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From YouTube: Pittsburgh City Council Public Hearing - 12/19/20
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A
Good
afternoon
and
welcome
to
pittsburgh
city
council's
public
hearing
regarding
the
budget
we
tried
to,
I
just
want
to
just
mention
real
quickly.
We
tried
to
accommodate
a
request
from
the
public
to
have
meetings
on
different
times,
and
I
know
that
councilwoman
strasberger
in
particular
and
councilwoman
gross
had
mentioned
that
they
would
like
to
do
host
meetings
on
a
different
day
for
this
meeting
and
for
other
meetings,
so
we're
looking
into
those
the
possibility
of
having
different
dates
with
that
said.
Will
the
clerk
please
call
the
role.
A
I'm
sorry,
I
don't
have
my
sheet.
Thank
you.
So
then
we'll
have
the
clerk
we'll
call
the
public
speakers
one
at
a
time.
You'll
have
three
minutes
to
to
speak.
To
present
your
your
comments
and
the
the
tech
people
will
automatically
shut
the
mics
off
when
three
minutes
are
up.
So
please
make
your
comments
within
three
minutes
and
if
you
have
anything
in
written
in
writing,
you
can
always
submit
that
to
counsel
as
well.
A
We
do
read
those
and
we
do
see
with
some
of
the
things
you're
saying
and
we're
all
we're
joined
by
I'm
just
gonna
say
we
are
joined
by.
I
believe
all
members
of
council
at
this
point.
So
with
that
said,
madam
clerk,
would
you
please
call
the
first
speaker.
C
C
Oh
I
love
when
boomers
use
technology
anyway,
I'm
a
licensed
social
worker
and
I
provide
case
management
services
to
homeless
veterans.
I
live
in
east
liberty.
C
When
I
was
thinking
about
this
budget,
I
thought
of
the
many
people
that
I've
worked
with.
I've
had
the
privilege
of
working
with
as
a
social
worker
and
how
they're
not
considered
in
this
proposed
budget.
I
thought
of
the
immigrant
students
that
I've
worked
with
at
city,
middle
and
high
schools.
I
thought
of
the
lifelong
pittsburghers
with
cognitive
disabilities,
the
six-year-old
daisy
scouts
right
here
and
he's
liberty.
C
I
didn't
plan
to
use
all
my
time,
but
I
probably
will
because,
as
I
was
reviewing
the
budget
this
morning,
there
was
just
so
much
I
wanted
to
call
out,
but
it's
great
that
there's
what
60
other
people
here
at
this
time,
I'm
really
glad
that
they're
gonna
have
the
chance
to
talk
to
here
are
some
of
the
goals
of
the
budget
that
are
crazy.
C
The
first
is
promote
pittsburgh
bureau
of
police
accomplishments
and
contributions
to
the
community
during
a
time
when
reform
is
being
discussed.
So
I
think
maybe
the
mayor
meant
to
write
gaslight
citizens
experience
of
police
brutality
here.
C
All
summer
protesters
like
myself
have
been
erroneously
labeled
as
outsiders,
but
you
are
literally
suggesting
recruiting
outsiders
to
be
police
interns
where
there
can
become
police
officers
in
the
next
five
years
when
the
city's
forecast
to
increase
the
collegiate
the
police
budget
by
20
million
more
dollars
in
partnership
with
the
bureau
of
police.
All
of
these
goals,
by
the
way
are
from
the
bureau
of
administration,
which
just
shows
how
the
police
budget
itself
is
an
accurate
representation
of
how
much
money
goes
to
policing
so
yeah.
C
This
is
the
worst
one,
because
I'm
a
social
worker
and
it
calls
out
my
alma
mater.
The
university
of
pittsburgh
school
of
social
work,
identify
the
appropriate
police
social
work
model
for
the
pittsburgh
bureau
of
police
by
continuing
partnership
with
the
university.
D
Hello,
everybody.
Can
you
all
hear
me:
okay,
hello,
so
I'm
here
today
to
talk
about
defunding
the
police.
D
This
whole
conversation
has
just
been
wild
to
listen
to
you
and
to
know
that
most
of
you
think
about
this
idea
of
defunding
the
police
by
50
as
some
wild
idea,
but
a
lot
of
people
activists
here,
don't
want
to
say
but
I'll
say,
is
that
some
of
us
want
to
defund
the
police
by
100
and
see
that
this
request
that
we're
making
is
actually
totally
reasonable,
even
though
some
of
you
see
it
as
radical,
but
it's
just
wild
because
we're
in
completely
different
pages-
and
I
just
want
to
make
it
really
clear
that
to
some
of
us
on
this
side,
it's
it
feels
completely
bogus
that
you
all
see
this
as
some
radical
idea.
D
I
think
that
any
politician
who
ever
votes
no
against
legislation
that
takes
power
away
from
the
police,
then
you
aren't
a
progressive
progressive
means
progress.
It
means
liberation
from
this
racist,
violent
past
the
point
of
reform
cult
of
domestic
abusers
in
uniform.
I
know
that
last
week,
deborah
gross
wanted
to
raise
a
motion
that
would
cut
that
would
redirect
some
funding
from
the
police
department.
That
was
only
worth
the
amount
equivalent
to
nine
and
a
half
cop
positions,
which
is
which
wouldn't
even
mean
firing
anyone.
D
D
Please
choose
to
be
on
the
right
side
of
history
and
and
thank
you
for
hearing
me
out
today.
I
yeah
the
end.
E
Hello,
my
name
is
chloe
zip
code
15217.
I
would
first
like
to
thank
you
for
being
willing
to
have
this
meeting
at
a
more
accessible
time.
For
me
as
a
high
school
student,
however,
the
less
than
48
hours
notice
was
a
bit
of
a
shock
in
the
future.
This
budget
hearing
process
must
continue
to
be
more
accessible
and
more
publicized.
E
I
will
keep
my
statement
today
on
a
more
anecdotal
level.
As
I'm
sure
many,
including
myself
at
past
meetings,
have
provided
you
more
than
enough
facts
and
statistics
to
prove
the
necessity
of
redesigning
this
budget.
I
grew
up
just
outside
of
pittsburgh
in
plum
borough,
a
very
suburban,
very
white
neighborhood.
I
grew
up
being
told
that
my
town
and
the
city
of
pittsburgh
were
some
of
the
quote,
unquote
safest
in
the
country.
E
I
never
questioned
why
this
was
little
did
I
know
that
the
main
reason
we
were
bestowed
with
these
titles
was
because
of
the
police
force
that
was
already
overstaffed
and
overfunded
for
a
city
of
pittsburgh's
size.
Well,
this
may
make
a
place
seem
safer
to
white
business
owners.
The
black
community
and
many
others
who
are
disproportionately
targeted
by
them
do
not
feel
the
same
comfort.
I
noticed
a
distinct
change
in
the
attitude
of
my
peers
towards
pittsburgh.
E
When
I
moved
to
squirrel
hill
and
started
going
to
alderdice,
there
was
less
blind
pride,
more
criticism
and
resentment,
and
a
lot
of
it
has
to
be
accredited
to
the
killings
of
romer,
talley
and
antoine
rose
ii
by
the
police
and
the
fact
that,
despite
these
tragic
events,
city
officials
like
peduta
and
many
of
you
here
on
the
council,
continue
to
defend
their
outrageously
high
budget.
It
hurts
me
when
you
claim
that
we,
who
are
all
protesting
every
damn
week
this
summer,
aren't
qualified
enough
somehow
to
speak
on
these
issues,
that
we
don't
represent
pittsburgh.
E
I
was
born
and
raised
here.
How
much
more
pittsburgh
do
you
want?
Should
I
start
watching
the
stillers
and
saying
yins?
Would
that
make-ins?
Finally,
listen
to
me
everyone
here
today
calling
for
the
reallocation
of
police
funds
are
not
outside
agitators.
We
are
real
residents
who
are
concerned
about
our
own
safety
and
the
safety
of
our
communities.
How
can
you
continue
defending
the
budget
of
the
police
while
pittsburgh
has
been
deemed
the
worst
city
for
black
women?
E
Changes
need
to
happen,
and
the
police
have
proven
that
they
are
diametrically
opposed
to
those
necessary
changes,
put
money
into
reducing
crime
and
improving
living
standards.
This
is
done
through
social
services
like
permanently
affordable,
housing
and
cheaper,
more
reliable
and
convenient
public
transportation.
E
This
is
not
done
through
further
increasing
or
even
maintaining
a
police
budget
which
has
gone
50
since
peduto
came
into
office
as
more
police
presence
only
means
more
people
will
show
up
after
crime
has
already
happened,
preventing
nothing.
This
is
also
done
through
taxing
upmc.
No
nonprofit
should
have
a
ceo
who
makes
9
million
dollars
a
year.
Our
city
is
in
need
and
peduto
abandoned
us
when
he
abandoned
the
lawsuit
against
them.
The
whole
world
is
in
crisis
right
now
you
have
a
chance
to
make
some
kind
of
difference.
E
F
F
F
All
of
these
are
within
your
purview
to
solve,
or
at
the
very
least
tackle,
but
instead
this
government
is
using
its
powers
to
worsen
these
issues
by
reducing
money
where
it
is
so
badly
needed
and
ignoring
meeting
after
meeting
of
concerns,
constituents
mad
that
the
force
designated
for
their
safety
is
making
their
world
anything.
But
do
you
think
this
is
only
young
punks
asking
for
this?
Do
you
not
think
that
there
are
adults
with
these
beliefs?
F
Do
you
mistake
our
anger
for
naivete
to
not
trust
an
electorate
to
know
what
they
need
to
be
safe
and
thrive
is
to
deny
everything
the
democracy
stands,
for
it
does
not
show
care
and
it
does
not
show
a
love
for
your
community.
Your
closed
ears
show
nothing
but
a
support
for
power
and
a
disdain
for
those
who
need
the
most
in
this
society.
F
F
We
are
being
fed
up
with
being
accosted
by
the
hand
of
authority
in
this
meeting,
among
others
and
among
the
protests
that
have
happened
and
are
certain
to
continue
shows
that
this
is
a
serious
demand.
Do
anything
to
reduce
the
amount
of
amount
budgeted
for
police
because
doing
nothing
will
leave
blood
on
your
hands
in
the
streets
of
this
city.
Thank
you.
F
G
Hello,
hello,
my
name
is
isaac
smith
and
my
partner,
and
I
are
residents
of
greenfield
and
pittsburgh.
I'm
asking
city
council
today
to
listen
to
our
request
for
an
anti-racist
budget
that
works
for
all
pittsburgh.
Presidents.
In
particular,
we
are
asking
for
major
changes
to
the
police
budget.
We
continue
to
ask
for
a
50
reduction
in
the
police
budget,
as
well
as
additional
taxes
to
wealthy
corporations,
developers
and
upmc.
G
These
taxes
and
budget
reallocations
will
fund
affordable
housing
jobs
with
living
wages,
better
education
for
pittsburghers
and
more
robust
social
services.
We
believe
it
is
the
city
council's
responsibility
to
strongly
advocate
for
changes
in
state
law
that
would
allow
pittsburgh
to
task
tax.
Our
city's
largest
nonprofits,
my
partner
and
I
submitted
email
comments
to
a
recent
city
council
meeting
and
we
received
a
response
from
councilman
o'connor.
G
We
appreciate
his
office
reaching
out,
but
we
were
disheartened
by
the
message,
while
councilman
o'connor's
office
stated
that
the
police
budget
cannot
be
changed
because
of
the
fop
budget
contract,
there
is
evidence
that
shows
that
the
opposite
state
act.
265
says
the
city
can
reduce
the
number
of
police
employees
for
reasons
of
economy
or
lack
of
funds.
The
fop
budget
contract
itself
says
that
the
city
has
the
right
to
determine
the
size
and
organization
of
the
police
bureau.
G
We
are
asking
city
council
to
wield
your
political
authority
and
prioritize
these
budget
reallocations.
You
can
reject
this
proposed
budget.
You
can
vote
down
line
items.
You
can
propose
amendments.
We
can
put
pressure
on
mayor
peduto's
office
to
make
these
changes
it
will.
It
is
possible
to
imagine
in
an
act
of
pittsburgh
that
is
safe
for
all
of
its
residents.
G
Finally,
we
are
disappointed
with
the
budgeting
hearing
process
and
the
late
notice
of
this
meeting
that
left
resident
residents
scrambling
to
prepare.
We
would
like
to
see
a
more
accessible
and
democratic
process
for
residents
to
weigh
in
on
a
budget
discussion
in
the
future.
I
yield
the
remainder
of
my
time.
Thank
you.
H
My
name
is
alexa
schwartz.
I
live
in
beachview
and
anthony
coghill's
district,
and
thanks
for
holding
this
on
saturday,
I
am
pursuing
my
masters
in
social
work
at
pitt.
I
provide
mental
health
services
to
people
in
early
addiction
recovery
and
I
work
as
an
after-school
instructor
with
students
who
are
experiencing
homelessness.
H
Reallocating
money
from
the
police
and
towards
social
services
and
education
is
a
popular
idea
for
increasing
public
safety.
I
can
speak
to
the
ways
in
which
these
fields
and
systems
overlap.
For
example,
tracing
a
client's
trauma,
history
and
family
history
can
show
how
trauma
led
to
substance,
use
and
addiction,
which
may
have
then
led
to
a
family
member
being
incarcerated.
Family
separation
homelessness,
all
of
which
impact
education
for
folks
receiving
services.
H
H
Then,
when
we
look
at
the
people
on
the
service
end,
you
see
service
coordinators,
case
managers,
counselors
shelter
advocates
social
workers
and
teachers,
who
are
often
the
ones
doing
the
work
of
a
lot
of
these
roles
all
at
once.
