Neighbors Unite Wilkinsburg Introduces New Candidates

Neighbors Unite Wilkinsburg is heading into a new election season with a full slate of candidates in the hopes they will continue good work in the borough as they push for more progress and overcome obstacles.

Donna Bour, a Wilkinsburg resident and founding member of the community organization, said the official political action committee is a non-partisan group that began with several concerned neighbors and citizens.

“It started out as a group of neighbors from all the wards in Wilkinsburg who just started getting together and talking about what was going on in the borough, what our concerns were and what we could do as a group to make it better,” Bour said.

Neighbors Unite Wilkinsburg works to find strong local candidates committed to its mission, which includes encouraging redevelopment, stabilizing borough management and personnel, cooperating with state and county governments and upholding professional ethics.

As candidates endorsed by NUW start their campaigns, they are then supported with volunteers, pamphlets, yard signs and more through involvement in the group.

While NUW has focused primarily on Wilkinsburg Council elections, this year, it also has a group of candidates running for Wilkinsburg School Board positions.

“I do know that we pay a lot of money in school taxes and I think Wilkinsburg is 45 out of 49 in performance in the state,” Bour said. “Every year, we hear from residents and they say, ‘What are you going to do?’ and this year we decided to support candidates for school board and see if we can have the same kind of positive impact we feel we have had in the borough.”

at the state level and already high taxes in the borough, Bour said trying to get involved in the school district race became a priority for NUW.

Since NUW formed, the group has built a track record of bringing in new leaders on Wilkinsburg Council, including Tracey Evans and . Bour also said since the group’s inception, Wilkinsburg has gained a Community Development Corporation, has gotten involved with the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Association, has had a stable borough manager, a great police chief and active neighborhood crime watches.

“We got what we felt were good people elected, shared our vision for the borough and were willing to work,” Bour said. “Since then, we have been really fortunate in that we have seen a lot of changes in the borough and a lot of it has to do with the people we helped get into office.”

NUW currently has three candidates running for spots on Wilkinsburg Council, including , , who is taking her first plunge into local politics and Vannessa McCarthy Johnson, an incumbent.

“I saw all the things they have been doing and I have lived here for the last 10 years,” Goodman said. “I feel that a lot of the positive things that have been going on, NUW had a crucial part in and I want to keep that momentum going.”

Goodman is running for the seat Wilkinsburg Councilman Carl Lewis currently holds. He recently was arrested on charges that he assaulted a local woman.

“Nobody seemed to be stepping up in Ward 3 and it’s a crucial ward considering what is going on and I decided it was time to run,” Goodman said. “I think as I get older, I realize if you really want to change things, you have to get involved in local politics and vote in primaries.”

Fithyan said he believes Wilkinsburg is an up and coming community. While he has volunteered in community clean-ups and handing out pamphlets for past candidates, he decided it was time to take his own run this year.

“I think we can develop more program for our youth after schools, working with Chief Coleman to keep kids off the streets, and continuing to focus on the houses we have,” Fithyan said. “Right now, we have so many abandoned houses and we are receiving money to tear them down but not enough. I will continue to work with state funds, local sources and foundations to get those problems corrected.”

Bour said NUW also works to get more residents involved in the local planning commissions, zoning boards and any other areas they can contribute.

“If you care about where you live, you have to get involved,” Bour said. “People tend to look at the national elections as the most important, when in fact, it’s the local elections – that’s what is happening in your community and that’s where change happens.”

For more information on NUW, visit http://www.neighborsunitewilkinsburg.org/.