Newest Penn Hills council member to face 2 challengers in Democratic primary

Two challengers will try to unseat an incumbent at the May 16 Democratic primary election for a two-year seat on Penn Hills council.

With no Republicans in the race, the primary winner among unelected incumbent Mark Brodnicki and newcomers Shawn Kerestus and Adeshewa Metzger will likely become a council member at the November general election.

Brodnicki, 58, of Verona Road was appointed to council in June to serve until the next election after the death of Deputy Mayor Joseph N. Palumbo. He must run for re-election to finish out what would have been Palumbo's term ending in 2019. His appointed term ends in January.

Brodnicki, who has a bachelor's degree in business and accounting from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, said he believes his duty as a council member is to serve as a liaison between the citizens and the municipality. His main objective is working with law enforcement to reduce crime and encourage businesses to open in the community.

Brodnicki said he's approachable and takes smaller problems like garbage collection and parking issues as seriously as larger problems like the crime rate and failure to entice new business.

“I want people to approach me,” he said.

Kerestus, 33, a 10-year resident, said he didn't realize the financial burden of owning a home in Penn Hills until he bought a house last year and had to pay taxes and sewage fees.

He has a master's degree in public administration from the University of Georgia and wants to use his work experience as an account manager for a pharmaceutical company to focus on keeping the municipality's money “on track” by spending wisely and seeking economic help from Allegheny County and the state.

“We're approving budgets that we can't afford and we are not in a situation to fix the money problems ourselves,” Kerestus said.

Kerestus also said he wants to work toward eliminating blight and bringing more public transportation to the community.

“There are many people in Penn Hills today who don't have access to cars to get where they need to go,” he said.

Metzger, 32, a four-year Penn Hills resident, said she has the skills to make positive changes in the municipality.

“I want to establish programs that help people out and give back,” said Metzger, a graduate of Central Michigan University with a degree in business administration. “People feel like their voices aren't being heard.”

Metzger is a teacher and does some accounting work. She said she entered the race to tackle safety issues in the community, make the municipality fiscally responsible and bring in new business.

She also wants to initiate a project to renovate the amphitheater at the park behind the fire department and create more programming for children and senior citizens.

“I'm detail-oriented and will use that to find solutions,” she said.

Samson X Horne is a Tribune-Review staff writer.