The
pay
for
these
jobs
is
not
good.
People
in
these
jobs
are
promoting
the
safety
of
the
community
most
of
the
time
they
do
not
kill
anyone.
They
de-escalate
as
part
of
their
job
without
hurting
people.
If
safety
and
livability
is
what
we
value,
let's
do
what
actually
increases
safety
instead
of
police
reform.
B
J
Apologize
yeah
there
you
go.
Thank
you
hi.
My
name
is
lamie
maras.
I
live
in
sharpsburg
and
I
work
in
squirrel
hill
first
off.
Thank
you
for
taking
a
small
step
forward
and
having
a
meeting
today,
I'm
here
to
talk
about
specific
things.
To
begin,
I
work
in
the
education
field.
I
work
with
teachers
and
parents
who
have
been
doing
their
best
just
to
survive.
J
I
work
with
folks
who
are
predominantly
spanish-speaking
with
black
and
brown
folks,
who
are
essential
workers,
folks,
who
have
already
continuously,
have
had
to
under
endless
systemic
oppression.
With
that
being
said,
it
is
extremely
important
to
cancel
the
doodle's
budget
cuts
and
defend
the
police
right
now
and
always.
The
priority
should
be
to
save
the
public
sector,
jobs
in
health
and
social
services
to
save
and
help
everyone
that
is
trying
to
survive
to
help
every
essential
worker.
J
J
There
are
folks
that
are
afraid
there
are
folks
that
are
trying
to
survive
some
of
the
teachers
and
parents
that
I
work
with
every
day.
Fear
that
it
will
continue
to
get
worse
and,
at
the
rate
of
cases
rising
and
folks,
not
taking
precaution,
it
will
working
in
a
school
and
having
to
do
sudden
closures
to
cover
19
our
parents
and
staff,
don't
know
what
to
foresee
they
wake
up
every
single
day
with
a
certain
peace
and
fear.
They
don't
know
how
they
will
pay
rent
next
month.
J
They
are
afraid
of
another
study
closure
because
they
depend
on
our
schools
staying
open.
They
don't
have
a
stable
support
system
in
the
communities
where
they
reside.
A
lot
of
us
have
been
attending
these
meetings
because
we
have
been
able
to
during
the
week.
We
have
that
privilege.
This
is
us
advocating
for
everyone
that
is
unable
to
for
every
single
person
who
is
living
afraid
every
day,
full
of
uncertainties.
J
J
K
Hell,
I'm
james
constituent
of
councilwoman
gross.
Thank
you
for
the
opportunity
to
speak.
Thank
you
to
the
speaker.
So
far.
The
priorities
reflected
in
this
budget
are
not
those
that
I
agree
with
for
reasons
that
have
been
well
articulated
by
others.
If
you
are
going
to
pass
it
as
it
stands,
however,
I'd
at
least
implore
you
to
tie
increase
share,
go
into
public
safety,
with
meaningful
mechanisms
to
strengthen
officer
accountability.
K
I'm
assuming
the
members
here
saw
the
story
from
public
source
this
week
about
the
significant
number
of
officers
with
double-digit
complaints
sustained
against
them
who
remain
in
the
force,
including
one
with
119
allegations
of
misconduct
since
2010..
You
know
we
hear
over
and
over
in
these
conversations
that
we're
dealing
with
a
few
bad
apples.
First
of
all,
proportionately,
it's
not
just
a
few
bad
apples.
If
you
look
at
the
numbers
in
that
story,
but
leaving
that
aside,
you
know
full
saying
it's
a
few
bad
apples
ruin
the
bunch.
K
You
know
what
these
numbers
show
is
a
culture
of
impunity
and
it's
just
something
that
exists
in
no
other
profession.
So,
no
doubt
the
city's
hands
are
tied
when
it
comes
to
discipline
in
meaningful
ways.
We
need
performance
at
the
state
level.
The
city's
civilian
leadership
needs
to
fight
a
lot
harder
for
us
than
they
have
previously
when
it
comes
time
to
renegotiate
the
union
contract,
but
you're
not
powerless.
You
know
by
this
point
thousands
of
pittsburghers
know
the
name
paul
abel.
K
This
is
an
officer
with
a
well-documented
history
of
violence
and
excessive
force,
and
it's
unconscionable
that
men
like
him
have
been
allowed
to
continue
roaming,
our
streets
and
brutalizing
our
neighbors,
given
their
histories
that
same
public
store
story
mentioned
officers
who
had
domestic
violence
and
sexual
harassment,
complaints,
stand
against
them
and
who
continue
to
serve.
So,
of
course,
these
names
are
anonymous,
but
city
leaders
do
have
access
to
this
information.
K
You
know
who
these
people
are,
so
I
think
you
have
to
be
more
transparent
when
it
comes
to
releasing
data
on
police
misconduct
and
disciplinary
results,
proactively,
it'll
be
anonymized,
but
at
the
incident
level,
and
not
just
when
a
journalist
demands
it
so
that
the
public
can
understand
the
scope
of
these
problems
and
how
they're
being
addressed.
That's
in
the
city's
open
data
law
and
there
are
a
lot
of
other
cities
that
already
do
this.
K
Beyond
that,
I
saw
that
public
safety
said
they
didn't
have
time
to
comment
for
the
public
source
story,
but
they
did
have
time
to
leak
to
kdka.
Just
before
that
story
came
out
that
paul
abel
had
been
suspended
pending
termination,
so
that
power
is
there,
you
know,
maybe
it
gets
reversed
in
arbitration,
but
it's
least
an
underused
tool
available
to
demonstrate
that
this
kind
of
behavior
won't
be
tolerated.
K
If
you
can't
fire
officers
like
this
mandate
that
they
be
permanently
reassigned
to
desk
duty
or
somewhere
else,
where
there
are
opportunities
to
betray
the
public
trust
are
more
limited.
I
think
that
if
we
step
back,
this
is
just
an
insane
system.
You
know
no
community
starting
from
scratch,
would
say:
let's
create
a
force
of
nearly
a
thousand
people
carrying
weapons
who
can
get
away
with
violence
and
misconduct
over
and
over
and
over
without
consequences.
And
meanwhile,
let's
pay
teachers,
social
workers
and
others
barely
a
living
wage
for
the
critical
work
they
do.
K
L
Hi
there
can
you
hear
me?
Yes,
so
I
just
want
to
start
by
thanking
council
members
for
offering
this
time
to
speak,
and
I
am
my
name
is
johnny
maines
mason,
I
live
in
regent
square
and
I
am
also
here
to
talk
about
defunding,
the
police
or
ask
for
that,
and
I
want
to
open
by
saying
I
am
staying
aware
that
defunding
and
creating
an
anti-racist
budget
is
not
so
easy
as
that
and
that
there
are
more
complications
than
just
doing
it.
L
How
can
we
just
take
their
jobs
away
and
how
would
we
even
go
about
defunding
and
what,
if
I
lose,
my
friends
and
my
support
and
my
position
and
probably
even
more
complicated
questions
on
each
of
your
hearts,
and
I
think
I
and-
and
I
think
we
implore
you
to
face
those
questions
with
bravery-
I'm
not
gonna
tell
you
that
it
will
be
easy,
but
I
will
tell
you-
and
I
think
that
we've
all
touched
on
here-
is
that
the
resources
are
there.
L
L
Our
resources
are
by
so
many
smart
people,
and
so
I'm
leaving
room
for
this
to
be
difficult,
while
also
recognizing
that
those
difficulties
aren't
insurmountable.
B
M
Hello,
my
name
is
madeline
mcgrady.
I
am
a
resident
of
pittsburgh's
friendship,
neighborhood
and
a
frontline
human
services
worker
for
the
last
four
years.
I've
served
young
people
who
are
aging
out
of
foster
care
or
experiencing
homelessness
in
pittsburgh,
and
I
will
be
starting
the
masters
in
social
work
program
at
the
university
of
pittsburgh
in
the
fall.
It
was
important
to
me
to
be
here
today
to
emphasize
to
this
council
in
person
that
pittsburgh
doesn't
just
want.
Pittsburgh
desperately
needs
a
2021
budget
that
prioritizes
relief
and
restorative
justice.
M
That
means
unequivocally
slashing
the
police
budget,
which
is
grotesquely
bloated
and
allocated
allocating
that
funding
to
the
essential
relief
that
pittsburghers
desperately
need.
As
someone
working
with
some
of
the
most
vulnerable
members
of
our
community,
I
can
attest
that
pittsburghers
are
being
crushed
not
only
by
the
pandemic,
but
by
a
government
that
has
utterly
failed
to
provide
any
meaningful
protections
or
relief.
That
devastation
is
immeasurably
compounded
by
pittsburgh's
systemic
racism
problem,
which
is
reflected
in
stark
disparities
in
housing,
healthcare,
education
and
income
by
race.
M
M
M
That
is
why
those
of
us
with
privilege
and
power
must
see
that
and
put
as
much
money
as
we
humanly
can
towards
providing
relief.
Whether
or
not
you
agree
hear
us
when
we
tell
you
that
the
police
provide
no
relief
and
cannot
be
reformed,
we
do
not
need
the
police,
we
need
health
care,
housing
and
opportunity.
M
N
Wonderful,
my
name
is
daniel
sun.
I
live
in
bloomfield,
zip
code
15224
and
I'm
part
of
stop
the
station.
I
obviously
oppose
the
budget
and
support
stop
the
station's
demand.
I'm
also
here,
because
I
I
find
it
frustrating
that
when
council
tries
to
meet
the
demands
of
the
people,
they
barely
need
it.
N
This
hearing
today
is
the
equivalent
of
when
your
mom
tells
you
to
go
wash
your
hands,
so
you
go
and
turn
on
the
sink,
and
then
you
maybe
run
your
hands
on
the
water
once,
but
you
don't
bother
with
the
soap
and
then
you
leave
this
hearing
was
announced
48
hours
ago.
What's
the
point
of
holding
this?
If
there's
no
time
to
tell
anyone
about
it,
it's
like
when
you
host
a
dinner
party.
Do
you
tell
everyone
it's
happening
in
two
days
when
stop
the
station
hosted
its
own
budget
hearing
for
you
all
to
attend.
N
N
I
am
also
frustrated
because
I
don't
know
what
we
need
to
say
to
convince
you
that
this
budget
is
a
bad
idea,
we're
telling
you
that
we
have
too
many
police
per
capita
with
as
compared
to
comparable
cities
with
way
fewer
police
officers.
The
police
budget
has
increased
nearly
50
since
peduto's
been
in
office,
but
pittsburgh
has
been
losing
population
over
the
last
five
years.
N
N
A
statement
like
this
without
any
logic
would
only
make
sense
coming
from
maybe
the
fop
which
cockhill
is
conveniently
endorsed
by
and
who
I'm
sure,
get
more
than
three
minutes
of
his
time.
Council
needs
to
stop
getting
their
policy
ideas
from
corporations
and
groups
and
start
listening
to
the
people
that
you'll
hold
my
time.
N
B
P
Hello,
my
name
is
matt
rubin.
I
live
in
troy
hill.
I
also
want
to
thank
you
all
for
taking
the
time
to
have
this
meeting
today
and
also
suggest
that
you
know
48
hours.
Notice
is
not
a
lot
of
time.
The
thing
about
you
know,
folks,
being
working
class
in
pittsburgh
is
sometimes
you
have
jobs
that
even
work
on
weekends.
Sometimes
you
need
to
plan
things.
Sometimes,
if
it's
your
day
off,
you
already
have
things
planned.
P
People
need
to
be
able
to
make
plans
to
be
able
to
make
time
for
things,
but
I
do
appreciate
the
the
effort.
I
appreciate
that
you're
listening
to
us
a
little
bit.
I
hope
that
we
continue
to
make
these
changes
and
to
think
about
each
time
you're
beginning
a
new
planning
process,
instead
of
after
you've,
already
voted
on
whether
or
not
to
amend
things
and
are
planning
to
have
a
final
vote
in
a
few
days.
P
P
I
also
want
to
thank
you
all
for
recognizing
and
I
think
actually
agreeing
with
us
on
something
that
a
lot
of
people
have
talked
about
here
and
you've
argued
against,
but
your
actions
have
actually
agreed
with
us
so
earlier
this
year
you
all
voted
for
to
support
and
call
for
the
mayor
to
have
a
hiring
freeze
on
police
and
touted
this
in
police
reforms.
The
mayor
has
instituted
that
plea
that
that
hiring
freeze.
Thank
you.
P
What
I
don't
understand
is
why,
then,
in
the
budget,
it
reckon
it
celebrates
the
increase
in
the
number
of
police
as
an
accomplishment,
it
celebrates.
P
You
know,
recruiting
efforts
as
an
accomplishment
in
the
budget
report,
and
I
don't
understand
why,
if
we
have
a
hiring
freeze,
the
number
of
positions
budgeted
for
next
year
is
the
same.
What
I
don't
understand
is
why,
if
we
have
a
hiring
freeze
by
which
we
have
positions
which
are
not
being
filled,
thus
we
are
spending.
We
are
saving
money.
Why
aren't
we
putting
that
money
towards
other
things
and
and
planning
for
that?
P
Why,
when
we
say
to
you
that
we've
heard
it
said
that
about
250
or
something
police
officers
are
going
to
be
eligible
for
retirement
next
year,
that
that
is
a
place.
When
we
talk
about
defunding
the
police-
and
you
say
we
can't
fire
police
officers
and
we
say
that's
you're
wrong
and
that's
not
illegal
or
you
can't
wait.
You
can
lay
people
off
for
budgetary
reasons.
