CDBG Bills Put on Hold

Pittsburgh Council has voted to hold legislation that would change the way the city distributes federal Community Development Block Grants.

Councilman Ricky Burgess says the current law divides Pittsburgh’s CDBG funding evenly among the nine Council Districts. Burgess says his bills would instead give the money to Council Districts based on how many CDBG-eligible blocks the District has.

A block would be CDBG-eligible if 80% or more of its households earned less than about $29,000 per year.

The legislation would also raise the minimum grant level to $5,000 and require that the money be spent within three years, or it would be withdrawn. Burgess says he’d also like to require six summer meetings where community groups citywide could explain their development plans to Council.

But Councilwoman Darlene Harris says she doesn’t support the bills. She says $5,000 is too high a minimum for the grants, because it would be a “major undertaking” to try to give that much money to every community group who receives funding now.

Councilmen Doug Shields and Bruce Kraus say they feel they are being characterized as unfeeling for poorer communities by Burgess’ legislation. Shields says none of the CDBG funding is being given to groups who aren’t eligible for it.

The legislation has been held for a week; in the meantime, Councilwoman Theresa Smith says Council has a meeting with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl on the topic.

Bill Would Ease City Strip Club Law

A Pittsburgh Councilwoman wants to change the way the city deals with strip clubs and other adult establishments.

Councilwoman Theresa Smith has introduced legislation to limit adult businesses to commercial and urban industrial zones of the city. Smith says she wants to protect residential areas.

Smith’s package of three bills would also set a code of conduct for strip clubs, which she says will alleviate some of the “secondary effects” of adult businesses.

“We did not just create what we think might be occurring; we actually pulled some statistics to back up what we know to be occurring,” says Smith. “And we know prostitution, drug activity, in some cases gambling and other issues, just a host of concerns that come along with some of these establishments.”

She says the city lost a court case to a group seeking to open a strip club on the North Shore, on the grounds that the city’s current law restricts adult businesses’ constitutional right to free speech by requiring special permits.

Smith says her legislation is modeled after an Ohio law that withstood legal challenges, because it allows strip clubs to operate in certain zones. She says she still expects a legal battle over the bills; the city has hired a zoning lawyer to help its case.

Council Listens to Igloo Debate

Pittsburgh City Council will have the final say in the coming months when it comes to the future of the Civic Arena and Wednesday it took a step closer to making that decision. Both the City Planning Commission and the City Historic Review Commission have rejected efforts to designate the nearly 50-year old structure as being historic. The negative recommendations mean it will take six out of nine council members voting for the designation to get the Igloo listed.

Council has already held a public hearing on the matter in the Hill District and Wednesday it held a post agenda meeting where several experts and stakeholders were invited to give more testimony. Several hours later the council seemed no closer to a making a decision than when it started.

“I have to tell you I read [the application] and the argument is so well made as to why it meets the criteria that I could not understand how the commission could read it and decided that it didn’t,” said Frank Sanchis, World Monuments Fund Program Director, who was brought in by those fighting to save the Igloo to offer his expertise. Preservation Pittsburgh President Scott Lieb added that he felt it was odd that review commissions at the state and national level felt the structure met one or more of the city’s 10 minimum criteria for historic designation but the local panels did not.

City code seems to allow council and the members of the commission to not only consider the ten criteria but to also consider the worthiness and integrity of the structure.

Some have suggested that the decisions have more to do with backroom deals and politics than the value of preserving the mid-century modern structure. Gary English held up a sign through most of the proceeding reading, “Quiet: political corruption in progress.”

Councilman Doug Shields complained along the same lines while pointing at artist renderings of 28 acres of new development nestled up against the new Consol Energy Center, “This council did not even get a chance to pick the color of the bathroom [in the Consol Center] and now someone is coming in and saying we are going to do all that. And I don’t even know who gave them the authority to do that and what is my authority here as a council member? All I see here is a lot of deals getting made and the governing body is not involved.”

