Allegheny County Council was returned to its full 15-member complement Tuesday after members approved Mt. Lebanon Republican Mike Embrescia as council’s at-large representative for the GOP. He replaces Sam DeMarco, who resigned last month to work as Southwestern Pennsylvania regional director for U.S. Sen. David McCormick.
Embrescia, who in his day job is chief development officer at Carnegie Robotics, ran for council’s District 5 seat in 2023, but lost to its current representative, Democrat Dan Grzybek. He campaigned as a business-minded moderate and promised to act as a check on progressive overreach by Democrats. He reiterated that goal Tuesday, describing himself as “a fiscal conservative [and] social liberal.”
“Very much middle of the road,” he said of his political philosophy, adding that he aims to remain in there during a time of deep partisan divisions.
“I'm not here for any other purpose other than to serve the constituents of Allegheny County,” he said shortly after being sworn in. “I just try to be a good manager. And I'm going to try to do my best to [be] a really good servant of the people.”
To fill a vacancy on council, a nominee is chosen by a caucus of councilors of the same party as the former councilor, subject to confirmation of the full council. (In this case, the choice was that of Suzanne Filiaggi, council’s lone remaining Republican.) As per the county charter, Embrescia will hold the seat until the next municipal election in November. He said he plans to run to complete DeMarco’s term in the fall.
Ahead of the vote, Grzybek and Bethany Hallam, council’s Democratic at-large member, raised procedural concerns. Though the agenda noted nominations for DeMarco’s replacement would be presented Tuesday, it did not identify Embrescia by name or indicate council would vote on his appointment. Grzybek and Hallam argued that the vote violated the state’s Sunshine Act.
A review of previous appointments to fill council vacancies suggests they were handled in much the same way Embrescia’s was Tuesday night.
“Apparently this is kind of the way that we've always done things,” said Grzybek. But “just because we've always done something a certain way doesn't mean that it's the proper or the correct way or the transparent way to do it.”
Council president Pat Catena did offer the public a chance to comment on the nomination, but no one did. Hallam said that’s because it wasn’t on the agenda.
“The public did not know, if they wanted to have their voices heard, that they should come tonight and be given an opportunity to speak about the candidate,” Hallam said.
While Hallam did not raise any objections to Embrescia himself, she said “the agenda is very misleading where it says ‘nominations’ and not anything about a vote.”
Hallam abstained on Embrescia’s nomination, citing the lack of information available before the vote: Fellow Democrats Jack Betkowski and Anita Prizio were absent, but the rest of the council – including Grzybek – voted in favor.
In other action, Council voted to direct the county departments of Economic Development and Public Works to develop a “complete streets” plan by the end of the year. The approach directs officials to consider the safety of all users, including pedestrians, bikers, drivers, and public transportation users, when designing transportation infrastructure. The move brings the county in line with the City of Pittsburgh, which adopted its own complete streets program in 2016, and six other municipalities within the county’s borders.
Council also approved changes to the code governing the county’s Human Relations Commission. Under the change, the HRC can hold hearings, subpoena witnesses, take testimony under oath and make determinations when investigating a complaint. It also strengthens protections against housing discrimination. Supporters say the additional powers are meant to give the commission additional power to enforce the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Council also extended deadlines for property tax payments, citing a delay in getting the bills sent to homeowners. A discount period, during which taxpayers can receive a 2% discount on their bills, was extended from March 31 to April 30. The deadline for paying taxes without penalty was extended from May 1 to May 31: Taxes paid after that date will incur charges for being delinquent.