P
So
I
I
just
think
that's
a
problem
and
I
also
think
it's
a
problem
to
just
accept
that
you
can't
fire
people
when
they
are
like
violating
citizens
rights,
so
you've
probably
seen
the
report
from
public
source.
That
said,
you
know.
B
Q
Hi,
can
you
hear
me.
A
Q
Okay,
I
would
like
to
thank
you
for
having
me.
Q
I
would
like
to
point
out
it's
a
bit
ironic
for
you
to
ask
us
to
be
early
to
sign
in,
but
you
cannot
be
on
time
anyway,
a
favorite
phrase
of
joe
bidens,
who
I'm
assuming
you
all
support,
is,
if
you
show
us
your
budget
I'll,
show
you
your
values,
one
dollar
of
every
of
every
five
dollars
of
this
budget
goes
towards
the
police
and,
as
others
have
pointed
out
this,
this
police
department
has
problems
with
violence
and
with
sexual
misconduct
and
certainly
with
racism.
Q
So
I'm
asking:
does
this
city
value
sexual
misconduct?
Does
this
city
value
violence?
Does
it
value
racism?
I
don't
know
you
can
decide
that.
I
would
just
like
to
share
a
story
before
I
yield
my
time.
I
was
a
demonstrator
at
the
incident
at
mellon
park
where
the
police
attacked
us
after
chasing
us
out
of
the
neighborhood.
Despite
neighborhood
support
to
the
street,
then
they
told
us
to
get
off
the
street
and
onto
the
sidewalk,
so
we
did
and
they
told
us
to
get
off
the
sidewalk
and
into
the
park.
Q
R
R
I
wanted
to
attend
the
previous
meetings,
but
I
personally
could
not,
as
I
was
teaching
I've
lived
in
the
pittsburgh
area,
my
entire
life
and
I
currently
work
as
a
teacher
with
pittsburgh
public
schools,
although
I
am
here
today
in
a
personal
capacity,
I
would
like
to
note
I
like
money,
callers
and
testifying
in
opposition
to
the
current
budget
proposal
and
in
favor
of
defunding
the
police.
R
The
slogan
should
really
be
defund
the
police
partially
and
spread
that
funding
amongst
education,
housing,
health
care,
public
works,
but
that's
a
lot
less
catchy
and
I
could
start
off
my
argument
with
any
of
the
common
statistics,
such
as
the
fact
that
black
residents
make
up
23.2
percent
of
the
pittsburgh
population,
but
are
disproportionately
represented
in
traffic,
stops
frisks
unwarranted
searches
and
seizures
and
arrests.
R
But
I
think
the
best
thing
that
I
could
do
is
speak
to
my
experience
as
a
member
of
the
pittsburgh
community
and
to
my
work
as
a
teacher
as
someone
working
in
public
education,
I
can
say
that,
despite
the
tireless
and
inventive
work
of
my
amazing
colleagues
at
pbs
throughout
this
crisis,
we
still
need
more
funding
and
support.
I've
seen
our
schools
be
a
massive
community
resource
through
grab-and-go
days,
but
I
have
also
seen
shortcomings
when
school
had
to
be
delayed
a
week
because
not
all
devices
could
be
distributed.
R
I
have
you
know,
felt
frustrated
with
a
lack
of
funding
for
sending
music
class
supplies
home
to
kids,
and
I
have
spoken
to
students
who
have
complained
of
having
no
food
at
home
and
come
in
hungry
even
outside
of
my
work
at
the
schools.
I've
seen
the
tool
this
pandemic
has
taken
on
pittsburghers.
I
know
many
people,
my
close
friends
and
family
members
who
have
been
out
of
work
for
months.
I
have
spoken
to
a
citizen
who
is
now
being
evicted
for
the
second
time
this
year.
R
So,
with
all
due
respect
to
the
city
government,
it
feels
incredibly
tone-deaf
to
give
police
the
largest
share
of
the
budget
in
six
years,
while
cutting
everything
else
to
do
this.
After
a
summer
of
outcry
against
injustice
and
policing
and
the
criminal
justice
system
to
propose
this
budget.
After
pittsburgh,
police
spent
2020
brutalizing
protesters
and
using
tear
gas
to
raise
the
budget
share
of
an
organization
that
let
paul
abel
remain
within
its
ranks
for
so
long.
That
seems
ludicrous
to
me.
R
Our
focus
should
be
on
aiding
the
unemployed
and
those
who
may
be
evicted
when
the
cdc
moratorium
expires.
Instead,
the
budget
lays
off
630
people.
There
are
simple
fixes
to
this,
like
not
replacing
the
police
officers
who
are
set
to
retire
this
year
or
simply
reducing
police
funding
to
its
2016
level,
which
would
free
up
10
million
dollars
or
not
relocating
the
zone
via
police
station
to
each
east
liberty.
I
understand
the
very
real
concern.
R
Many
pittsburghers,
including
those
in
the
black
community,
have
about
violent
crime
and
a
way
to
halt
violent
crime
is
necessary,
but
it
is
not
necessary
that
police
take
up
this
much
of
the
budget,
especially
in
an
era
when
so
many
pittsburghers
have
concerns
about
police.
In
closing,
one
of
the
best
ways
to
prevent
crime
is
to
halt
the
conditions
of
poverty
that
lead
to
crime.
I
hope
the
council
will
consider
revising
the
budget
and
I
yield
my
time.
A
S
This
means
I
have
overheard
and
directly
witnessed
many
conversations
that
he
has
had
with
people
in
need.
These
are
people
who
are
dealing
with
mental
health
issues,
the
threat
of
losing
their
housing,
recent
job
loss,
drug
addiction,
the
absence
of
food
in
their
homes,
disabilities
and
many
many
issues
dealing
with
their
kids,
who
are
usually
teens.
S
S
In
listening
to
the
conversations
he
has
in
seeing
the
work
my
husband
does.
I
am
struck
by
the
way
he
gets
people
back
on
their
feet
and
in
action
where
they
can
take
action
as
well
as
connecting
them
with
highly
specialized
specialized
resources
for
people
in
need.
This
is
not
something
that
police
are
trained
and
educated
to
do.
S
Very
often,
our
public
health
is
our
mental
health,
and
this
should
be
addressed
as
well
with
these
reallocated
funds.
These
areas
are
particularly
in
need
of
financial
resources
as
a
result
of
the
pandemic
crisis.
City
police
are
not.
I
would
also
like
to
add
that
organizations
like
pressley
ridge
routinely
partner
with
allegheny
county
on
various
initiatives.
S
T
A
T
Hi,
I'm
alexander
orenstein
from
15201,
and
I'm
sure
these
numbers
have
been
cited
in
multiple
meetings
multiple
times,
I'm
going
to
state
them
again
because
it
highlights
how
our
current
police
system
is
racist,
while
black
residents
make
up
only
23.2
percent
of
pittsburgh
population,
they
experience.
44
percent
of
traffic
stops
71
percent
of
risk,
69
of
all
warrantless
search
and
seizures.
63
percent
of
all
arrests
conducted
by
pittsburgh
police
in
2019.,
while
the
population
of
allegheny
county
is
less
than
13
percent
black,
the
population
of
the
allegheny
county
jail
is
67
black.
T
Things
can't
go
on
like
this,
and
our
police
force
needs
to
be
reevaluated,
not
given
permission
to
continue
as
usual,
by
receiving
almost
no
budget
cuts.
In
addition,
our
police
force
as
it
stands,
is
disproportionately
larger
than
our
cities
need
for
them.
Pittsburgh
is
one
of
the
most
heavy
heavily
policed
of
the
77
medium-sized
u.s
cities,
ranking
9th
out
of
77
violent
crime
rates.
T
Pittsburgh
ranks
about
in
the
middle,
so
it
doesn't
explains
police
presence.
If
pittsburgh
ranked
in
the
middle
of
the
pack
for
the
number
of
police
officers
per
10
000
residents,
it
would
have
about
19
police
officers
per
10
000
residents,
not
the
current
31..
Reducing
this
number
to
reflect
the
violent
crime
rate
would
end
up
saving
money
just
from
the
personnel,
salary
and
wages.
Regular
line
item
alone
would
be
a
savings
of
nearly
24
million
dollars.
T
While
this
type
of
reduction
may
not
be
possible
immediately,
it
shows
a
framework
for
reallocating
money
from
policing
to
pressing
community
needs.
Now,
mayor
peduto
has
produced
no
decrease
in
the
number
of
police
officers
in
pittsburgh.
All
proposed
staffing
cuts
within
the
police
force
are
on
the
civilian
side.
This
misses
an
opportunity
to
reduce
police
staffing
through
the
high
rates
of
retirement,
as
members
of
the
community
have
stated
earlier,
police
have
for
too
long
been
the
catch-all
for
any
civilian
problem
from
the
view
of
the
city.
T
Issues
such
as
mental
health,
homelessness
prevention
and
domestic
abuse
support
have
all
started
to
fall
into
the
purview
of
police
duties.
As
the
saying
goes,
when
your
only
tool
is
a
hammer,
every
problem
starts
to
look
like
a
nail.
The
main
tools
in
the
arsenal
of
the
police
are
violence
and
incarceration,
both
of
which
precipitate
great
harm
to
those
that
affects.
Therefore,
by
having
police
respond
to
nearly
every
problem,
the
city
is
actively
harming
its
residents.
T
A
solution
to
this
is
to
shift
additional
funding
from
the
police
to
the
office
of
community
and
health
of
community
health
and
safety
to
ensure
qualified
staff
are
hired
to
address
the
aforementioned
issues.
This
will
reduce
the
workload
of
police
officers
and
contribute
to
community
safety
and
prosperity
by
breaking
the
cycle
of
poverty
incarceration.
T
U
B
V
Hello,
I
just
want
to
join
the
calls
of
dozens
of
other
people
on
this
call
to
reallocate
funding
from
police
to
social
services,
to
defund
the
police.
Whatever
you
want
to
call
it,
it
seems
like
that's
not
going
to
happen
and
as
as
many
others
have
brought
up,
it's
not
an
easy
thing
for
you
all
to
do,
and
I
I
understand
that,
but
I'm
left
with
a
question
for
for
council
and
for
my
representative
council
person
strasberger.
V
Little
pilot
programs
is
not
going
to
address
that
distrust
and,
while
I'm
glad
that
paul
abel
was
sanctioned
sanctioning
one
individual,
bad
apple
is
also
not
going
to
address
that
distrust.
The
the
distrust
is
sown
by
the
department
that
allowed
paul,
abel
and
dozens
of
other
officers
to
commit
misconduct
after
misconduct
for
years
with
no
accountability.
So
my
question
for
you
all,
is
how
do
you
plan
to
address
that
distrust,
and
I
think
that
it
requires
drastic.
O
W
Sorry,
I
still
muted,
my
name
is
ian.
I
live
in
morningside
zip
code
15206.
thanks
for
holding
this
hearing
on
a
saturday,
but
I
do
hope
you
continue
to
hold
more
public
budget
hearings
that
are
more
accessible
to
working
people
in
the
future,
because
one
accessible
hearing
with
48
hours
notice
is
not
enough.
I
can't
let
this
go
before
this
started.
Councilman
coghill
said
give
me
the
bad
news:
how
many
speakers
it's.
W
W
So
councilman
coghill
I'm
going
to
let,
as
many
people
know
about
your
blase
attitude
toward
this
hearing
as
I
can,
and
I
hope
other
people
do
as
well.
I'm
sure
you'll
explain
it
away
as
a
joke,
but
so
is
your
reasoning
that
pittsburgh
needs
more
police
than
other
cities,
because
we
have
more
hills.
W
Listen
to
this
black
children
accounted
for
100
of
all
warrantless
search
and
seizures
of
children's
ages.
10
and
under
a
recent
public
source
report
shows
that
a
single
police
officer
has
been
the
subject
of
119
allegations
of
misconduct
that
have
reached
the
city's
office
of
municipal
investigation,
since
2010
22
officers
had
five
or
more
accusations
against
them,
sustained
most
officers
around
600
had
between
one
and
four
allegations
investigated
by
omi
since
2010..
W
The
police
do
not
make
our
community
safer
their
violent,
sexually
aggressive,
racist,
behavior
terrorizes
our
communities
again.
Speakers
before
me
have
pointed
out
data
that
demonstrates
this
and
the
fact
the
budget
drastically
cuts
everything,
but
the
police
when
people
need
jobs,
health
care,
good,
public
education
and
safe,
affordable
housing
is
just
an
insult.
Addressing
these
needs
will
make
our
community
safer
than
the
police
ever.
Could
we
keep
getting
the
response
that
you
can't
defund
the
police
or
that
it's
somehow
illegal
and
I'm
admittedly,
no
expert
on
the
legality
of
the
matter?
W
But
in
the
wake
of
these
responses,
plenty
of
people
have
pointed
out
that
it
simply
isn't
illegal.
If
you
take
the
bold
and
maybe
even
politically
risky
steps
needed
and
we're
tired
of
hearing
what
you
can't
do,
we
aren't
getting
any
responses
about
what
you
can
do.
How
can
you
help
people
struggling
in
the
city?
How
can
you
reduce
police
terrorism
of
black
people
in
pittsburgh?
Y
X
Awesome
I'm
matt
cronin.
I
am
an
east
liberty
resident.
I
don't
have
a
lot
of
time
so
I'll.
Just
thank
you
for
having
us
on
saturday
and
apologize
that
I'll
have
to
speak
so
quickly.
So,
oh,
I
wanted
to
start
with
a
story
a
couple
of
years
ago,
before
this
whole
covid
thing
I
volunteered
to
spend
a
school
year
teaching
a
morning
class
at
a
high
school
in
the
hill
district,
doing
computer
science
because
they
didn't
have
teachers
who
were
equipped
to
do
that.
X
I
was
just
helping
out
with
this
twice
a
week.
