"This is a very important day for Allegheny County -- that we will accept change... We're going to have an efficient form of government and a building block for the future."

So states former county Commissioner Tom Foerster in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, on the issue of voters' endorsement of "home rule".

With the most slender of margins, Allegheny County voters have endorsed a new regime (in a fashion) -- a sort of new structure in their local government.

Having counted more than 99 percent of the votes, the "yes" vote was holding on to a small lead. This in turn ratified a home charter that would replace the Board of Commissioners with a county executive and part-time city council.

Establishing a wide open competition for an office, the result has the potential to be the third most powerful executive in the state. It would be exceeded in the size of the budget, and most likely in influence, only by the governor and the mayor of Philedelphia.

During next year's primary, voters will have the opportunity to choose their nominees for the executive job as well as for the 15-member council. The primary winners will meet in the fall of 1999 and take office in January 2000. Speculation on potential executive candidates has fallen on nearly all of the prominent (and some not-as-prominent) politicians in the county. All three current commissioners -- Larry Dunn, Mike Dawida, and Bob Cranmer -- stated they plan to go for the job.

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