Check out this article from Sunday’s Post-Gazette about the need for campaign finance reform for the City of Pittsburgh.

Councilman Bill Peduto’s position on campaign finance reform for our city is similar to the view expressed in this article.  Councilman Peduto will not support a campaign finance reform ordinance that does not do three things:

1. It must have significantly lower limits than the Onorato-Ravenstahl proposal, to match limits that have been established in other cities.  The current bill would give Pittsburgh politicians one of the highest limits in the country, and would do nothing to end pay-to-play politics.
2. It must end all no-bid contracts over 25,000 – not just for contributors, but end all no-bid contracts for everyone.  It must be an ordinance, it must be the law, and it must be written into the city code – not just an executive order from the Mayor.
3. The bill must also contain a law that requires the City Controller to post all campaign contributions and all contracts in a searchable database for the public. True transparency must be written into this bill.