6 candidates in race for Pleasant Hills Council

Pleasant Hills Council candidates want to bring added pedestrian safety, further communication and transparency and fiscal responsibility to the municipality, which is currently considering constructing a new borough building.

Four candidates will square off on Nov. 5 for three open four-year seats on borough council.

They include incumbents Justin Horvat, a Democrat, and Greg Smith, a Republican.

Newcomer Andrew Codelka received nominations from both parties in the primary and will appear on both tickets.

Nicole Leckenby was nominated by the Pleasant Hills Democratic Committee to run in the November election after incumbent Dan Soltesz, who received a party nomination in the Primary, withdrew from the race in August. Soltesz, who serves as council president, said a new job requires frequent travel. He will finish his term through the end of the year.

Two candidates will square off on Nov. 5 for one open two-year seat. They are incumbent Matt Miceli and newcomer Eileen Solinas.

The Trib asked each candidate three questions. Here are their answers.

Candidates for four-year term race

Nicole Leckenby

Party affiliation: Democrat

Municipality: Pleasant Hills

Why did you decide to run for election? Being involved with boro council means that I have a desire to work on issues such as communication, economic growth and effective management of boro resources. As a parent of a 7- and 10-year-old, I want the best possible place for them to grow up. That means getting involved and not just sitting back.

What is the biggest issue that needs to be addressed? Pleasant Hills is a great community, the two issues that I would like to focus primarily on are pedestrian safety – that is a big one for me. I also like to walk to the library and grocery store, and most likely my son at some point will start walking to school when he gets into PHMS next year. I would like to work with residents and the police to ensure the safety of pedestrian traffic. Second, with my background in communications, I would like to develop something to help improve communication with residents.

What do voters need to know about you? I can make fair decisions, I will listen to every option and make the best decision possible for the situation. I truly care about the Pleasant Hills community. I have two children that are in the school district and I am invested in this community. I’m also passionate and hard working.

Justin Horvat

Political affiliation: Democrat

Municipality: Pleasant Hills

Why did you decide to run for election? I decided to run for re-election because in my short time serving on council, I have had a unique perspective of seeing so much positive work being done and I want to continue working on the issues that will help Pleasant Hills to be at its best. I have met with so many wonderful residents, whether it’s at their homes and businesses or out at community events, to talk about the issues we face together. Through all of these discussions, there really is a common thread that I think lends itself perfectly as a guiding principle for council. Be someone who will listen. Be someone who will care. Be someone who can be counted on to have a positive impact in helping to fix the problems and challenges that are facing our community. For support, I look to my family, to my wife Kaylee and my two beautiful daughters, Lucy and Trudy, and I know with all my heart that I can be a person that Pleasant Hills can count on.

What is the biggest issue that needs to be addressed? I think that overall we need to do a better job of communicating to all Pleasant Hills residents. We’ve never had more tools and resources available to help with effective communication, and yet sometimes it feels like the information isn’t getting out. Our borough staff is amazing! They do so much good work in getting information out through emails, newsletters and now through Facebook thanks to a good decision that council was able to make recently in launching an official Pleasant Hills Facebook Page. Our library is our community. A better stronger relationship needs to be maintained with the library if we truly want to make sure we are doing all we can to communicate programs and services along with showcasing our collective culture and values. In addition to personal networks and social networks, we need to make some improvements to our website. There is a lot of great information available on the Pleasant Hills website, but unfortunately, too often I am hearing that the information is too difficult to find. We need a cleaner vision for the Pleasant Hills Borough website.

What do voters need to know about you? I grew up in the neighboring community of West Mifflin and moved to Pleasant Hills in 2015. When Kaylee and I found out we were having our first child, we looked all over Western Pennsylvania for the perfect place to call our forever home. Ultimately we decided that Pleasant Hills was exactly where we wanted and needed to be. Since I’ve been here, all that brought us in seems to have only gotten better. I’m running for reelection and asking for your vote on November 5th because I have a young family and a passion for the community, its people and all of our future successes.

Andrew Codelka

Party Affiliation: Republican

Municipality: Pleasant Hills

Why did you decide to run for election? In a word – family. Like so many of the parents in Pleasant Hills, there isn’t anything that I wouldn’t do to try to give my family the best life possible. By sitting on borough council, I would be given a unique opportunity to truly influence the community that my family lives in – helping to make their community safer, more beautiful and more responsive to their needs. When I see a council that is acting in ways that waste taxpayer money, money that could otherwise be used to improve the lives of the borough residents, I feel compelled to act. My parents instilled in me the understanding that when people see something unfair, unjust or that needs to be fixed, the people with the ability to act have the responsibility to do so.

What is the biggest issue that needs to be addressed? Fiscal irresponsibility is the first one to come to mind. As an example, the current council voted 5-2 to build a metal storage shed at Mowry Park on a pre-paved site that would require minimal excavation. As designed, this shed has no plumbing or conventional heat. It is a prefabricated metal storage building. They approved the bid at just under $500,000 – before you factor in consultant and engineer fees. Residents solicited bids on their own for $250,000 or less, yet when confronted with this new information, council refused to re-bid the project. That is a quarter of a million dollars in straight-up waste that could be put towards making the borough safer – adding crossing guards, radar detecting speed limit signs or any other countermeasures to help with the residential speeding problem in the borough.

Two of my opponents are currently sitting on council and are part of the 5-member majority that allowed this waste to happen. Now they want to spend more than $14 million dollars financing a new borough building and relocate our library. I don’t trust these council members to use my tax dollars wisely, would you?