We,
what
I
saw
was
a
drastically
under
resourced
school
system,
or
at
least
school
that
which
is,
you,
know,
part
of
our
responsibility
as
a
city
they
had.
We
had
kids
not
having
their
schedule
figured
out
until
halfway
through
the
year,
because
they
didn't
have
enough
people
to
work
out
schedules.
They
didn't
have
supplies.
The
teacher
I
was
working
with
had
to
buy
their
own,
keep
it
under
lock
and
key
and
jealously
guard
their
pens.
X
The
pittsburgh
promise
sent
kids
off
to
college,
which
pittsburgh
home
is
great.
I
love
it.
It's
awesome,
but
kids
were
being
talked
into
using
it
to
go
to
college,
while
not
understanding
the
other
loans
that
they
were
beings
that
they
that
they
were
signing
up.
For
you
know
the
difference
between
subsidized
and
unsubsidized
law.
That's
something
that
we
could
fix
with
the
financial
literacy
seminar
to
go
along
with
the
the
money
and
kovid
has
undoubtedly
made
these
things
worse
so
fast
forward
to
now.
X
We've
all
spent
the
summer
talking
about
how
much
we
want
to
prevent
incidents
like
what
happened
to
george
floyd
and
proposals
that
I've
heard
have
been
we're
going
to
increase
police
is
recruiting
by
trying
to
get
young
people
early,
which
really
seems
to
me
like
treating
symptoms
rather
than
the
cause,
which
is
an
expensive
and
dubious
path.
We've
had
bans
on
chokeholds
and
more
power
to
the
police
oversight
committee
is
great,
but
we
have
a
stronger
mandate
than
that.
X
X
Z
Hi,
so
my
name
is
patrick
wishon,
I'm
a
resident
of
bloomfield,
and
I
want
to
start
off
by
thanking
the
council
for
holding
this
meeting
at
a
more
accessible
time.
Z
I
wish
more
people
could
have
made
it,
and
I
also
want
to
address
what
councilman
coghill
said
before
the
meeting
that
it's
bad
news
for
there
to
be
56
speakers,
but
I
would
actually
frame
it
is
that
you
should
be
grateful
that
your
constituents
care
enough
to
get
involved
in
this
process
and
demand
better
from
you
and
for
our
city
from
what
I've
seen
the
past
three
meetings.
I've
attended,
your
disregard
for
what
your
constituents
have
been
demanding
is
appalling.
Z
What
pittsburgh
needs
and
once
isn't
the
reinforcement
of
an
apartheid
state
from
over
policing
what
pittsburgh
needs
and
actually
wants,
is
affordable,
democratically
owned
housing.
What
pittsburgh
needs
and
wants
is
stopping
police
expenditures
like
relocating
the
zone,
5
police
station.
What
pittsburgh
needs
and
wants
is
taxation
on
upmc
to
bring
money
back
into
the
community
from
the
city's
largest
employer.
Z
Saying
things
about
hills
in
sports
doesn't
actually
convince
anyone
about
the
over
60
percent,
more
police
that
we
have
than.
Similarly,
sized
cities,
as
discussed
earlier
denver,
also
has
hills
in
sports
and
yet
touts
a
lower
police
employment
rate
police
are
using
cars.
They
aren't
hiking
up
the
hills.
Z
So
if
you
actually
care
about
the
over
policing
of
the
black
community
and
continue
to
turn
a
blind
eye
like
so
many
of
you
have
so
far
you're
complicit
in
a
racist
system
that
tears
apart
families
and
ruins
lives
referenced
earlier
in
this
call
was
data
gathered
by
the
abolitionist
law
center
that
actually
states
that
pittsburgh
has
a
criminal
punishment
system
that
meets
the
legal
definition
of
apartheid
because
of
the
way
it's
sanctioned
by
the
government
at
every
jurisdictional
level.
Z
You
are
participating
in
a
crime
against
humanity
and
against
the
people
that
chose
you
to
fight
for
them.
Over
200
officers
are
eligible
for
retirement
this
year
and
the
fact
that
not
one
of
you
seconded
councilwoman's
councilwoman
gross's
proposal
last
week
to
cut
nine
and
a
half
officer
positions
to
help
fund
causes
that
will
find
safe
housing
for
people
amongst
a
number
of
other
things
that
would
help
pittsburghers
is
disgusting.
Z
You
should
be
ashamed
of
yourselves
for
doing
nothing
to
stop
this
cycle
and
instead
sitting
by
and
watching.
This
is
one
of
your
last
chances
to
actually
make
a
positive
impact
on
the
community.
With
this
budget,
I
yield
my
time.
Thank.
Y
Okay,
hi
everyone,
my
name
is
josh,
my
pronouns.
Are
he
him?
I
live
in
east
liberty,
15206,
I'm
actually
right
near
where
you
want
to
relocate
the
zone.
5
police
department.
I
haven't
been
able
to
come
out
to
any
of
these
meetings
because
I
work
full
time
and
I
can't
take
off
on
a
tuesday
at
10
a.m.
Y
So
I
thank
you
for
holding
this
meeting
at
an
accessible
time.
I
hope
that
in
the
future
you
will
take
working
people
into
consideration
earlier
in
the
budget
process
and
give
us
more
accessible
times
to
participate
in
this
budget.
That
so
greatly
affects
us.
Now
I
can
say
firsthand
and
in
conversations
I've
had
with
my
neighbors.
We
do
not
want
more
of
a
police
presence.
No
one
does
young
folks
families
with
children,
even
many
elders
of
the
community,
and
especially
the
black
and
poc
immigrant
families,
who
I'm
close
with
the
other
day.
Y
I
was
giving
my
neighbor
a
lift
to
the
giant
eagle
and
then
to
the
costco,
and
we
were
standing
outside,
while
two
police
officers
took
up
the
middle
of
the
street
talking
loudly,
the
whole
atmosphere
of
the
neighborhood
turned
sour
on
my
block.
We
greet
each
other
and
are
always
friendly.
We
have
cookouts
and
we
know
each
other's
kids
when
the
police
are
around
everyone
rushes
to
their
cars
and
into
their
houses.
It
was
the
most
uncomfortable
I've
been
on
my
sidewalk
since
we
lived
in
a
police
state
under
peduto's
curfew
this
summer.
Y
No
one
wants
the
thin
blue
gang
just
roving
around
mostly
in
black
neighborhoods,
intimidating
folks.
They
don't
need
more
funding
and,
let's
not
forget
about
the
atrocities
committed
against
pittsburghers
earlier
this
summer,
when
they
used
tear
gas
on
peaceful
protesters
and
then
lied
about
it
in
a
press
conference,
and
then
they
intimidated
people
who
had
video
evidence
afterward.
This
is
terrifying.
Y
How
is
this
the
group
that
you
want
to
fund,
not
the
citizens
who
are
struggling
in
the
midst
of
a
global
pandemic?
This
budget
is
atrocious,
as
the
speakers
earlier
have
said.
How
are
you
ignoring
the
citizens
struggling
right
now,
instead
making
sure
your
grunts
can
roll
around
in
armored
personnel
carriers?
How
could
you
in
good
conscience
choose
to
fund
the
overly
aggressive
outsider
police
instead
of
the
people
who
call
this
city
home?
I
urge
you
to
consider
divesting
from
the
police
and
investing
in
the
people.
I
yield
my
time.
AA
Hi,
my
name
is
david
turner.
I'm
a
software
engineer
that
lives
in
the
10th
ward
of
pittsburgh,
zip
code
15201.
I
want
to
start
by
thanking
deb
gross
for
being
the
sole
opposition
to
the
budget
and
for
raising
the
funds
on
the
police.
I
also
am
calling
in
support
to
defund
the
police
by
at
least
50
percent
some
information
about
me.
I
moved
to
pittsburgh
in
2010,
moved
to
the
10th
ward
in
2011..
AA
I've
watched
this
neighborhood
change
over
the
years
and
I've
heard
from
lifetime
residents
the
ways
that
it's
changed,
the
ways
that
it
was
unsafe,
the
ways
that
it's
gotten
better
and
through
my
conversations
with
them,
everything
seems
to
be
clear
that
that
came
through
zero
effort
from
the
police
itself
that
came
from
the
community
that
came
from
non-profits
like
lawrenceville,
united
and
the
other
one.
Oh,
my
god
that
did
the
land
trust
in
lawrenceville
as
well
that
that
grows
supported.
AA
I
witnessed
through
social
media
someone,
organizing
protesters
get
kidnapped
in
a
car
and
it
really
calls
into
question
what
the
function
of
our
police
is
they're,
not
here
to
protect
they're
here
to
enforce,
and
I
think
we
should
devote
divert
those
funds
into
supporting
the
people.
We
should
be
supporting
things
like
housing.
We
should
be
supporting
things
like
education.
AA
We
should
be
offering
people
relief
in
a
time
of
need
where
many
people
are
without
work,
and
I
thank
my
friends
that
put
their
health
at
risk
during
a
time
of
covid
to
peacefully
protest
the
police,
violence
that
has
been
seen
across
this
nation,
and
I
hope
that
you
reconsider
that
funding
and
put
it
towards
something
that
actually
helps
people.
I
yield
my
time.
AB
AB
AB
AB
AB
AC
AC
AC
As
a
former
employee
of
upmc,
it
sickens
me
to
see
their
profits
skyrocket.
While
I
look
at
my
own
budget
as
a
person
on
ssdi
and
see
that
I've
still
paid
over
25
000
out
of
my
own
pocket
this
calendar
year
on
health
care
costs,
and
no,
I
don't
make
that
much
money
that
is
coming
out
of
my
retirement
account,
and
so
I
urge
the
taxation
of
such
corporations
and
big
developers.
AC
And
yes,
I'm
also
here
for
the
lives
of
my
black
friends,
which
directly
are
affected
by
the
police
budget
and
zone
5.
Make
no
mistake:
I
fully
support
stopping
zone,
five's
relocation
and
all
police
related
infrastructure
projects
and
purchases,
and
the
redistribution
of
these
funds
to
serve
as
an
immediate
form
of
economic
stimulus
in
terms
of
food
and
basic
services
created
and
controlled
at
the
local
level.
AC
Given
the
federal
government's
failure
to
craft
any
sort
of
significant
aid
package,
a
common
critique,
as
we've
heard
in
previous
hearings
of
def
funding
officers,
would
lose
their
livelihoods,
but
there
are
so
many
other
options
which
might
include
positions
in
mental
health
and
educational
services,
health
care,
city
hall.
I
want
to
clarify
that
when
I
say
defund
I
mean
reallocation
and
demilitarization
not
like
what
has
been
happening
happening
in
education
when
we
are
already
stripping
a
depleted
body,
we'd
be
removing
bloat
to
the
benefit
of
other
much-needed
services.
AC
AC
AD
B
AE
AE
However,
my
pride
for
the
city
has
vanished
while
watching
the
progression
of
the
white
agenda
and
the
blatant
disregard
the
deep
rooted
black
community
through
housing,
health
and
social
services.
Reading
this
budget
was
a
nail
in
the
coffin
for
me,
increasing
the
police
force
budget
and
not
really
reallocating
funds,
so
much
needed
social
services.
AE
After
a
summer
of
constant
protests,
people
leaving
their
home
safety
of
their
homes
to
protest
against
police
brutality-
and
this
is
the
budget
pittsburgh's
police
force-
has
failed
us
time
and
time
again
endangering
members
of
our
community,
and
this
is
the
budget
there's
a
global
pandemic
that
has
stripped
people
of
physical
and
financial
freedom,
and
this
is
the
budget
I
want.
I
can't
raise
my
family
here.
If
these
are
the
priorities,
this
is
not
the
leadership
rcd
city
needs.
AE
A
AF
Hello,
my
name
is
steph
sorenson
and
I
have
lived
in
greenfield
for
15
years.
I
want
to
thank
you
for
holding
this
meeting
on
a
weekend.
Although
more
notice
would
have
been
helpful.
As
the
parent
of
the
pittsburgh
public
school
student,
I
haven't
been
able
to
attend
prior
meetings
since
they
have
been
scheduled
on
weekday
mornings.
AF
When
my
child
is
home
attending
virtual
school,
he
just
turned
seven,
and
while
he
is
an
incredible
kid,
he
is
unable
to
do
schoolwork
independently
on
a
screen
all
day,
like
so
many
other
parents
and
caregivers
in
this
city
and
around
the
country,
especially
women
and
especially
people
of
color.
I
have
been
unable
to
work
since
the
pandemic
abruptly
left
my
family
without
child
care.
Since
march
pittsburgh
has
the
opportunity
to
lead
the
way
in
our
response
to
the
challenges
facing
us
due
to
the
pandemic.
AF
This
situation,
as
we
have
all
heard
too
many
times
this
year,
is
unprecedented.
So
why
are
we
going
ahead
with
a
budget
that
follows
the
same
course
as
in
years
prior?
Why
are
we
increasing
the
budget
share
of
the
police
when
our
community's
needs
are
so
great
members
of
council?
Please
explain
to
us:
how
will
the
police
help
us
fight
covid,
since
allegheny
county
now
has
the
most
rapidly
growing
case
count
in
the
state?
AF
How
will
the
police
help
feed
hungry
pittsburgh
families
when
regional
food
insecurity
has
increased
by
42
since
march,
and
food
pantries
are
putting
hungry
people
on
waitlists?
How
will
the
police
help
house
the
homeless,
given
that
hundreds
have
been
evicted
and
thousands
more
face
eviction
and
foreclosure
in
the
coming
weeks
in
the
winter
during
a
pandemic?
