Allegheny County to vote on restaurant grade system
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald’s proposal to post an A-B-C letter grade system outside of restaurants goes before county council members Oct. 7 despite State Rep. John Maher (R-Upper St. Clair) warning it may be illegal.
The preliminary plan was approved by the Allegheny County Board of Health in September and the county health department has said it wants to grade restaurants using the letter system instead of a pass-fail grading system to better inform consumers and the restaurants.
Rep. Maher, chair of the House Agriculture Committee, wrote in a Sept. 29 letter to Allegheny County Councilwoman Sue Means that local discretion over inspection standards was eliminated in 1994 under Chapter 57.
“I have no opinion one way or the other on the grading system, so if the county (executive) needs my help to facilitate a change, I would be happy to do so,” Maher said. “But right now, there could be plenty of litigants (restaurant owners) who cry foul if this is passed.”
“I’m definitely voting ‘no,’ and we’ll continue to push for more public hearings,” Means said. “There was a whole lot of time and money invested into this, and a six-week trial period. If this isn’t legal, it should have been vetted.”