Labor lawyer picked for County Council
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Allegheny County Council's Democratic caucus yesterday selected Amanda Green, a labor attorney for the United Steelworkers of America, to replace Brenda Frazier, who resigned from council last month to seek a seat in the state Legislature.
"It's about public service. This is an opportunity to serve the community I live in," said Ms. Green. She will be nominated to fill the District 13 seat at council's meeting on March 18, said Councilman John DeFazio, chairman of the Democratic caucus.
A Stanton Heights resident, Ms. Green, 36, will serve until the next municipal election in 2009. She said that she was encouraged by her predecessor -- Ms. Frazier -- to seek the seat because "she thinks I have the qualifications to do the job and hit the ground running."
Ms. Frazier, 66, of Stanton Heights, was first elected to County Council in 2001 to fill the two-year unexpired term of the late former county Commissioner Tom Foerster. She ended her tenure on council Feb. 11 and is now seeking the 21st Legislative District seat, which covers Pittsburgh's eastern neighborhoods.
She had to step down from her county seat because of the county's Home Rule Charter, which requires County Council members running for other elected offices to resign.
Ms. Frazier's resignation raised concerns from some people who were interested in replacing her because of a rumored plan by the Democratic caucus on council to essentially hold the seat for her by appointing a temporary replacement.
But both Ms. Green and Mr. DeFazio yesterday put that to rest, noting that Ms. Green intends to be the District 13 representative until the first municipal election next year when the seat will be open again.
Selected from a pool of nine applicants, Ms. Green, a Jersey City, N.J., native, was "very impressive" and "showed that she will be a fast learner," said Mr. DeFazio. With her selection by the Democratic caucus, her appointment by the full council is now mostly a formality, he added.
"We have an agreement on council that the party caucuses choose a person and then the council has to accept the appointment," Mr. DeFazio said.
A 1993 graduate of Duke University, Ms. Green received her law degree from Northeastern University's School of Law in 2001.
She clerked for Judge Lawrence M. Lawson of the Superior Court of New Jersey in Monmouth County before moving to Pittsburgh to work for the USW in 2002.
First Published March 11, 2008 12:18 am
