At the City Council Public Hearing yesterday afternoon, Councilman Bill Peduto once again spoke out for a revised economic development policy for the City of Pittsburgh.

“It is essential that subsidies that this government gives out for development do not simply go into the pockets of out-of-town developers, but benefit the entire community,” said Councilman Peduto.

With over $1 billion dollars of development in his district throughout the past 8 years, Councilman Peduto has worked to ensure that all of these developments have created good paying jobs, generated new tax revenue for the City, and catalyzed other neighborhood development.  

Now he is calling for the same triple bottom line development to be enforced throughout the City of Pittsburgh, which would ensure that any new development would:

• maximized economic impact
• minimized environmental impact and improvement of the surrounding neighborhood
• provided the opportunity for good jobs for all residents

“Each and every development proposal in the City of Pittsburgh should meet the triple bottom line or else you must question whether or not this is true economic development that benefits the City or simply real estate development that benefits a select few.”

On Tuesday, Pittsburgh City Council gave unanimous final support to a bill that will help encourage more green building within the city.

The new amendment to the city building code states that any project that receives aid in the form of TIF (tax-increment financing) subsidies, will have to ultimately meet the LEED silver rating standards.  Projects that utilize this subsidy and do not obtain the LEED silver rating will be fined in the amount of 1% of the construction costs of the project.  Building projects that are 10,000 sq. feet or greater, or whose cost exceeds more than $2 million dollars will be subject to this amendment, along with any renovations to city-owned buildings totaling more than $2 million dollars.

The Green Building Alliance, who worked closely with Councilman Bill Peduto on this amendment, praised it’s passage yesterday.  Executive director Holly Childs said, “It is exciting to see the City of Pittsburgh moving forward to protect our natural environment and the health and safety of City residents and workers.  We are very pleased with today’s vote and will work with Councilman Peduto and Pittsburgh City Council to pass legislation that incentivizes and promotes green building.”  
To read more from the Green Building Alliance about the passage of the amendment, visit the press release here.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette also praised this legislation in an editorial yesterday.  The editorial commends the amendment’s insistence on using the LEED certification standards for building, as opposed to a similar bill that recently received overwhelming support in the state House in Harrisburg.  The editorial also praises the long-term savings that such environmental standards create, by creating buildings that use less energy and natural resources.

Read the Post Gazette editorial here.

Tomorrow, City Council will vote to give final approval to legislation that would ultimately lead to the construction of more green buildings within the City of Pittsburgh.

The legislation, authored by Councilman Bill Peduto, would require that any developers who use city TIF (tax-increment financing) subsidies achieve at least a LEED silver rating for that building project.  If the subsidy is used by the developer, and LEED silver rating not sought for the building, that developer will be fined in the amount of 1% of the construction costs.  Any buildings constructed by the city would also be required to achieve this environmental standard, if they are larger than 5,000 square feet or cost more than $2 million dollars.

Prior to authoring this legislation, Councilman Peduto wrote the city’s first green building ordinance, and was the co-founder and co-chair of the city’s climate action plan.  He also authored the Hillside Preservation Act.  When it comes to creating innovative green policies, and fighting to protect our environment, no one can match Councilman Peduto’s record in city government.

View the legislation here.

The second session of Venture Outdoors Pedal, Paddle, Peduto took place on Sunday July 5, as Councilman Bill Peduto and participants went on a bike ride through downtown Pittsburgh.

Louise Sturgess from Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, Don Carter from Urban Design Associates, and Eve Picker from no walls productions joined Councilman Peduto to speak about the history and design of our downtown buildings.  

The 32 participants, both children and adults, simultaneously learned about the downtown area of their city, and enjoyed a relaxing bike ride past the buildings they were learning so much about.

Missed out on the last two Pedal, Paddle, Peduto trips?  Don’t worry – there is still one session of Pedal, Paddle, Peduto left this summer!
Sign up here for the City Parks Walkabout.

On June 14th, outdoor activity and policy discussion were united in the first session of Venture Outdoor’s Pedal, Paddle, Peduto summer program.  

For the first session, 42 people joined Councilman Bill Peduto for a kayaking trip with an informative twist.  As the group kayaked on Pittsburgh’s rivers, they also learned about the Pittsburgh’s riverfront environment and riverfront development.

Lisa Schroeder from Riverlife, Tom Baxter from Friends of the Riverfront, and Rob Pfaffmann from Pfaffmann and Associates spoke to the participants about our city’s rivers.

For more photos, visit the Pedal, Paddle, Peduto page, or our Flickr!

Today, Pittsburgh City Council gave final approval to Councilman Bill Peduto’s legislation to create the Stimulus Oversight and Reinvestment in New Growth (SOARING) Commission.  This commission will oversee the spending of money that Pittsburgh will receive from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

If you are interested in becoming a part of this committee, you can apply online starting today!

Apply Online 

At 1pm today, Councilman Bill Peduto will be holding a press conference before a special session of City Council on the use of technology to advance democracy.  Technology and new media, such as a government iPhone application, live streaming of government meetings online, and deliberative polling and instant feedback by constituents during government meetings, can be used to bring the residents of Pittsburgh into the democratic process in more ways than ever before.

Today’s special session, beginning at 1:30pm, will focus on discussions by leading experts in the new media and technology fields on these topics and more, including:

• Dr. Priya Narasimhan- Carnegie Mellon University, creator of YinzCam technology
• Paul Fireman – Vivo
• Brad Winney – Panopto, Inc.
• Jay Resio – MyGov365

To watch a live streaming of this meeting online, beginning at 1:30pm today – click here – and then select “View Live” underneath the section E Democracy.

Today, Pittsburgh City Council voted unanimously to give preliminary approval to the creation of the Stimulus Oversight and Reinvestment in New Growth (SOARING) Commission.  This commission, introduced by Councilman Bill Peduto, would oversee the spending of the federal funds the Pittsburgh will receive through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

For more information about this commission, visit www.reformpittsburghnow.com.

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette published another article focused on the process behind the passage of the new Act 47 financial recovery plan for the City.  Rich Lord’s story looks at the amendments added onto the plan by council members, and the negotiations that took place to ultimately allow the plan to achieve the 6 necessary votes.

“Last week, Pittsburgh officials passed a law that obliges the city to try to hire more minority and female police and firefighters, improve the energy efficiency of its fleet and buildings, revamp its pay structure, reuse a former police station, merge a half dozen functions with the county and much more.

Those were among the planks shoehorned by a suddenly muscular City Council into the new Act 47 recovery plan — ostensibly a 300-page blueprint to restore the city’s fiscal health by capping pay hikes and replenishing the pension fund, but now also a wide-ranging agenda, with deadlines, in ordinance form and with the state’s imprimatur.”

Read More: Pittsburgh City Council Flexes Muscle with Recovery Plan – By Rich Lord

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette voiced their support for the new financial plan for the City, passed by City Council last week in a 6-3 vote.  

The editorial praises Councilman Bill Peduto’s work to gain support for the plan, saying that it was he “who kept everyone talking, always focused on the goal of writing not the best theoretical plan but the best practical plan, one that could get at least five votes necessary for adoption.”  

The article also emphasizes that the state legislature must now take action, and provide the Mayor and Council with the tools to fully enact and carry out this new plan for Pittsburgh.

Thank you to the hundreds of People for Peduto who emailed, called and wrote to City Council and the Mayor lobbying to do what was best for Pittsburgh.  In the end, it did get the five votes needed and the city of Pittsburgh has a new AND BETTER Recovery Plan as a result.

Recovery on Track: City Council Comes Through on Act 47 Plan