Biography
Rich Fitzgerald was sworn into office as Allegheny County’s 3rd Chief Executive on January 3, 2012 at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum. Surrounded by his wife, Cathy Tomasovich Fitzgerald, and his children Jocelyn, Erin, Caroline, Tanner, Madeline, Louisa, Mara, and Jackson, Rich took the oath of office as administered to him by The Honorable James J. Hanley, Jr., Magisterial District Judge.
The oldest son of Dick Fitzgerald and Pat Mangold, Rich was born at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood. He attended St. Lawrence O’Toole grade school and Central Catholic High School before going on to attend Carnegie-Mellon University. He earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a business minor in 1981.
In 1982, Rich started a small business, Aquenef, (acronym for “water and energy efficiency”). Three decades later, the company is the leading provider of water treatment equipment and services in the Western Pennsylvania Region, with over 700 customers.
Rich first became active in government when his children began school. He and his wife became involved in the PTO and worked with local elected officials on zoning and other issues. In 1998, he worked on the campaign to change the form of government in Allegheny County and in 1999, ran for one of the district council seats on the newly-formed County Council. He represented District 11 from 2000-2011 and served from 2004-2011 as the President of Council.
During his time on County Council, Rich worked to reform government and save taxpayers money by taking on popular officials and eliminating a number of row offices. Rich also worked to improve the way Allegheny County does business. Through his legislation and leadership, Allegheny County now has a Homestead Exemption for property owners and a Human Relations Commission. In 2011, Rich resigned from County Council to run for Chief Executive, winning the seat by a huge margin on November 8, 2011.