Allegheny County Council Regular Meeting – November 18, 2025

The Allegheny County Council convened on November 18, 2025, with 13 members present, for a lengthy agenda of proclamations, public testimony, and final votes on two air quality measures pending for more than a year. The council unanimously passed Ordinance 13228-24 and Resolution 13229-24 by 13–0 roll-call votes, ratifying Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) air quality fee increases and related penalty provisions.

Consent Calendar / Routine Approvals

• Minutes of the October 21, 2025 regular meeting were approved by voice vote.
• Appointments were presented and referred without objection to the Appointment Review Committee: Clarence J. Hobson to the Allegheny County Personnel Board (term through December 31, 2028) and Dora Walmsley to the Allegheny County Hospital Development Authority, Higher Education Building Authority, Residential Finance Authority, and Authority for Improvements and Municipalities (term through April 24, 2029).
• Communication 13735-25, summarizing approved executive actions for October 2025, was received and filed.

Proclamations & Recognitions

• Mount Lebanon Public Library — Library of the Year (13718-25): Honored as the first library in Allegheny County and the Pittsburgh region to receive the Pennsylvania Library Association's Library of the Year Award, and the first library in the commonwealth to become a book sanctuary (Board resolution passed February 18, 2025). The library serves a 34,000-resident community with a 56% active cardholder rate; circulated more than 764,000 physical and electronic items in 2024; held nearly 1,500 programs attended by over 35,000 participants (a 45% increase from the prior year); and answered over 23,000 reference questions. Director Robin Vitech and board trustee Bob Taylor accepted.
• Officer John Gilliland (13720-25): Commended for preventing an incarcerated individual's suicide attempt at the Allegheny County Jail on October 28, 2025, pulling him to safety from an upper-tier railing. Councilmember Hallam noted the jail is understaffed and welcomed applicants. Officer Gilliland said he was "just doing my job" and would do it again.
• National Adoption Day — November 22, 2025: Proclaimed in Allegheny County; 23 children will be adopted that day, and the county finalized 138 adoptions between October 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025. Administrative Judge Hens Greco of the Family Division accepted the proclamation.
• Kimberly Rivnack (13721-25): Recognized for receiving the 2025 Distinguished Service Award from the Pennsylvania Library Association. As Chief Operating Officer of the Allegheny County Library Association, she oversees 46 independent libraries with more than 70 locations, a $14 million budget, serving 1.2 million county residents. Under her legislative committee leadership, public library subsidy increases of 9% (2019–20) and 18% (2022–23) were achieved.
• Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh (13722-25): Recognized for its free two-day dental, vision, and hearing clinic. The 2025 clinic (October 24–25) at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center brought together 1,816 volunteers and served 2,081 patients, including 1,384 receiving dental care, 650 eye care, and 636 hearing care. Since 2017 the clinic has treated more than 11,000 patients, and in 2024 it delivered $2.3 million in services to 1,660 patients. Councilmember Fatulis called it the "most important proclamation we've ever given" and said he was doubling a prior donation. Executive Director Brandy Miller announced the next clinic will be held October 16–17.
• The Bulletin — 50th Anniversary (13723-25): Recognized on its 50th anniversary; the community newspaper was launched in November 1975 and is administered by the Bloomfield Garfield Corporation. Monthly circulation includes approximately 13,500 mailed copies, 1,000 copies for pickup at local businesses, and 1,500 e-newsletter subscribers. Executive Director Rick Schwartz (33 years in the role) accepted.
• Kylie Lynn McDowell Kindness Day (13724-25): November 13, 2025, was proclaimed Kylie Lynn McDowell Kindness Day. The Kylie Lynn McDowell Foundation has awarded over $100,000 in scholarships, distributed over 33,000 kindness cards, shared over 3,600 random acts of kindness, registered over 2,000 first-time voters, gifted over 2,000 senior yard signs, and facilitated 107 family bereavement gatherings. Lynn Banazak, Kylie's aunt, described Kylie's death nine days before her 18th birthday and urged kindness and advocacy.
• Councilmember Mike Ambrazia — Farewell (13725-25): Recognized on his final day of service. Appointed and sworn in February 11, 2025, he chaired the Appointment Review Committee and served on assessment practices, government reform, information technology, and public safety committees. His farewell remarks urged civility and bipartisanship and pledged continued civic engagement after leaving office.
• Proclamations read into the record: August Wilson African American Cultural Center (15th anniversary and August Wilson's 80th birthday, sponsored by Councilmember Walton); Xyvaon McMillan Taylor (extraordinary bravery, sponsored by Councilmember Nakarati Chapkis); Molly Rush (90th birthday, lifelong peace and human rights work); John Preston "Pete" Hill (contributions to baseball and the November 10, 2025 street renaming, sponsored by Councilmember Walton); South Fayette Township Commissioner Rebecca Stray (PSATC President's Award, sponsored by Councilmember Katina); the Gilded Decade Gala and Trans Uniting (sponsored by Councilmember Botta); and Pittsburgh Councilmember Teresa Cale Smith (years of public service, sponsored by Councilmember Palmasina).

