Corey O'Connor will be the lone newcomer on the Pittsburgh City Council on January 3. The son of late-former Mayor Bob O'Connor will take the same seat his father held when he served on city council. The younger O'Connor said that his main priority will be the people of Pittsburgh.
"We want to look at it as a business, and the people of Pittsburgh are our customers, and we want to provide them with the best product we can so that they want to stay here, they want to live here, they tell more people to come back here," said O'Connor.
He added that such a take on city government came from his father. He said that another top priority will be building a strong council, and helping ensure that the council can get on the same page when it comes to the city's future.
"I know we're not going to all agree each day, but at the end of the day, if we can say we did our best to cooperate and make resolutions to make this city a better place, I think we will have done our best job," he said.
In preparation for his council post, O'Connor said that he's been busy meeting with directors of city agencies, department heads, city employees, and looking at the budget. He said that he's ready to hit the ground running upon taking office after the New Year, and added that he's excited to continue to focus on what's great about Pittsburgh.
"With that optimism we can grow. We can take what we already have and make it bigger and better. We're also going to rely on the people of Pittsburgh to tell us what's going on. Our volunteers through the campaign are already giving me problems that show up in their neighborhoods, and we want people to tell us what's going on because they're our eyes and ears out there," he said.
District 5 includes parts of Squirrel Hill, Greenfield, Hazelwood and New Homestead.
