Left to right: Atty. Michael Lombardo, Pittston City council, Altoona Mayor Matthew Pacifico, Altoona council candidate Dave Ellis, and Pittston City Mayor Michael Lombardo stop along Main Street to discuss streetscaping.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Mayor Michael Lombardo and his staff accompany Altoona Mayor Matthew Pacifico and council candidate Dave Ellis through the Art Loop Trail.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Pittston City Mayor Michael Lombardo, left, stops at The Slope Amphitheater to show Altoona Mayor Matthew Pacifico, right, and Altoona city council hopeful Dave Ellis.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Matthew Pacifico, the mayor of Altoona, Pa., engages in conversation with Pittston City Mayor Michael Lombardo’s staff.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
PITTSTON — In a continuing effort to explore and exchange new ideas with towns and cities across Pennsylvania, the City of Pittston hosted the City of Altoona’s mayor, Matthew Pacifico, this past Tuesday.
Mayor Pacifico, along with Altoona council candidate Dave Ellis, visited Pittston, met with City of Pittston’s Mayor Michael Lombardo and his staff, then toured downtown, showcasing the city’s art loop, streetscaping and revitalization happening along Main Street.
The 40-year-old Altoona mayor took office in his early 30s when he was first elected in 2013. He was re-elected in the primary election in the fall of 2015 where he continues to serve.
Mayor Pacifico took his city out of distressed status in just a few years of being mayor in 2017, setting a record for being the fastest city to exit a distressed status in Pennsylvania.
Like the City of Pittston, Altoona operates under Home Rule, which was accomplished in 2015.
Mayor Pacifico said he was eager to compare notes with Mayor Lombardo on how Pittston deals with the city’s blight issues. He said his city is struggling with a housing issue and one way to remedy the situation is to rid the blight issue.
“I wanted to hear some of the things Mike (Lombardo) is doing here in Pittston in terms of blight, for example,” Mayor Pacifico said. “Mike and I connected early on whenever I first started going to the municipal things (Pennsylvania Municipal League), it was over blight issues. We share that together and have that same passion for ridding blight. But it’s really cool to make the trip to Pittston to see what they are doing to the downtown area.”
As Lombardo and his staff ventured to The Slope Amphitheater through to the Art Loop down to Main Street, Mayor Pacifico had a chance to see firsthand what Pittston was trying to achieve with the dominance of art in the city as well as the success of the streetscape project.
“I’m really impressed with what I’ve seen,” Pacifico added. “I love to go to other communities to see how vibrant their downtown is, so it’s really cool to see what they have been able to accomplish.”
Like Lombardo, Mayor Pacifico believes communicating and trading ideas with other cities in the Commonwealth is great for his constituents.
“It’s important for us to interface and network with others that have similar challenges … every city in the Commonwealth really shares a lot of similarities in terms of where we are,” Mayor Lombardo said. “Whenever you get the opportunity to do that, it’s beneficial.”
Lombardo admitted having a mayor from another town or city in Pennsylvania visit Pittston makes him refocus on his thoughts on what the city has been doing on how and why he set policies and the reasoning behind them.
“I hope the visit for him has been beneficial,” Lombardo said. “Matt was coming specifically on certain issues, in particular, the Homestead Exemption. These experiences are really good to interact with other municipalities.”
According to Mayor Lombardo the mayors of Williamsport and Easton will be paying a visit to Pittston in the near future.
