Basking in the afterglow of the G-20 summit, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato gave a hometown kickoff to his bid for governor last night before crowd of several hundred supporters and a smattering of vocal opponents.

Mr. Onorato, 48, cited a litany of environmental and development achievements from his two terms as county executive and said they offered a preview of the leadership he would provide for Pennsylvania.

He said the recent economic summit had given an international showcase to those accomplishments.

But the G-20 giveth and the G-20 taketh away.

The North Side native's speech was repeatedly interrupted by demonstrators loudly protesting the actions of police officers confronting crowds in Oakland and elsewhere during the event two weeks ago. As he began to speak in the IBEW hall on the South Side, one activist leapt to the stage brandishing a banner protesting the police actions. At several subsequent points, other demonstrators emerged amid a riser full of union supporters on the candidate's right. Some chanted; some held signs while duct tape covered their mouths.

"What happened at Pitt?'' read one of the banners, which was then wrestled away during the recurring episodes. Police removed the demonstrators from the hall. A smiling Mr. Onorato soldiered on through the interruptions, repeating the announcement speech he had delivered earlier at events in Philadelphia and Harrisburg.

"It's free speech," he said afterwards. "God bless them. It's America."

Pittsburgh police Sgt. William Bair later said six demonstrators had been arrested. He said that he expected that they would be charged with trespass and released.

Mr. Onorato's appearance came at the end of the first day of a cross-state tour that started in Philadelphia's City Hall. The stagecraft for the event resembled a smaller version of a national political convention sign with the names of the state's counties danced over the heads of the crowd.

Among the supporters who cheered the former city councilman and county controller was Braddock Mayor John Fetterman, who said he was backing Mr. Onorato because, "He's a man of integrity."

"He's been there for us; he's done a tremendous amount of good not just for Braddock but for the whole Mon Valley."

In an interview before his rally, Mr. Onorato characterized his record and the message of his candidacy as that of a pro-business progressive. He pointed out that he had presided over a reform of the county row office system and promised to confront Harrisburg's status quo as well.

"There's no reason we have to have the most expensive Legislature," he said. "Taxpayers are fed up," he added, while stopping short of endorsing calls to shrink the size of the state's legislative branch.

Mr. Onorato said he planned to reduce the tax burden on business in the state. He said he would offer details on his plans for that and other issues in a series of detailed policy statements between now and the primary. He said he also would emphasize reforms in education and would continue the Rendell administration's emphasis on early childhood education.

Pointing to the example of the Community College of Allegheny College, he said he would revamp the state's community college system to better match job training with the job market. He also said he would work to contain tuition costs at the state's traditional four-year colleges.

Noting the accolades the region had received in the run-up to the G-20 summit, Mr. Onorato said he would combine environmental and economic initiatives across the state by devoting resources to the clean-up of old industrial sites.

Mr. Onorato said he would pursue a diverse energy agenda, encouraging the development of solar and wind power at the same time as more traditional fuels such as coal and the nuclear industry.

Regarding the extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus shale that underlies much of the state, he said the state would have to first seek solutions to the water pollution problems already emerging in the early development of the gas fields.

Mr. Onorato appeared on the South Side stage with his wife, Shelly, and daughter, Emily, and son, Danny.

Mr. Onorato enters what promises to be a crowded field for the Democratic nomination. Other contenders include Auditor General Jack Wagner; Joe Hoeffel, a Montgomery County commissioner; Philadelphia businessman Tom Knox, and Chris Doherty, the mayor of Scranton.

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