Pittsburgh council advances proposal to spend $335 million in covid relief cash

There will be more public input as Pittsburgh City Council decides how to allocate $335 million in federal coronavirus relief money, council President Theresa Kail-Smith said Wednesday.

But that input will likely be heard after council has approved a plan for how to spend the money.

“This is the first of many votes and the meetings we just had are a few of many meetings to come,” Kail-Smith said.

By a 7-2 vote, council advanced a series of bills that will be considered for approval next Tuesday that allocate the federal American Rescue Plan funding and revise the city’s budgets to reflect the infusion of the federal cash.

The vote was approved with dissent from council members Deb Gross and Erika Strassburger.

They said they heard the concerns residents and leaders of city civic organizations voiced during public hearings about how the city would allocate the funding and agreed that more input is needed before a plan is approved.

“People didn’t feel the process was open and transparent,” Strassburger said. “It doesn’t make sense to do a public engagement process after the vote.”

During public hearings Saturday and Monday, council heard four hours and twenty-three minutes of public comment about the proposed spending plan, which was crafted by Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration with input from a recovery task force of city council members that was formed to ensure the money is directed equitably.

RELATED: Residents ask Pittsburgh council to slow down spending federal relief cash

Residents and leaders of civic organizations told council they haven’t had enough time to offer input into the plan and have asked for a delay in a vote to allocate the money.

A dozen civic groups held a news conference Tuesday asking for the vote to be delayed to allow for more input.

They include the Pittsburgh Budget and Policy Center, Pittsburgh United, Women and Girls Foundation, Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Human Rights City Alliance, Alliance for Police Accountability, Penn Plaza Support and Action, Black Worker Center, The Black Political Empowerment Project, Hill District Consensus Group, Casa San Jose and Just Harvest.

“We must ensure that the city uses these funds to address years of racial and economic inequity and ensure accountability and transparency in the process,” Celeste Scott, the housing justice organizer for Pittsburgh United said in a statement.

RELATED: Peduto, Pittsburgh council release proposed plan for $335 million in federal relief

State Rep. Ed Gainey, who defeated Peduto in the Democratic mayoral primary, said “a more comprehensive, robust and equitable public process is necessary” before the money is allocated.

Gainey wasn’t critical of the plan itself. He said the parts of the proposal to close covid-related budget deficits “should move forward without delay.”

“At the same time, I believe that a decision on the long-term operating budget proposals for 2023 and 2024… should be delayed in order to allow the public more time to weigh in,” Gainey said in a statement.

Council shouldn’t give up its power to allocate the funds based on public outcry, Councilman Ricky Burgess said Tuesday.

“Council is the fiscal watchdog,” Burgess said. “We, council… are solely responsible for the spending of these funds. The buck stops here. We were elected.”

That said, the moves council is taking now are only the start of the process and people will have plenty of chances to comment as each item in the proposal will face further approvals from council.

Burgess likened the proposal council is considering to “just setting up the buckets,” he said.

Council shouldn’t allow public sentiment to “castrate council’s rightful and responsible role,” he said.

“There’s still opportunities to amend even after final action,” Kail-Smith said.

She’s working to schedule more community meetings so council members can gather input about the funding, she said.

Gross and Strassburger said council could have acted on the items that are urgent — like allocating money that wasn’t included in the city’s 2021 budget that’s needed to avoid massive layoffs — while delaying other efforts that are spread out between now and 2024 in the proposal.

“I look forward to working with my council colleagues and the public, but I wish it would have happened before the vote,” Strassburger said.

Gross agreed.

There are other items, including allocating $10 million to programs that combat hunger and access to food — something several activists lobbied for — isn’t in the plan as it stands now, Gross said.

“I think we may come to a different place and a better place with more input,” Gross said.