Onorato, Roddey differ on county budget, taxes

Thursday, September 11, 2003

By Jeffrey Cohan, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Maybe it was the boxing exhibition beforehand. Or the hot sun that baked the Market Square stage.

Whatever the cause, Jim Roddey and Dan Onorato engaged in one of the most spirited debates of the race for Allegheny County chief executive yesterday, entertaining and informing a crowd of 300 in the heart of Downtown.

	Allegheny County chief executive candidates Dan Onorato, left, the Democratic challenger, and Jim Roddey, the Republican incumbent, laugh before the start of a noon debate yesterday on the Market Square stage, Downtown. The debate was sponsored by Iron City Pro Boxing and was conducted with a boxing theme. It went 10 rounds. (Darrell Sap, Post-Gazette) Click photo for larger image.

In an event organized by Iron City Pro Boxing, the two men competing for the most powerful political position in Western Pennsylvania presented their thoughts on the issues of the day. And, appropriately, they put on a show of pugilism of the political kind.

The fiercest flurry of punches and counterpunches came when the subject turned to taxes.

When asked where he would find $24 million in spending reductions for his promised 10 percent tax cut, Onorato didn't offer a specific answer, saying only that he would eliminate duplicated government services.

After the spending reductions, "The services possibly could be even better," Onorato said.

Roddey, spotting an opening in the Democrat's defenses, threw a jab.

"I believe making a statement that you could cut $25 million out of the budget and not affect services and not create layoffs is very naive," Roddey said. "I believe responsible government is a lot better than ... promising a tax cut that is very unrealistic."

Onorato responded with an uppercut, reminding the audience that Roddey similarly promised a 10 percent tax cut during the 1999 election.

"That's exactly what he offered four years ago and didn't follow through with it," Onorato said. "That's even worse than naive.

"The real issue in Western Pennsylvania is following through on what we say."

Roddey, the incumbent Republican, and Onorato, the challenger, also gave the crowd a taste of their unceasing arguments over numbers.

For instance, Roddey frequently points out that the City of Pittsburgh lost tens of thousands of jobs during Onorato's two terms on City Council.

In 1991, the year before Onorato joined council, the city collected $3,346,000 in occupation privilege taxes. At $10 a head, that translates to 334,600 jobs.

By 1999, Onorato's final year on council, collections had dropped to $3,106,000, or 310,600 jobs -- in Roddey's view, a loss of 24,000 jobs.

Onorato insisted that the city actually gained jobs while he was a councilman.

"It continues to amaze me that Jim looks into the camera and puts numbers out that simply aren't true," he said.

"My eight years on council, from '92 to '99, we had a net increase of 1,000 jobs," he continued. "[Roddey] says we lost 20,000. I challenge the media: Please check these numbers."

In 1992, occupation privilege tax revenue dipped to $3,097,000, which equates to 309,700 jobs, or 900 fewer than the 1999 total.

Onorato, naturally, likes to use 1992 as his base year, since that yields a more favorable comparison for him.

But using 1991, as Roddey does, makes for a more relevant comparison.

So says City Controller Tom Flaherty, who, as chairman of the county Democratic Party, ordinarily does not agree with Roddey.

"I think the base year would have to be '91," Flaherty said.

Onorato argues that because the bulk of occupation privilege taxes are paid in January, the dip in revenue in 1992 reflects job losses from 1991, before he took office. But any new jobs created during his first year on council would appear in the 1992 column, making the 1991 collections a better indicator of the situation that greeted Onorato on the day he was sworn in, Flaherty said.

Such conflicting figures could have confused a normal crowd, but at least half of the people attending the debate were linked to the candidates as campaign volunteers or party activists and had their minds made up beforehand.

Downtown office workers walking through Market Square on their lunch hours generally kept on walking, ignoring the goings-on.

"I have to do errands quickly," said one such worker, Eileen Keelan of Regent Square. "I didn't even know about the debate."

Still, Jimmy Cvetic of Iron City Pro Boxing, hailed the event as a success.

"I think it was fun," he said.

A boxing exhibition in a ring set up in the square preceded the debate and a rock concert followed it.

An Uncle Sam on stilts worked the crowd and the host of TV's "NightTalk," John McIntire, moderated the debate.

Roddey and Onorato have 23 debates scheduled, but yesterday's was the only one outdoors.

"Since we have so many debates, it's nice to have one in a different form, finally," Onorato said.

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