Local governments must become sites of innovation and resilience. They must prepare not only to endure the coming years but to use them as a crucible for reform. We can, and must, emerge from this moment with a more honest politics, a more realistic planning discipline, and a more grounded sense of the work ahead. The era of inherited security is over. The age of adaptive government has begun. We did not choose this moment. But we do get to choose how we meet it.

If we gut Medicaid, we don’t just cut a budget line — we cut through the care that holds our communities together. In Allegheny County, more than 250,000 people rely on Medicaid. It supports our seniors, our EMS response, our rural hospitals, and our children’s access to mental health care. The proposed cuts out of Washington would shift the burden to local governments, strain our emergency services, and force impossible choices.

On a 350,000-acre ranch in Montana, there was no manual, no backup, and no time to dwell — just seven of us and whatever the day threw our way. You learned to stay calm under pressure, take responsibility, and get the job done right. That same ethic guides me today, whether I’m in turnout gear or sitting in a budget meeting. Public service isn’t about being in control, it’s about being ready when it counts.

A call to reimagine local government in Western Pennsylvania, not as a patchwork of siloed jurisdictions, but as a network of communities building shared solutions for a changing world.

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