Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato has selected a new county manager, her office announced Wednesday.
Innamorato will nominate John Fournier, a deputy city administrator in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the position. The county manager is responsible for budget planning, policy creation, ensuring the county functions day-to-day, and helping the county executive implement her goals.
"I enjoy working for elected officials who are interested in challenging the status quo and who are interested in making positive change and really reshaping organizations so that they’re more effective," Fournier said in a Wednesday-morning interview with WESA. "And I think the county executive is one of those people.”
Fournier has worked for the city of Ann Arbor since 2018. Prior to that, he held numerous positions in Pittsburgh city government, including deputy chief of staff for former Mayor Bill Peduto. He also served as chief of staff for former city council member Natalia Rudiak — who helped lay the groundwork for a new generation of leaders like Innamorato — and director of on-street and metered parking for the Pittsburgh Parking Authority.
“We are delighted to welcome John back to Allegheny County after several years helping manage the City of Ann Arbor,” Innamorato said in a statement announcing the move. “His breadth and depth of municipal management, including an expertise in creative revenue solutions and managing challenging fiscal scenarios, plus his deep knowledge and abiding love of Allegheny County made him a perfect candidate to be our next County Manager.”
In an interview, Fournier said a top priority for him would be implementing Innamorato 's "All In Allegheny" agenda, a progressive blueprint whose goals include making the county a more appealing place to work, creating more affordable housing, and making decisions more accessible.
"The county executive has a vision that people who come to the county to take advantage of our services should get help, and it should be a painless process for them," Fournier said. "And that’s something I’m really looking forward to working on.”
During his time in Ann Arbor, Fournier helped plan and launch a guaranteed income pilot program and led city lobbying efforts, which he said resulted in more than $30 million in additional state and federal funding to the city.
Ann Arbor is a small city, with a population about one-tenth the size of Allegheny County. Its $130 million operating budget is dwarfed by that of a county that spends upward of $1 billion a year. But Fournier said that between his work across city operations, and his tenure in Pittsburgh's much-larger government, he was prepared to take the reins at the county.
“I have experience running and managing large organizations," he said. "I'm not worried about scaling up to Allegheny County with that experience in my back pocket.”
While serving as interim city administrator, a former Ann Arbor employee accused Fournier of conducting an illegal background check, fal;sely misrepresenting city finances to City Council, engaging in "unfair treatment" of people of color, and abusing his power regarding a city COVID vaccine mandate.
An independent investigation cleared Fournier of wrongdoing. The resulting report found that Fournier had not violated any laws and the misconduct allegations were "simply not supported by the evidence."
Fournier called the allegations "a kitchen sink complaint [made] in an effort to disrupt the vaccine mandate." He noted that the employee who made the allegations soon departed from city government, while Fournier was subsequently promoted.
Such controversies are "part of managing large organizations. Sometimes it’s part of the price of leadership. You just have to trust the process and see it through,” he said.
Acting county manager Steve Pilarski has held the position since Jennifer Liptak stepped down in June to work at the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. Liptak worked with Fournier during his years in Pittsburgh government, and praised his selection.
“John was always someone you could call, and he would do his best to try to work it out. That's a very valuable type of individual to have in government,” she said.
Liptak pointed to Fournier’s efforts to stabilize city finances after the city was assigned Act 47 municipal financial distressed status. As a Peduto staffer, Fournier directed and co-authored the city’s final Act 47 Recovery Plan, under which Pittsburgh was released from state oversight two years earlier than expected.
“You have to think about the long game, not the short game. And being able to plan and be strategic about how the decision that you made today is going to impact a potential problem or decision you may need to make a year from now is difficult,” she said. “John, as I know him, is the type of person who does not shy away from any problems, but also has a dynamic thought pattern where he thinks strategically. That is critical: to be able to think not about today. It's not checkers. We're playing chess here in the county.”
Milton Dohoney, Jr., Ann Arbor’s city manager, worked closely with Fournier and said his time there prepared him to take on a leadership role in a bigger government.
“He's worked in different communities,” Dohoney told WESA. “He certainly has familiarity with the Pittsburgh community, having been there before. He's worked at a high level with elected leadership. I think all of those prepare him to be able to take on this new role.”
Dohoney also noted that Fournier “has worn various hats for the city of Ann Arbor during his tenure.” Fournier started at the city in 2018 as an assistant city administrator, then served concurrently as the interim human resources director before working his way up to deputy city administrator.
“He has worked on projects, he's worked with legislation, he's worked on the financial aspect of leading the city. So I think all of those different types of experiences have prepared him well for the opportunity that he has in front of him,” Dohoney said.
County Council must approve Fournier’s nomination. He will begin serving as acting county manager on Sept. 9.
This story is developing and will be updated.
Chris Potter contributed to this story.
