With promises to fix the damage done by months of constant bickering and gridlock, Allegheny County Commissioners Bob Cranmer and Mike Dawida jointly and publicly assumed the government role on Thursday, August 14 -- giving the proverbial boot to former chairman Larry Dunn.

This gambit took place nineteen and a half months after Republicans Dunn and Cranmer had become the first GOP majority in 60 years to gain control of county government, only to see their historic victory unwind over policy and personnel differences.

The new arrangement has Cranmer becoming chairman after the meeting and serving until Septermber 2nd, 1998. Democrat Mike Dawida will then take over and retain the chairmanship until December 31st, 1999.

Ranking Cranmer amongst the likes of Benedict Arnold, Dunn accused his one-time running mate of being disloyal to him, the Republican Party and the people of Allegheny County.

At a news conference afterward, Cranmer and Dawida stated in the Post-Gazette that they had teamed up in a bid to reverse the county's worsening financial condition and to end the paralysis that had seized the government because of the commissioners' inability to work together.

The ousting of Dunn was largely a symbolic gesture because the chairmanship carries no significant power. Any action requires consent of at least two of the three commissioners.

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