Public Comments & Testimony

• President Katina said the two air quality bills had been pending for over a year and had been referred back to committee because they appeared likely to fall short of the ten votes needed; he now estimated a "99.9% chance" the measures would pass and encouraged speakers to waive their time to speed the vote. Councilmember Klein noted the bills were introduced about thirteen months prior. A motion to cut speaker time to one minute failed for lack of a second.
• Nearly all commenters expressed support for the ACHD air quality permit fee increase:
  • Rev. Dr. Kate Walker (First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh; incoming president of PIN) thanked the council and hoped the relationship would continue in "joy and celebration."
  • Nicholas Bartell (Penn Future, Clean Air Campaign Manager) said the data represent real families and real consequences, and urged full funding of the health department.
  • Jay Ting Walker (Clean Air Council) cited the fatal August 2025 explosion at the Clairton Coke Works, the federal defunding of the Chemical Safety Board, and the county's duty as trustee of Pennsylvania's natural resources under Article I, Section 27.
  • Tom Pike (Forest Hills, District 10) said it is not right that "money can buy clean air."
  • Chief Pomai Chakmam Yahalahe (Upstream Pittsburgh) said air, breathing, and life are interconnected, and the vote would be remembered by future generations.
  • Arushi Bund (Allegheny County Clean Air Now) said the increase would help lower rates of cancer, asthma, cardiovascular visits, and ER visits.
  • Natalie Ford (412 Justice) thanked the council for standing up for Braddock and Mon Valley fence-line communities.
  • Aaron Kramer (Climate Cabinet, Pennsylvania State Director) called the vote a "pragmatic, practical step."
  • Patrick Campbell (Group Against Smog and Pollution, executive director) said voting yes is "simply complying with the law."
  • Jacqueline Wade (Clairton, U.S. Steel fence-line resident) thanked the council and invited members to visit Clairton.
  • Natisha Washington (Black Appalachian Coalition; Wilkinsburg Borough Council member) said Black women are the most impacted by environmental hazards, led the room in a brief "breath" exercise, and thanked the council for consistent communication during the year-long fight.
  • Jeffrey Benowitz (former ACHD deputy director for air quality) praised the "dedicated staff" of the health department and noted long-term air quality trends have improved.
  • One commenter urged the council to go further: place fines on pollution, stop permitting the 29 major source polluters, build a "green new economy," and pursue a new jail design.
  • Brendan (Forest Hills) cited an estimate of 600 to 1,000 deaths per year in the county from poor air quality, disproportionately in Braddock, Clairton, and majority-Black and low-income communities.
  • Corey Roma (Young Democrats of Allegheny County) urged adoption of all three air-related measures and said the vote would test the organization's endorsements.
  • Natalie Morris (Braddock resident) described having to quit smoking because it became hard to breathe the "fresh air that wasn't there anymore."
  • Lisa Graves Marcusi (lifelong Mon Valley resident) said the vote signals "our health is a priority."
  • Alexa Soltmer Bergman (Clean Air Council; Regent Square resident) described headaches, chemical smells, and being unable to open windows, invoking the constitutional right to clean air.
  • McKenzie McFarland (Greenfield resident; Comedica U.S. Silicon Monroeville employee; Sunrise Movement Pittsburgh) said delays "only help the executives" of U.S. Steel and Nippon, not workers.
  • Phoebe Reese (O'Hara Township; Climate Reality Project/Breathe Project) thanked Councilmember Prizio, called the vote akin to "curing cancer," and celebrated the civic turnout.
  • Gavin Neal (Gibsonia; Sunrise Movement Pittsburgh) supported the fee increase as a step toward holding over-polluting corporations accountable.
  • Carl Kerner (Beechview; Clean Air Council engineer) cited the 2017 audit of the Title V program finding that "current permitting workload exceeds existing staffing levels," said some permits have been outstanding for over 30 years, and argued ACHD must be funded.
  • A Clairton resident of more than 30 years who works with children described losing relatives to cancer, a grandchild born in 2016 who developed asthma, and feeling the August explosion "all the way up to the school."
  • Pamela Lee (Clairton, speaking in place of "Susie") said she runs air filters daily, described her son's asthma, ADHD, and autism diagnoses (which she attributed to pollution exposure while pregnant), and woke to sulfur-smelling mornings; "polluters should pay their fair share."
• General public comment: A former infantry sniper ("Bernard") addressed the South Park game preserve, asserting that a dedicated bison steward ("animal keeper") had been removed, that the baby peacock had not been fed in four days, that a new cyst appeared on a bison, that forestry removal had harmed deer, that pavilions are neglected, and that the county could profit from the bison herd.

