Maria McCool Starts New Chapter in Braddock

Maria McCool, who served for six years as the director of communications at , started her new job as Braddock’s borough manager this week. McCool of Forest Hills resigned from her Woodland Hills post recently and is looking forward to working with the community of Braddock. She recently sat down with us for a conversation about her new role.

What entails your new position?
You manage all of the day to day operations of the borough and I will report to borough council, so I implement the ordinances and resolutions that they pass.

What made you want to work in Braddock?
I have loved the Braddock community since before I started at the school district. It has so much history, architecture, the close-knit community, and as I got to know our students and families through the school district that live in Braddock, I just became more and more convinced that this is a place where I would really feel comfortable and love to work. In the last couple of years there has been so much new and good things going on that I just wanted to be a part of it.

What are you looking forward to the most?
Of course, there is all of the new development and business that will take place on the old hospital site and the Carrie Furnace and new housing, but mostly what I look forward to is getting to know more people in Braddock and becoming a part of their lives, doing whatever I can to help the organizations and the people that live here.

There’s so much history here and I just love the Carnegie Library Music Hall and I like to dream outrageous dreams and see if there’s a way that we could perhaps achieve some of them.