Young voters endorse Pittsburgh Public School Board candidates

As a candidate for the Pittsburgh Public Schools board, Heather Arnet hopes to create a student committee to serve as a liaison between the district's high schools and the school board. Students on the committee would explain the board's policies to students, and it would express students' concerns about the district to the board, she said. The idea was just one reason why the Pennsylvania League of Young Voters Political Action Committee endorsed Arnet for the race for the board's District 2 seat.

The group this morning announced its slate of endorsed candidates for next month's May primary election. Among the candidates were Allegheny County Prothonotary Michael Lamb, who is running for city controller; Pittsburgh Public Schools board member Patrick Dowd, who is running for city council; and acting Allegheny County Sheriff William Mullen, who is running for the post he holds."For us, (the endorsement) means a great deal," said Arnet, executive director of the Women and Girls Foundation. "I'm very interested in getting youth (involved)."

Six of the endorsed candidates attended the formal announcement at the Firehouse Lounge in the Strip District. They all briefly spoke about their intentions to engage young people in the region and keep them here. U.S. Census figures released earlier this month showed that the Pittsburgh metropolitan area lost more people to deaths and migration than any other metro area but New Orleans. "This endorsement, in particular, is a real honor," Lamb said. "It's (an organization) that has proven over the years to be really active."

Mullen said he had no intention of becoming sheriff when, as deputy chief, he left the Pittsburgh police department after 37 years on the force to take the No. 2 job at the Sheriff's Office. But he became acting sheriff when Sheriff Pete DeFazio resigned last fall with the department embroiled in scandal. "I started something, and I would like to finish it and re-establish the credibility of the department," he said.