Discussion Items

• Air quality bills (13228-24 and 13229-24): President Katina explained that both bills had been released from committee previously but appeared likely to fall short of the ten votes needed, so he referred them back to committee; after further discussions, he said he believed both "now have an opportunity to receive the votes necessary to pass." Councilmember Nakarati Chapkis confirmed she was withdrawing her alternate air quality fee bill.
• Councilmember Klein: Noted the measures were introduced "about thirteen months ago in three days, fourteen hours, and forty-three minutes," quoted Jerry Garcia ("What a long, strange trip this has been"), recalled years of constituent testimony about air quality and a woman who described raising children in poor air as "child abuse," and said passing the bills would signal that public health is a priority.
• Councilmember Nakarati Chapkis: Detailed the county's air quality history: the county joined Pittsburgh in 1949 with a smoke control ordinance; ACHD took over countywide air pollution control in 1957; 1960 particulate regulations were the strongest in the country, and the county's air quality regulations are older than the Clean Air Act. She noted the 2018 EPA program evaluation concluded that the Title V permitting workload exceeds existing staffing levels.
• Councilmember Fatulis: Recalled that 2024 brought the largest tax increase in county history, followed two weeks later by a fee-structure change request that "seemed to be a bit of a rub"; he said the issue was resolved and he supported the measure and the county budget.
• New airport terminal: A councilmember noted that November 18, 2025, was the opening day of the new Pittsburgh International Airport terminal.
• Ordinance 13734-25: An ordinance amending the fee schedule of various county department rates and fees was introduced and referred to the Budget and Finance Committee.

Key Outcomes

• Ordinance 13228-24 (ratifying ACHD amendments to Sections 2105.62 and 2109.07 of Article 21, Air Pollution Control, concerning asbestos abatement and penalties, fines, and interest) passed 13–0.
• Resolution 13229-24 (ratifying ACHD air quality permit application and permit fee increases) passed 13–0.
• Councilmember Nakarati Chapkis withdrew her alternate air quality fee bill, clearing the path for the final votes.
• Ordinance 13734-25 (county fee schedule) was referred to the Budget and Finance Committee.
• The meeting adjourned following public comment.