Innamorato nominates ex-Peduto staffer for Allegheny County manager position

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato on Wednesday nominated John Fournier — the deputy city administrator for Ann Arbor, Mich. — to serve as county manager.

Fournier previously spent a decade living in Pittsburgh and worked as deputy chief of staff for former Mayor Bill Peduto.

Allegheny County Council must approve Fournier’s nomination. If approved, he will be responsible for managing the 20 departments and about 5,000 employees under Innamorato’s purview.

“It is almost like a homecoming,” Fournier said of returning to Allegheny County.

A Michigan native, Fournier moved to Pittsburgh while his wife earned her Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh. They loved the area, Fournier said, and stayed for 10 years.

Now, he’s excited to return.

“The opportunity in the county executive’s office is really unique in that she’s coming in with, I think, a really ambitious agenda to help make the county government a more effective organization, to work on housing issues and sustainability issues, to fix the county’s budget and get it in a much healthier position,” Fournier said

Fournier has served as deputy city administrator for Ann Arbor since 2018. The city has a population of 119,000 residents.

In that role, he oversees public services and has garnered experience tackling the kind of problems Innamorato is prioritizing, like improving county finances and dealing with what many have called an affordable housing crisis.

While in Pittsburgh, Fournier was director of on-street and metered parking for the Pittsburgh Parking Authority from August 2016 through August 2018.

He went on to spend two years as Peduto’s deputy chief of staff.

In that role, Fournier co-authored the city’s Act 47 recovery plan, which allowed Pittsburgh to exit state oversight two years earlier than expected. Fournier said finding ways to cut back costs and bolster revenue streams — like encouraging employees at retirement age to retire, implementing staggered salary freezes and renegotiating what portion of parking revenue came to the city — helped put Pittsburgh on stronger financial footing.

Fournier said he needed time “to take a deeper dive” into Allegheny County’s budget before offering any specifics on how he might be able to help improve the county’s financial position.

“The county executive’s been upfront with people, upfront with the council and the community, about the challenges there are with the budget with ARPA funds running out,” he said, referring to the federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars that helped buoy local governments through the pandemic. “There are some holes that need to be filled there.”

His work in Ann Arbor has included efforts to bolster housing and make it easier for developers to bring new units to the market quickly.

Fournier said he also hopes to bring to Allegheny County his passion for sustainability, which he’s used to push Ann Arbor’s climate action plan. That plan includes a goal of making the city carbon-neutral by 2030, swapping all city vehicles for electric ones and encouraging residents to buy in on the efforts.

Fournier previously served as the interim Human Resources and Labor Relations Director in Ann Arbor, and said he hopes to use that experience to make Allegheny County a welcoming workplace.

”I think he is well-suited for the position,” Ann Arbor City Manager Milton Dahoney Jr. said.

Dahoney credited Fournier for helping to bring federal and state funding to Ann Arbor, procure a new elections center and craft the city’s first infrastructure agenda.

“He is a great communicator. He’s very analytical. He is willing to roll up his sleeves and actually work on a project soup to nuts,” Dahoney said. “On a more human side, he always spoke fondly of his time in Pittsburgh. I’m sure he’s elated to be able to go back.”

Fournier will begin working as acting county manager on Sept 9.

“We are delighted to welcome John back to Allegheny County after several years helping manage the City of Ann Arbor,” Innamorato said in a statement. “His breadth and depth of municipal management, including an expertise in creative revenue solutions and managing challenging fiscal scenarios, plus his deep knowledge and abiding love of Allegheny County made him a perfect candidate to be our next county manager.”

Prior County Manager Jennifer Liptak left the role in June to become chief operating officer at the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission. Steve Pilarski, who served as her deputy county manager, has been serving as acting county manager since her departure.

Liptak lauded Fournier’s work ethic and ability to work with diverse groups of people.

“He’s the kind of person you can call if you’ve got an issue and he’ll solve it,” Liptak said. “That’s a very important skillset to have at this level of government.”