Representatives of the Penguins, which holds the development rights to the old arena site, and the Sports and Exhibition Authority, which owns the old arena, gave testimony in favor of razing the building. Those groups say they need to take down the arena before they can begin developing the site. Councilman Bruce Kraus was a bit skeptical. He used to run an interior design company, “I did not go in and gut someone’s home and then say, ‘I’ll come back with what my ideas are of what your house should look like.’”

SEA Executive Director Mary Conturo admitted that there is no developer in place at this time and no investors have stepped forward to build but she says unless a decision is made on the arena and a street grid is created they will not be able to move forward with the development.

The Penguins, SEA and the city are hoping to get federal grants to build connecting streets. However, preservationists believe those grants could be in danger of being denied if the proper reviews are not made before the arena is demolished. Developers offered their own experts who believe such a review would not prevent the Federal Department of Transportation from sending the money to Pittsburgh.

A date for a final vote has not yet been set but it must be taken before the end of July.

Council, Mayor Debate Action on Financial System

City officials debated the future of Pittsburgh’s outdated financial data system in Council Chambers today, with much of the discussion hinging on the receipt of state funds.

Everyone agrees that Pittsburgh’s PeopleSoft financial system has been outdated for as long as ten years, but there is no consensus on how to replace that system.

One option is for the city to merge its system with Allegheny County’s. Controller Michael Lamb says that deal would cost about $5 million up front, but the administration estimates an immediate $8 million plus $4 million in annual fees.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl says Pittsburgh should pursue a less expensive choice if the city doesn’t receive $9 million from the state, which has been pending since the 2008 sale of the Municipal Courts Building.

Ravenstahl says if the city doesn’t receive that money, he’d prefer to issue a request for cheaper proposals.

“Is that going to take longer? Of course it is. The other alternative would be to identify the $8 million needed now, the additional $4 million over the next 5 years in annual costs, and identify that $12-13 million in the budget, and move along, paying for this out of city taxpayers’ pockets,” says Ravenstahl.

Councilwoman Theresa Smith says regardless of state funding, the city should pursue the cheapest option it can, rather than the county deal.

Lamb says he signed a 2008 contract with the County to merge systems, but also that it was contingent on the receipt of $9 million from the state, which hasn’t happened yet.

“There’s obviously been a change in administrations in Harrisburg, and they’re examining everything. I’ve yet to hear anything other than that money is coming through, but I do have the same concerns that the mayor and his administration have, in that ‘Why don’t we have it yet?’ because it’s been years,” says Lamb.

The mayor urged council to join him in requesting the $9 million from state government.

City Council Reacts to Possible Drinking Water Contamination From Marcellus Shale Drilling

A recent news report in the New York Times identified western Pennsylvania as the "epicenter of contamination" from radiation in hydraulic fracturing wastewater, which is often sent to treatment plants incapable of removing it before releasing it into waterways.

City Council today unanimously approved a resolution calling for drinking water suppliers (the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority on the Allegheny River and Penn American Water on the Monongahela) to begin testing immediately and to continue the tests regularly.

Councilman Doug Shields says drilling companies are putting lives at risk for their own profit, and Councilman Bill Peduto says it will be an economic catastrophe as well if our air and water are not clean because no one will want to live here or do business here.

Senator Bob Casey and Congressman Edward Markey have also asked for testing and disclosure.

City Council Calls Meeting on City/County Financial Management

Six Pittsburgh City Council members have sponsored legislation that would direct the city to join Allegheny County's comprehensive financial management system--a move favored by state overseers, the county, the city controller—everybody except the mayor. There will be a public, televised meeting attended by all the parties tomorrow at 1:30.

Councilman Bill Peduto says work has been going on for five years to improve the city's current, antiquated system, and the mayor’s preference for a cheaper system with the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority is "crazy" because nowhere in the country is a water and sewer authority in charge of the finances of a city.

The nine million dollar cost to join the county is what a modern system costs, according to Peduto, and will enable savings in such areas as the cutting of payroll checks, which now cost $1.5 million a year to outsource.

Peduto says City Council has the votes to override a mayoral veto.

