EDITORIAL – Tough times ahead for mayor, city

Pittsburgh has a new mayor, Bob O’Connor. He’s been making promises, setting specific goals… Pittsburgh has a new mayor, Bob O’Connor. He’s been making promises, setting specific goals and outlining ideal timelines, all of which seem like good, reasonable things to do.

Yet the question remains: Will he be able to solve the problems that have been dogging Pittsburgh for decades? The general mood around town seems to be hopeful.

O’Connor intends to continue developing a plan for the commercial area between Fifth and Forbes, Downtown, hoping the plan will be done by this summer.

He will be restructuring the police force, which he called “top-heavy,” and working to “redd up” the entire city for July, when the Major League Baseball All-Star Game comes to Pittsburgh. All of this will likely improve Pittsburgh’s quality of life.

Where the money for these improvements is going to come from, though, remains to be seen. The city is still in a perilous financial situation, and though the ultimate goal is to be more independent of the state, O’Connor is going to need to spend time in Harrisburg fighting for funding.

He’s still got to contend with the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority and the Act 47 recovery team, who are watching over the city’s finances and have yet to approve the 2006 budget.

Part of the delay in approving the budget comes from a request that city workers shoulder more of the cost of their health insurance. This dilemma is the same one going on across the city as all citizens, not just those employed by the government, are finding themselves asked to help pay for the city’s recovery.

Unfortunately, this is probably the only way the city is going to become solvent any time soon. O’Connor isn’t Rumpelstiltskin; he can’t spin straw into gold.

If things go according to plan, though, citizens will be repaid in a few years with a vibrant, thriving, clean city. If the mayor can find enough funding to turn the city around, Pitt will benefit, too.

The University has been increasingly shouldering the cost of policing the Oakland area, and will have to compensate somehow for any major cuts to Pittsburgh’s public transportation system if students are to be able to get to and from class and work. If the city can become profitable, that burden will be partially lifted.

These are all big “ifs.” Yesterday was O’Connor’s first full day in office, and he has a number of obstacles ahead of him before he can achieve his goals. Let’s hope, for the sake of the city, he finds a way to make things work.