Letter to the editor: Thinking big for Pittsburgh

Regarding Yarone Zober’s op-ed “Innamorato needs big action for an Allegheny County that has been thinking small” (May 20, TribLIVE): Let’s hope the probable future Allegheny County executive is not only able to think big, but also is far-sighted enough to identify the talent necessary to move Pittsburgh into the circle of successful cities.

My recently deceased husband, Alex Lairo, was one of those “big thinkers.” In the mid 1990s, as European director for Penns Southwest Association, he worked to bring European businesses to this area. He also encouraged the convention center to initiate dialogue with the Frankfurt “Messe” (convention center) to expand Pittsburgh”s attractiveness. He wrote and spoke energetically on expanding the Pittsburgh airport by attracting airlines such as Lufthansa to use it as a cargo center.

If Sara Innamorato is able to recruit energetic, creative and open-minded talent, then Pittsburgh will retain, or exceed, its deservedly good reputation as being a great place to live and work. We once pulled ourselves up “from the ashes of decay” and Pittsburgh became a good example of how to move away from industrial decay. In the mid 1990s, my husband led a seminar in Naples, Italy, where the city wanted to rejuvenate its own decaying industrial site called Bagnoli. A headline appeared in the Naples newspaper, “Verso una Bagnoli come Pittsburgh.” Towards a Bagnoli like Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh has the big thinkers who can help in moving toward greater achievements. The new Pittsburgh exec has to identify that talent, then turn ideas into action.

Bernadine Wagner Lairo

Frankfurt, Germany