PGH Council goes to Harrisburg

Five of the nine members of the Pittsburgh City Council are in Harrisburg today talking to lawmakers about matching the state’s priorities with the city’s priorities. Among the delegation is Councilman Doug Shields. He says meetings have been held with members of all four caucuses but not the governor.

Most of the discussion has center on the state’s budget. Shields says the members of the legislature have yet to see Governor Tom Corbett’s budget blueprint but it is clear that funding for cities and municipalities will be tight. He says the only bright spot is that state revenues seem to be slowly climbing as the economy begins to recover. The city’s delegation is also trying to point out to the state how much has improved financially for the city in the last few years.

Shields says he has also spent some time talking to lawmakers about statewide pension reform. He says for now, the issue is on the back burner and will not come up for debate in the first half of the year. Shields also spent some time talking about Marcellus Shale issues but says he has remained focused mostly on budget priorities.

Shields says in general the trip has been productive. He says if nothing else it has been successful in allowing city and state leaders to build relationships. “It is very difficult to have to grapple with what we have to do, in good times and in bad, even with people you known,” says Shields, “there are a lot of new faces on the council in the past three years and also a lot of new faces in Harrisburg so I think it is incredibly important that we meet and get to know one another a little bit.”

Also on the trip was Council President Darlene Harris, council members Bruce Kraus, Daniel Lavelle, and Natalia Rudiak, and Council Budget Director Bill Urbanic. Council’s regular Tuesday meeting was postponed until Wednesday and the Wednesday meeting was moved to Wednesday afternoon.

Council Mulls Spay Neuter Law

Pittsburgh City Council President Darlene Harris has introduced legislation that would provide free spay and neutering for any dog or cat owned by a city resident. Over the last three years, Harris has been able to set aside $170,000 in capital improvement money and animal care and control funds to bankroll the effort. She says spaying or neutering one animal can result in 55 dogs or cats not being born.

City residents will be able to begin applying for the service March 1st. There is a limit of 5 per household, which is also the limit on the number of animals allowed by city code in one home. Harris says she expects there to be a waiting list that will be handled on a first-come-first-served basis. She contends the money will eventually turn into a cost savings for the city when the population of stray dogs and cats falls. She say it costs the city $197.00 every time it has to pickup a stray dog or cat. “It took time to get like this without a spay or neutering program but this is the only way, 100 percent, to be able to stop these unwanted births,” says Harris.

By way of example, Harris tells of a feral cat colony on the Northside where animal control collected and then spayed and neutered more than 70 cats. She says the workers realized that the stray cats all resembled a pet cat that lived in the neighborhood. The animal care and control crews were able to convince the owner of that pet to have that cat neutered. She says that helped to greatly control the neighborhoods cat problem.

The city has negotiated deals with area vets and groups such as Animal Friends to do the work for less than they would normally charge. Harris hopes to be able to spay or neuter 3,925 dogs or cats through the program this year. She says she will look for a way to continue to fund the spay and neuter program in the 2012 budget.

Applications to have a pet spayed or neutered will be available on the city’s web page. Harris says they are still looking for more veterinarians to help perform the work.

Council Sends Support to Wisconsin

Pittsburgh City Council has taken up the cause of the mass of protesting union members in Wisconsin. Council passed a resolution this morning proclaiming today, “Service Workers Day” in Pittsburgh. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has proposed legislation that would eliminate collective bargaining rights for state workers for any benefits other than base pay. It would also prevent state and local governments from automatically collecting union dues.

Resolution sponsor Natalia Rudiak says the governor is stripping the workers of their fundamental rights and in the process he is shattering the middle class. “It is a bridge too far, it is a reactionary agenda that will endanger the livelihoods of thousands of working Americans and it must be stopped before this type of thinking endangers the livelihood of millions,” says Rudiak. The resolution praises union workers in the city and recognizes their work in keeping the city and the region running.

“Workers rights are not a budget line item,” says Council Member Bruce Kraus, “you cannot just wipe away with the stroke of a pen decades and decades of work that has stabilized a middle class.” Kraus says the middle class is essential to the health and wellbeing of the nation.

