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Raja Plan: Modernize County Government

The Republican candidate for Allegheny County Executive announced his plan to trim spending at the County Courthouse today.

D. Raja said cutting departmental spending and avoiding reliance on one-time revenues would give the County a more realistic budget. He said the current administration's "over-optimistic" revenue projections have caused the County to borrow money and sell off its assets.

Raja said he would rather save money by cross-training County workers to fill multiple roles and setting performance benchmarks for departments and employees.

The former Mount Lebanon Commissioner said the County's 130 municipalities could also save money by sharing services, like public works and parks.

Raja said his support of Marcellus Shale development does not conflict with the "Clean Air" and "Clean Water" components of his plan.

"What needs to be done, from my perspective, proactively: we need to have regulation, we need to have monitoring that's on a consistent basis, and have penalties when these are not met. Those are the critical aspects," said Raja. "And we are, technologically, at a stage where we do not have to have either environmental or safety issues."

Raja characterized Democratic candidate Rich Fitzgerald's campaign as "politics as usual" and "void of any substance," while touting his own experience as a successful business owner.