In Lower Burrell mayor's race, attracting business is key issue

A newcomer without political experience is challenging the Lower Burrell’s incumbent mayor for the Democratic nomination in Tuesday’s primary.

When John Andrejcik, 60, worked as an official court reporter for Allegheny County Court, he was prohibited from seeking public office. He retired in October, so he is running for mayor.

A Navy veteran and legal yeoman, Andrejcik brings supervisory capabilities and a legal background. He also said he acquired a lot of knowledge on municipal governments as a freelance court reporter in addition to his full-time job over the years.

For Mayor Rich Callender, his experience owning two businesses, Kiddieland Childcare & Learning Center in Tarentum and a nuclear power consulting firm has provided him insight into business interests. Plus his last four years as mayor and previous four years as council has informed him about how the city works.

“I have plans in the works for Lower Burrell moving forward in terms of new businesses and upgrades to the parks to make Lower Burrell a model city for Westmoreland County,” Callender said.

Callender hinted at having a tenant for the long vacant JC Penny building and expansive parking lot along Leechburg Road.

“I expect to see it occupied sooner than later,” he said. “It’s the elephant in the room: it’s what everybody sees and we need to get it back on the tax rolls.”

Callender added he has lots of business contacts with developers and has been working to bring them into the city.

Andrejcik said you can’t miss the empty storefronts on Leechburg Road. He is concerned about businesses leaving town.

“I want to re-visit the 1% business tax,” he said. If anything, Andrejcik wants to create incentives to bring in businesses.

To chart a course, Andrejcik wants to create a business owners’ committee to encourage other businesses to come to the city.

“I plan on communicating personally with business owners everywhere to show them how great our little city is,” he said.

A second issue important to Callender and Andrejcik is the $3.1 million city hall renovation project, which just got under way.

However, they have differing views of what is important.

While some still balk at the project, Callender doesn’t back down on the importance of what he calls the first construction at city hall in 25 years.

“We have holes in the roof that a gentleman almost fell through,” he said. “We have black mold. We have asbestos. We have windows that don’t close. We have vehicles that don’t fit into our garages. We are not in compliance with evidence storage with U.S. Department of Justice.”

Andrejcik wants to review all expenses with the building project.

“If I become mayor, I plan on belt tightening,” he said.

Promoting fiscal responsibility, he wants to make sure the money is spent wisely.

Andrejcik was careful to say that aspects of the project are necessary but he “wants to check into it.”