PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh’s new mayor is hitting the ground running.
With an entourage of city officials, Mayor Corey O’Connor walked the streets of Downtown on Tuesday to see what needs to be done to clean it up and revitalize the city.
From crumbling concrete to vacant storefronts, O’Connor found plenty of work.
“Could be housing, could be office space, could be boutique hotels, but we got to get aggressive on how we redo this stuff,” O’Connor said to Chief Investigator Rick Earle while on the tour.
It’s something similar to what O’Connor’s father did while he was mayor. Late Mayor Bob O’Connor started what was known as the Redd Up Crew, an effort 20 years ago to clean up the city.
“It’s somewhat like that, yes, but it’s that stuff we pay attention to,” he said. “And I think we have to get back to paying attention to the basics.”
In addition to infrastructure and cosmetic improvements, O’connor is dealing with public safety issues. While the murder rate is down, there have been two separate stabbings and two shootings Downtown during the past six months.
Earle asked if O’Connor would like to see more police walking the beat.
Obviously, we are going to have that conversation with the chief on what his vision is for it, but I think anything that has a presence that makes people feel safe to come Downtown is definitely a priority," he said.
The department has faced manpower issues for years, but the man nominated as chief says he’s evaluating staffing issues while supporting a continued emphasis on mental health issues.
“[I’m] happy with the fact that we’re really focusing on mental health. I think a large part of whatwe’reseeing stems from mental health issues,” Jason Lando said.
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