What do voters need to know about you? Like many residents, I’ve lived in the area my entire life, having grown up right next to St. Elizabeth of Hungary parish where I’ve been a life-long parishioner. Carrie, my wife of eight years, and I moved to our current house when we were married because we wanted to raise our family in a safe, beautiful community where our three kids, Ava, Tim and Ben, could get the same start to their life that Carrie and I were afforded by our parents.

I graduated from Allegheny College and Duquesne University Law School, and I am a practicing attorney downtown with Reed Smith, LLP. At home, you can usually find me toiling on some home improvement project – I blame my dad for giving me the DIY bug – as well as the knowledge that I need to get through my “honey-do list.” I’m also a hobbyist woodworker and some of my favorite pastimes are watching the Steelers and Penguins – but my newest favorite thing to do is watch my kids competing in sports, my son even tolerates his dad coaching his Tee Ball team – we’ll see how long that lasts!

Greg Smith

Political affiliation: Republican

Municipality: Pleasant Hills

Why did you decide to run for election? I have served on Pleasant Hills Borough Council for the past eight years. For me, it is a call to duty, a commitment to the taxpayers of our community. Today, special interests often are well-represented, but the senior citizens and young families with children also need a voice on council.

What is the biggest issue that needs to be addressed? We are blessed to live in Pleasant Hills, which is a great community, conveniently located with great schools, well-maintained roads, professional police department, quick response EMS and volunteer fire department, and affordable taxes; but that could all change.

There are several on council that are pushing for a new borough building. Some are suggesting that we close our historic, beautifully situated library and move it to a new three-story building combined with the borough building. This would involve borrowing $15 million and cannot be done without a tax increase of up to 2 mills. I can only support this project if it is done with grant money or an established building fund, without raising taxes. Our borough is almost completely built out, leaving very little room for growth in the tax base. We are better served by maintaining what we have. Keep in mind that we are still paying off the $10 million loan which was taken out to pay for Breisinger Field and the half-million gallon sewer overflow tank on Route 51.

What do voters need to know about you? My wife and I are 33-year residents and home-owners in Pleasant Hills. Our three adult children all graduated from TJ High School and they have blessed us with grandchildren. We currently are foster parents to a 12-year-old boy. I teach American government and civics at the nearby Cornerstone Christian Preparatory Academy. My hobbies include hiking, biking and tree identification. I teach Sunday School, serve as president of The A W Robertson Arboretum, and am a council representative on the Pleasant Hills Library Board.

Candidates for two-year term race

Matt Miceli

Party affiliation: Democrat

Municipality: Pleasant Hills

Why did you decide to run for election? I was appointed to council in September of 2018, and it has been an incredible privilege to serve the residents of Pleasant Hills over the past year. Getting to know more of my neighbors, working with residents and borough staff to solve problems and finding ways to improve the services we provide to residents has been very rewarding. I’m running for election to be able to continue to work with all in our community to make sure Pleasant Hills remains the wonderful community that it is.

What is the biggest issue that needs to be addressed? I’ve spent a lot of my focus over the past year doing research, building relationships with stakeholders and coming up with a plan to make our community more walkable and safer for pedestrians. We are fortunate to have several parks, the library, the arboretum and neighborhood schools within our community. Residents want to feel safe walking on our streets to get to these places. We also are a community without many sidewalks and a lot of traffic that cuts through our borough on their way to other places. We have to work hard to make improvements for pedestrian safety to keep our residents safe and to make sure that drivers coming through Pleasant Hills understand that we are a community, not a cut-through.

What do voters need to know about you? My wife, Shana, and I didn’t grow up in Pleasant Hills, but we’ve been here for six years and we’ve chosen to raise our family here. The tight-knit community, the beautiful parks and amenities, the welcoming atmosphere are all reasons we’re here. A strong community like this doesn’t happen by accident – it takes a lot of hard work and collaboration. I’m hoping to continue to serve on council so that I can do my part to help this community remain a welcoming, safe, and friendly place to live.

Eileen Solinas

Party affiliation: Republican

Municipality: Pleasant Hills

Why did you decide to run for election? I believe all residents want more transparency from their local government and I’d like to bring that to council. I also have two small children in the borough and plan to be here for a lifetime. There is no better way to do my part to keep Pleasant Hills a beautiful, safe place to raise a family than by becoming an active participant in the process. I’m heavily invested in the future and success of this community, but that means openness and communication with residents and ensuring our local tax dollars are invested and spent responsibly.

What is the biggest issue that needs to be addressed? Transparency and communication with residents over large budget expenditures. There have been discussions about spending tens of millions on new projects such as a new administration building and/or moving our local library. We must continually improve and invest in our community, but residents should never be in the dark about these discussions, especially in this world of instant communication. Residents deserve their say in how our tax money is spent. Often times, council meeting minutes aren’t posted until after the next meeting takes place, so residents are not afforded the opportunity to speak up or get involved. If the community is to benefit from large expenditures, then they should be given the opportunity to voice their opinions as well. Investments in our community should benefit the entire community, not just a select few.

What do voters need to know about you? I grew up in the South Hills and always wanted to make my home in this community. I’ve been blessed with the ability to do that and am now a mom, wife and nurse. I have dedicated my personal and professional life to helping people, whether it was as an ICU nurse or managing an executive health program or primary care practice. I’ve managed patients, staff, providers, departments and budgets. In the unique world of nursing, I’ve also had the opportunity to negotiate and re-negotiate contracts with clients to ensure best terms and fair prices. I feel that these skills are valuable and needed on Pleasant Hills council to ensure that we get the best and fairest terms for our community.