Pittsburgh City Councilman Anthony Coghill announces bid for Allegheny County treasurer
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Pittsburgh City Councilman Anthony Coghill is launching a campaign for Allegheny County treasurer.
Coghill, a Beechview Democrat in his second term on council, said his experience as a city councilman, business owner and Sports & Exhibition Authority treasurer has prepared him for the role of county treasurer.
“I feel like my life’s work, a wealth of experience starting from starting my own company when I was 26 years old, now has prepared me,” Coghill said.
Incumbent John Weinstein, a Democrat, has served as treasurer since being elected to the post in 1999. He announced in January that he is running for county executive.
The county treasurer’s office is responsible for collecting county taxes and fees and distributing those throughout county government. It also is tasked with investing county funds.
Coghill said his experience as the treasurer of the Sports & Exhibition Authority would help him acclimate to the position quickly.
“I’m just looking to be as efficient as the current treasurer is,” Coghill said. “I’ll bring my own style of governance there and maybe new ideas will spring up.”
Coghill said he’s not eyeing any major changes for the office, which he believes runs “like a fine-oiled machine.”
The decision to run for the county treasurer position “just developed in the last couple weeks,” Coghill said.
Coghill said deciding to run was a difficult decision because it would pull him away from his current post as a city councilman.
“This was a very difficult decision for me, because I truly love what I do and I have so many things that still have to come to fruition,” he said.
Coghill said he’s confident that his major ongoing projects — including building a new public works division to serve his constituents, a major demolition project on Broadway Avenue in Beechview and a report outlining recommendations on how the city could better deal with homelessness — will be finished by the time he would leave his current post.
He said he would remain involved with other projects, such as developing an urban farm in a Brookline park, even if elected to the new office.
Democrat Erica Rocchi Brusselars, of Pittsburgh’s North Side, also launched a bid for the treasurer’s seat. She said her experience as an actuary and working more than 14 years at global insurance firm Willis Towers Watson has prepared her to be the county’s top financial watchdog.