In a news conference before Council’s meeting, Allegheny County Labor Council President Jack Shea jumped onto the same theme, saying this is not just an issue of concern to union members; it is an issue of concern for all workers. “Everybody knows when unions are able to bargain a fair and a decent contract and conditions of employment, it gets passed on to the non-union workforce,” says Shea.

Last week, Democrats in Wisconsin's state Senate walked out rather than vote on the bill. They fled to Illinois and other boarding states to keep from being forced back into the chamber. “We support your heroic effort to protect the futures of so many working families,” says Rudiak, “we know that you cannot go home so if you need a gathering place in your struggle to protect workers rights you are welcome to come to Pittsburgh.”

Secured Handbill Ordinance

Pittsburgh City Council is reconsidering an ordinance that would enforce handbills such as advertisements be secured in doors or placed on stoops, rather than thrown into yards. The alteration would also include private properties. City Councilors Theresa Smith and Patrick Dowd voted no on the amended bill.

City Council President Doug Shields says the bill is reasonable.

“[The advertisers] certainly don’t want to offend the customer by creating a nuisance. I don’t see where these places any undo burden on anybody,” he says.

However, while Smith says the intent is good, she refuses to vote on it because the ad distributor Pittsburgh Mailing will be in her district.

“I’m not going to do something against a business that’s moving into my district that will employ people all across the city of Pittsburgh,” she says.

Mayor Talks Act 47 With Council

Pittsburgh City Council met with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl today to discuss the specifics and the implications of Act 47, the city's proposed five-year economic plan. A vote on the act was held until next Wednesday, June 24th, so that council members and the mayor can think over the plan and assemble any amendments they might wish to make. The plan currently calls for $15 million in revenue that's source is unknown; the mayor made recommendations on filling in that gap to council today. He said that privatizing parking garages is his favorite option, but other options included seeking money from large nonprofit organizations and even raising taxes, as a last resort. The mayor said that his administration outperformed the previous Act 47 ordinance and he doesn't see why that can't happen again. Legislation must be passed by June 30th, in time for the July 1st public safety collective bargaining agreements.

City Council Waits on Five-Year Plan

A vote on the city's five-year budget plan was again delayed by Pittsburgh City Council today, by a unanimous vote. This followed a 7-1 vote that Mayor Luke Ravenstahl be compelled to sit in on a council meeting regarding Act 47. Reverend Richard Burgess was the only nay as most of council agreed that the mayor's input and public opinion on Act 47 would be necessary before a vote could be cast.

All members of council voiced their disapproval of the details of the plan. Councilman William Peduto says Act 47 lacks the creative ideas necessary to make Pittsburgh a great city. "We won't go into the red, or if we do, we'll have to raise taxes, which is really the inevitable part of this. But it really doesn't take us to where we need to be as a city. We will strive for mediocrity," says Peduto.

Several of the plan's finer points were unreliable, according to the council. Councilman Patrick Dowd says that the sale or lease of parking garages before the budget deadline is a long shot. The plan also counts on $5 million in revenue each year from non-profit groups; however, Councilman Doug Shields says the city cannot by law make those groups do anything. Additionally, says Shields, support from the state government is highly unlikely. "I'm going to help the country by saving gas and not going to Harrisburg anymore," says Shields.

Burgess, however, fears strong repercussions from the state government if the plan is not passed before the June 30 deadline. "If the Act 47 coordinators recommend to the secretary of the DCED that the city be punished for non-compliance, we will have tens of millions of dollars in state aid and casino moneys withheld," says Burgess.

Councilwoman Tonya Payne says the fiscal problems of the city could be solved if the council urged the state to repeal the bar on a commuter tax for the city. She says commuters use city services as well as city residents, and should have to put in their fair share of money to fund these services.

City Council Overrides Vetoes

Pittsburgh City Council has voted to override two line-item vetoes at their meeting this morning after Mayor Luke Ravenstahl submitted them late yesterday. The two budget items are to have a special lawyer for city legislators and to provide video of council meetings on the Internet. Ravenstahl’s message said these things would've cost more than $120,000 combined.

