Lower Burrell Councilman Joe Grillo close to completing his final term

While Lower Burrell Councilman Joe Grillo is perhaps best known for belting out the “God Bless America” for city events, the elder statesman will miss his official duties when he completes his term at the end of the year.

Grillo has been a city councilman for nearly 16 years and previously a Burrell School board member for four years. At age 62, he is stepping down from public responsibilities to spend more time with his family and friends.

“I have somebody in my life that I really care about and love in a long-distance relationship,” he said, “and if I want to book a plane for Vermont, I want to be able to.”

Grillo who is a retired bookkeeper from the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds Office, plans to spend more time with his fiancée, Lori Grzybek Bartlett, and daughter, Gabby Grillo, of New Kensington.

“I’m at an age when I want to sit back and relax and let someone else take the reins with new ideas,” he said.

But he knows he is giving up a public service position that has become a part of his life.

“I will miss hearing from residents, whether their issues are positive or negative,” he said.

Grillo said he’ll also miss his colleagues on council, even when they didn’t get along.

Westmoreland County Judge Chris Scherer, a former Lower Burrell resident, calls Grillo “a man of the people.” He has known Grillo for 30 years.

“Joe could relate to people well,” Scherer said. “He could talk to anybody. He was really concerned about his community.”

Looking back on his tenure as a councilman, the most dramatic issue for Grillo was the murder of Lower Burrell Police Officer Derek Kotecki, who was killed in an ambush while on duty on Oct. 12, 2011.

Grillo said it was his worst day on council and one of the worst days of his life.

Kotecki always referred to Grillo as “Mr. Grillo.” It was around budget time in October 2011 when Grillo saw Kotecki in city hall and told him to start calling him “Joe.” “He still called me Mr. Grillo. That’s the kind of respect he had for people. And then a week later, he was murdered senselessly in the streets.”

Since then, Grillo said, police and other first responders are in his daily prayers.

During his tenure, Grillo liked fielding complaints and finding help for residents in the flood-prone parts of the city’s Kinloch section.

One of his more important tasks as a councilman was helping the city comply with a Westmoreland County mandate more than a decade ago to change some duplicate residential addresses to prevent dispatching problems for emergencies.

“It was a pain in the neck for some people,” he said after the city had to change the addresses of 600 to 700 residences.

With his insider’s view of the city, Grillo liked seeing the community come together to help those in need.

“There were spaghetti dinners for residents with cancer and other events to help others,” Grillo said. “The people we have in our community know how to step it up.”

Grillo’s time as a councilman deepened his appreciation of his community.

“I love the people I represented,” he said, “and I love the city.”