AF
How
will
the
police
help
those
without
jobs
find
work
in
order
to
support
their
families
when
pennsylvania's
unemployment
rate
has
jumped
by
more
than
70
percent
per
week
since
the
start
of
december
members
of
council,
it
looks
to
us
like
you,
are
giving
up.
If
you
don't
like
the
term
defund
the
police,
that's
fine.
We
are
asking
you
not
to
defund
our
public
programs
and
services.
AF
We
are
asking
you
to
seize
this
unprecedented
moment
of
suffering
in
our
community
and
lead
us
in
the
creation
of
real
change.
Take
inspiration
from
the
seattle
city
council,
which
recently
passed
a
larger
payroll
tax
on
their
city's
biggest
businesses
and
highest
earners
in
order
to
meet
the
needs
of
their
constituents.
AF
Take
inspiration
from
the
city
councils
of
allentown
albuquerque,
san
antonio
and
others
who
have
created
initiatives
to
address
homelessness,
take
inspiration
from
regular
pittsburghers
who
have
had
to
get
creative
in
finding
our
own
solutions
for
loss
of
child
care,
jobs,
health
care,
income,
housing,
food
and
so
on.
We're
asking
you
to
stop
telling
us
about
all
the
things
you
can't
do
and
start
telling
us
what
can
be
done.
Thank
you.
AF
B
AG
AH
Hi,
sorry
guys,
my
bad,
can
you
hear
me?
Yes,
all
right,
hello,
council.
Thank
you
for
having
me
here
today.
I
appreciate
the
time
to
voice
my
opinion
on
the
2021
city
budget
at
a
time
that
does
not
conflict
with
my
work
schedule.
Despite
having
less
than
48
hours
notice,
I
am
a
resident
of
squirrel
hill,
south
and
thus
councilman
o'connor
is
my
council
person,
who,
I
don't
think
is
on
the
line.
AH
Awesome.
Okay,
thank
you.
Well
then,
hello,
council,
councilman
o'connor.
As
you
are
the
chair
of
the
committee
on
public
safety
services,
I
find
it
imperative
that
you
take
note
of
all
the
comments
we're
hearing
here
today
and
have
heard
at
all
previous
public
hearings
on
the
proposed
budget.
AH
Think
of
what
signals
you
are
sending
to
the
people
you
represent
that
instead
of
investing
in
their
safety
and
welfare
through
funding,
affordable
housing,
social
services
and
public
health
initiatives,
you
would
rather
put
all
of
this
money
towards
creating
a
system
of
bullies
to
parade
through
our
communities
and
intimidate
us.
Instead
of
seeking
to
truly
help
and
heal
communities
in
need,
you'd
rather
reinforce
an
antiquated
system
of
power.
This
is
not
the
pittsburgh
that
I
want
to
live
in.
AH
These
are
the
elements
of
the
proposed
budget
that
must
be
changed
in
order
to
create
a
truly
livable
and
safe
pittsburgh
for
all
of
its
residents.
I
know
there
are
members
of
council
that
probably
took
these
positions
because
they
believed
they
truly
wanted
to
have
a
positive
impact
on
their
community.
AH
AH
AH
When
I
lived
in
a
predominantly
white
neighborhood,
I
rarely
saw
the
police,
but
now
that
I
live
in
a
predominantly
black
neighborhood,
I
see
and
hear
the
police
daily.
In
fact,
if
you
had
unmuted
me
three
minutes
earlier,
you
also
would
have
seen
and
heard
the
police.
In
the
background
of
my
voice,
my
conversations
and
my
work
are
frequently
interrupted
by
sirens.
AH
What
I
don't
see
or
hear
the
week
after
18
inches
of
snow
snow
fell
were
plows.
My
street
still
has
not
been
plowed
this
week
and
if
I
didn't
have
the
facts
and
figures
in
front
of
me-
and
I
hadn't
heard
all
my
fellow
pittsburghers
giving
testimony
today.
That
alone
would
clue
me
in
that
our
city's
budget
priorities
are
way
off
balance.
AH
This
budget
is
uncaring
and
unneighborly,
which
doesn't
sound
to
me
like
pittsburgh,
we're
not
doing
a
good
job
of
taking
care
of
each
other,
and
we
can
do
a
lot
better.
I
want
my
tax
dollars
to
go
towards
infrastructure,
education,
health
and
social
services,
investments
which
raise
the
quality
of
life.
For
me
and
my
neighbors,
we
can
do
better,
you
can
do
better
and
I
expect
you
to
rise
to
the
occasion
and
change
this
budget
around.
Thank
you.
I
yield
my
time.
Thank
you.
AI
Hello,
can
you
hear
me?
Yes,
awesome
thanks.
My
name
is
leigh
burkhardt
a
resident
of
one
five,
two
one,
nine,
I'm
here
to
say
that
the
2021
budget
is
a
disrespect
and
disregard
of
the
wishes
of
so
many
people
of
pittsburgh.
AI
AI
We
danced
and
we
cared
for
one
another
and
we
chanted
together,
defund
the
police
and
refund
the
people's
peace,
and
we
were
met
with
violence
with
terrifying
threats
to
our
safety.
A
lot
of
this
here
has
felt
terrifying.
I
watched
a
friend,
get
abducted
by
armed
agents
and
dragged
into
an
unmarked
van
on
pitt's
campus.
AI
We
were
lured
into
false
promises
of
having
our
voices
heard
all
during
a
global
pandemic,
which
has
so
many
of
us
unemployed,
unhoused,
unfed
or
at
risk
of
those
things
to
be
more
explicit.
Many
pittsburghers
have
joined
together
in
the
streets
and
now
in
these
city
council
hearings
to
say
the
same
things
and
still
we're
met
with
opposition
by
the
people
who
are
supposed
to
advocate
for
us,
I'm
echoing
what
everyone
else
has
said
here
today:
defund
the
police
and
refund
the
people's
peace.
AI
AD
AD
First,
I
want
to
say
that
it's
still
not
enough
what
you've
done
to
publicize
these
hearings.
It
should
not
be
up
to
working
citizens
to
spread
the
word
about
city
council
hearings.
Not
everyone
is
online
without
much
time
to
get
the
word
up.
How
is
this
meeting
supposed
to
do
anything
but
serve
as
an
example
of
how
the
city
government
continues
to
systematically
disenfranchise
huge
portions
of
the
pittsburgh
community?
I'm
privileged
enough
to
have
heard
about
this
and
to
have
the
time
today
to
speak.
AD
That's
why
I'm
able
to
be
here
what
about
the
people
who
can't
afford
internet
right
now
or
who
have
urgent
personal
issues
like
being
worried
about
getting
evicted?
What
about
essential
workers
who
are
at
work
today?
They
can
send
in
comments,
but
I
think
we
all
know
about
the
impact
of
showing
up
to
a
meeting.
AD
The
alliance
for
police
accountability.
Wants
the
police
budget
cut
by
at
least
50
percent?
I
agree.
I
understand
that
there
are
budget
shortfalls
due
to
the
pandemic,
because
we
have
these
budget
shortfalls.
Cutting
the
police
budget
is
even
more
urgent.
I'm
going
to
quote
brandy
fischer
of
the
alliance
for
police
accountability.
Our
priorities
need
to
change.
AD
If
pittsburgh
is
going
to
address
our
city's
racial
and
economic
disparities,
we
need
more
money
for
families
in
the
middle
of
a
public,
health
and
economic
crisis,
not
more
money
for
police
according
to
the
pennsylvania
budget
and
policy
center.
If
you
return
the
police
budget
to
its
2016
level,
you
could
redirect
about
10
million
to
affordable
housing,
we're
facing
a
housing
crisis
in
the
middle
of
a
pandemic,
and
this
is
something
that
is
in
your
power
to
do
as
city
council.
You
need
to
think
of
the
people
who
you
live
among.
AD
You
need
to
take
care
of
this
community
and
the
people
who
actually
live
in
pittsburgh.
Police
officers
aren't
even
required
to
live
in
the
city,
so
I
can't
imagine
why
this
council
and
the
mayor
are
more
loyal
to
outsiders,
like
the
police
than
the
people
who
actually
live
here.
We
don't
need
more
violence,
more
arrests,
a
bigger
police
presence
that
terrorizes
the
black
and
brown
and
lgbtq
communities
of
pittsburgh.
We
need
housing,
infrastructure,
mental
health
services.
Please
revise
the
budget
according
to
what
the
activists
and
residents
of
the
city
have
been
telling
you.
AJ
AJ
This
budget
is
a
question
of
where
our
priorities
stand
and
pittsburghers
have
been
coming
out
to
tell
you
week
after
week,
exactly
where
they
lay.
We
know
that
we
need
to
increase
funding
for
the
programs
and
services
that
support
our
communities,
not
the
department
that
more
often
than
not
terrorizes
and
traumatizes
us.
AJ
But
everyone
in
this
meeting,
including
council,
knows
that
just
defunding
the
police,
by
the
amount
that
their
budget
has
been
raised
over
the
past
five
years,
will
not
be
enough
to
build
the
city
that
we
deserve.
We
need
to
tax,
upmc
and
big
corporations
to
fully
fund
the
progressive
anti-racist
budget
that
we
are
demanding.
AJ
This
council
has
argued
that
if
we
receive
federal
pandemic
relief
aid,
the
600
jobs
that
are
on
the
chopping
block
will
be
saved,
but
that's
a
horrendous
abdication
of
your
power
you're
waiting
for
aid
to
come.
That
is
not
guaranteed
and
you're
using
your
constituents,
health
well-being
and
livelihood
as
a
bargaining
chip
in
a
losing
game.
AJ
Also,
many
of
you
have
said
that
you
actually
agree
with
our
demands,
especially
demand
to
tax
upmc,
but
say
that
your
hands
are
tied
with
legal
obstructions.
Well,
it's
your
job
to
think
creatively
and
to
figure
out
how
to
get
rid
of
the
obstacles
in
your
way
of
what
you
supposedly
support
through
observing
the
city
council
meetings
over
the
last
few
weeks,
it's
become
abundantly
clear
to
me
that
you
are
not
going
to
listen
to
us
and
you're
going
to
continue
to
dismiss
our
demands
and
call
us
outside
agitators
with
unrealistic
ideals.
AJ
But
the
fact
that
you
met
one
of
our
demands
to
schedule
this
meeting
on
a
saturday,
even
though
it
was
with
a
pitifully
short
notice,
shows
me
that
when
we
organize,
together
with
a
united
voice,
to
put
pressure
on
the
city
council,
we
have
the
power
to
win.
56
people
signed
up
to
speak
with
less
than
48
hours
notice.
AJ
AK
Hey
good
afternoon,
my
name
is
jessica,
my
pronouns
are
she
her?
I'm
an
ayatse
union
member
and
worker
in
the
film
and
tv
industry,
my
zip
code
is
15224
and
I'm
a
resident
of
bloomfield,
I'm
here
to
echo
the
demands
of
stop
the
station's
efforts
for
an
anti-racist
budget
and
to
use
my
time
today
to
detail
what
shifting
the
budget
could
look
like
out
of
the
77
medium-sized
u.s
cities.
Pittsburgh
is
one
of
the
most
heavily
policed,
ranking
9..
AK
If
pittsburgh
ranked
in
the
middle
of
the
pack,
it
would
have
about
19
police
officers
per
10
000
residents,
not
the
current
31.
there'll,
be
a
savings
of
nearly
24
million
dollars.
While
this
type
of
reduction
may
not
be
possible
immediately,
it
does
show
framework
for
reallocating
money
from
policing
to
pressing
community
needs.
AK
The
over
policing
in
our
city
has
not
made
pittsburgh
more
livable.
Black
children
account
for
100
percent
of
all
warrantless
search
and
seizures
of
children,
ages,
10
and
under
out
of
the
415
black
and
white
allegheny
county
residents
arrested
on
a
misdemeanor
charge.
It
was
only
the
black
community
members
who
were
denied
bond
altogether.
AK
AK
This
does
not
make
me
want
to
describe
my
home
as
neighborly
or
the
most
livable
city.
As
council
person,
strasberger
reported
in
a
public
safety
document.
The
top
5
9-1-1
calls
are
traffic,
stops
burglar
alarms,
parking
complaints,
welfare
checks
and
domestic
violence.
In
most
instances,
armed
police
are
not
necessary
to
address
these
problems.
AK
The
police
have
become
a
catch-all
from
any
crisis
or
cries
for
help.
Greater
investment
in
communities
on
the
front
end
will
lead
to
less
need
for
intervention
from
police.
On
the
back
end,
we
as
a
society
have
become
accustomed
to
solving
problems
through
militarization
incarceration
and
force
when
another
way
is
possible.
AK
Residents
across
pittsburgh
have
been
asking
for
the
mayor
city
council
to
explore
those
other
ways
through
preventative
measures
and
restorative
justice.
There
is
an
abundant
need
in
our
city,
especially
during
this
challenging
year.
I
encourage
voting
no
on
this
proposed
document,
but
on
this
proposed
budget
until
it
actively
invests
in
the
good
of
the
people,
not
designing
a
budget
for
assumed
future
transgressions.
AL
Hi,
my
name
is
jill
cavaca
shiher,
I'm
a
resident
of
friendship
and
a
woman
of
color,
which
is
apparently
important
to
ricky
vargas.
AL
I'd
like
to
thank
those
of
you
who
have
taken
the
time
to
speak
today,
especially
the
translators
and
those
from
stop
the
station
who
have
volunteered
hundreds
of
hours
to
provide
you
resources
and
insight
into
what
members
of
our
community
actually
want
and
need.
I'd
like
to
add
my
name
to
the
long
list
of
pittsburghers
calling
to
defund
the
police
by
reallocating
those
funds
to
other
services
like
housing,
education
and
healthcare.
AL
How
can
we
be
the
most
livable
city
with
waves
of
evictions
this
winter?
