Ronald A. Arnoni
Ronald A. Arnoni has packed plenty into a half century. He’s been a husband to his high school sweetheart, Kris, and a father to his two children, Nicholas, 23, and Taylor, 12. He started in the family environmental services business at 16, and rose to the ranks of general manager as well as director of development in the organization. An Allegheny County Police Academy graduate, Arnoni has also worked in law enforcement. He’s been an agent in the Public Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General and a special agent in the Bureau of Criminal Investigations. While working full-time for the Attorney General, he earned his undergraduate degree from Robert Morris University and maintained a 3.8 GPA. Politically, Arnoni served as a councilman and as mayor in his hometown of Brentwood until moving to Bethel Park 10 years ago. In fact, the Republican was the youngest mayor in Pennsylvania with a population over 10,000. In 2014, he made the move to the judicial branch of government. Currently, Arnoni serves the people of Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair Township as district judge.
How did you get involved in politics?
First, I was a businessman with my family’s companies. My grandfather and my dad believed that you worked from the bottom up. So I drove trucks. I dug ditches. I operated heavy equipment. Eventually, I started working in the areas with the regulatory agencies and ultimately became the general manager during the permitting process that was very extensive. I was working 13-, 14-hour days. I got really burnt out, so I ended up asking my dad if it was OK if I started into another leg of the company, which was development. When we sold all our operating companies off, I got involved in politics.
Why did you become a politician?
Well at that time, I lived in Brentwood. I loved my hometown and I wanted to give back. As chair of public works, we did the largest road improvement project in Brentwood’s history. No tax increase. We also worked on the infrastructure, in particular the sewer systems upgrades that were really good for Brentwood. We also addressed the equipment problem. I really fast tracked some measures, people seemed to like that, including some of my colleagues, on the other side of the aisle. Mayor Joyce for one, in particular. We had a really good relationship. Mayor Joyce said that he was going to be stepping down and he wanted to see me be his successor. Again, I ran, I won and I feel we did a lot of good things and we were able to turn things around. We were able to bring some semblance of dignity back to the community.
Why did you want to become a district judge?
The reason was Rob Wyda. He was thinking about running for superior court and we had had lunch a number of times and he said, “Ron, if I do that, why don’t you do this? You’d be great.” Well, he had more and more thought about running, and of course, I was along the way helping him, just being a friend, and then, low and behold, Rob dies. It was almost like God calling me and I know that sounds odd, but when Rob died, right away I thought, he hand-picked me to be his successor. So I threw my hat in the ring and I was appointed by the governor and unanimously confirmed by the senate to take on this position. I am putting my own spin on things and Rob would be proud. I do a lot of speaking, especially to the kids, and this drug epidemic that we have is very, very painful for me to preside over and I offer solutions and talk to kids at assemblies. I would say that I am carrying his legacy and trying to take it one step farther and put my own thumbprint on it as well.
The biggest difference between being a politician and a judge?
You can’t be political. There are a lot of rules to follow. However, there are a lot of similarities. As much as you are supposed to be objective and a-political, I still have my conservative views and perspectives, however, I always try to be neutral and impartial. That’s the way I’m supposed to be and I think that I am pretty good at being able to do that. I have always considered myself open-minded, objective and fair. I will continue to be that way.
What do you like best about the job?
The opportunity to try to affect assistance in the community through pro-active measures. Having a voice to provide my background and experience to help and assist in solutions that I see every day from the bench. Additionally, to individually help people out. And as much as I am supposed to be an arbiter and to interject the law and make sure the law is being protected and the constitution and everything else, I think that I take great pride in trying to mediate solutions and help people out. And I think my fair and unbiased position allows me to do that. I’ve seen a lot of victories, day in and day out.
What are your feelings regarding the community’s and country’s direction?
As far as the community, I think it is going in a really good direction. I think we have great leadership both in Bethel Park and in Upper St. Clair and people that really care about the community. They want to see excellent things for it. You see that in economic development. We are fortunate that we have great demographics here and really good people, both the citizens as well as the leaders. We have good veteran leadership. It’s solid and comes with a lot of experience. So I feel really good about the direction both towns, both communities, are going. With regard to how it affects the country itself, again, I think, that once people come to realize that we are just trying to take a step back into the rich history of the United States and where we came from and bring that back to the forefront, I think it will be a good refreshing thing.
What might people be surprised to know about you?
I’m very transparent. I definitely wear my heart on my sleeve. I guess that I have been involved in the community in a lot of different ways, particularly with sports, where I coached well over a decade.
What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
I hope to affect positive change. Continue to be fair and unbiased in my court. Continue to work hard to be best judge I can be, to represent the people. I’m not going to look too far into the future with regards to what my plans are other than to be the best judge that I can be. n