Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor will present a motion at the Thursday, March 16 meeting of the Retirement Board of Allegheny County to prohibit the Board from employing professional services contractors who contribute to political campaigns for Allegheny County offices, have business relationships with Retirement Board or County officials, or who provide gifts to Board members or staff. Most other Pennsylvania county and municipal retirement boards are already subject to these prohibitions by state law, including the City of Pittsburgh.
“Our retirees, employees and their families deserve to know that personnel and investment decisions are made by the Retirement Board entirely in the interest of their future security, not the personal benefit of Board members or staff,” O’Connor said. “These are commonsense ethics rules that will help to protect our plan members and taxpayers.”
These prohibitions would mirror Pennsylvania’s Act 44 of 2009, which applies to county and municipal pension plans which have received state assistance. Allegheny County’s pension plan has not. The motion directs the Retirement Board’s Solicitor to incorporate the changes into the Board’s policies and present them for a vote at the April meeting.
