Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato committed to shed more light on county government while she was running for office in 2023. Responding to a PublicSource questionnaire before the Democratic primary, she signed on to push for more frequent campaign finance disclosures, publish her daily schedule as executive and bolster a number of transparency and ethics procedures in county government.
As Innamorato’s first year in office ends, most of her pledges have yet to be fulfilled.
It was a busy year, to be sure. She plunged into jail reform in January, launched a major housing initiative and championed a controversial tax hike to address a deficit.
“These aren’t necessarily priorities that the executive candidates were campaigning on themselves,” said Philip Hensley-Robin, the executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, a good government organization. (Six candidates responded to the PublicSource survey.) “But I do think that any candidate for public office, having made commitments about transparency, should at least be transparent in what steps they plan to take in their first term to open up the books.”
Abigail Gardner, the county’s director of communications, said last week that of nine initiatives Innamorato committed to during the campaign, five are still “under consideration” for 2025. One was enacted before Innamorato took office; one was completed in 2024; the administration is working on implementation of one; and one, the publication of the executive’s daily schedule, will not be implemented.
Making county contracting transparent online
Innamorato in 2023: “I will ensure all opportunities are posted in one place. … Contracts should not simply be posted on a county webpage that is hard to find.”
Status update: Gardner said this was completed in 2024.
PublicSource could not identify changes made since Innamorato took office. Many active requests for proposals, which the county publishes to allow vendors to bid on county projects, are viewable on the county’s Bonfire website, as they were before Innamorato took office. Also as before, users are prompted to create a vendor account to view project details. Gardner said any user with an email address can create an account. Some county departments still post their opportunities on separate websites.
Enacting a 'gift ban' for county officials
Innamorato in 2023: “I would sign an executive order on day one banning county employees under the purview of the county executive, appointees and the executive herself from accepting gifts. I will also require all appointees to boards and commissions to sign an ethics agreement adopting this gift ban and disclosing potential conflicts of interest, including a complete statement of financial interest.”
Status update: Gardner said this is “under consideration for 2025,” and employees are currently following “gift disclosure rules.” State law bars public officials from accepting gifts given as rewards for official decisions, and requires disclosure of gifts worth more than $250 from anyone other than a relative or personal friend.
Publishing the executive’s daily schedule
Innamorato in 2023: “The public deserves to know how I spend my time as their county executive. I would utilize the county government website to create a dedicated page where the public schedule would be updated regularly.”
Status update: Citing privacy and security concerns, Gardner said the executive will not publish her schedule. She noted that the executive plans to publish more information about public events in 2025.
More context: Innamorato’s predecessor, Rich Fitzgerald, did not publish a daily schedule. Former Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto did, but his successor, Ed Gainey, discontinued the practice.
Creating a digitized, searchable campaign finance record system
Innamorato in 2023: “I have modeled this already on my campaign website and will implement this quickly once in office.”
Status update: State law requires that political campaigns periodically report all donations they receive above $50. Gardner said the county is working on implementing a searchable database, and cited a 2023 County Council-passed law that requires the county to provide online access to campaign finance records. That law, though, does not appear to require any advancements beyond the existing system.
For now, the county’s campaign finance disclosure database works the same as it did before Innamorato was elected. Users can search for a candidate’s disclosures for a given year, but they appear as scans of documents that are sometimes handwritten, and it’s not possible to search the database for a particular donor or other criteria.
More context: Innamorato voluntarily disclosed her donors during the campaign ahead of legal deadlines, allowing visitors to her campaign website to search for specific donors and sort donations by date and amount. Similar systems exist for candidates for federal and state offices, but not local offices.
Requiring more frequent campaign finance disclosures
Innamorato in 2023: “I support 24-hour reporting periods and full transparency around campaign finance including more frequent reporting deadlines.”
What happened: “Under consideration for 2025.”
A 2023 reform law passed by County Council increased the frequency of required financial disclosures in the run-up to elections, adding a deadline six weeks ahead of primary and general elections. Aside from that deadline, candidates only have to report their donors and expenses at the end of January (covering the prior year’s activity) and 10 days before any election in which they’re running (covering the time since the last disclosure).
More context: Pittsburgh requires candidates for city offices to file disclosures more frequently.
Creating contribution limits for county-level candidates
Innamorato in 2023: "I will work with the county council to pass this legislation. My proposal is to adopt the City of Pittsburgh’s Campaign Finance Reform Law.”
Status update: This was accomplished. County Council adopted legislation mirroring Pittsburgh’s limits, which are the same as the federal limits, capping contributions to candidates at $3,300. The action came in May 2023, before Innamorato took office.
Banning county officials serving on boards or commissions from receiving campaign dollars from vendors
Innamorato in 2023: "Yes."
Status update: Status update: “Under consideration for 2025.”
More context: County elected officials serve on numerous boards, including ALCOSAN, the county’s Retirement Board and various development authorities. Those boards dole out millions of dollars in government contracts, and vendors who bid on the projects commonly give campaign contributions to candidates.
Creating a lobbying disclosure law for Allegheny County
Innamorato in 2023: "Yes."
Status update: “Under consideration for 2025.”
More context: Both Pennsylvania and the City of Pittsburgh have laws that require people paid to influence government decisions to register as lobbyists, disclosing to the public which companies or entities hired them.
Charlie Wolfson is PublicSource’s local government reporter. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.
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