Policy
Creating Jobs
As the founder of a business that grew from his spare bedroom to employ hundreds of people, Raja knows what it takes to create jobs. We need to create the right job creation ecosystem in Allegheny County that will encourage entrepreneurs to start companies here and stay here. Jobs will be Raja’s number one priority.
Raja has a vision of an Allegheny County that is a magnet for innovative companies and job creation. A county that is focused on leveraging its resources such as the world class universities to attract and retain talent.
Please see detailed Jobs Policy at the link below:
Raja Jobs Policy (Version 1.1)
Lowering Taxes & Balancing Budgets
Raja cut taxes as a municipal commissioner by working across the aisle and finding areas in the budget that could be cut in these tough economic times. This fiscal discipline must be brought to county budgets. We can’t afford the business as usual policies that have resulted in wasteful spending and poor fiscal planning.
Mass Transit Innovation
The current system for funding and managing the Port Authority is broken. It relied on massive transfers from the federal and state government that quite simply is a thing of the past. Mass transit is a necessary and important part of our county for the tens of thousands of citizens who depend on the system. We must work to bring the costs in the system down by allowing competition along non-utilized routes and by addressing the exploding costs.
Modernizing County Government and Improving Services
Unfortunately, many of our county services are facing real budget strains to deliver the quality service the people of Allegheny County deserve. We need to modernize services across the board using technology to deliver a better service to the people at a lower cost. Objectively, the performance needs to be benchmarked across all departments and services. The starting point for improvement is simply to measure and publish performance metrics => just the tracking and publishing of performance can yield significant performance improvement. Areas that are not working will need to be appropriately addressed to meet minimum performance thresholds.
Detailed Modernization Policy Below:
Detailed Innovation Policy Below:
Economic Growth and the Marcellus Shale
The Marcellus shale deposits throughout our county and region is one of the best economic opportunities we’ve seen in decades. Raja believes strongly that we can both benefit from the tremendous economic opportunity that is the Marcellus shale, while responsibly protecting our environment and our workers.
The county airport is sitting on one of the largest developable plots in the county, and by leasing this land for gas extraction we can gain tremendous resources to help turn the airport in the right direction.
Detailed Airport Plan
The Raja Airport Plan
Education
For Allegheny County to be successful in the 21st century, we must continue to ensure that we are producing a highly qualified workforce. Currently there is a divide between what many of our students are learning in school and what skills are needed in industry. It is leading to a belief among industries that the skilled labor that they need is not here and a belief by young workers that there is no opportunity here. Ensuring that education works in Allegheny County is essential for our continuing prosperity as a region.
Full Education Policy Below:
Raja Education Plan
Full Senior Policy Below:
The Raja Plan For Seniors
