Since Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato has been in office, I have tried to view his performance in as objective a manner as possible. On several occasions I have publicly complimented Dan on what I considered his good stewardship and good leadership.

However, over the past several months, as his plan to become governor becomes more apparent, he has taken actions that should cause concern among the region's citizens.

The first was his attempt to portray the pouring and car rental taxes as necessary to save public transit. That assertion was blatantly false. The revenues generated by the new and unpopular taxes were required to balance the county's budget, not Port Authority's budget. Dan needed only an additional $1.5 million to maximize the state's transit contribution.

The second and much more alarming action was the hijacking of state gambling money designated for debt service at Pittsburgh International Airport. When the state's gaming income was being divvied up (you may recall that this money was to be used to lower our property tax), the airport was awarded approximately $150 million, to be paid over several years, to help defray debt service on construction bonds.

This was deemed important in order to keep the cost of operating the airport low enough to keep and attract airline service. On the last day of 2007, the county, mysteriously and without notice, took receipt of over $20 million of funds originally intended for the airport.

This was made possible, in part, by state Sen. Jay Costa (an Onorato ally and fellow Democrat), who quietly amended the gaming legislation to allow the airport's share to go directly to the county.

Normally receipt by the county of $20 million would be an occasion of great rejoicing accompanied by press conferences and releases and a scramble among politicians to claim credit. In this case not even members of County Council, including the president and budget chairman, were aware of this remarkable largess.

How could this have happened? The answer is somewhat complicated and that fact helps the culprits mask their misconduct.

When the airport was constructed in the early 1990s, the then-county commissioners provided a $42.5 million "loan" to complete the funding package. The loan was to be repaid over many years by income streams generated by development on certain designated parcels of airport land. To date no such development has occurred.

A few years ago, when an attempt by the county was made to collect on some of the loan, the airport authority advised that the loan violated the terms under which federal funding was provided for the construction of the airport. In effect, the Federal Aviation Administration said that any funds generated by development must go toward airport operations or be returned to the federal government.

Dan's claim that he is using state gaming receipts to repay the loan to the airport simply doesn't fly. It was always the intention of the Legislature and the airport to use these funds to pay bond debt and to lower the cost of operating the airport.

Interestingly, the same airport authority chairman and the same authority solicitor that earlier denied payment to the county have been silent about the loss of the $20 million.

This sordid saga is further aggravated by the fact that landing and ramp fees have recently been significantly increased by the airport authority, causing much concern among airlines operating out of Pittsburgh.

My fear is that what we are witnessing is the triumph of ambition over honest and open government.

While Dan may believe that these maneuvers to boost the county coffers will somehow aid his quest for the governorship, he should recognize the serious harm being done to the airport and the region.