Retired Pittsburgh cop Tony Moreno says he dislikes politics but has what it takes to be mayor

After Tony Moreno retired from the Pittsburgh police in 2018, he intended to move to Florida.

But Moreno, 51, of Brighton Heights, said he had ideas about how the city could be improved. He looked for someone to share them with, someone who could run for office.

“I started seeing how drastically Pittsburgh was changing in policy and demographics and I didn’t like it,” Moreno said.

Eventually, friends encouraged Moreno to run himself.

A Democrat, Moreno was the first person to announce his candidacy for mayor. He did so in September 2019, prompting incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto to affirm he would seek a third term.

Peduto formally announced his reelection bid last week and it was followed by Tuesday’s announcement that state Rep. Ed Gainey is also running in the Democratic primary.

“I have a dislike for politics,” Moreno said. But after 24 years on the force, working in what he called a “broken system,” he decided to run for mayor.

“I can’t leave Pittsburgh worse than when I got here,” said Moreno, who is originally from Whittier, Calif, the boyhood home of President Richard Nixon.

He enlisted in the military out of high school, served as an Army Airborne military police officer, and went on to police academy. After moving east with his former wife, who was from Youngstown, Ohio, he came to Pittsburgh after landing a job with the police bureau.

As for his adopted city, “I don’t see it going the right way. I don’t see someone stepping up to change.” Although Pittsburgh’s economy has recovered from the collapse of its industrial base, the growth has been uneven and too many people have been left behind by it, Moreno said.

While its educational facilities like the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and health care giants UPMC and Allegheny Health Network have grown and the city has a burgeoning technology sector, there’s a lack of manufacturing jobs in the city, Moreno said.

“There’s a lot of empty lots where we can put manufacturing,” he said, emphasizing he wasn’t talking about the smokestacks of the city’s former heyday.

Instead, the new products that are being designed here in computer labs should also be produced in Pittsburgh, he said.

Moreno is critical of Peduto’s leadership of the city, or what he finds lacking, especially in the police department.

Rank-and-file officers are doing the best they can under the system, he said, but the leadership, policies and training aren’t being put into practice, Moreno said.

He called for more transparency, said there needs to be “solid leadership from the top,” and better communication with residents about what the police are trying to do, Moreno said.

The police department has policies, programs and training in place that already address the reforms people have called for — they’re just not being implemented or enforced properly, Moreno said.

He also would like to encourage more training in the trades instead of focusing on specialties that require college. He proposes starting a city-run driver’s education program so people can get the licenses they need to apply for many jobs.

This is Moreno’s first foray into politics, but he said he’s up to the job.

“It’s as simple as identifying the problems and going to take care of them,” Moreno said. “The pomp and circumstance, it’s a quick learn. I’ve been working inside the city for 24 years. I know how those ins and outs work.”

In Moreno’s assessment, Peduto hasn’t faced a real challenger since he became mayor.

“We’ll see what kind of candidate Ed is,” Moreno said of Gainey, a political veteran who has served in the state House since 2013.

The primary contest generally settles local races in Pittsburgh, as Democrats hold an overwhelming registration edge. The last Republican to be elected mayor was Charles H. Kline, who served from 1926 to 1933, when he resigned after being indicted in a contract-rigging scandal. Kline was replaced by Republican council President John S. Herron, who served until 1934.

In 2017, Peduto fended off a challenge from Darlene Harris, a city council member at the time, and John Welch, a dean at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Peduto won nearly 70% of the votes in the 2017 primary and was unopposed in the general election.