Politics & Government

Costanzo Seeking Spot On Democratic Ticket For Dormont Council

Onnie Costanzo is running as an unendorsed Democrat. She is among five Democrats seeking three spots on the November ballot.

Onnie Costanzo never pictured herself running for council.

She said she used to tell her husband, Joe Costanzo, when he was on council, that people didn't really pay attention to borough government. That they didn't know who was on council, or didn't know who the mayor was.

But, she said, after knocking on doors as she talks to voters while campaigning for one of three spots on the Democrat ballot in the November election, she believes differently. She is running with Valerie Abbondanzo Martino; neither have the endorsement of the Dormont Democratic Committee.

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"A lot of what I'm learning is people are disgusted," she said.

Residents are concerned about public safety and how the borough is being run, she said.

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Those are her concerns, too.

“I think employee morale in the borough is down drastically. I think something needs to be done to restore good working conditions," she said. "There just needs to be good working conditions with employees. When employees are happy, they do a better job."

"I think there needs to be more respect on council. I think, sometimes, some members are very rude to the public. You're supposed to be there for the public, to listen to them. Not for your own agenda," she said.

Asked for her thoughts on council's 6-1 vote to Phil Ross from police chief to sergeant in March, she said, "As far as I know, Phil is a good guy … I really do not believe Phil would do anything that wouldn’t be in the best interest of Dormont."

She said she couldn't say whether she would keep Manager Gino Rizza, who most borough employees signed a earlier this year stating they had no confidence in him.

“I wouldn’t make any decision unless I thoroughly looked into everything, all the details," she said.

"My number one concern is public safety. If we don’t have public safety, our borough is down the tubes. Residents need to feel safe, businesses need to feel safe,” she said.

She said she believes the police department needs to return to a staff of 15; Currently, there are 13 officers.

Overtime, she said, would decrease if the department had more officers.

Costanzo, 59, is a paraprofessional who does accounting work part-time at Swartz Izenson & Associates. She said she went to part-time status several years ago to help raise her grandchildren, ages 3 years and 9 months.

She taught religious education at for nearly 30 years, is minister of the Eucharist, and lay lectern. She's also treasurer of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish Catholic organization.

She's also a team member of Relay for Life of the South Hills and since 1993, has participated in the annual National Multiple Sclerosis Society's fundraising bike ride to Erie.

"I just want to see if I can make a difference, if I can do anything good. I want to because I’ve lived here close to 40 years. I don’t want to move," she said. "I want to see the community get better and I want to see what I can do to help it get on that road to getting better."


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