"Coccoli, who never earned a college degree, is proud of his matriculation at "Asphalt University" -- on the streets. He began his career as a dishwasher making 65 cents an hour at the airport's in-flight kitchen. Now he is president of GladCo Enterprises Inc., a $4 million business."
Allegheny County: District 1 candidates wage spirited campaign
Monday, September 20, 1999
By Jonathan D. Silver, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
About halfway through a cocktail-and-hors d'oeuvre fund-raiser last week, Ronald Francis Jr., the young, clean-cut Republican candidate for the Allegheny County Council's District 1, took center stage to address his audience.
About a dozen supporters perked up to listen in a downstairs banquet room of the stately Stone Mansion Restaurant in Franklin Park. Among those in attendance were a banker, a lawyer, a political consultant and state Sen. Melissa Hart, R-McCandless.
Francis launched his brief spiel with a joke. He spoke about the need to lure young people back to the region and about how Allegheny County was bereft of an effective system of government. Then, the former Navy officer and Persian Gulf war veteran, took the opportunity to slam his Democratic opponent, businessman Louis Coccoli Jr.
Francis, 33, called Coccoli "Cyril Wecht's water boy," referring to the Allegheny County coroner and Democratic candidate for county executive. And Francis accused Coccoli, 59, the owner of a company that operates bars and restaurants at Pittsburgh International Airport and other airports across the nation, of running for the $9,000-a-year, part-time job in hopes that it would benefit him personally.
A day later, Coccoli sat in his campaign office at a shopping center in Moon, gold cufflinks shining in a crisp, white custom shirt embroidered with the word "Louis" on one cuff, listening to the story. He scoffed at the notion that serving on the council would give him a leg up in his dealings at the airport. Despite the accusation by Francis, he refused to take a poke at his opponent -- almost.
"He can call me all the names he wants as far as I'm concerned. I still think he's a good individual," Coccoli said. Then, a mischievous smile spreading across his face, he added, "I'm going to whip his [behind]."
When it comes right down to it, both candidates are hungry for public office, for the chance to improve the lot of the North Hills and the communities along the Ohio River. On the surface, they maintain the veneer of civility, but scratch a little bit, and their scrappy spirits are exposed.
Friends of Coccoli and Francis describe the candidates as high-energy, goal-oriented individuals who can work well with others and who know when to compromise and when to hold firm. Both men are from the county, Francis having returned to his hometown of Ben Avon, and Coccoli, a McKees Rocks native, having settled in Moon. Each looks toward a better future for the region.
"I think it's a crime that our young people are moving away," Coccoli said, citing as an example his daughter, who moved to Florida after not finding a marketing job at her desired salary in the area.
"I'm not willing to give up on Pittsburgh," said Francis. "I'm not willing to accept the fact that we will be in relative decline for the rest of my lifetime."
Both Francis and Coccoli served in the military. Both are political neophytes. Both have knocked on thousands of doors of residents in their district. And both want to ease the tax burden for county residents, improve transportation and create jobs. That's where the similarities end.
Francis has enlisted William J. Green & Associates, a Pittsburgh political consulting firm. Coccoli said the local Democratic Party is not well-heeled enough to fund a consultant for him.
Francis earned a bachelor's degree in political science at George Washington University and a law degree at Northwestern University. He practices at Reed Smith Shaw & McClay, a prestigious Downtown law firm.
Coccoli, who never earned a college degree, is proud of his matriculation at "Asphalt University" -- on the streets. He began his career as a dishwasher making 65 cents an hour at the airport's in-flight kitchen. Now he is president of GladCo Enterprises Inc., a $4 million business.
Francis said he represents new blood, someone not affiliated with the old guard of county commissioners and the Democratic party machine.
To him, Coccoli falls in beside old Democratic power brokers such as Wecht and former Commissioner Tom Foerster, who is running for the council in District 13.
In Coccoli's opinion, Francis is good-hearted but lacks experience. Coccoli boasts of his 35 years in the corporate world, his years of negotiating contracts, and his knowledge of affairs concerning the airport -- a facility considered by both candidates to be a tremendous asset.
Encompassing well-to-do communities such as Sewickley, booming commerce centers such as Robinson, and areas with their better days behind them such as Neville Island, District 1 is marked by contrasts. Democrats slightly outnumber Republicans, leading some observers of local politics to predict a close race.
Francis is trying to gain the edge by pledging to cut the cost of what he believes is an inefficiently-run government. He wants competitive bids on work done at least in part by the county. He would start small, with computer, janitorial and printing services, to prove the worth of his strategy. Once on firm ground, he would begin to solicit bids for road work contracts, park maintenance, and supervision of county swimming pools and golf courses.
It's not privatization per se. Rather, it's competition, Francis said. County workers would have the chance to bid on the work themselves, and Francis said he expected that in some cases, they would win contracts. That tactic has worked in Indianapolis, Francis said.
"It proves that if you have a willingness to change and a willingness to do things differently, you can make a difference," Francis said. His motto, he declared, would be: "Let's give it a try."
Francis would spend the savings on infrastructure improvements, including bridge maintenance and bettering roads in his district, particularly connecting southbound Interstate 79 to westbound U.S. 60 to the airport. Now traffic must cross Robinson to go to the airport in what Francis said is an "unheard of" detour.
Over time, Francis would shift the savings away from infrastructure and toward property tax relief, but in a judicious manner.
"I will not vote for any kind of across-the-board tax reductions unless the savings are achieved first. Period," Francis said.
Coccoli portrays himself as a businessman, not a politician, who is disenchanted with government under the county commissioners, Democrats and Republicans alike. His enthusiasm for matters concerning the airport is evident. It is not five minutes into an interview before he segues into a discussion of the proposed $604.5 million US Airways maintenance facility the county is trying to woo.
Coccoli said he would work to develop the vacant land around the airport. He also supports creating an interchange that would give drivers traveling south on I-79 easier access to the airport, modernizing the area's "primitive" roads and increasing traffic safety on Ohio River Boulevard.
Coccoli also believes the state of mass transit between the airport and the rest of the county is deplorable, and he would work to improve it, be it with magnetic levitation trains or light rail.
On the issue of taxes, Coccoli said he wanted to ease the property tax burden on senior citizens. He also railed against Sabre Systems and Service, a private Ohio company that won a $24 million contract to reassess the county's nearly 600,000 properties by 2001.
Why, Coccoli asked, could the county not have used locals familiar with the region to perform the work instead of spending money that could have been better used elsewhere?
Coccoli said his faith in Sabre was shaken when he bumped into a lost assessor in his neighborhood looking for a street.
"I got a guy who can't even find the street and he's going to tell me what my house is worth?" Coccoli said. "I just have a real problem with that."
What neither candidate has a problem with is looking out for the best interests of District 1. Asked if he would be intimidated if the flamboyant, powerful Wecht were to win the county executive race, Francis said no.
"I deal with difficult people all the time. He certainly won't bully me, I can tell you that," Francis said. He also added that he had no problem disagreeing with Wecht's Republican opponent, businessman Jim Roddey.
Coccoli cut an equally defiant figure.
"I'm a Democrat, and I'm proud of it, but I'm nobody's boy," Coccoli said. "I'm not going to sit there and let a Jim Roddey or a Cyril Wecht dictate what I can or can't do. If it's not in the best interests of District 1, I won't do it." |
