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Home Rule Study Moves Ahead in Duquesne
Committee will begin work once write-in votes are tallied, certified
By Tom Leturgey
The Tube City Almanac
December 15, 2024
Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne will move forward with a study to decide whether to adopt a home-rule charter.
At this month’s council meeting, City Manager Douglas Sample announced that voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of a home-rule study commission, 1,313 to 674. “We are good to go,” he said.
Duquesne is currently governed by the state’s third-class city code. Home rule gives municipalities greater flexibility to set their own laws and ordinances. McKeesport and Monroeville are among municipalities that converted to home-rule government.
City residents also appointed members of the home-rule commission, with Councilwoman Denise Brownfield leading all vote-getters with 901. Connie A. Lucas-Kemp, who according to her LinkedIn page, is founder of Duquesne Network for Fairness & Community Development Corporation, came in second with 794.
Kirsten A. Pastrick, a community leader in Duquesne, lodged 711, and Burton Comensky, Duquesne School Board member, had 671 votes.
The remaining home-rule commissioners will be determined as county elections officials certify the 957 write-in tallies. It’s believed that Councilman Derek Artim will be one of those.
Sample says once Allegheny County officials certify the results and notify the winning write-in candidates, the city will be notified, and Duquesne will work to secure funding to hire a consultant to guide the process of drafting a home-rule charter.
Tom Leturgey is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh and the editor of KSWA Digest, the online news and features home of the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance. His work also appears in The Valley Mirror and other publications.
Originally published December 15, 2024.
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