Shannon Santucci, winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary for mayor of Arnold, says she will change the leadership of the city’s police department should she continue through to claim the office following the general election in November.
Santucci led a slate with council candidates Phil McKinley, an incumbent, and newcomer Aaron Moore that defeated incumbent Mayor Joe Bia II and council candidates Michael Barbiaux and Deborah Conwell.
With 100% of precincts reporting, Santucci had about 68% of the vote over Bia, who had 31%, according to unofficial results. Santucci received 453 votes, and Bia’s count was 209, according to unofficial results.
In the race for two council seats, Moore and McKinley won with 36% and 28% of the vote, respectively, over Barbiaux, 18%, and Conwell, 17%.
Bia was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Bia, formerly a councilman, was elected mayor in 2019, defeating Karen Peconi in that year’s primary. Peconi had drawn national attention and protests for social media posts she made regarding the fatal police shooting of Antwon Rose II, 17, in East Pittsburgh.
Peconi became Arnold’s first female mayor when she took office in January 2016. One of her first actions was to demote Arnold’s first female police chief — Santucci — to sergeant and replace her with Eric Doutt. Santucci retired from the department as a sergeant in December 2018 and is now a police officer in the Fox Chapel Area School District.
On Wednesday, Santucci said she will give Doutt the option to resign, retire or stay on as a patrolman, and that he is aware of that.
“There’s a lot of uneasiness within the community with the leadership,” she said. “In my opinion, he’s not community oriented. I just feel that’s just an important adjustment that has to be made.”
Doutt could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Outside the police department, Santucci said she will want to get the city’s council and administration on the same page and focus on fighting blight.
Before the primary results came in showing her cruising to a decisive victory, Santucci said she was a “nervous wreck.” She said they were out knocking on doors just two hours before the polls closed to make sure people voted.
“We’re excited and we’re just so thankful for the community coming out and supporting us and just letting their voices be heard by voting,” she said. “We’re excited to get started and just begin to do what we said we’d do. I just feel very blessed and feel real humbled. It’s been a great experience.”
Voice of Westmoreland, which bills itself as a nonpartisan, community-based nonprofit, endorsed and supported Santucci and Moore.
“Aaron has been a longtime member (and) leader at VOW, attends City Council meetings and volunteers his time to both the Redevelopment Committee and Youth Council. Shannon is a longtime community leader who listens to the needs of Arnold residents,” Voice of Westmoreland organizer Amanda Rose Piern said. “Their win is the first step toward creating a government where the people who work the hardest and bear the greatest burden are also the ones who write the laws.”
Moore, seeking elected office for the first time, was the top vote-getter among council candidates, getting 395 of the 1,085 votes cast. McKinley held second with 305 votes.
“That’s what happens when you run a clean, grassroots campaign,” Moore said. “We’re excited. It’s not only a win for us, it’s a win for the community.”
A New Kensington native, Moore has lived in Arnold for seven years. He was still trying to process the win Wednesday.
“It was a journey,” he said. “It was nice getting out talking to people in our community. It was a great experience. I’m just happy to be sitting under Shannon’s leadership.”
No candidates were on the Republican ballot for mayor or council. County election results showed 96 Republican write-ins cast for mayor and 96 write-ins for council, but no details on those results, including if any individuals received enough votes to make the November ballot, were available.
Describing Arnold as a “Democratic stronghold,” McKinley said the primary was likely to decide the election. He was appointed to council before being elected twice.
“I’m just excited that we all won,” he said. “I’m looking forward to fresh faces and new ideas.”
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The key to winning, McKinley said, was going door to door and talking with people.
“You’ve got to find out what the voters want,” he said.
Moore said they won’t assume November is a lock and will remain active. He said they plan to hold a community event “to show our appreciation to the community and start and maintain community relationships.
“That’s what we ran on. That’s who we are. That’s what we’ll do,” he said.
Santucci said she will continue working at Fox Chapel schools and running The Tomb, an outreach ministry in Arnold she took over from Rosetta Lecocq in 2022.
Santucci said they also will do some speaking engagements, which they already were being sought for.
“It’s only been day one and people are reaching out, which excites me,” she said. “The community is excited for a change and some positive action in the community.”
Councilman George Hawdon did not seek reelection.
Also among Democrats, Cathy Ozdany was unopposed for treasurer, with 14 Republican write-ins, and Toni Montemurro was unopposed for controller, where there were 13 Republican write-in votes.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Brian by email at brittmeyer@triblive.com or via Twitter .