PITTSBURGH \u2014 Pittsburgh\u2019s mayor is reacting to an investigation into city finances as the district attorney says there are millions of taxpayer dollars unaccounted for under the previous administration.<\/p>\n
Mayor Corey O\u2019Connor told Chief Investigator Rick Earle that he\u2019s not focused on the District Attorney Stephen Zappala\u2019s investigation, but he is concerned about the day-to-day operations of running the city. <\/p>\n
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> District attorney speaks out on search warrant for former Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey\u2019s records<\/a><\/p>\n He says he doesn\u2019t know exactly what the DA is looking for, but he says his administration has fully cooperated and will turn over whatever the DA asks for. <\/p>\n PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Allegheny County DA petitions judge for another search warrant extension<\/a><\/p>\n Earle: He did raise the suspicion of hundreds of thousands of dollars missing….are you concerned about that?<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor: I mean, we\u2019re concerned with the budget every day, and you know. <\/p>\n Earle: Specifically with the last administration and what he\u2019s alleging? <\/p>\n O\u2019Connor: Yeah, I mean we can\u2019t tell you what he\u2019s alleging. Obviously it was sealed, but you know when the DA or any authority sends us a subpoena, we follow it. We got him the information he was looking for.<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor addressed the DA\u2019s comments made last week about that ongoing investigation into the previous administration. <\/p>\n The DA says the city recently turned over 7,000 documents all related to that sealed search warrant issued back in March. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an extensive investigation and it also involves different agencies aside from mine,\u201d Zappala said.<\/p>\n The DA, who previously said the FBI was interested in the case, has said he\u2019s investigating city contracts and financial dealings, including millions of dollars in COVID relief funds doled out during the previous administration. He said money for certain programs, involving youths and seniors, never made it to them. <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re talking millions of dollars from different accounts, different contracts, different schemes,\u201d Zappala said. <\/p>\n Earle: That\u2019s unaccounted for? <\/p>\n Zappala: We can\u2019t find work product right now.<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor says his administration will continue to cooperate, but he\u2019s focused on the budget deficit.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know the DA is doing what he\u2019s doing, looking at records, but for us, we\u2019re looking at what it takes to manage each department each and every day, and we have a preliminary budget coming in next month or so, so you know we\u2019re going to have conversations about where their budgets were in the past and what\u2019s realistic,\u201d O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n Download the FREE WPXI News app<\/a> for breaking news alerts.<\/p>\n Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>. | Watch WPXI NOW<\/a><\/p>\n TOP STORIES FROM CHANNEL 11 NEWS <\/p>\n \u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n