During
a
pandemic?
We
are
holding
you
the
city
council
responsible
for
your
lack
of
effort
to
help
and
instead
constantly
trying
to
pass
the
book.
I'd
also
like
to
address
the
complaints
made
by
bill
when
this
meeting
started,
and
he
didn't
know,
we
could
hear
him
about
having
to
work
a
few
hours
on
one
weekend.
You
know
that
really
shows
your
privilege
and
that
you
clearly
do
not
care
about
a
large
part
of
the
community.
You
are
hired
to
serve.
AL
You
should
be
ashamed
of
yourself
for
everyone
else
on
the
council
right
now.
You
are
critical
in
helping
us
build
a
better,
safer
community
for
all,
not
just
the
upper
and
middle
class
white
people.
I
yield
my.
AM
Hello.
Thank
you
all
for
your
time.
I
would
like
to
thank
the
council
for
finally
having
a
meeting
that
was
barely
accessible
with
some
amount
of
notice
and
wasn't
held
during
a
weekday
when
the
vast
majority
of
working
people
are
unavailable.
AM
I
would
like
to
thank
council
person
cogel
for
making
it
abundantly
clear
what
he
thinks
of
his
constituents
opinions
with
his
comments
before
the
meeting
started.
I
would
like
to
thank
council
person
level
for
making
it
abundantly
clear
what
he
thinks
of
these
proceedings,
given
his
cooking
texting
and
disappearing
from
the
screen
for
minutes
at
a
time.
AM
I
would
like
to
lend
my
voice
to
the
so
far
unanimous
opinion
of
the
commenters
that
the
city
council
should
vote
no
on
the
proposed
budget
or
amend
it
to
defund
the
police
by
50
percent
and
redirect
that
money
to
social
work,
education,
social,
housing
and
other
things
that
will
actually
help
the
community
police
do
not
prevent
crime.
They
do
not
make
us
safer.
AM
We
saw
this
this
summer
when
police
forcibly
kettled
people
gave
an
impossible
to
obey
order
to
disperse
and
then
used
that
as
a
pretext
to
arrest
people
who
were
protesting
their
brutality.
AM
The
police
budget
has
gone
up
every
year
of
mayor
peduto's
tenure
from
under
15
of
the
city
budget
in
2014
to
nearly
19
and
over
19
percent
in
the
proposed
budget
for
next
year.
AN
Yes,
great,
I'm
liz
labazz
from
highland
park.
I've
been
a
pittsburgh
resident
since
2001..
First,
I
appreciate
you
scheduling
this
additional
hearing
outside
of
typical
working
hours.
Democracy
works
best
when
everyone
can
participate.
I
hope
this
is
just
the
first
of
such
accessible
meetings
and
with
more
warning
in
the
future.
AN
I
am
here
to
urge
the
council
to
reject
the
current
budget
and
replace
it
with
an
anti-racist
racist
budget
that
puts
money
in
the
departments
that
actually
serve
the
people.
There's
been
a
lot
of
talk
this
year
from
democrats
about
listening
to
science,
believing
experts
and
listening
to
the
data.
I
hope
those
are
more
than
talking
points,
because
when
it
comes
to
keeping
cities
safe,
the
data
is
clear.
AN
Safety
doesn't
come
from
more
police
officers,
more
riot
gear
or
bigger
tanks.
Preventing
crime
is
like
it
sounds
preventative.
It
comes
from
spending
money
on
social
services,
education,
health
care
and
other
departments
that
serve
your
constituents,
not
punish,
harass
or
assault
them.
The
data
is
also
clear
that
the
residents
of
east
liberty
do
not
want
the
relocation
of
the
zone.
5
police
station
to
the
heart
of
its
business
district
on
euclid
avenue,
mayor
peduto
keeps
saying
that
the
people
want
the
station
there
yet
can
provide.
No
evidence.
AN
Democrats
cannot
be
the
side
of
facts
only
when
it
is
politically
convenient
to
cut
funding
from
nearly
every
other
department,
including
emergency
medical
and
fire
response
during
a
pandemic,
while
allowing
the
police
department
to
stay
so
financially
bloated
is
not
only
irresponsible
and
ineffective,
it
is
immoral.
You
can
always
see
an
organization's
values
by
what
it
chooses
to
spend
money
on,
and
the
city
of
pittsburgh
is
clearly
choosing
to
value
crushing
its
constituents
rather
than
lifting
them
up.
I
hope
you
will
strongly
reconsider.
I
yield
the
rest
of
my
time
and
thank
you.
A
B
B
AO
Hello,
I'm
going
to
be
echoing
a
lot
of
what
people
are
have
been
saying
about:
halting
the
relocation
of
the
zone,
five
station
and
all
police
related
infrastructure
projects
decreasing
the
bureau's
budget,
reallocating
those
funds
to
other
areas,
receiving
cuts
like
housing,
social
services,
public
health
initiatives
and
stripping
epmc
of
the
it's
a
non-profit
status
to
fund
well-paid
union
jobs,
housing,
public
education,
I'm
sure
the
council
is
tired
of
hearing
a
lot
of
the
same
things.
AO
But
you
know
frankly,
the
rebuttals
that
have
been
given
in
response
haven't
been
like
super
convincing
defunding
the
police
by
50
doesn't
seem
as
radical
as
it's
been
painted
to
be
when
mayor
peduto
has
raised
it
by
that
much
since
taking
office,
especially
since
the
increase
in
funding
hasn't
shown
like
to
correlate
in
a
meaningful
to
a
meaningful
decrease
in
violent
crime.
You
know,
arguing
we
just
need
to
reimagine
or
reform.
AO
The
police's
is
just
going
to
be
empty
rhetoric
forever
unless
there's
some
material
investment.
Behind
those
words,
nothing
is
being
reimagined
if
we
continue
to
pour
disproportionate
amounts
of
the
budget
into.
You
know
a
force
that
where
misconduct
is
repeatingly
left
unpunished,
the
mayor
refuses
to
hold
the
police
accountable
and
they've
been
shown
to
antagonize
black
citizens.
Disproportionately
increasing
the
share
year
to
year
is
just
doubling
down
on
the
status
quo.
It
reminds
me
of
the
definition
of
insanity.
AO
AO
It's
been
well
documented
that
most
of
the
calls
of
police
address
really
don't
require
an
armed
officer
right.
This
has
been
brought
up
before
like
what
like
animal
control,
construction
traffic
officers,
who
don't
need
to
be
armed
and
most
crucially
like
people
with
years
of
training,
social
work
and
substance
abuse
that
is
neither
practical
nor
possible
to
provide
that
training
to
all
pittsburgh's
police
officers.
So,
instead
of
you
know
pretending
you
can
make
the
police
qualified
to
handle
those
issues.
Why
not
shift
the
responsibility
and
funding
to
professionals
who
exist
to
handle
them?
AO
Why
not
invest
in
more
proactive
solutions
like
housing,
education
and
health
care?
You
know
to
provide
people
with
the
support
they
need
that
will
turn
them
away
from
the
possibility
of
crime
in
the
first
place.
So
I
think
you
know
people
without
homes,
with
substance
abuse
issues,
people
who
have
lost
their
jobs
through
the
pandemic.
AO
People
who
are
sick,
black
pittsburghers,
who
are
targeted.
AP
AP
I
would
really
ask
that
we
maybe
announce
who's
going
to
be
up
after
the
next
speaker
as
a
preparation
opportunity
for
folks
to
come
after
me,
please
I'm
a
resident
and
renter
in
east
liberty,
5428
stanton
avenue
15206,
and
before
that
I
lived
in
north
point
breeze
on
thomas
boulevard,
I'd
like
to
remind
councilman
burgess
that
we've
met
before
and
worked
together
before
in
hopes
that
that
will
help
him
to
hear
me.
AP
I
can't
see
his
video,
I
hope,
he's
still
on
the
call
when
I
lived
in
north
point
breeze,
I
was
on
the
point.
Breeze
north
development
corporation
board
and
along
with
councilman
burgess's
office,
helped
organize
community
meetings
to
get
input
on
the
lexington
technology
park.
Redevelopment
I'd
like
to
thank
the
council
for
scheduling
this
meeting
outside
of
standard
working
hours.
Please
do
more
of
this
and
provide
more
notice.
AP
I
personally
didn't
have
time
to
review
the
budget
in
full
because
of
the
short
notice
and
would
love
to
follow
up
with
the
council
to
give
specific
recommendations
for
how
to
reallocate
and
propose
amendments
with
more
time
to
review.
I
encourage
the
council
members
to
oppose
the
projected
budget
and
support
amendments
that
will
show
deeper
cuts
for
police
and
reallocation
to
social
services.
AP
AP
As
part
of
my
job,
I
facilitate
conversations
across
race
and
really
make
connections
with
folks
on
the
issues
between
environmental
and
social
problems,
community
development,
housing,
transport,
food
systems,
the
importance
of
systems
thinking
I'm
here
today,
speaking
as
an
individual
and
a
resident
of
pittsburgh,
and
not
speaking
for
my
institution
and
I'm
here
to
tell
stories
related
to
my
work.
I've
heard
from
so
many
black
and
brown
students
that
have
shared
their
stories
when
visiting
perry,
high
school
I've
seen
librarians
cooking
rice
for
their
students,
because
their
school
lunch
is
underfunded
and
inadequate.
AP
I've
heard
from
so
many
black
and
brown
students
a
desire
for
more
teachers
that
look
like
them.
This
comes
from
valuing
education,
paying
teachers
more
to
increase
interest
amongst
folks
in
the
black
and
brown
community
to
enter
the
teaching
force.
I
heard
councilman
burgess
at
the
end
of
the
last
public
hearing
refer
to
the
need
for
us
to
address
major
crimes
as
a
reason
for
the
police
budget
needing
to
be
increased.
AP
Those
examples
of
major
crimes
he
gave
were
armed
robbery
and
major
drugs,
and
if
we're
setting
an
evidence-based
budget,
we
would
know
that
people
turning
to
selling
drug
drugs
or
armed
robbery
are
those
that
are
confronted
with
poverty,
with
no
visible
pathway
out
of
it.
It's
our
job
to
provide
a
pathway
and
your
job
as
council
members
to
allow
for
more
investment
in
those
social
services
that
create
those
pathways.
AP
So
I
encourage
the
council
to
read
sorry
one
second.
So,
at
the
end
of
the
last
public
hearing,
councilman
burgess
also
said
that
the
black
community
doesn't
want
to
reduce
the
police
budget.
AP
I'm
I'm
hoping
that
councilman
burgess
has
made
it
a
priority
to
listen
to
black
youth
as
part
of
my
job,
I've
hosted
a
number
of
youth
panels
on
the
topic
of
the
connection
between
social
and
environmental
issues,
and
I've
seen
that
many
community
organizations
don't
allow
youth
under
the
age
of
18
to
speak
as
part
of
their
community
engagement
processes
and
I'd
like
to
also
speak
on
behalf
of
a
dear
friend
and
a
black
single
parent
neighbor.
O
AQ
Hi,
so
I'm
speaking
from
arnold
or
new
kensington
parts
of
which
some
may
consider
the
hood,
I
guess
I'm
part
of
the
mythical
black
community
that
would
like
to
see
less
police.
I'm
also
re
recently
graduated
from
pitt
working
as
a
software
developer
and
then
planning
to
move
somewhere
soon,
maybe
deeper
in
the
city.
But
then
again,
I'm
not
too
happy
about
how
my
tax
dollars
are
being
allocated.
AQ
Nor
am
I
too
happy
about
how
pittsburgh
police
are
treating
certain
people
in
the
midst
of
everything
going
on
throughout
the
history
of
this
nation,
my
people
have
been
marginalized
and
terrorized
drugs
were
funneled
into
our
communities
to
purposely
perpetuate
their
miserable
conditions,
then
seemingly
justified
by
the
resultant
poverty
and
violence,
as
well
as
the
notoriously
racist
farce.
That
is
the
war
on
drugs.
AQ
These
minority
communities
were
flooded
then
by
roving
gangs
of
cops
now,
rather
than
spending
money
on
social
services,
education
and
various
other
things
that
could
actually
help
people
and
proactively
address
the
conditions
that
give
rise
to
crime
in
the
first
place.
This
council
is
instead
intent
on
upholding
this
oppressive
system
in
which
police
reactively
shoot
teenagers.
AQ
In
the
back,
as
they
run
in
the
opposite
direction,
it's
okay,
though
I
guess,
because
if
by
chance,
the
officer
is
actually
one
of
the
good
apples
unspoiled
by
the
bunch
and
the
young
man
was
a
good
enough
boy
that
didn't
happen
to
have
a
legal
firearm
or
a
nug
of
weed
on
his
person.
He'll
just
be
suspect
to
our
biased
judicial
process
and
overcrowded
prison
system
where
he'll
be
able
to
be
a
literal
slave,
because,
thanks
to
this
country's
13th
amendment,
that's
actually
legal.
AQ
While
we
sell
it
to
everyone
else,
an
idealized
story
of
safety
through
law
and
order,
they
called
the
abolition
of
slavery
too
radical
in
the
1800s
and
you're
calling
the
abolition
of
our
grossly
unjust
police
and
prison
system
too.
Radical
now,
not
to
mention
every
other
movement
like
civil
rights
in
the
1960s,
led
by
the
radical
leftist
riot
insider
martin
luther
king
jr.
AQ
The
progressive
movement
towards
the
improvement
of
people's
lives
is
always
considered
radical
until
it
happens
through
the
will
of
said
people,
and
then
the
moderates
that
once
decry
the
calls
for
change
as
impossible
and
unpopular
will
turn
around
and
say
how
great
it
was
that
change
happened
today
in
the
year.
