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"Working together for a better McKeesport" can't just be a slogan, Mayor Mike Cherepko said Wednesday. It has to be an attitude that's shared by the entire community.

"I think it has to start at the top, and I think it's going to ripple down to the employees, to the task forces, to the citizens and the volunteers," said Cherepko, who took office on Monday.

The transition is "going very well," he said, though city hall is a "little bit chaotic" because many departments are moving their offices. New city administrator Matt Gergely has been "extremely busy" despite "working around piles of supplies," Cherepko said.

Cherepko won McKeesport's top elected office after a bruising election year that saw several sitting members of council running against each other --- and incumbent Regis McLaughlin --- for the Democratic mayoral nomination. Cherepko then faced City Controller Ray Malinchak in the general election.

"It doesn't matter where you were, or whose side you were on, the train's at the station, and it's going to be pulling out pretty soon," Cherepko said. "It's time to go to work."

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Officials said McKeesport ended 2011 with about $80,000 in cash on hand, but balancing the 2012 budget required $481,000 from what used to be called the "mayor's reserve fund," and the city continues to run a yearly operating deficit that's been paid by one-time asset sales.

McKeesport has about three years to get its financial house in order, Cherepko said, "or we're going to be looking at a restructuring."

The future has to be focused on growth, he said, because there isn't much room in the budget to cut. Many of the city's expenses are either fixed overhead costs or wages that are governed by collective bargaining agreements, and even laying off employees has limited effect. The city, like some other municipalities, operates under a provision in state law which requires it to reimburse Pennsylvania for unemployment benefits after a layoff.

"There's really only 10 to 15 percent of the budget where we can cut," Cherepko said, "so we need to have plans to bring in more revenue."

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To that end, Cherepko said he's focused on attracting new employers and tax-paying businesses to the city, and improving McKeesport's image, starting with its website. "All of us on council agreed that we need to be on top of that to start marketing the city," he said. "I hope to have an answer (for council) by next month if not sooner."

McKeesport officials are also working with a "lot of memos and paper that we type up, which is really a waste in this day and age," Cherepko said. Work and messages need to be moved online to make the city more efficient and to open up lines of communication, he said.

Cherepko --- who is active on Facebook and is frequently seen using his own smart-phone --- said McKeesport is pursuing a $98,000 grant to defray the cost of new hardware, software and related equipment that can provide city employees and officials with a unified, up-to-date computer system for the first time.

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Cherepko's slogan is "an invitation, and I accept it," said Dan Carr, one of two new council members. "I hope we all can work together."

New Council President Darryl Segina --- who challenged Cherepko for the Democratic nomination and has frequently challenged his decisions --- agreed. "I have a passion for this city, a deep passion," Segina said. "And everything I do or say is because I want to make this town better. For 2012, let's show the surrounding communities just what kind of a town this is."

For his part, Segina promised to eliminate a rule that restricted residents who attend council meetings to speaking for three minutes or less.

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Not everyone is entirely sold on the mayor's message. Councilwoman V. Fawn Walker-Montgomery, who had hoped to be elected council's vice president, argued that Cherepko and council have already been less than transparent.

She criticized members of council for holding an unannounced executive session on Monday to discuss the election of Councilman Dale McCall as vice president of council, and Segina's decision to limit the reading of the monthly reports made by the police, fire and public-works departments.

"It would have been nice to have been consulted," Walker-Montgomery said. "I think the citizens want to see real democracy, not a fake democracy."

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