Get To Know Pittsburgh Mayoral Candidate Tony Moreno

Tony Moreno is on the City Cast Pittsburgh podcast, making his pitch to be Pittsburgh's next mayor. Here's a snippet of our interview:

What is Pittsburgh's biggest challenge right now?

Obviously it's public safety. I had no idea we were gonna be at this point this time around. The last time I ran for mayor, everybody wanted to talk to me because I was a retired police detective. And for me, that's just been my life for almost 30 years — law enforcement. So I see what the problems are, and they're easily taken care of if they just do it. … We're not addressing the causes of crime in our neighborhoods. We're just following [policy].

What is Pittsburgh's biggest opportunity?

Responsible AI. This is going to be the renaissance of the tri-state area and the city of Pittsburgh — 10 times what steel was in the 1800s. We are in a position where this technology is exploding. It is growing faster than they can keep up with, but that needs energy and resources.

What's necessary for data storage, data mining, and advanced intelligence technology is power and cooling. Water's the big issue. You have to be near a source of water. So when you look at the 62nd Street Bridge, if you're coming across it into the city, if you look down to the right, there used to be a big warehouse there where the train would come in. Right next to that plot of land is an oil and gas storage facility. The railroad tracks are right below it. The river is right there.

If you can do this correctly, you use the water to cool the centers. You use the energy to power them. You attach that energy to the water system we have right now. We have a big problem with keeping our water clean. That's a huge problem. We don't address it enough.

My environmentalism is real. I'm an outdoorsman — I hunt, I fish, but I respect it. You have to preserve those things. When we talk about this new renaissance with advanced technology, we need to utilize the rivers to have this happen. We can include hydrogen research by using this natural gas energy to have these data centers run. We can develop that faster. The wealth that is being presented is going to transform Pittsburgh. When you put those centers here, people are going to come here to be involved in this, from the highest level of technology to building maintenance. That's going to be the way that Pittsburgh changes.

Why should someone vote for you May 20?

I'm the only one who's going to be honest to you, to show exactly how I'm spending your money, to come in and say, “We are failing here, and this is why.” And you are publicly going to see the correction. [Other candidates for mayor] don't want to do that. They all have something that they have to hide behind or campaign for. One candidate has $1 million and the other candidate has $750,000. They have a lot of money. That's because they had to make promises. Their message doesn't cure the problems.

Everybody says the Republican doesn't have money. I don't have money. That should tell you something. All I have is my message, and my message comes from being in the street and working in this community — understanding how our decisions affect the people on the street. Why are there people living in planters and dying on bike paths, overdosing without any help? Why? Because we don't have anybody that lives in that area. I spent my career doing that. I know who's suffering. … It makes me so mad that the answer is there. They know it, and they don't do it because they have something to lose. And I'm standing right in front of them saying, “It doesn't have to be this way, Pittsburgh. I'll protect you. I won't steal your money. I'll help us grow. Just give me the opportunity. I'm here to serve.”

These questions have been edited for length and clarity. For the full conversation, listen to the episode and check out our other installments: