We did not hand Roddey a 'mess'

While recently reading the Post-Gazette's historical recap of the assessment process in Allegheny County ("Assessment Controversy," April 30), I couldn't help but question why the paper chose to portray the countywide reassessment given to the Roddey administration as a "mess."

I do know that former County Executive Jim Roddey tends to publicly portray this major reassessment as such, but the PG should know better. Considering that the newspaper consistently clamors for accurate assessments, Mike Dawida and I are the two public officials who took the bull by the horns and actually addressed the issue head-on.

A reassessment process of that magnitude certainly had some issues, but all county property owners were given ample opportunity to appeal the reassessment, as many did. If Jim Roddey's management of this process subsequently became a "mess" (with his computer-generated reassessment) and eventually led to his political demise, that's his issue to deal with. But I can state with the utmost confidence that he was not handed a "mess."

 

 

BOB CRANMER

Former Allegheny County Commissioner

Brentwood