2020
status
quo
obviously
isn't
adequate
and
meaningless
reforms
that
involve
awarding
an
inherently
oppressive,
murderous,
unaccountable
force,
more
money
to
spend
on
racial,
sensory
sensitivity,
training
or
rainbow
banners
for
their
cars,
or
whatever
else
is
not
going
to
cut
it.
AQ
B
A
AR
Hello.
Okay,
thank
you.
I'm
sorry,
one
of
my
friends
was
just
passed
over,
so
I
was
afraid
that
would
happen
to
me.
I
wanted
to
start
by
initially.
I
wanted
to
start
by
thanking
you
all
for
holding
this
meeting
on
a
saturday,
even
though
it
was
less
than
48
hours
notice,
but
I
actually
don't
want
to
thank
you
for
that
anymore.
Thanks
to
the
gentleman
who
commented
first
thing
before
the
meeting
started,
that
what
is
the
damage?
What
is
the
bad
news
here,
sir?
You
should
be
ashamed.
AR
I'm
confused
why
we
have
to
continue
to
reassert
the
fact
that
we
are
actual
citizens
and
community
members
that
have
rights
that
have
demands
and
that
have
needs
in
this
community.
It's
absolutely
astounding,
when
not
a
single
person
is
dissenting,
not
a
single
person
is
saying
we
don't
want
you
to
defund
the
police
and
bill
peduto
happens
to
know
all
of
them.
I
don't
know
if
they
have
the
direct
line
to
his
phone
number.
I
would
love
to
get
that,
but
I
am
tired
of
being
gassed
by
this
freaking
government.
AR
Frankly,
I
have
been
an
educator
for
over
a
decade
and
I
have
had
more
responsibility
to
keep
my
students
and
my
community
safe
than
any
police
force
in
in
pittsburgh
or
any
other
city.
I've
lived.
It
is
frankly
disgusting.
I
am
making
this
call,
as
I
drive
home
on
speakerphone
to
my
hometown,
to
drop
off
christmas
gifts
in
a
pandemic,
and
I
made
this
a
priority,
and
yet
we
have
people,
saying
oh,
be
careful
what
you
say,
because
everyone
can
hear
what
you're
talking
about.
I
think
it's.
AR
I
would
frankly
love
to
hear
what
everyone
says
when
they're
unmuted,
I
would
frankly
love
to
hear
what
it
said
behind
closed
doors.
I
am
shocked
and
appalled
that
this
is
something
that
has
been
being
framed
as
a
an
inconvenience
for
those
elected
officials.
We
are
demanding
that
you
defund
the
police
by
50
of
them.
AR
The
money
is
there,
and
especially
as
an
educator
working
in
a
field
that
is
consistently
defunded,
where
we
are
the
ones
spending
money
to
keep
our
students
safe
and
educated,
and
we
can't
even
expect
police
officers
to
keep
a
mask
over
their
nose.
I
yield
my
time
because
I'm
tired
of
talking
to
you
all.
B
A
AS
Okay,
I
live
in
highland
park
quickly.
To
start,
I
want
to
try
to
finish
holly
keane's
thought
from
earlier.
She
was
talking
about
some
points
in
the
budget,
namely
the
point
that
pittsburgh
police
will
be
working
with
the
university
of
pittsburgh
school
of
social
work.
She
has
personally
spoken
to
the
dean
of
that
school,
who
told
her
that
they
have
no
ongoing
collaboration
with
the
police
and
that
they
didn't
even
know
what
the
budget
was
referring
to
with
that.
So
we
can
see
that
some
claims
made
in
this
proposed
budget
are
wholly
untrue.
AS
I'm
grateful
for
this
meeting
being
held
on
a
saturday,
but
with
that
being
said,
I
am
not
thankful
to
city
council
for
this.
Holding
public
hearings
on
a
weekend
should
be
the
bare
minimum,
something
that
we
would
expect
as
a
norm
in
the
system
that
we
consider
to
be
democratic
and
hopefully
transparent.
AS
The
scheduling
of
this
meeting
only
after
the
city
council
was
forced
to
by
a
petition
delivered
to
the
city
clerk's
office
and
the
less
than
two
days
notice,
for
it
indicate
that,
for
some
reason
you,
the
city
council,
are
still
pushing
back
on
changes
that
allow
working
people
in
pittsburgh
to
give
their
input.
Anthony
coghill's
comment
at
the
beginning
of
this
call
give
me
the
bad
news.
How
many
speakers
actually
summarizes
it
very
well.
AS
As
others
have
said,
the
per
capita
number
of
police
officers
in
pittsburgh
is
far
higher
than
comparable
medium-sized
cities.
Some
members
of
the
city
council
have
embarrassingly
attempted
to
explain
this.
For
example,
coghill
idiotically
suggested
that
we
need
so
many
more
police
officers
due
to
our
professional
sports
teams
in
hills.
I
guess
those
hills
and
sports
teams
didn't
exist
in
2014
when
the
police
budget
was
over
40
million
dollars,
lower
that
the
case
anthony
in
2019
out
of
all
crime
reported
to
the
pittsburgh
police.
Barely
six
percent
involved
violent
crime.
AS
Not
only
do
pittsburgh
cops,
spend
a
very
small
amount
of
their
time
on
violent
crime,
but
they're
also
ineffective
and
incompetent
at
solving
violent
crimes.
According
to
the
abolitionist
law
center's
recent
report
on
policing
in
pittsburgh
in
pittsburgh,
more
than
half
of
all
murders
went
unsolved
from
2010
to
2015
and
97
of
those
unsolved
cases
involve
black
victims.
AS
The
police
routinely
fail
to
protect
vulnerable
citizens
and,
in
fact,
routinely
commit
violence
and
other
harm
against
them.
Defund
the
police
and
fund
our
communities.
If
this
council
cared
to
read
a
book,
perhaps
they
would
learn
that
there
are
far
more
effective
ways
of
increasing
public
safety,
address
poverty,
houselessness
and
invests
in
social
services
and
affordable
housing
act.
265
lays
out
procedure
for
this.
Almost
300
police
officers
are
up
for
retirement.
AS
Furthermore,
many
of
you
have
expressed
that
you
would
love
to
tax
your
bmc,
but
just
can't
we're
asking
you
to
recommend
renewed
litigation
to
make
this
possible
something
that
this
body
absolutely
can
do.
The
federal
eviction
moratorium
ends
in
less
than
two
weeks.
People
can't
afford
rent
the
weather
is
getting
colder,
parents
can't
afford
child
care
and
food,
medical
and
student
debt
continues
to
pile
up.
The
pandemic
is
worse
than
ever.
B
A
To
president,
thank
you.
Thank
you
so
much
madam
clark,
and
I
appreciate
you
going
through
the
whole
list
and
if
there's
any
way,
we
can
check
and
make
sure
that
there
was
no
one
forgotten,
because
I
heard
somebody
say
somebody
was
passed
over,
but
I'm
reading
the
list
as
you're
calling
the
names
and
I've
heard
every
name
that
was
on
this
list.
So
I
don't
know
how
they
were
passed
over
unless
they
never
made
it
into
a
registration
list
or
something
so
if
they
weren't
passed
up
and
they're
listening.
A
Please
email
counsel
at
the
city
clerk's
office.
Madam
clerk,
can
you
give
that?
Because
I
don't
give
the
wrong
email
address
for
the.
A
A
I
just
want
to
thank
the
council
members
myself
for
being
here
on
a
saturday
and
as
you
go
on
with
your
life
lives
at
home
and
have
your
own
challenges
with
child
care
and
and
things
that
you're
doing,
and
you
know
councilman
lavelle
and
I
messaged
text
one
another,
and
he
said
he
didn't
turn
his
camera
off,
because
even
though
he
was
taking
care
of
his
children,
he
didn't
want
to
be
disrespectful
to
the
commenter.
A
So
I
want
people
to
realize
that
sometimes
what
you
see
is
not
always
what
the
reality
is,
and
I
want
to
thank
the
clerk's
office
for
being
here
and
the
city
channel
pittsburgh
folks
and
our
budget
office
people
for
all
being
here
on
a
saturday.
I
appreciate
it
and
I
do
want
to
say
a
lot
of
this
came
about
not
because
we
were
forced
to
buy
a
petition
which
was
we
can
talk
about
that
later.
But
because
councilman
strasberger
has
been
adamant
that
we
do
something.
A
Some
additional
meetings
and
councilman
gross
has
been
talking
to
me
about
it
as
well,
and
so
I
just
think
that
the
women
of
council
and
some
of
the
other
members
of
council
have
been
saying
that
they'd
like
to
hear
different,
provide
different
opportunities
for
people
to
speak.
So
I
just
want
to
say
that
I'm
going
to
say
it
a
little
bit
more
after,
but
I
just
want
to
start
with
that
and
are
there
any
members
that
would
like
to
speak
now,
like
councilman
coghill,.
AT
Thank
you,
madam
president,
and
I
want
to
thank
all
the
callers.
You
know
I'll
first
start
with
addressing
the
comment
that
I
made
before
the
meeting.
I
said
I
think
I
was
talking
to
madam
clerk
and
I
said,
give
me
the
bad
news:
how
many
callers,
okay,
so
bad
choice
of
words.
I
apologize,
wasn't
meant
to
offend
anybody.
AT
It
was
more
of
a
joking
way
for
me,
a
bad
joke
I
will
say,
but
it
was
for
a
lot
of
reasons,
but
I
want
to
make
sure
loud
and
clear
that
the
people
called
in
I
want
them
to
know
that
it
wasn't
because
of
the
content
of
the
of
what
we're
talking
about.
I
take
this
matter
very,
very
seriously.
In
fact,
I
was
one
of
the
first
ones
I
think,
to
step
up
and
say
I
will
do
public
hearing
any
day
anytime.
AT
I
like
the
fact
that
it's
accessible
to
people,
that's
why
I'm
here,
I'm
not
required
to
be
here.
I
cancelled
other
engagements
to
be
here,
but
I
wanted
to
be
here
even
though
I
heard
most
of
the
callers
before
and
I
did
feel
there
was
going
to
be
a
lot
of
repeat
calls,
but
I
appreciate
their
passion.
AT
So
sorry,
if
I
offended
them
wasn't
meant
in
those
words,
but
you
know
I
understand
bad
choice
awards
so,
but
that
being
said,
I
also
want
to
remark
on
a
couple
other
things
that
you
know
I
think
have
been
taken
out
of
context
and
for
when
these
callers
call
in
today
and
demand
50
cut
in
the
police
force.
AT
You
know,
I
first
think
to
the
comments
I
made
the
other
day.
That's
been
really
put
out
there
on
the
airways
and
twisted
because
we
have
sports
teams,
they
said
and
because
we
have
hills,
coghill
thinks
we
need
more
cops.
Okay,
I
especially
want
to
sit
down
and
speak
to
the
people
in
my
district
in
person.
AT
I
think
I
get
a
much
better
perspective
as
to
what
your
message
is
and
you
will
get
one
as
to
what
my
message
is,
and
that
was
alexa
schwartz
carolyn
and
ms
carr,
if
you're
still
tuning
in
please
contact
my
office,
I'd
like
to
talk
to
you
in
person
to
explain
myself,
but
getting
back
to
the
things
that
were
that
I
said
facts
that
why
pittsburgh
should
not
be
compared
to
some
of
these
medium-sized
cities
that
we're
compared
to.
AT
If
the
callers
can't
acknowledge
that
the
venues
we
have
not
just
the
sports
teams,
the
sports
teams
play
at
the
venues
we
also
have
concerts.
We
have
a
lot
of
things
going
on
in
this
town
that
some
of
these
other
mid-sized
towns
do
not
have,
and
if
you
can't
acknowledge
that
we
need
more
police
for
that
reason
alone,
you're,
not
paying
attention
to
us
you're,
not
paying
attention
to
me.
AT
Okay,
when
I
talk
about
the
hills
in
the
terrain,
that's
a
fact:
that's
a
study
that
was
done
in
2004
by
the
international
association
of
chiefs
of
police
density
of
population.
You
know
this
is
a
major
factor
when
it
comes
to
the
amount
of
police
that
we
have
on
the
streets
and,
most
of
all,
it's.
What
are
we
asking
for
out
of
our
police?
You
know
our
police
go.
If
you
have
a
lawn
mower
taken
from
your
backyard,
our
police.
Are
there
making
a
report,
the
data
that
everybody
brings
to
the
table?
AT
You
know
comparing
us
with
the
other
mid-sized
cities.
You
know
it
could
be
very
skewed.
What
are
they
asking
of
their
police
officers?
Maybe
they
have
social
workers
that
are
doing
work
already,
maybe
they're
ahead
of
the
curve.
I
don't
know
that,
but
I
do
know,
the
density
of
our
population
requires
us
to
have
more
police,
so
I
just
want
to
clarify
those
few
things.
That
being
said,
I
do
listen
to
these
callers.
Okay.
AT
AT
I
think
this
council
has
been
taking
the
police
reforms,
systemic
racism,
things
that
we
know
that
we
need
to
be
better
at
and
that
we
can
change.
I
think
that
we
have
taken
it
head
on
we've
not
done
it
carelessly,
however
carelessly
would
be
defunding
the
police
50.
AT
So
you
know
I
hear
you
I
listen
to
you
again.
I
apologize
for
my
earlier
comments,
not
really
directed
at
you.
It
was
directed
more
to
saturday
afternoon
with
other
engagements,
and
you
know
I
times
56
people
by
three
minutes
and
you
know,
but
I'm
glad
to
be
here.
I
got
to
tell
you
and
I'm
all
heirs
and
talking
to
anybody.
