Crusader forces Allegheny County reassessment after winning other reforms
Donald Driscoll might be Allegheny County's own giant slayer.
In more than four years of court fights, county officials have resisted any attempt to force a reassessment of property values. But when they announced last week they were on course for their first reassessment since 2002, it was another victory for Driscoll, one of two lead attorneys suing the county.
Driscoll, 61, of Whitehall has forced major government reform twice before. He helped advance desegregation of the local public housing system and improve local state prison conditions before he represented a group of residents who say they are overtaxed by the county's assessment system.
"The county assessment case epitomizes the work that Don does," said Timothy P. O'Brien, a constitutional and civil attorney who hired Driscoll at Neighborhood Legal Services in the 1970s. "He takes on cases that pit David against Goliath, and his ability to be persistent and to leave no stone unturned, both factually and legally, is what makes him an extremely successful lawyer."
Driscoll, a New Jersey native, arrived in Pittsburgh more than 30 years ago, A member at St. Gabriel of The Sorrowful Virgin in Whitehall since 1980, he said Christianity has inspired him to devote his career to the needy. He was a seminary student at the University of Notre Dame and became a social worker in South Philadelphia before heading to law school.
He said he wanted the underclass to have access to treatment facilities, good schools and other opportunities they were effectively shut out of. He thought he could help best as a lawyer in class-action suits.
Two of his notable cases started in the late 1980s. He was on a team of four lawyers who got a federal judge to rule the conditions at the state prison at Woods Run as cruel and unusual. It led to $30 million in improvements.
Another success came in the 18-year effort that culminated in the Sanders Consent Decree, which helped get poor and black public housing residents access to 100 units in wealthier, often predominately white communities. The case, named for one of the plaintiffs, brought him into conflict with town solicitors fighting the effort and with political heavyweights, including former county Commissioner Larry Dunn and U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills.
Dunn, a Republican, asked the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to investigate Driscoll, saying he hadn't represented his clients well.
"He's won the cases, but he hurt the county," Dunn said. "I thought (Sanders) hurt his clients more than anything else. There were people who came from Braddock, and in the end I think they regretted it ... being forced to move away from their homes and families ... far from their support systems."
O'Brien said fighting high-profile legislators has never deterred Driscoll. Friends and colleagues describe Driscoll as diligent, focused and good-hearted. His slim build and soft voice can contrast sharply with the fervor he brings to a case.
"He likes to stay sort of in the background a little bit, but he's always there whenever we've needed him for support or so forth," said the Rev. John R. Haney of St. Gabriel's. "He has a great reputation in the community for the being the type of man, lawyer ... to help the underdog."
Driscoll lives on a curvy, leafy street with several $150,000 properties, according to county assessment records. Neighbors know him as a helpful guy who enjoys spending several hours a day working in his yard or playing there with his grandchildren.
Few knew much about his work on the reassessment case, but most supported it. The case went to the state Supreme Court, which ruled in Driscoll's favor. By not reassessing, the county essentially forces people who own properties that are declining in value to pay unfairly high taxes, according to the ruling.
"I understand (reassessment) is something they have to do," said West Blumfeldt, 51, who lives across the street from Driscoll. "I'd rather not see property values go up, but I don't think that anyone would."
Even if values go up a little, that shouldn't matter, Driscoll said. State laws prohibit reassessments from leading to tax windfalls, and taxes would go up only for owners whose property values have risen at a higher-than-average rate. In Whitehall, where the rise of property values is near the county average, the net effect would be minimal, Driscoll said.
The state law should work that way but it likely won't, county spokesman Kevin Evanto said. County officials have said they have worked against a reassessment because it essentially would lead to a tax increase.
"Don is a vigorous, committed advocate, and he believes in his clients," county solicitor Michael Wojcik said.
