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A task force convened to help administer some $335 million in COVID relief for the city of Pittsburgh has released a draft proposal that allocates millions of dollars for affordable housing and other programs though its biggest focus is on shoring up the city’s own workforce and its financial health.
Pittsburgh City Council must approve the spending plan, which it may amend. The proposal will be introduced at Council on Tuesday, when it will be held for a public hearing to be scheduled by council President Theresa Kail-Smith.
The plan was crafted by a Joint Pittsburgh Recovery Task Force with representatives from the mayor s office and council members. In a statement Monday, the mayor’s office said the goal was to create “a plan that addresses the needs of communities, addresses city revenue shortfalls, resumes projects halted during the pandemic and benefits residents, businesses and employees.”
Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
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Pittsburgh’s Black community is shrinking and some who remain in the city say they are fed up with generations of neglect by city officials, systematic racism and development projects that have caused departures.
Between 2014 and 2018, U.S. Census data shows, Pittsburgh’s Black population dropped by about 10% or 7,000 people.
On Wednesday, some of more than three dozen speakers at a city council hearing put voices, faces and names beside those numbers. During their allotted three minutes, they spoke, some offering support from civic organizations and other groups in the city. Even more might have talked if it weren’t for technological glitches during the virtual meeting.
Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
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Finding ways to get motorists to slow down on residential streets has been a longtime issue in Pittsburgh.
City council members Tuesday took action to lobby for more authority to decrease speed limits in some neighborhoods. It’s something they’re not allowed to do under state law.
“We know that slower speeds save lives,” Councilwoman Deb Gross said before council unanimously passed a measure calling for state reforms that would allow local governments to set speed limits.