Innamorato focus on ‘new voices’ reaches into boards heavy with longtime hands

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, at U.S. Rep. Summer Lee’s election night party on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel. Innamorato has made 39 appointments to county panels. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource) As the new Allegheny County administration makes appointments to powerful boards and commissions, it faces a tricky balancing act weighing institutional knowledge against the opportunity to give other residents a turn at the table. by Christine Graziano, PublicSource When Sara Innamorato became Allegheny County executive in January, she took on responsibility for& roughly 50 county boards, some rich with people who have served 10 years or more. Those panels make important decisions in areas from the environment to transit to housing to sanitation, and many are tracked through PublicSource’s ongoing& Board Explorer& transparency project. County-related boards heavy on long-serving members include the& Board of Health,& the Air Pollution Control Advisory Committee& and the& Allegheny County Sanitary Authority [ALCOSAN]. In the civic and educational realm, the& Allegheny Regional Asset District& [RAD] and the& Community College of Allegheny County& [CCAC] have long-tenured members. And the lesser known& Agricultural Land Preservation Board& and the& MBE Advisory Committee& also have longstanding members.& Many of the volunteers were appointed early...