In a crowded 44th Legislative District Republican primary field, Scott LaRue said his high-level professional experience separates him from the other three candidates trying to replace state Rep. Mark Mustio.
“I have an overwhelming advantage over the other candidates,” LaRue, a 46-year-old Moon Township resident and former Moon Area School Board member, said during an endorsement meeting with The Times editorial board Tuesday.
Besides LaRue, the 44th District GOP primary race includes Moon Supervisor David Bachman, North Fayette Township Supervisor Bob Doddato and Aleppo Township resident Valerie Gaydos. The primary election is on May 15.
The district covers Moon, Crescent, Findlay, North Fayette, Aleppo and Ohio townships, as well as Sewickley, Edgeworth, Bell Acres, Sewickley Heights, Sewickley Hills, Glenfield, Haysville and Glen Osborne.
Mustio, a North Fayette Republican, announced in January that he would not seek re-election for the seat he has held since winning a special election in June 2003. The only Democrat running for the seat is Michele Knoll of Ohio Township.
LaRue said his family has a history of “civic leadership” and community involvement. He has served as board treasurer for the Moon Township Municipal Authority, serves as vice chairman of the township’s Republican committee, and has been a volunteer basketball and softball coach.
He and wife, Kim, had discussed possibly running for Mustio’s seat, LaRue said.
“We kind of said a few prayers and asked for direction, and some gentleman called about a half an hour later and said, ‘You should think about running,’ so we said, ‘Is that a sign?’” LaRue said with a chuckle.
Ultimately, LaRue said he decided to run “to give back to the community and take my professional experience and use it for the community.”
A 1994 graduate of Washington and Jefferson College with a degree in accounting, LaRue is a consultant and real estate owner who flips properties. He also is a former divisional chief financial officer for Fiserv Inc., which, according to its website, provides financial services technology to banks, credit unions and other institutions.
With timely state budgets becoming rarer and rarer, LaRue said legislators’ pay should be frozen until budgets are passed and lawmakers should be reimbursed for actual expenses, not simply given per diems whether they spent money or not. He vowed not to accept per diems but only seek reimbursement for actual expenses if elected.
LaRue said he would be instinctively against a severance tax on natural gas drilling, which Gov. Tom Wolf had repeatedly called for, because it would likely hurt small businesses that rely on major drillers or consumers burdened with higher rates.
“I would oppose a tax unless it made sense and it didn’t hurt the local economy and the small businesses,” he said.
Bills reducing the Legislature are perpetually introduced but go nowhere. LaRue, though, said he would support those efforts.
“If I happen to lose my position, so be it,” he said.
LaRue said a legislator’s role in encouraging development in the area of Pittsburgh International Airport is “being a facilitator” and working with state and federal government, as well as local communities. He pointed to the municipal authority’s efforts to replace sewer lines and early discussions about water line replacements.
Mustio did a good job at bringing in grants and state funding for infrastructure projects “that brings jobs, a better tax base for the schools and more employees,” LaRue said.
One hurdle for LaRue to overcome is how his one term on the Moon school board ended. In 2017, the board with a new majority censured LaRue and Jeff Bussard, who were part of the former majority, “for dereliction of duty” for allegedly allowing former Superintendent Curt Baker to financially mismanage the district.
LaRue joined the board in 2014 while Baker was superintendent from 2013 until being ousted in December 2015. Baker subsequently sued the district for breach of contract.
The “whole board” was unfairly maligned during and after Baker’s chaotic tenure, said LaRue, who said the public did not understand that many of the “drivers” for the increased spending were pension obligations that increased by millions every year.
“To blame everyone on the board and the superintendent was inappropriate,” LaRue said.
LaRue said he had “no issues” working with both sides on the board for the final two years of his term. Under Baker, LaRue said, said the majority under Baker had the best intentions in mind.
“The decisions I had were based on the information at the time,” he said. “What I was doing was what I thought was best for the district in the long run, plain and simple.”
LaRue described himself as “very pro-life” and an “avid” Second Amendment supporter. As for arming teachers, LaRue said he would prefer increased security for schools, whether its police or private security, but acknowledged that those options raise questions of funding.