 state House seats.

In the gubernatorial race, there will be no incumbent running as Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf cannot seek re-election after completing two full terms.

“It’s an election both parties believe they can win, which explains the high degree of interest,” Borick said.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is the only Democratic candidate in the race so far, while there are a dozen or more possible candidates on the Republican side. They include state Sen. Jake Corman; William McSwain, the former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta; and Sewickley attorney Jason Richey, who is a partner in K&L Gates.

“This is sort of a free for all, and maybe it’s indicative of what’s happening in political parties overall,” said Joe Mistick, a law professor at Duquesne University

Throughout Wolf’s tenure, the state legislature remained under the control of Republicans, and Borick said that’s not likely to change with the 2022 elections.

The U.S. Senate seat is probably the Democrats’ best chance to pick up a seat held by a Republican across the country, he said. U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican from the Lehigh Valley, choose not to seek reelection.

Democratic candidates include Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the former Braddock mayor, and U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb of Mt. Lebanon, as well as state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia. On the Republican side, there is celebrity candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and Carla Sands, who served as ambassador to Denmark during the Trump administration.

“The task for Democrats (is) to identify what is their best chance of winning and nominate a candidate who can win in Pennsylvania against a conservative” in the November election, Mistick said.

The primary will be held May 17. The general election is Nov. 8.

Gainey takes office

Mayor-elect Ed Gainey, 51, of Lincoln-Lemington, will take office as Pittsburgh’s first Black mayor on Monday.

After defeating incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto in the May primary, Gainey won a landslide victory in the November general election over former police officer Tony Moreno.

Gainey campaigned on a promise to make Pittsburgh “a city for all,” emphasizing issues like police reform, affordable housing and diversity. He has promised to team up with community organizations to make the city safer, cleaner and more affordable.

Black Pittsburgh residents and activists said they view Gainey’s historic win as a hopeful moment for the city’s Black community, which has never before been represented in the city’s highest office. Many Black residents have said they feel their voices will now be heard in the Gainey administration.

Gainey has assembled a diverse transition team – headed by co-chairs Angel Gober, who serves as the Western Pennsylvania Director for One Pennsylvania, and Silas Russell, vice president and political director of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania – to ensure a smooth transfer of power.

Gainey has confirmed that Jake Pawlak – who is serving as his transition director and has held posts at the Urban Redevelopment Authority and Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority – and state Rep. Jake Wheatley will have spots in his administration. Other details of his administration appointments have not yet been released.

Gainey will be inaugurated in a virtual ceremony Monday amid a surge in covid-19 cases. The inauguration, scheduled for 1 p.m., will be streamed live on the city’s YouTube channel, Comcast channels 13 and 14, Verizon channels 44 and 45, and the city’s Facebook and Twitter.

$105M on the line

Westmoreland County’s to-do list for 2022 is to spend.

County commissioners said they expect to release a blueprint early in the year as to how they intend to use $105 million in American Rescue Plan funds allocated as part of the federal covid-relief response effort.

The county received the first half of the funds in 2021 and expect to receive the second allocation in early 2022.

Preliminary federal guidelines limit the money’s use to coronavirus relief programs, human service expenses, water and sewer projects and broadband upgrades. Commissioners said they expect the federal government to loosen some restrictions and, as a result, delayed finalizing a spending plan to buy time to see if the money can be used in other ways.

Commissioners conducted two public hearings in late October to hear suggestions as to how the money should be spent and continue to solicit survey responses on the county’s website.

Through October, the county received more than 800 survey replies, with 30% of respondents saying they ranked infrastructure projects as the top priority for the funds while 27% said public health programs should be the priority.

A quarter of those who responded said funding that could help those negatively impacted by the virus, such as food programs, rent, mortgage and utility aid, help for nonprofits and small businesses and job training assistance. Other suggestions have included providing help to those in need of child care, early learning, home visits, affordable housing, services to the homeless, community violence interventions and academic services.

Commissioners, in the 2022 budget, allocated more than $5.3 million in American Rescue Funds. Projects include about $2 million to upgrade the 911 system; $1.3 million to improve ventilation at county facilities; $1.1 million for cyber security; $550,000 to cover premium pay for poll workers and other election day staff; $114,000 in administrative costs and $100,000 for personal protective equipment.

Another $200,000 will be used to pay bonuses to department heads and other top administrators who worked during the early days of the pandemic.

Valley projects near completion

Two large development projects in the Alle-Kiski Valley are expected to be completed in 2022.

They are the new home for Pittsburgh Brewing in East Deer, and The Digital Foundry at New Kensington.

Pittsburgh Brewing, which makes Iron City and IC Light among other brands, announced in February that it would move into the former Pittsburgh Glass Works plant in East Deer.

General Manager Todd Zwicker said construction is progressing very well and test brewing could start around mid-March. Production could start around May or June, with “meaningful production” — as in, the ability to fill orders — underway in late July or early August.

Work at transforming the former windshield factory into a modern, high-tech brewery has been progressing without any detrimental supply chain delays caused by the pandemic, Zwicker said.

“We’ve been fortunate. A lot of the orders were already in and the equipment was built in advance,” he said.

Additional development at the site, including a restaurant, outdoor event venue, a beer museum and marina, are envisioned further in the future, in 2023 and beyond, Zwicker said.

Across the Allegheny River in New Kensington, construction of The Digital Foundry on Fifth Avenue is on track to be finished by May, said Kevin Snider, chancellor of Penn State New Kensington. He expects it to be open for business by July.

The project was announced in August 2020, and a virtual groundbreaking was held in October that year. Snider brought together supporters from education, government, foundations and the private sector to see it built.

The building will provide cutting-edge digital technologies to local manufacturers, a makerspace for entrepreneurs, and a training center designed to provide new skill sets to displaced workers, for employers looking to advance their workforce skills and schools seeking real world experience for their students.

“It’s going to be an incredible opportunity for the Valley to both see and experience technology in the digital age,” Snider said. “It will be a way for us to help manufacturing companies in the area and people get into a whole new world.”