Upper St. Clair Man Running for County Executive

Voters will see an Upper St. Clair man's name on during Tuesday's primary election.

Chuck McCullough is running as a Republican for the Allegheny County chief executive position. He is running against D. Raja, of Mt. Lebanon, despite the fact McCullough is charged with taking money from an elderly woman who was his client and using it to make donations without her approval. McCullough said he is innocent. A decision reached by an Orphans Court judge three years ago proves his innocence, he said. However, he still faces a hearing on the charges in Common Pleas Court.

"I wouldn't be running if I hadn't already cleared my name," McCullough said. "It's been a test of my faith, a challenge to my faith, but I've met the test and it's not going to deter me from serving the people."

McCullough said he's lived in Upper St. Clair for about 47 years. 

"We could have moved a lot of places but we wanted to raise our family here. It's a great place to raise a family," McCullough said. 

McCullough was pleased to say he has two children who received an education from the Upper St. Clair school district.

McCullough said as county chief executive, he would preserve local government.

"I view Upper St. Clair as a model of good government. They provide limited services and provides them well," McCullough said.

McCullough referred to the public works and the police departments, and added that the "is the best."

McCullough has been an attorney for more than 30 years and has his own law practice. He served as the Upper St. Clair Township attorney for more than ten years and is also a past member of the planning commission. 

From November 2002 to January 2004, McCullough was the Allegheny County solicitor, when he said he gained valuable experience.

"I was the number three guy in the county government. I'm highly regarded by county employees," McCullough said. "You can't run government like business. Businesses make a profit."

Most recently, McCullough served as a member of the Allegheny County Council. He resigned, in accordance with the law, to seek the Republican nomination for county chief executive.

McCullough said he decided to run for the position as soon as he learned current county executive Dan Onorato was not going to run for the position again.

"It was a sign for me from the good Lord to step up and take a shot," McCullough said.

McCullough has remained a strong opponent of Onorato. First of all, he is against the drink tax. He sees it as a tax on small business.

"I will eliminate the drink tax," McCullough said. "It is unfair and bad for businesses in the area."

McCullough is also opposed to the Allegheny County reassessments. 

"I think we should put a stop to them," McCullough said. "If I have to appeal every resident's assessment, I will."

McCullough said we are in a recession and he's strongly against tax increases. He sees the reassessments as disguised property tax increases.

One of Allegheny County's biggest issues is the Port Authority and McCullough said he has a plan to deal with the organization. He said he would fire the board of directors and bring in a team of outsiders and existing county personnel to handle the operations. He said he would use existing money that isn't being used to restore service cuts and renegotiate contracts. If that didn't work, he would look into the Port Authority filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, so the courts could rework debt obligations.

McCullough described himself as a social, fiscal conservative, but he said he doesn't let that get in the way of doing what's right. His internal compass, he said, is his faith.

He said he didn't seek endorsements from politicians.

"You start asking for endorsements and their baggage becomes your baggage," McCullough said. "I've stuck to my guns. I'm not worried about political repercussions."

However, McCullough said he is proud of his endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 91. 

"This is significant," McCullough said. "Police know I'll fight for rights."

McCullough's opponent, Raja, has received endorsements from a number of elected officials, including Gov. Tom Corbett, Sen. Pat Toomey, U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy and State Sen. John Pippy. 

Raja is a Mt. Lebanon commissioner. He left India for the United States in 1986. After earning degrees at the University of Pittsburgh and at Carnegie Mellon University, he founded a custom software company, Computer Enterprises Inc., which employs 300 people.

Two men are running on the Democratic ticket. They include Rich Fitzgerald, of Squirrel Hill, and Mark Patrick Flaherty, of Mt. Lebanon.