Council votes to override Onorato vetoes

Allegheny County Council on Tuesday night voted to override three vetoes by Chief Executive Dan Onorato, giving itself the authority to approve mergers of county and municipal departments.

The unanimous votes likely will prompt Onorato to sue the council.

The 15-member council passed the three bills in July, partly out of frustration that it wasn't asked to ratify the agreement to merge Pittsburgh's and the county's 911 emergency call centers.

Suburbanites' interests will be shut out of merger talks if their representatives don't get a say in how the county combines departments and services with smaller governments, some council members said.

Onorato vetoed the bills because the home rule charter gives the chief executive the power to negotiate and award contracts. Council's primary authority is over the budget, so if members don't like a merger deal, they can choose not to fund it, county Manager Jim Flynn said.

"I think council feels its budgetary authority comes into play too late," said Council President Rich Fitzgerald, D-Squirrel Hill. "At the eleventh hour in December, we're going to say no• Just throw everybody out?"

Both Flynn and county Solicitor Mike Wojcik said the best way to resolve the issue now is through the courts, an opinion that irritated some council members.

"I don't understand why we need to go to court and spend more money," said Councilman Dave Fawcett, R-Oakmont. "Just because you have a young government doesn't mean you should go to court because of philosophical differences."

"It's just a waste of money," said Councilman Vince Gastgeb, R-Bethel Park. "It's a needless waste of resources."

The county law department has 48 salaried lawyers, so it won't cost the executive branch anything, Flynn said. Council, however, has its own attorney, Jack Cambest, of the Downtown firm Dodaro Kennedy & Cambest.

When council Democrats and Republicans fought a protracted battle over the reapportionment of council districts in 2002, Cambest's bill topped $100,000, Fawcett said.

A long court battle is unlikely this time, Cambest said. The matter could be resolved within 90 days if a judge agrees to hear it quickly enough.

Flynn agreed. "If we go to court amicably, we can get this resolved rather quickly," he said.

Regardless of the cost, Fitzgerald said the issue must be resolved and council be involved in any future merger agreements. The law under which the county operates when negotiating mergers gives authority to the county commissioners -- three positions which haven't existed in more than four years.