County consultant likely commission appointee
Fayette County transportation consultant William Piper appears headed for appointment to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, a regional planning agency, with strong backing from Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh and qualified backing from Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites. Effusive in his praise for Piper, Cavanagh touted the retired PennDOT official as someone with demonstrated ability to clear bureaucratic smokescreens and get to the crux of issues, particularly concerning transportation.
“I really think that this gentleman would be a fantastic advocate for Fayette County,” Cavanagh said at Tuesday’s agenda meeting. “We need somebody who’s looking at PennDOT and not taking what PennDOT says as the gospel.”
Cavanagh said that Piper knows how the government game is played, so much so that Cavanagh believes some PennDOT officials don’t want Piper serving as a county representative to SPC. He even speculated that some PennDOT people view Piper as a “traitor” for his work as a consultant.
To further validate Piper’s worth, Cavanagh said that he also serves as a transportation consultant in Westmoreland County, where economic development guru Larry Larese hangs his hat.
Cavanagh called Larese “Mr. Economic Development” in western Pennsylvania for his work as executive director of the Westmoreland County Economic Development Corp. He said that if Larese and other Westmoreland officials recognize Piper’s worth, it’s a foregone conclusion that Fayette should do the same.
However, Commissioner Ronald M. Nehls voiced concern about putting Piper in a role with SPC where he may some day have to choose between backing a project for Fayette or one for Westmoreland.
“He puts himself in a very difficult position … an almost embarrassing situation” in that scenario, said Nehls.
Cavanagh countered that if it ever comes to a head-to-head choice, he would think that Piper would recuse himself from that particular decision. Nehls said that if that’s the case, “Why have him in there?” in the first place.
Vicites noted that his first choice for the available SPC spot was Jim Marzullo, who is a founding member of the Fayette Expressway Completion Organization. Without a second vote, however, Vicites said he’s willing to compromise and support Piper, provided that the solicitor agrees that Piper will have no conflict of interest serving on the SPC.
“If it’s a conflict, I’m not voting for it because I can’t,” said Vicites, who noted, “I think he (Piper) brings a lot to the table.”
The commissioners agreed to put the matter of filling the available SPC slot on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting. The vacancy was created when the first appointee, South Union Township Supervisor Robert Schiffbauer, resigned. Vicites said that Schiffbauer couldn’t devote the time, given his township job and his work as a Fayette County Airport Authority board member.