Politics & Government

Dormont Assistant Manager Taking Manager Job In Homestead

Ian McMeans will continue to live in Dormont and said it's been a great learning experience.

’s assistant borough manager is shortening his title.

Ian McMeans has been hired as the borough manager of Homestead. He starts in September.

McMeans, 25, plans to continue living in Dormont.

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“It’s a great community. It’s a great place to raise your kids,” he said Friday, citing its walkability, variety of businesses and access to public transportation.

“It’s a great community and there’s a ton of potential here and great opportunity for development,” he said.

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He said the decision had nothing to do with the borough’s recent turmoils, which have included struggles over whether council or the mayor has ultimate authority over the police department.

“The council-mayor debate, it’s part of government. It happens everywhere in government,” he said, citing, as example, the difficulty for Congress in approving health coverage for 9/11 first responders.

Boroughs can face challenges because the distribution of power isn’t as clearly defined as in other municipal government structures, he said.

“It was a great opportunity for me and I had a great time here,” he said. He was hired in Dormont in May 2010.

McMeans, who has a master’s degree in public policy management from Carnegie Mellon University, said Dormont has a great potential for development, citing its T stops.

McMeans counted giving Dormont a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter, helping set up the reverse 911 service, helping find ways to make the pool run more efficiently and working on the employee manual and job descriptions among his successes.

He said he was most proud of his work on the Dormont Street Fair last October and working with borough Manager Gino Rizza on the program application.

Rizza’s “long-term vision for Dormont is great and he makes every decision with the best interests of the tax payers in mind,” McMeans said.

He said Rizza’s door has always been open to him.

“He’s receptive to new ideas and ways that we can move the borough forward,” he said.

Rizza said Ian was a pleasure to work with and Homestead will be gaining a smart person.

"I can see Ian being CEO of a company," Rizza said.


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