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An ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, directing that a referendum question regarding the repeal of Article V, §2(i) of the Home Rule Charter of Allegheny County, which affords the Chief Executive sole authority over all County contracts not involving property transactions, be placed on the November 3, 2026 General Election ballot; and further amending Article V, §2(i), contingent upon the passage of the referendum question.
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Whereas, Article V, §2(i) of the Home Rule Charter of Allegheny County, in its entirety, specifies that the Chief Executive is granted the power to “[n]egotiate, award and sign, or cause to be negotiated, awarded and signed on behalf of the County, all contracts, agreements and other instruments, except as provided in Article IV, Section 2(j) and (k).”; and
Whereas, the exceptions contained within Article IV, Sections 2(j) and (k) are extremely limited, and pertain solely to the acceptance of gifts of personal or real property to the County and leasing, conveying, vacating, abandoning, or permitting the use of County owned property; and
Whereas, the aforementioned Charter provisions combine to create a structure in which the vast majority of County contracts - regardless of the duration or value of those contracts - are entirely subject to the discretion of a single individual; and
Whereas, this structure creates inevitable tension with the provisions of Article IV, §2(c) and Article VII of the Charter, which vests Council with authority over the County’s annual budgets, because the County’s contractual commitments generally entail budgetary impacts in current and, when multi-year contracts are involved, future budget years; and
Whereas, the drafters of the County’s Administrative Code sought to mitigate this tension by the inclusion of a provision requiring that “[a]ll capital, operating, maintenance, and professional service contracts and change orders let by Allegheny County and its Departments and Agencies shall be subject to notification to County Council prior to or contemporaneous with the execution of the agreement,” in §5-903.01; and
Whereas, although this provision was intended to provide Council with a meaningful opportunity to be aware of contracts before they are executed or at the time at which they are executed in furtherance of its budgetary powers and duties and has been in effect since original passage of the Administrative Code, the prior/contemporaneous notice requirement has never been systematically followed; and
Whereas, at the time of introduction of this ordinance and for at least 20 years previously, Council has received an Executive action report once each month, containing a summary of the contracts executed by the Chief Executive in the prior calendar month; and
Whereas, the notice contained within the Executive action report generally contains very little detail regarding the agreements listed, and because it is sent to Council up to a month after the delineated contracts are executed, it can in no way be construed as being “prior to or contemporaneous with” those executions; and
Whereas, it is the judgment of Council that (1) the delayed, incomplete notice of contracts that has been provided to Council is not adequate to satisfy the well-intentioned notice requirement of §5-903.01 of the Administrative Code, (2) statutorily inadequate notice has been systematically provided for more than 20 years, and (3) the Administrative Code is therefore not an adequate mechanism for ensuring that the Council’s Charter-given budgetary authority is not constrained or subsumed by the Chief Executive’s execution of contracts on behalf of the County; and
Whereas, it is further the judgment of Council that placing contracts that entail the expenditure of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars within the sole discretion of a single individual is fiscally unwise, and invites at least the perception of a lack of transparency in the expenditure of those revenues;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
SECTION 1. Incorporation of the Preamble.
The provisions set forth in the preamble to this Ordinance are incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.
SECTION 2. Ballot Question.
Pursuant to the Second Class County Charter Law and the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, the Allegheny County Board of Elections is hereby directed to place the following question on the November 3, 2026 General Election Ballot for consideration and approval by the registered electors of the County:
Shall Article V, Subsection 2(i) of Allegheny County's Home Rule Charter be amended in order to require ratification of County contracts valued at over $30,000 by County Council, except in emergency circumstances?
SECTION 3. Contingent amendment of Article III of the Home Rule Charter of Allegheny County; First Question.
Immediately upon certification by the Board of Elections that the Charter amendment delineated within Section 2 of this Ordinance has been approved by the voters of Allegheny County, Article V of the Home Rule Charter of Allegheny County shall be amended as follows:
Section 2 Powers and Duties of the Chief Executive
The Chief Executive shall have, but shall not be limited to, the following powers and duties:
Enforce the ordinances and resolutions of the County, the provisions of this Charter, and the laws of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania pertaining to the government of the County.
Represent the County, or designate a County representative, in all meetings and negotiations with the heads of other governmental or quasi-governmental bodies.
Represent the County, or designate a County representative, in all meetings and negotiations involving economic development.
Approve or reject ordinances and resolutions passed by County Council as provided in Article IV, Section 5.
Control and be accountable for the administration of all departments and agencies except those specifically placed under the jurisdiction of any other officer by law or by this Charter.
Submit to County Council the comprehensive fiscal plan as provided in Article VII.
Appoint the Manager and the County Solicitor with the consent of County Council.
Make appointments to authorities and agencies as permitted by law and recommend to County Council the establishment and elimination of authorities and agencies.
Negotiate, award and sign, or cause to be negotiated, awarded and signed on behalf of the County, all contracts, agreements and other instruments, except as provided in Article IV, Section 2 (j) and (k). Provided, however, that no such contract shall be deemed in force until ratified by an affirmative vote of the members of Allegheny County Council, unless the contract was awarded through the County’s emergency competitive procurement process, as provided for in the Administrative Code of Allegheny County.
Submit ordinances, resolutions and other related matters to County Council.
Call special meetings of County Council as necessary.
Attend and participate in designated quarterly meetings and, as the Chief Executive deems necessary, additional meetings of County Council. The Chief Executive shall not have the right to vote at meetings of County Council.
Give an annual state of the County address and other reports as County Council may require from time to time.
Declare and take appropriate action to meet a state of emergency.
Designate, in writing, the Manager or another administrative officer of the County to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the Chief Executive during a temporary absence or disability of the Chief Executive.
SECTION 4. Effective Date.
The provisions of this Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon final approval.
SECTION 5. Severability.
If any provision of this Ordinance shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Ordinance which shall be in full force and effect.
SECTION 6. Repealer.
Any Resolution or Ordinance or part thereof conflicting with the provisions of this Ordinance is hereby repealed so far as the same affects this Ordinance.