Politics & Government

Keaney Seeking Spot On Dormont Democrat Ballot

James Keaney is running on a ticket with councilmen Drew Lehman and John Maggio. He is among five Democrats seeking three spots on the November ballot.

James Keaney sees Dormont moving in the right direction and said he thinks he can help it get there if elected to council.

Keaney, 29, is running on a ticket with current councilmen Drew Lehman and John Maggio. They’re endorsed by the Dormont Democratic Committee.

He’s lived in Dormont since 2006 after graduating from Point Park University. He’s a senior search strategist at Impaqt, a digital marketing agency in Green Tree, and he volunteers on the borough’s recreation board.

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Keaney first moved in with his sister, then a Dormont resident, and decided to buy in the borough when he and his wife, Amy, were expecting their son, Roman, 4.

“He’s in preschool now, then he will be a proud member of Dormont Elementary,” Keaney said.

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One of Dormont’s best selling points is its affordable housing, said Keaney, who is from the Harrisburg area.

“A lot of people that work with me are really young and they’re like, ‘Oh, I want to go live in Lebo or Bethel Park or Upper St. Clair,’ and aren’t realizing that, in Dormont, you can get pretty much the same experience, but it’s a lot less expensive to live here,” he said.

“When we got in five years ago, we definitely saw the potential that Dormont was going to be much younger at some point in time and that the home values are going to be rising,” he said.

Some of his ideas include marketing the borough better, possibly replacing the parking meters with digital meters—which could streamline issuing tickets—sprucing up playgrounds and developing a plan to replace trees in the parks.

He’d also like to see council meetings video recorded and hosted on the borough’s web site.

“I think there’s a lot more information and transparency we can get on the web site,” he said.

For instance, he said, the site could be used to conduct surveys and polls of residents and business owners.

“So many people have great ideas and they don’t come to the council meetings, so that’s a great easy way to get that feedback,” he said.

“We need to see more proactively reaching out to people rather than saying just come to a council meeting and bring it up,” he said. “Too many people are scared to speak in public or scared to voice their ideas. And sometimes, people that are angry come to council meetings. You need the people that are happy.”


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