Blawnox welcomes new junior council member

Blawnox Council has a new junior member.

It’s a very familiar face for Councilwoman Christine Carnevali.

Her son, Simon Passerrello-Carnevali, 16, was sworn in to his new seat by Mayor Anthony Gross on Wednesday, Sept.11.

The Shady Side Academy junior said he is interested in learning how his local government works. He also would like to look into starting a recycling program.

“I’ve always been interested in politics and stuff like that,” Passerrello-Carnevali said. “This would be a good start for me. I’m interested in helping out and being a part of something like this.”

The junior council seat is an unpaid, appointed position. The seat holder cannot vote on borough business or participate in executive sessions, which are closed-door discussions traditionally about personnel and pending litigation.

Passerrello-Carnevali plans to serve through his senior year. He said it is exciting to sit at the council table next to his mother and have more borough conversations as colleagues.

“It’s pretty cool that she’s part of the local government,” he said. “One thing we had talked about was recycling in the borough.”

The borough opted to eliminate recycling from its garbage contract last year to save money.

Rates with Waste Management went up 14%, instead of about 38% had recycling been continued.

Passerrello-Carnevali said he would like to create a recycling spot in the borough see whether residents would pay for a bin.

Carnevali was proud to watch her son take the initiative and learn more about hometown operations.

“I was pretty surprised when he approached me about it,” she said. “It is very much in line with his character and the things that he wants to do the older he gets. He wants to be involved in government, law and find out for himself if those are the paths he wants to take.”

Carnevali said they often have conversations about politics, the economy, the environment, food and other “kitchen table” issues.

“We talk about the real specifics that actually help people on a day-to-day basis,” Carnevali said. “One thing that I think is great the borough does is the food pantry. People don’t realize how hard other people have it sometimes. They don’t really recognize it.

“For us to have the food pantry and people to be able to come in and very informally get some food if they are experiencing food insecurity is very important to me.

“(Simon) often plays spoiler. He often plays devil’s advocate and tries to poke me a little bit. It’s fun.”

Passerrello-Carnevali is involved with track and field at Shady Side Academy. He is not part of the academy’s student government programs.

Councilwoman Katie Specht-Coban said the junior council program is an excellent way for youths to get real-world political experience.

“It’s a really nice thing to get them involved,” Specht-Coban said. “That’s what we’re all about.”

Blawnox’s junior council member program began in 2018 to help teens develop leadership skills and have a voice in their local government. Its first representative was Hannah Drum followed by Mona Gerges.

Its latest representative was Jacob Anthikad, who graduated from Fox Chapel Area High School last school year.