New Orleans native Wilbert Young, who is seeking a third term as mayor of Wilkinsburg, will face a home-grown challenge in his opponent, council Vice President John Thompson.

While both are close in age and family status -- Young is 52, Thompson is 49 and each has five children -- they differ widely in job experience and plans for the revitalization of the financially troubled borough.

Also, hanging over Young's head are questions about whether he is behind in paying various taxes and fees and where his legal residence is.

Young has dodged similar controversies in the past and won re-election. But some residents have been pushing to prevent him from doing that again.

"If I have to pay my taxes and we hound other residents to pay theirs, then why shouldn't he?" asked Wilkinsburg council member Sandra Roberts, who filed a petition in Common Pleas Court last month to prevent Young from seeking a third term.

She contended that Young has debts he has not disclosed and is not a resident of Wilkinsburg. She also stated that Young has used the alias Wilbert Jones and owns a house under that name at 402 Andover Drive in West Mifflin.

Young said Monday that he has no knowledge of that address and has not used that alias.

President Judge Joseph James determined that Young could run in the Democratic primary but had to submit an amended ethics statement about his finances.

In the amendment, Young said he did not owe more than $6,500. By law, candidates must list all debts in excess of that amount. But records from the borough and a collection agency show Young's debts total more than $24,000.

Thompson also has opposed Young on occasion.

In one high-profile case, the council vice president voted against the forced resignation and contract buyout last April of then-police Chief Richard Dwyer.

Young had asked council to relieve Dwyer of his duties after the chief disagreed with Young over a disciplinary action involving a police officer. Dwyer was paid $62,000 to settle his contract.

Last month, the Wilkinsburg Democratic Committee endorsed Thompson rather than Young, whom they described as having "lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawsuits and severance packages" while in office.

Thompson's vision is to change the borough's perception as being unsafe, especially for seniors.

"The elderly have to feel OK walking through the business district," he said. Thompson was born in Wilkinsburg and graduated from Wilkinsburg High School.

Thompson said his first priority if elected would be to form a task force with local businesses, beef up foot patrols in the Wood Street and Penn Avenue areas and meet with schools to establish a better dismissal plan, to keep dozens of teens from converging on local shops at the same time.

Thompson has worked for U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson Plant for 30 years, calling his time as a union or ganizer on the United Steelworkers' grievance and safety committees "good experience" for political office.

"I know it's easier to make changes when you're on the inside," said Thompson.

He began making changes in his neighborhood in 1994 when he and his wife, Barbara, a school board member, started the South Avenue block club and began building links between young people and homeowners.

The Thompsons and other members started an annual Clean-Up Day in the neighborhood. They hold a yearly Youth Day with activities for the community, including a visit last year by the Christian Motorcycle Association. Thompson, and often his wife, ride with the group.

He also has been a volunteer in the Allegheny County jail and Westmoreland County prison.

Thompson decided to run for council in 2000 when he was nam- ed Citizen of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce.

"I had been attending council meetings [as a resident] but didn't always feel I was welcome or could be effective [as a citizen] so I decided to run," he said.

Young moved to Pittsburgh from Washington, D.C., and left his job as congressional aid in the mid-1970s. His wife of 21 years, Meredith Watson-Young, died in December 2003.

A graduate of Dillard University and former fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Young cites his record of raising money for economic development as his primary achievement in office.

"In the past four years, we have gotten over $16 million in private investments, businesses and hous- ing, for the borough," he said.

He is pleased that the long-awaited Save-A-Lot supermarket will open this fall and that two run-down borough playgrounds -- Holmes Street and Park Place -- have been renovated.

Young believes his background in real estate and economic development more than qualifies him for re-election.

"I have worked with Governor Ed Rendell and County Executive Dan Onorato to raise $4 million in grants for development and have personally raised more than $3 million in funds for housing, police, fire, parks and recreation," Young said.

He also noted that he works an average of 25 to 30 hours a week for the borough, and in 2004, traveled 29 days on borough business at his own expense.

He receives an annual salary of $5,000 from Wilkinsburg and runs his own consulting business, Nemo Investments, from the two addresses listed on the Statement of Financial Interests mandated for all candidates for political office by the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission.

Young lists his residence as 575 Ardmore Blvd. and said he does real estate consulting from there and from property he owns at 2932 Webster Ave. in the Hill District. He also owns property at 2721 Graham Blvd., Wilkinsburg.

In addition, Young works for PRC Commercial, a real estate firm at 3700 S. Water St. in Pittsburgh.

On his Web site, www.mayor-young.org, Young acknowledges that he is not wealthy and " struggles to meet the everyday obligations and sometimes falls short."

This seems to be evidenced by a payoff request from Capital Asset Research Corp., Ltd., a Florida collection agency with records showing that the mayor owes $19,372 as of March 30 on his Webster Avenue property. The amount represents unpaid school, city, water and sewer taxes and fees from 1986 to 1998.

Young said he has not seen a copy of this statement, which was sent to his Webster Avenue address.

Official borough records show Young owes $823 in municipal service fees and $3,904 in school taxes on his property at 575 Ardmore. Records indicate that he is delinquent in the amount of $760 in municipal service fees on the property at 2721 Graham Blvd.

The mayor wrote in his amended statement of financial interests that he has "no lien or debt reduced to executable judgment to any one entity and no credit owed in excess of $6,500."