plus 1, GOP eager to reclaim Allegheny County executive job - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

GOP eager to reclaim Allegheny County executive job - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Politics is like numerology. It involves a mystical relationship between numbers and reality.

Take the following: Of the 67 counties in Pennsylvania, which one has the most Republican voters?

The answer, strangely, is Allegheny. Its 244,315 GOP voters best the Philadelphia collar counties Montgomery and Delaware, and despite being the home of Democratic stronghold of Pittsburgh, it voted for Tom Corbett over Dan Onorato in the November governor's race.

Those figures are entrancing Republicans this year as they try to find a way to take Mr. Onorato's place as Allegheny County executive. After fielding no executive candidates four years ago, the party has at least three in the mix in 2011. All of that is in the face of the daunting pool of 559,559 Democratic voters within the same county lines.

"There is a route but it is not an easy one," said Republican consultant Michael O'Connell. "But given the public mood at the moment, if you are pretty aggressive about saying you're for changing the way government works, and can do it in a credible way ... that may help you."

The party has won the seat before, after all. Jim Roddey won the county's first executive race in 1999 over Democrat Cyril H. Wecht, before losing to Mr. Onorato four years later. Mr. Roddey benefitted from the reform atmosphere of the time -- he piled up majorities in the same municipalities that voted to replace the commissioner system in 1998 -- and GOP officials see the same kind of spirit in the air with the gubernatorial win by Mr. Corbett, the former state attorney general.

"What is similar is there is no doubt people want change," said county Councilman Vince Gastgeb of Bethel Park, who helped lead Mr. Corbett's Allegheny County campaign team. "They are tired of the in-your-face Grant Street-style politics that has gotten us nowhere."

The GOP cannot match Mr. Corbett's prosecutorial record, so instead is attracting candidates with business credentials: Patti Weaver, a local tea party leader with a Harvard M.B.A. and an accounting degree, and D. Raja, a Mt. Lebanon commissioner and tech company president. County Councilman Chuck McCullough is running too, despite facing trial on charges that he took money from an elderly client and used it to make political and charitable donations.

Mr. Roddey also benefitted from Dr. Wecht's bruising 1999 Democratic primary with Mike Dawida, something that could repeat itself in the executive race this year in the interparty fight between county council President Rich Fitzgerald and county controller Mark Patrick Flaherty. Like Mr. Roddey -- who won his race by a spare 5,300 votes -- Republicans will also need a dose of luck.

"Against an acceptable Democrat, it's a very tough math equation," said Kent Gates, the Roddey campaign manager in 1999 and 2003.

Tea party may be key

Democrats say Mr. Onorato only barely lost Allegheny County (by 460 votes out of 427,318 cast) and he was the victim of a historic Republican wave that swept both Mr. Corbett and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey into office. But what if the wave is still rolling? That is where Ms. Weaver's tea party ties could be key.

At her campaign kickoff last week, Ms. Weaver, 54, of Fox Chapel, emphasized her business credentials, and her experience with government predating the 2009 conservative movement, particularly her launch of a safe haven program for abandoned babies in 2000, which she did with the help of city and county Democratic leaders. But she painted her leadership role in the conservative movement as an asset too, which she claimed could attract disillusioned Democratic voters.

"As a group, the Pittsburgh tea party is one of the strongest in the state if not the country," she said in an interview. "I believe our message does resonate with people."

Mr. Roddey -- a longtime Republican moderate and the party's county chairman -- sees the attraction, too. He claimed Mr. Corbett's victory was propelled in part by tea partiers who surged to the polls after sitting out past elections and who remain attuned to local politics.

Should Ms. Weaver win the GOP nomination it will be a major test of the movement's might -- no tea party candidate has yet won a major elected office in Pennsylvania, and the conservative message could well turn off the independents and Democrats a Republican would need to win the executive race.

"There's always that danger, but they need to listen closely to her message. It's not all that different from what most people want in the county," Mr. Roddey said. "If you are swayed by the typical media portrayal of a tea party candidate, she doesn't fit the profile -- she has degrees from Lehigh, Harvard, a CPA. She's from Fox Chapel, not exactly the heart of tea party country."

Numbers favor Democrats

Jim Burn, chairman of the county and state Democratic party, scoffed at the idea of Republicans repeating Mr. Corbett's victory in the county, noting his party's registration edge, its deeper party infrastructure, and a slate of two experienced candidates in Mr. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Flaherty.

The gubernatorial race "was two specific candidates talking about statewide issues. How they are going to parlay that into a county executive race with an inexperienced tea party candidate is an equation I don't see coming to any solution," he said.

Both Ms. Weaver and Mr. Raja -- should he formally enter the race -- are inexperienced countywide, so having an energetic primary battle could actually benefit them. Again, that would echo Mr. Roddey's 1999 race, when he got his sea legs by trouncing fellow Republican Larry Dunn by 36 points in that year's primary.

Mr. McCullough is known countywide, but perhaps not for the reasons the Republican establishment wants. His trial is due to start May 9, eight days before the primary. He said Friday that he too will run as an anti-establishment candidate -- focusing on the county's budget condition and tax rates, and appealing to tea partiers -- and will ultimately be cleared of his criminal charges.

By the numbers and by design, any Republican candidate will be an outsider this year, whether facing an original 2000 member of county council in Mr. Fitzgerald, or a man whose father and uncle both served as county commissioners in Mr. Flaherty. Given the poor finances of the state and county -- not to mention the property tax changes looming in this summer's reassessments -- a candidate with business experience who can speak to checkbook issues will resonate with voters, argued Mr. O'Connell, the GOP consultant.

"It's going to be a different kind of candidate for Allegheny County," he said. "That's what's going to engage people this year. That's going to shape every race inevitably and the fiscal environment of every municipal government."

Tim McNulty: tmcnulty@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1581. Read the Early Returns blog at earlyreturns.sites.post-gazette.com.

First published on February 14, 2011 at 12:00 am

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Career Opportunities and Job Outlook in the Fitness Industry - Associated Content

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Fitness workers are one of the healthiest occupational fields in terms of what the job outlook is like for the next decade or so. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fitness worker jobs are expected to increase

at a rate that far exceeds the average for all occupations combined. The increased devotion among a substantial portion of the population to getting in shape and staying in shape once there is the prime reason for the positive job outlook in this field. While America continues to become one of the fattest countries in the history of the world, the flip side to that equation is that Americans are prepared to spend more money getting to the point where they look like celebrities than citizens of other countries. This means prime career choices for those already in good shape who have the knack for getting others looking good.

A commitment to motivational techniques combined with a profound knowledge of the physical fitness activities and equipment equates to a very satisfactory standard of living. Fitness workers can get jobs in health clubs, hospitals, schools, specialized training studios and as personal attendants to private clients. Fitness worker specialties span the gamut of physical fitness disciplines: Pilates, yoga, karate, weight lifting and aerobic instructors are just the surface level of a career option that is seeking those experienced in achieving good health and a good-looking body regardless of the specific activities involved.

The workplace environment varies from position to position and locale to locale. Fitness directors are in charge of a gym, health club or fitness center. In addition to running exercise programs, this job can also entail the creation of programs designed to meet the needs of the members of the club. Other aspect of the fitness director job include hiring, training and firing employees and making sure administrative duties are carried out.