O'Connor vows to support families, children if elected Pittsburgh mayor

Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor, campaigning to be Pittsburgh’s mayor, stood in front of Cowley Recreation Center in Troy Hill Tuesday, pointing out the broken windows and boarded-up doors.

City officials had hoped to use federal covid-19 relief money to fund improvements to the center. That hasn’t happened.

If he’s elected mayor, O’Connor said, investing in recreation centers like Cowley will be a top priority.

“Cowley Rec Center should be open right now,” he said.

O’Connor in December declared his candidacy for Pittsburgh mayor, looking to oust Mayor Ed Gainey in the Democratic primary May 20.

Gainey, who is completing his first term as the city’s mayor, launched his re-election campaign in August.

O’Connor on Tuesday outlined plans to support families and children in Pittsburgh, something he said is paramount to ensuring the city’s future is bright.

“I believe Pittsburgh should be every family’s first choice,” he said. “Instead, what I see is a mayor and an administration that has failed to prioritize the 45,000 kids that call Pittsburgh home, failed to prioritize them with parks, playgrounds, rec centers, programs and support that they deserve.”

He criticized Gainey for reallocating federal dollars officials had earmarked to revitalize Cowley and other recreation centers throughout the city.

Gainey’s 2025 budget includes no funding for the shuttered Troy Hill facility.

Olga George, a spokeswoman for Gainey, said the city reallocated federal covid-19 relief money initially earmarked for the site because officials were unable to finish work at the site within the timeframe the federal government imposed on American Rescue Plan Act funding. That money must be spent by the end of 2026.

George said the city has allocated $8.63 million to revitalize the site in 2027.

O’Connor said he would prioritize finding funding for such sites. He suggested working with the city’s professional sports teams and other partners to help pay for improvements to youth athletic programs and facilities.

In a statement, Gainey said he has worked to improve and expand recreational opportunities for youth throughout his first term as mayor.

“We’ve fixed and re-opened pools, built basketball courts, and invested in a wide range of services and programming to create opportunity and prevent violence,” Gainey said.

He highlighted his efforts to create education and youth coordinator positions within the mayor’s office, launch the Youth Civic Leadership Academy and allocate $1 million in Stop the Violence grant funds each year to support organizations working to prevent youth violence.

O’Connor said that if he is elected mayor, he’ll launch an Office of Youth and Families, which would work with various city departments, schools and other organizations to improve recreation centers, bolster youth programming and encourage young people to make Pittsburgh home.

The office, he said, would help expand child care options and provide support for caregivers.

O’Connor — who chaired Pittsburgh City Council’s parks and recreation committee for eight years and is now raising his own children in the city — said he would expand hours and programming at recreation centers throughout the city.

To support working families — especially parents who work multiple jobs — O’Connor advocated for expanding the hours at recreation centers, including more availability in early morning hours and over weekends.

“The reality is we have not reimagined our rec centers in generations,” he said.

In O’Connor’s vision, city recreation centers would provide additional mental health resources, food programs and job training.

Recreational facilities and the support they provide are essential for local families, said Nathan Goodson, who founded The Promise Center in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood.

“Community centers are not just buildings,” he said. “They embody the spirit and togetherness and the belief that every child deserves the chance to succeed.”

Investing in such facilities — along with athletic and recreational programs — is integral to O’Connor’s ambition to grow the city’s tax base with more residents.

“There is no future of Pittsburgh is we cannot attract and retain young people, young families and children,” he said.

Encouraging more families to live and stay in Pittsburgh would help grow the city’s tax base, alleviating the financial stresses the city now faces, O’Connor said.

He criticized Gainey’s administration for using money collected through the city’s park tax to hire more workers, money he said could’ve been better spent on parks and playgrounds.

The city in 2022 funded 27 full-time positions through parks tax money. The city in 2025 is funding 57 positions with that cash.

Residents have voiced frustration with long-delayed park projects throughout the city.