But City Council President Doug Shields says his submission was too late. The mayor had 10 days to either approve or reject the bills that were submitted to him. Shields says Ravenstahl received the bills on Dec. 19, and then sent the vetoes to council Dec. 29 at 4:32pm, two minutes after the Clerk’s Office closed. Shields says he was surprised by the mayor's last-minute action. Council voted 7 to 1 on each ruling, with Councilman Jim Motznik voting against each override.

Dowd Seeks Further Explanation of $51 Million Allocations

Pittsburgh City Councilman Patrick Dowd today called City Controller Michael Lamb to the table to explain a disbursement of $51 million in the proposed 2009 city budget. The money, as described in the budget, would be put into a “restricted fund in the nature of an irrevocable trust” to reduce outstanding city debt. Dowd questioned how allocating money to an account would necessarily eliminate the city’s bond obligations. He likened the situation to a mortgage. Dowd says that a person putting money into a savings account does not make the mortgage obligations disappear, but that the only way to fulfill mortgage obligations is to pay them. The councilman says that the Mayor and ICA intend to allocate the funds to a debt service repayment account in order to claim they have a balanced Five-Year Financial Forecast for the city. His concern is that the debt will not actually be paid.

Dowd’s motion to withhold a tentative vote during the budget hearing, and proposed amendment to the budget bill during the Finance and Law Committee meeting failed to pass each by votes of 5-2. The proposed 2009 Capital Budget passed a preliminary vote also by a count of 5-2.

Councilman Rev. Ricky Burgess later offered bill 2008-0962 which would require an amended Act 47 Financial Recovery Plan for the city be submitted to council by March 25, 2009. He says the plan needs to be reconsidered in light of the current financial crisis. Burgess says the revised plan will offer the forum for the debt repayment account to be discussed.

The budget will go up for final approval next week.

Dowd Wants to Follow the Money

Pittsburgh city councilman Pat Dowd says he is concerned about $37.7 million that was moved from one account to another in the tentative 5-year budget plan. He says the funds were shifted some time between the preliminary 5-year budget plan published in September and the one published and approved by the ICA October 20th. The ICA reduced the fund balance from 10% to 5% and disbursed $37.7 million into restricted funds. At the same time debt service over the same five years was reduced by $51 million. Dowd says he thinks it is a great idea to pay down debit but he wants to see exactly how it is being done. He says if bonds are being paid off early or refinanced he wants to know which bonds, how much money and what are the administrative costs associated with the plan. Dowd says he has been asking the city finance department, the mayor’s office and the ICA for an explanation for more than a month and a half and all he has been told is that council does not vote on the 5-year plan. Dowd says he is not sure if that is true or not but he does feel he should be entitled to a better accounting of the found transfers. One note in the budget says the funds were placed a “something in the nature of an irrevocable fund.” He says there is no such accounting term. It is either irrevocable or it is not. Dowd successfully delayed the “tentative budget vote” to have been taken Monday and the council will take that vote Wednesday morning. Council is also scheduled to take a preliminary vote later that same day and a final vote next week. Dowd says if he does not get an answer before Wednesday morning he will introduce an amendment to the budget demanding an explanation of the fund transfers within 30 days. He says he does not want to prevent the budget for being in place by the end of the year but he feels he needs a better accounting than he is getting.

The mayor’s office and the finance department have not responded to requests for interviews.

Pittsburgh City Council Seeks Financial Advice

In light of the current financial crisis and amidst growing concerns about unfunded pension, Pittsburgh City Council turned to experts for advice. Five financial experts today testified at a hearing this afternoon outlining the the financial crisis on the whole and its ramifications for city finances. Chief Economist of the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation Richard Hoey says although it was projected that the United States might end up in a recession following an economic boom in the 90's, the countries are feeling the effects of a recession worldwide. Vice President and chief economist for the PNC Financial Services Group Stuart Hoffman says Pittsburgh will really feel the effects of this recession in 2009 as he predicts a drop in interest rates. The financial experts also offered advice on possible local solutions to the financial crisis. Ron Bloom, special assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers Association (USWA) says part of the fix locally could involve public investment in infrastructure such as bridge construction and repair. Though the situation looks bleak for now, several experts did offer hope that the recession might begin to decline as early as June, 2009.

