Onorato says no to third term
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Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato discusses his agenda for 2011 at a news conference Thursday.
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Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election and will concentrate on three core issues during his remaining 11 months in office.
"I've been in elected office for a long time," Mr. Onorato, 49, said. "It's time for me to move on." He did not rule out future runs for political office, but he said he had made no decisions.
His background as a certified public accountant and former county controller has led political observers to see him as a potential candidate for state auditor general in 2012.
He has served two terms as county executive.
Mr. Onorato said he will seek to increase aviation traffic at Pittsburgh International Airport, push to lease portions of the 9,000 acres of county-owned land at the airport for natural gas drilling and continue to fight court-ordered countywide reassessment.
Allegheny County was in a strong position to lease portions of its extensive airport property to companies interested in looking for natural gas deep underground in the Marcellus Shale formation, he said. Energy companies leasing land from the county could deal with a single landowner controlling up to 9,000 acres. That ease of negotiations should increase the value of those agreements, he said.
"It is a golden opportunity for the region ... if it is done in an environmentally responsible way," Mr. Onorato said.
Other property owners in southwestern Pennsylvania have reached deals with drilling companies worth $4,000 to $5,000 per acre in upfront fees and royalties worth as much as 20 percent of the value of the gas found. If the county sold leases for 4,000 acres of airport property, they would bring in $16 million to $20 million in one-time payments and have the potential to produce several times that amount in royalties.
Much of the airport property is in Findlay, where township supervisors just this week tightened rules on oil and gas production. Drilling operations continue to be allowed as conditional uses in zoning districts that include portions of the airport, but the new rules set new standards for noise, dust, road use and public safety.
The county would be a good partner with municipalities and remain sensitive to residents' concerns in awarding any leases, Mr. Onorato pledged.
First Published January 14, 2011 12:00 am
