A retired North Sider who has never run for political office but spent more than two decades in city law enforcement is hoping to upset incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto on a platform of community engagement.
Tony Moreno, a 52-year-old Democrat who was born and raised in California before joining the U.S. Army and then the Pittsburgh police department in 1994, said he is running for mayor because Pittsburghers want a city government that listens to them. Mr. Peduto’s administration is disconnected from the reality of city residents, he insisted.
“[The administration’s] plan is to take care of what they see in their own vision instead of looking out at our communities and realizing our communities are screaming for help, they’re begging for help and they’re being completely ignored," Mr. Moreno said.
He cited as evidence the most visible aspects of a city government’s workings, taking issue with snow removal in the winter, parks that are “falling apart” and some bike lanes that he says were installed without input from residents, among other things.
He accused the mayor’s department heads of being “completely tone deaf to the citizens in this city,” and framed himself as the anti-politician who has no influence driving his decision-making besides a desire to help the community.
“When I’m the mayor, I’m going to listen to my community,” Mr. Moreno said, adding that if Mr. Peduto would have listened to city residents in recent years, they wouldn’t have had to take to the streets and “demand to be listened to” — a reference to the protest movement for racial justice in 2020.
Mr. Moreno identified the root of those protests as residents feeling left out of the city’s growth — and said that instead of getting pushed out of their neighborhoods, Black Pittsburghers need transportation, jobs, child care and a voice in their government.
Mr. Moreno said police “do really just want to serve the community.” As mayor, Mr. Moreno said, he would bridge the gap between the community and police and train officers in de-escalation tactics and in being “empathetic” to people. He accused Mr. Peduto of taking “the law enforcement part out of our law enforcement officers,” but said homeless people can benefit from being helped by police officers.
Mr. Peduto has said there needs to be a “change from within” the police department and a cultural acceptance of community policing — which can be assisted by the city finding and promoting officers who “see the positive effects that being a part of the community has.”
Then, the city can “start to work on the tactical and strategical operations of a police bureau,” Mr. Peduto said when he launched his re-election campaign — adding that for Pittsburgh to be a national leader in redefining policing for the 21st century, it will include having “a new network of community officers that work outside of the police bureau” to deal with issues of homelessness, addiction and mental health.
Police officers should be encouraged to provide services, Mr. Moreno said, citing his own approach to policing. After serving as an Army combat paratrooper, he went through the police academy in Ohio and was called to Pittsburgh, where he spent 24 years in the police department before retiring in 2018.
He said he started on the North Side and worked his way into the narcotics division, where he was a detective for nine years. He then finished his career walking a beat in Downtown. There, he said, he was the type of cop who made partnerships with mental health professionals, businesses, courts and nonprofits to assist the homeless, addicted and mentally ill.
Mr. Moreno acknowledged that it would be a “hard battle” to unseat an incumbent mayor and emerge from a Democratic primary against Mr. Peduto and state Rep. Ed Gainey, D-Allegheny. But Mr. Moreno said he can do it on the ground.
“I go to every other neighborhood,” Mr. Moreno said. “I don’t sit in my own and expect ... to understand what’s going on in Sheraden or Elliott or Homewood or East Hills or Carrick. These places, I go to and I start talking to them and they tell me what’s going on in their neighborhoods.”
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1952, Twitter @julianrouth.
First Published: February 15, 2021, 11:30 a.m.
Updated: February 15, 2021, 12:15 p.m.
