Plum Councilman Dell Hopes For County Council Spot

Michael Dell has a passion for small business, and he hopes to extend it to the county in a bid for Allegheny County Council representative this fall.

Dell (R-Plum), Plum Council's finance chairman, will be a contender this year for a position on county council. He will take on incumbent Nick Futules (D-Oakmont) in the general election for the chance to represent the county's District 7, encompassing parts of Plum, Oakmont, Penn Hills, Verona, Harmar, Cheswick, Springdale and Wilkins.

Dell, a certified public accountant, said he hopes to improve the county's private sector and reduce taxes. As owner of Complete Business Services, a tax preparation and planning service on Saltsburg Road in Penn Hills, he said he has a strong background in finance and management that will make him a good choice for managing county money.

He has a bachelor's degree in management and marketing from Orlando College and currently is enrolled in the College for Financial Planning, which he plans to complete this summer.

His passion for improving small businesses took off in 2009 when he spearheaded the formation of the Plum Chamber of Commerce, which was first run out of his basement before establishing itself at the borough offices on New Texas Road.

"No one really focused on the business community in Plum," Dell said.

The chamber helped to promote businesses and continues to involve business leaders in community projects and to attract more businesses to the borough, he said.

When council considered an emergency medical services tax last year to make more money, Dell got involved in finding the money to stop a tax hike. Plum was able to use money from its capital purchase fund and pay Plum EMS more as an alternative, Dell said.

Dell also considers improvements to the Plum Police Department one of his best achievements as finance chairman. The borough closed its own police dispatch center and moved dispatching to the county, which saved Plum money, Dell said.

"We needed more police officers," he said, so the borough was able to use the money saved to hire two new officers.

During preparations for the 2011 budget, Dell helped to negotiate a high-deductible plan for borough employees with a health savings account, which made the borough able to purchase much-needed capital equipment, he said.

The finance chairman hopes to tackle similar budget problems in Allegheny County.

"The things I've implemented in Plum I hope to take to the county level," he said.

Dell supports the privatization of public transportation if the Port Authority is unable to get its budget under control.

He is in favor of private company Lenzner Tour and Travel, which has taken on some of the Port Authority's routes, as an alternative, as well as other private-sector companies that don't receive money from the state, he said.

In the meantime, Dell thinks the county and Port Authority should address empty buses and get a better idea of riding patterns.

As a whole, he is a strong proponent of paring down government to its essential services, such as police. The concept translates to county governing in which money can be saved by making sure there is no overlap in jobs and keeping to the essential services, he said.

He sees the position on county council as an opportunity to engage local governments more in county issues.

Dell supports the privatization of county parks' golf courses and ski lodge, which would allow the market to dictate prices.

"The private sector has the money to make necessary improvements," he said.

Dell hopes to take a position on the county's finance committee if he's elected and to continue his straightforward style of budget balancing.

Individual departments should need to justify the money they require, he said. Instead of giving them an allocated amount of money, they should start with a clean slate each year.

Dell considers himself an organized person with good attention to detail, which would be helpful in the county's financial matters, he said. It's a necessity when a small mistake in preparing someone's taxes could result in a large tax bill for the client, Dell said.

"When things need done, I just do it myself," he said. "I just roll up my sleeves."

Dell is vice chairman of the Plum Borough Republican Committee and treasurer of the St. John the Baptist School Athletic Association. He lives in Plum with his wife, Dawn, and four daughters.