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

In the middle of the night on Monday, The Act 47 Coordinators sent a letter to City Council Members and the Mayor in anticipation of a resolution to support an amended Act 47 Five Year Recovery Plan for Pittsburgh.  The Act 47 Coordinators agreed to add 30 out of Council’s 42 amendments to the plan and took the initiative to thank City Council Finance Chairman Bill Peduto.

Last Wednesday, City Council took an important step forward to create a responsible and forward-thinking five-year financial plan. The original plan that was introduced by the Administration contained several clauses that greatly concerned City Council and lacked new initiatives to create a more efficient 21st century government.

Through the leadership of Council Finance Chair Bill Peduto, Council Members Bruce Kraus and Theresa Kail-Smith, and Controller Michael Lamb, City Council offered several important amendments to the Plan.  The amendments fall under four general categories – City-County Consolidation of Services, Budget and Taxation Reform, Government
Efficiency, and Public Safety.  Some of the key features of the amendments are:

City-County Consolidation of Services

• Invsetigate consolidation services in Fleet Maintenance, IT, Payroll, Purchasing, and Tax Collection
• Create a Regional Parks Commission that oversees all RAD parks in the County

Budget and Taxation Reform

• Committing all slots parlor revenue windfalls to paying down debt
• Instituting new guidelines to ensure there is truth in budgeting
• Institute a .55% Payroll Tax on non-profits
• Go after waste, fraud, and abuse to collect taxes that are not being fairly paid

Government Efficiency

• Create a Facilities Master Plan for all City owned buildings
• Create a Recreational Master Plan for City pools, recreation centers, senior centers, and ball fields 
• Create a Fleet Master Plan
• Create a comprehensive Risk Management Plan
• Institute re-routing software to improve efficiency in street paving, snow plowing, and street cleaning

Public Safety

• Provide City employees with a five-year plan for increased salaries
• Investigate the feasability of keeping a North Side EMS station open 24 hours
• Keep open the Greenfield fire station
• Institute new initiatives to help with police retention and recruitment

Today, Councilman Bill Peduto, who serves as the finance chair for the Pittsburgh City Council,  published his comprehensive five year plan for Pittsburgh’s financial future.  

This plan has 7 main areas of emphasis, all of which are ultimately designed to solve our City’s financial problems.  The key points are:

•  Functional Consolidation of Municipal Services
• Statewide Administered Pension and Healthcare Reform
• Non-Profit Payroll Tax
• Regional Revenue Sharing and Local Tax Reform
• Baseline Audits/ Professional Management/ Outcome Based Performance
• Control of Long Term General Obligation Debt
• Initiatives to Create a Competitive Workforce

This plan was presented to Act 47 coordinators on April 28, 2009.

Read the Letter Here

Click Here to View the Attached Spreadsheet 

A Pittsburgh Post Gazette editorial published in today’s paper highlights the fact that new faces in local government will not be the only changes that come out of this year’s primary election season.

The editorial praises Councilman Bill Peduto for his willingness to take action and push for campaign finance reform during the opportune moment.  Voters are paying attention now more than any other time of the year to the actions of their elected officials, which means that Councilman Peduto’s push for campaign finance reform was not unnoticed by the residents of Pittsburgh.  With the Mayor facing challengers in the upcoming election, Councilman Peduto chose the right moment to push for reform, and his efforts were successful.

The reforms passed in Pittsburgh City Council last Tuesday could not have happened without those that spoke out in support of change.  Thank you to everyone who called, emailed and wrote to Council Members.  This bill would not have passed without the army of supporters that fought for it.  Councilman Peduto’s re-election campaign has worked to build the largest field army for reform in the City of Pittsburgh, and will continue to work to empower citizens through information and technology.  Everyone, especially those who worked to make it happen, should be celebrating this victory!

The blogosphere weighed in on the importance of this vote in local politics – Chris Schultz’s from “Thoughts on government… and other stuff” had this to say.

On Tuesday, Councilman Bill Peduto’s series of 5 reform bills designed to end pay-to-play politics was passed by the Pittsburgh City Council – but the reform will not stop there.  At a press conference later that day, Councilman Peduto introduced a 10 point plan to reform the Pittsburgh City Government, in conjunction with the re-launching of the Reform Pittsburgh Now PAC.

The passage of the reform legislation on Tuesday was the largest action taken against pay-to-play politics by Pittsburgh City Council since the adoption of the Home Rule Charter, but Pittsburgh’s First Reformation of Local Government will continue with the 10 theses of reform introduced on Tuesday.  This theses on the Structure and Reformation of Government details areas of emphasis to continue to bring true reform to Pittsburgh, such as attacking waste, fraud, and abuse, and creating a firewall between politics and government.  Reform Pittsburgh Now also provides a report card, which tracks the votes of every City Council member, and the Mayor on progressive government reform issues.

Reform Pittsburgh Now was originally launched in 2007 by Councilman Bill Peduto, and the re-launched website works to empower the citizens of the City of Pittsburgh by giving them the tools to track the actions of their elected officials, and speak out for change.  The website provides an email forum that allows users to voice their opinion to all members of Pittsburgh City Council and the Mayor with the click of a button, and will also be a source of information about progressive issues.

Visit Reform Pittsburgh Now today, and be a part of Pittsburgh’s First Reformation of City Government – it cannot happen without the involvement of citizens like you!

Read about Tuesday’s press conference, Reform Pittsburgh Now, and the passage of Councilman Peduto’s reform bills:

• Pittsburgh Post Gazette – Council Passes Government Reform Package
• Pittsburgh Tribune Review – Limits on Pittsburgh Campaign Donations Approved
• Pittsburgh Post Gazette – Pittsburgh Council Approves Reforms; Peduto Pushes for More