Arnold mayor, challenger lead competing Democratic slates in primary

The Democratic Party primary in Arnold could decide this year’s election for mayor and council.

Two slates of Democrats are vying to fill the office of mayor and two council seats in the May 16 primary.

No Republicans are on the ballot for any Arnold offices up for election this year, which also includes treasurer and controller. Cathy Ozdany is unopposed for treasurer, while Toni Montemurro is the only candidate for controller.

A Republican candidate would have to collect enough write-in votes to secure a nomination for any of the offices.

Joe Bia II is seeking reelection as mayor. He is running with council candidates Mike Barbiaux and Debbie Conwell.

Challenging Bia for mayor is Shannon Santucci, a former Arnold police officer and chief.

She is running with council candidate Aaron Moore. While Santucci said she is supportive of council incumbent Phil McKinley, and he appears on signs with her and Moore, she said he is not running with them.

The council seats up for election this year currently are held by McKinley and George Hawdon. Hawdon, who was elected in 2019, said he opted not to run for reelection because he was not able to commit to another four-year term.

“Rather than take a job and not do it, I believed it was best to step aside and let somebody else do it,” Hawdon said.

Hawdon said McKinley, the senior member of council, deserves reelection, and he supports Moore.

Previously a councilman, Bia, 48, became mayor in 2019 after defeating former Mayor Karen Peconi in the primary that year.

“At this time, the job’s not done,” Bia said. “I ran on that we would pave roads, we would take care of blight, and we would get rid of PAMS (Pennsylvania Municipal Service). We’ve done all three. We still have roads to pave and blighted properties that need to be taken care of. There’s still plenty of work to do.”

Arnold took over billing for garbage and sewage bills from PAMS at the start of last year.

“I’ve walked the walk. I’ve done what I said I was going to do,” Bia said. “I feel that we’ve accomplished more in four years under my administration than we have in the past 40 years.”

Bia touted the city police’s drug enforcement efforts, which he said has seized fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, crack, meth and marijuana with a street value of $1.6 million from nearly 250 arrests between 2019 and 2022.

“The drug work that we’ve done over the past four years has been phenomenal for our community,” he said.

Barbiaux and Conwell could not be reached for comment.

Santucci, 59, was a police officer in Arnold for 11 years and was, briefly, the city’s first female chief. She resigned as a sergeant in 2018 and has been a police officer in the Fox Chapel Area School District since 2019.

In 2022, Santucci took over leadership of The Tomb, an outreach ministry in Arnold founded by Bob and Rosetta Lecocq as Lazarus’ Tomb in 1972.

Santucci has never sought elected office before. She said she wants to see a change in the city but didn’t have any specific comments on Bia’s performance as mayor.

“I would like to see Arnold thrive again,” she said. “It should be a place where people are proud of where they live. I want to make it the best that I can for the people who reside here.”

In addition to fighting blight and cleaning up garbage, particularly in alleys, Santucci said transparency is important to her.

“I want to be transparent so that people feel comfortable coming and talking to me about the problems, concerns and opinions they have. I’ll be very willing to have conversations with people from the community.”

McKinley could not be reached for comment.

Moore, 51, is seeing elected office for the first time. A native of New Kensington, he has lived in Arnold for seven years. He works in maintenance for the Westmoreland County Housing Authority.

“I believe Arnold needs change. We need people in there with new ideas,” he said. “As the world changes, the leadership should change. Locally, it just needs new leadership.”

Moore has been a member of Arnold’s redevelopment authority and has been attending council meetings in Arnold and New Kensington.

“I’d like the residents to know that I’m community focused,” he said. “Their concerns will be heard.”

Moore was convicted of drug possession in 1991, for which he served a year on probation. The misdemeanor offense would not preclude him from holding a council seat. Moore said he is seeking a pardon from the governor.

Moore said he has known Santucci for 35 to 40 years.

“It’s an honor for me to be under Shannon’s leadership. I hope the community receives us,” he said. “It’s time for positive change in Arnold.”