McDonald Roberts declares
Valerie McDonald Roberts, Allegheny County's real estate director, and former recorder of deeds and city councilwoman, officially announced her run for county controller today.
Her name has been in the mix for a while -- along with Chelsa Wagner, Nick Kotik and George Matta -- but she joins Wagner, a state Rep from Brookline, as only other confirmed candidate.
The current controller, Democrat Mark Patrick Flaherty, is running for county executive.
“I have been blessed to have had many years of corporate, legislative and administrative experiences to make me uniquely qualified to be the best candidate for County Controller in addressing Allegheny County’s challenges. The breadth of my career experiences prepares me to handle the essence of the County Controller’s job – independent fiscal responsibility for Allegheny County. ‘Good government’ and ‘reform’ are great concepts, but I have actually implemented them, and will always strive for nothing less than excellence in government,” she said in a prepared statement.
Her full statement is after the jump:
Valerie McDonald Roberts, currently Manager of the Allegheny County Department of Real Estate, formally announces her candidacy for Allegheny County Controller and will seek the Democratic Party endorsement for the 2011 Primary.
Valerie McDonald Roberts has served as an elected and public official for 21 years, as Pittsburgh School Board Director, Pittsburgh City Council Member, and Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds. She made history in becoming the first African American woman elected to Pittsburgh City Council, and the first African American elected to an Allegheny County row office. After 6 county elected row offices were eliminated by voter referendum in 2005, County Executive Dan Onorato appointed Ms. Roberts in 2008 as Manager of the Department of Real Estate, with an expansion of responsibilities of the former Recorder of Deeds office.
During her 9 years of service to Allegheny County government, Ms. Roberts is credited for re-engineering the former Recorder of Deeds office in terms of efficiency, personnel management, incorporation of best of breed computer technology, cost-saving green initiatives, and fiscal prudence. She prides herself in methodically closing the gender based pay equity gap in the office, and increasing racial diversity to county demographics. After having co-founded the Anti-Predatory Lending Initiative in 2001 while on City Council, Ms. Roberts continued her advocacy in protecting the public as Recorder of Deeds. She was the first and then only Recorder in the state to refuse recordation for public record, any document bearing a social security number, to prevent identity theft and fraud.
Ms. Roberts in 1990 challenged the Pittsburgh School District administration to audit its computer expenditures, and thus spearheaded the district’s first professional comprehensive technology implementation strategic plan to avoid future wasteful spending. She made history in 2000 by becoming the first woman appointed as Chair of City Council’s Committee on Finance and Budget. During her tenure, she pressed the state and the city to take early and preemptive actions to resolve a then $20 million structural deficit, to avoid a growing deficit in future years.
Ms. Roberts states, “I have been blessed to have had many years of corporate, legislative and administrative experiences to make me uniquely qualified to be the best candidate for County Controller in addressing Allegheny County’s challenges. The breadth of my career experiences prepares me to handle the essence of the County Controller’s job – independent fiscal responsibility for Allegheny County. ‘Good government’ and ‘reform’ are great concepts, but I have actually implemented them, and will always strive for nothing less than excellence in government.”
Ms. Roberts is married to Ted Roberts, Jr. She has 4 adult children and 6 grandchildren. She is a member of St. Paul Baptist Church in Point Breeze.