Oct 27, 2012 5 min read

Had a reapportionment committee drawn a map of the 18th Congressional District differently, Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi probably wouldn’t have thrown his hat into the ring. But with half of Greene County added to the district, and a bigger share of Washington County, Maggi saw an opportunity to get into the campaign he envisioned 10 years ago: a head-to-head contest between himself and Tim Murphy. Maggi was Washington County sheriff back then, and Murphy was a state senator representing mostly southern and western Allegheny County. But Maggi lost in the Democratic primary, so a showdown between the former state trooper and the psychologist never took place. “Only 16 percent of Washington County was included in the district” in 2002, Maggi said. This year, the 18th Congressional District election encompasses 129 of the county’s 184 precincts, and Maggi has been the top vote-getter each of the three times he’s run for commissioner. But what about those vote-rich parts of densely populated Allegheny County and a large chunk of Westmoreland County? “We’re not conceding any part,” Maggi said. This year also was the first time Murphy faced a primary challenge from within his own party in conservative Evan Feinberg, whom Murphy trounced 63 percent to 37 percent. Maggi was unopposed in the spring. Murphy has slammed Maggi for raising Washington County taxes 22 percent while his county commissioner’s salary went up by the same amount. “At a time when families and seniors in Southwestern Pennsylvania are struggling to get by, Larry Maggi raised property taxes 22 percent at the same time he raised his own pay by 22 percent,” Murphy’s campaign materials say. In separate interviews, both Murphy and Maggi expanded on the sound bite and piece of direct mail paid for by the Murphy campaign. Maggi took issue with Murphy’s assertion that Maggi raised property taxes at the same time he raised his own pay 22 percent. “I never raised my own salary,” Maggi said. Washington County commissioners Diana Irey, Bracken Burns and John Bevec voted for an annual 3 percent pay raise on Dec. 3, 2002, which affected county officials who took office in 2004 and thereafter. State law forbids county commissioners from raising their own salaries during their current terms. Bevec never benefited from the salary increase because he was voted out when Maggi and Burns won the 2003 Democratic primary. Board members’ last pay increase before 2004 was enacted in 1995, before any of the current commissioners took office. Washington County officials’ records on tax increases and pay raises are apparently a double-edged sword. Democrat Rob McCord has brought up exactly the same issue against his opponent in the state treasurer’s race, Republican Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan. She said in a news release she attempted four times in 2004 to rescind all pay raises for elected Washington County officials. Now in her fifth, four-year term, Irey Vaughan has voted for two property tax increases. Maggi, a commissioner since 2004, has also voted for two. Both point out that Washington County’s tax levy, which now stands at 24.9 mills, is among the lowest in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Murphy pointed out that Maggi did not go along with Irey, when in September 2005, at a county salary board meeting, she called for a special meeting to freeze the salaries of Washington County elected officials. Maggi said the Fourth-Class County Code specifies that “raising” elected officials’ salaries must be done at a special, evening meeting in a central location. It doesn’t specifically address wage freezes, and his colleague, Burns, said at the time that salary board was the wrong forum. Murphy pointed out that Irey’s 2005 motion died for lack of a second. Asked why he did not second Irey’s motion, Maggi recalled, “Our solicitor said, ‘You can’t vote on salaries for now.'” After commissioners Maggi, Irey and Burns voted for a property tax increase in 2009, Irey rebated her raise of $1,823 to the county treasury and Maggi remitted a similar amount in a lump sum at the beginning of 2010. After a one-year freeze, the salary board reinstituted 3 percent raises for county department heads. Commissioners’ salaries by 2012 were $75,160 for the chairman and $74,160 for the other two members of the board. Congressional salaries have also increased since Murphy took the oath of office in 2003. When he was sworn in, Congressional pay stood at $154,700 and it went up to $169,300 in January 2008. Murphy said he voted for a pay freeze that Congress approved in 2009, and that he has used less money than allocated for his office staff, rebating more than $1 million to the treasury during the nine years he has been in office. In addition, Murphy voted for and Congress approved a bill that has cut office budgets by 11 percent over the past three years. Both candidates say there’s a lack of transparency in each other’s budgets. While Maggi points out that the county is required to balance its budget each year, he questioned if Congress, come December, is “going to kick the can down the road again? The first thing we really need to do is cut our spending.” Murphy said revamping the tax code is and should be “Congress’ No. 1 priority” and directed his ire at President Barack Obama, saying, “You have to give us something that balances.” Although Murphy and Maggi are now at odds, Murphy made a prediction. “We’re going to end up working together Nov. 7. He’ll be the commissioner and I’ll be the congressman.”