Council Votes For New Lawyer

The Pittsburgh city council voted today to hire a lawyer for its exclusive use but that person’s pay will come out of the city legal department’s budget. All but councilman Jim Motznik felt the council needed a lawyer at their disposal to answer questions about drafting legislation and taking stances on certain issues. Several members complained that the 14 lawyer staff of the legal department was so over worked that it often took too long to get answers to their pressing needs. Motznik argued that the post could not be reasonably filled for the $66,000 budgeted and felt the post was not needed in general. Councilman Bill Peduto and Doug Shields argued that the position should be put under the council’s budget to eliminate any possible conflict of interest. The concern was that the ultimate boss of that lawyer would be a mayoral appointee. Had the position been added to the council’s budget it would have needed approval from the oversight board because it would have grown that line item by more than 5 percent over what the board had approved. The salary would not have been enough to trip that trigger if it would be added elsewhere in the budget. Councilmember Bruce Krauss says the council will work diligently to make sure the new employee will not feel pressure from the legal department but still have access to the assets and advice of that department. He says he will also join Peduto and Shields in an effort to move the position into the Council’s budget in the next year. The post is called for by the home rule charter and its need became apparent to several council members when it went against the mayor’s office over approval of an electronic billboard.

Attempt to End City COLA Dies

A proposal by Pittsburgh city councilman Ricky Burgess to amend the 2009 budget to eliminate the cost of living pay increase the council members will get in January died during city council budget hearing Monday when no member would second his motion. Burgess says while some council members may think that the combined cost of $12,690 dollars for the 9 members may not seem like much in the larger budget, it is a lot of money for many who live in the city. He says that is nearly half of the median income in the city of Pittsburgh and more than many people in his district make all year. Burgess says as the nation faces tough times and budget cuts are being made at the state and federal level, the city must follow suit and tighten its belt where it can. Burgess says he will continue to work to have the budget changed but without so much as a second, it is unlikely that he will be able to make any changes before the preliminary vote is taken Wednesday. Burgess says he will also look into ways that he can return his cost of living increase.

City Council Hearing on WiMAX

City Council held a meeting this morning on the possible future in Pittsburgh of 4th generation WiMAX technology, which was initiated recently in Baltimore and will soon be operational in Portland, Oregon. Clearwire, with 46 pre-WiMAX markets, recently merged with a division of Sprint to build a national WiMAX network.

Speakers noted that one challenge of new technological opportunities is how to assure that all residents can share the benefits, regardless of income level. Clearwire representative John Bunce says his company usually doesn't ask for public subsidies but frequently makes arrangements to discount services to the municipality and to low-income residents in exchange for access to public locations to hang their equipment.

Bunce says Clearwire has more spectrum than AT&T or Verizon; WiMAX has a much higher radius than WiFi, is slower than Fios but faster than DSL. He doubts Pittsburgh could get WiMAX as early as 2009.

New Call for Citywide Wireless Service

Pittsburgh should continue to pursue a citywide wireless network, says Councilman Bill Peduto. He's called for a special hearing on a potential WiMAX network. He says it holds greater potential than WiFi technology for expanding wireless service to other neighborhoods. The city already has a WiFi network that covers downtown and parts of the North Shore and lower Hill District.

Peduto says the WiMAX network would have to be run by a private company, since the city's current financial situation would not allow any kind of major public investment. But the city would play a role by granting a private company rights of way needed for the network and by establishing guidelines for the service's operation. For instance, Peduto says any wireless service should still allow users at least two hours of free access per day.

Baltimore recently rolled out a WiMAX system, and Peduto says others are in place in cities outside North America. He says companies like Sprint have invested billions of dollars in the technology, indicating there's private interest in creating these types of systems.

Peduto says the special hearing will likely take place in November. He would like to see the WiMAX network built by the end of next year.