AT
Who's
wants
to
be
serious
about
it,
but
I
can't
take
you
seriously
if
you're
talking
about
cutting
the
police
department
by
50,
okay-
and
I
can't
take
you
seriously
if
you're
not
taking
my
points
as
to
why
we
need
more
police
officers
than
birmingham
alabama.
So
with
that
said,
I
will
turn
it
back
to
you.
Madam
president,
thanks.
A
Good
councilman
councilman
burgess
did
you
want
to
go?
I.
AU
AU
I
have
been
fortunate
enough
to
serve
twice
as
finance
chair,
and
so
I
think
I
think
all
council
knows
the
budget.
I
think
I
know
the
budget
as
well
as
anyone.
First
of
all,
this
will
be
the
first
time
since
I've
been
a
member
of
council
that
we're
probably
going
to
have
to
do
the
budget
twice.
AU
What's
going
to
happen,
the
congress
has
said
that
it
will
not
in
this
stimulus
activity.
There
is
no
money
for
state
and
local
governments
if
in
the
next
four
months
or
so,
if
there
is
no
stimulus
given
directly
to
city
the
city
government,
we're
going
to
have
to
do
that.
We're
going
to
do
the
second
budget
anyway,
and
when
we
do
the
second
budget,
that
budget
will
significantly
cut
hundreds
of
employees
from
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
AU
There
is
no
other
option
and
it
will
include
police,
but
it
will
include
all
a
lot
of
other
people.
It
will
be
the
most
significant
thing
we've
done
since
we
enter
into
act
47..
These
are
continuous
times.
I
have,
I
think,
been
as
active
as
any
person
on
council
in
terms
of
reimagining
police.
AU
I
am
still
there.
I
think
we
have
to
reimagine
police.
I
do
think
in
the
future.
We'll
have
reduced
police
force
more
efficient,
more
effective
and
we'll
have
other
alternatives.
Those
alternatives
don't
quite
exist,
but
they
will,
and
so
this
is
going
to
be
a
process
where
we
will
right.
Sides
of
the
police
force,
add
new
services
and
other
programming,
but
it's
going
to
take
patience
right.
AU
We've
taken
some
research
already
in
bravery
and
to
to
to
reallocate
some
resources
we'll
do
that
every
year
and-
and
I
think
that's
the
prudent
way.
Also,
as
I've
been
saying,
we
cannot
without
having
this
shirt
fall,
which
will
be
apparent
when
we
redo
the
budget.
We
cannot
fire
police,
we
actually
can't
do
it.
Even
if
we
wanted
to
it
was
is
something
that
they
would
simply.
AU
You
know,
go
to
arbitrator
and
because
of
the
law
will
be
immediately
reinstated,
and
so
what
we're
doing
is
not
sexy
in
terms
of
of
public
comment
and
public
of
people
of
you
know
putting
money
into
public
safety
and
the
prevention
programs
that
councilman
lavelle
and
I
have
led
along
with
council
and
putting
five
percent
this
year
and
a
percent
every
year.
It's
not
dramatic,
but
it's
extraordinarily
significant.
AU
This
is
the
efficient,
effective
way.
I
guess
because
I've
been
you
know,
I
guess
I'm
the
old
man
on
council
right.
I
guess
I
view
my
role
is
to
be
a
good
steward
and
to
do
the
right
thing
at
all
times.
I
know
that's
not
popular
saying
what
the
right
thing
is.
I
you
know
I
understand
that,
but
I
think
that's
my
role
to
be
a
good
steward.
That's
what
I've
been
elected
to
do.
AU
It
is
the
it
is
the
calm
unless
there
is
some
bailout
from
the
government
before
the
storm
and
that
storm
will
be
significant,
it
will
be
deep
and
there
will
be
pain
that
we
have
not
seen
in
the
city
for
many
many
years,
and
so
I
look
forward
to
this
process.
I
look
forward
to
the
next
process
that
will
open
up
the
budget,
probably
in
four
to
six
months
and
do
unfortunately,
what
we'll
we'll
have
to
do
if
not
giving
money
from
from
from
the
government.
AU
AU
This
is
the
most
dire
our
city
has
been
since
before
I,
since
we
were
in,
went
into
act
47,
and
we
need
to
do
everything
we
can
to
be
fiscally
responsible,
because
the
situation
is
extremely
kovic
has
put
us
in
a
dire
emergency
situation
and
those
who
do
not
realize
this
don't
realize
the
budget,
and
so
that's
those
are
my
thoughts.
Thank
you
for
this
moment.
AG
All
right,
thank
you,
madam
president.
I
will
apologize
in
advance
if
I
repeat
anything
any
other
member
has
said.
I
believe
right
when
councilman
coghill
started
speaking
my
screen
froze,
and
so
I
missed
a
lot
of
what
was
said
and
I
caught
this
sort
of
the
tail
end
of
reverend
burgess.
So
I
apologize
if
I,
if
I
repeat
anything
that
another
member
has
already
said,
I
think
it's
worthwhile
sort
of
giving
a
quick
overview
of
some
of
the
things
council
has
actually
done.
AG
As
I
listened
to
the
speakers,
a
number
of
speakers
asked
us
to
tell
them
what
we're
willing
to
do
and
or
what
we
have
done,
and
a
number
of
speakers
asked
us
to
sort
of
do
police
reform
matters
of
what
we've
actually
already
passed,
and
so
I
think
it's
worth
sort
of
highlighting
that,
after
all
the
turmoil
this
past
summer,
after
all,
the
unjust
deaths
of
a
lot
of
black
men
and
women
to
the
hands
of
police
people
were
in
the
streets
protesting,
we
heard
them
and
we
began
working
on
a
police
reform
agenda
led
by
myself
and
councilman
burgess
with
the
support
of
all
council
members.
AG
AG
We
also
created
the
stop
the
violence,
trust
fund.
We
also
passed
duty
to
intervene
legislation.
Someone
one
of
the
speakers
asked
us
to
demilitarize
our
police
and
we
actually
passed
a
bill
on
the
prohibition
of
military
equipment,
and
so
we
did
work
on
that.
We
also
banned
chokeholds
one
of
the
other
members.
AG
One
of
the
speakers
excuse
me.
Early
on
in
the
presentation
spoke
about
it.
It
would
appear
that
we
actually
believe
what
they're
asking
for-
and
I
think
that's
true.
We
actually
do
believe
in
what
the
majority
of
speakers
are
actually
asking
us
for,
which
is
why
we
actually
instituted
a
higher
increase
in
our
police
and
then
transfer
that
money
to
the
stop
the
balance
trust
fund,
because
we
do
believe
we
probably
need
to
reduce
the
size
of
our
police
force
and
reimagine
how
we're
actually
doing
policing.
AG
In
other
cases,
we're
also
going
to
use
those
dollars
to
fund
our
group
balance
intervention
work.
It
wasn't
brought
up
on
this
public
hearing,
but
at
our
previous
public
hearing
this
past
monday,
there
were
a
couple
speakers
who
said
crime
and
violence
and
homicides
are
at
a
20-year
low.
So
why
do
you
need
police?
AG
One
even
one
is
far
too
many,
but
we're
actually
doing
that
work
and
I
think
it's
worth
noting.
There
was
another
speaker
who
spoke
about
act,
25
and
said:
we've
heard
they've
heard
us
say
that
we
cannot
cut
our
police
budget
by
50.
AG
AG
That
is
unwise
and
as
the
fiscal
stewards
of
our
dollars
in
the
city,
that
would
not
be
a
smart
decision
for
us,
because
those
police,
every
one
of
them,
would
ask
to
absolutely
have
to
come
back
to
the
police
force
and
we
would
have
to
pay
for
that
and
we'd
have
to
pay
for
those
court
costs
what
so
to
his
to
the
speaker's
point.
Unfortunately,
we
do
not
have
the
ability
unless
we're
in
a
financial
crisis,
and
our
budget
is
balanced,
so
our
ballot,
our
budget,
does
not
demonstrate
a
financial
crisis.
AG
AG
Also
again,
her
many
speakers
talk
about
why
we
won't
tax
upmc.
Unfortunately,
for
the
same
reason,
we
cannot
cut
our
police
force
by
50
percent
is
the
same
reason.
We
cannot
tax
upmc.
This
council
does
not
have
the
ability
to
create
any
new
tax.
The
city
of
philadelphia
created
a
tax
on
sugar
on
sugary
drinks.
AG
We
do
not
have
that
ability,
but
for
all
those
who
called
in
monday
for
all
those
who
have
called
in
today
for
all
those
who
have
emailed,
I
believe
if
each
one
of
you
were
to
go,
get
an
additional
person
join
us
to
go
to
harrisburg,
to
lobby,
to
demand
that
our
state
legislators
give
us
that
ability
as
soon
as
they
would
give
us
that
ability.
I
believe
this
council
will
pass
the
tax
on
our
large
non-profits
tomorrow.
AG
Lastly,
there
were
a
number
of
speakers
who
spoke
about
an
anti-racist
budget
and
asked
us
to
do
anti-racist
work
and
again,
I
think
it's
worth
articulating
for
those
who
may
be
unaware
what
we
have
done
in
the
last
year
to
actually
be
anti-racist.
This
council
declared
racism
as
a
public
health
crisis.
AG
We
did
that,
I
believe
over
a
year
ago
now
this
council
passed
legislation
declaring
that
black
pittsburgh
does.
Indeed
matter
coming
after
that,
we
also
passed
legislation
on
the
10
commitments
of
racial
equity.
We
also
commit
created
a
commission
on
racial
equity.
We
also
created
an
all-in
investment
fund,
so
we
could
directly
fund
initiatives
that
would
go
towards
anti-racist
work
and
specifically
uplifting
the
black
community,
which
is
amongst
the
poorest
in
the
country.
So,
yes,
we
openly
recognize
that
the
police
aren't
doing
that.
AG
Lastly,
a
number
of
speakers
spoke
about
the
schools
and
how
we
need
to
fund
the
schools.
I
agree
wholeheartedly
with
their
sentiments,
however,
there's
a
separation
of
government.
However,
we
don't
have
jurisdiction
over
over
our
schools,
but
what
I
will
say
as
a
parent
of
two
who
my
children
are
in
pittsburgh:
public
schools.
It
is
an
issue
that
I
care
dearly
and
deeply
about.
AG
AG
We
can
have
a
conversation
about
what
I'm
doing
in
the
school
system
and
I
would
ask
you
to
then
spend
an
equal
amount
of
time
addressing
the
actual
school
board,
whose
budget
is
larger
than
the
city
of
pittsburgh's
and
ask
about
how
they're
dealing
with
racial
equity
within
their
schools.
How
they're
dealing
with
these
issues-
and
I
would
love
to
have
a
conversation
with
all
of
you
about
that.
I
believe
those
are
the
comments
that
I
remember
most
from
the
those
who've
joined
us
today.
AG
AV
Thank
you,
madam
president,
and
you
know
I
thank
everyone
here
on
this
call
today
that
came
and
spoke
and
been
listening
to
you
been
researching
all
these
issues
to
understand
them
and
how
this
city
really
moves
forward
with
all
of
this
in
mind
in
a
time
of
a
pandemic
on
which
we
will
have
to,
like
other
members
have
said,
come
back
a
second
time
and
reevaluate
this
budget,
it's
not
easy
right
now
and
you
can
hear
the
the
pain
on
you
know
from
the
callers.
AV
I'm
sorry
from
the
speakers
today
about
what
they
witnessed
and
it's
powerful
to
hear
how
active
people
have
been
and
to
understand
just
how
much
just
how
much
need
there
is
really
for
this
conversation.
AV
So
I
appreciate
everyone
taking
the
time
you
know
some
callers
have
come
before
so
people
have
taken
multiple
opportunities
to
to
come
and
express
the
way
they
feel
about
this
current
budget.
I've
wrestled
with
this
for
quite
some
time
on
on.
You
know
what
this
conversation
means
and
so
taking
it
very
seriously.
AV
This
budget
doesn't
lay
anyone
off,
and
you
know
I
that
was
a
number
one
goal
in
terms
of
in
a
pandemic,
for
for
people
to
not
have
to
turn
back
through
the
families
and
say
that
they've,
you
know
they
won't
be
able
to.
You
know,
provide
in
the
current
state
of
times
and
to
go
back
and
reevaluate
that
a
second
time
which
we
may
have
to
do.
AV
You
know
what
opportunities
are
there
to
really
build
up
the
office,
the
new
office
that,
where
we've
essentially
taken
a
match
of
what
the
of
what
the
police
budget
is
and
put
it
towards
the
office
of
community
health
and
and
safety,
and
also
the
stop
the
violence
fund,
and
so
how
we
really
have
that
conversation
with
that
office
to
continually
you
know
remind
you
know,
that's
really
gonna
be
a
point
where
we
continually
are
reminded
of
well.
We
need
to
strengthen
this
office
and
figure
out.
AV
I
mean
when
we
had
that
conversation
during
the
budget
hearing
the
substance
I
mean,
I
really
appreciate
you
know
the
the
goal
of
getting
an
office
running,
but
we
really
need
to
understand
on
how
we're
going
to
you
know
how
we're
going
to
put
we're
going
to
trust
in
professionals
to
really
address
issues
of
of
mental
illness,
homelessness
and
what
people
are
facing
that
the
police,
essentially
don't
you
know,
they're
not
equipped
to
handle
so
people
are
in
need
and
how
we
get
them
the
resources
that
they
need.
AV
We
need
to
have
a
more
robust
conversation
on
those
topics,
and
I
know
there
is
a
a
briefing
coming
up
this
week
about
the
that
office
and
and
what
that's
going
to
do
for
our
communities,
and
I
want
you
know.
I
want
to
continue
to
strengthen
those
that
office
and
in
the
areas
of
a
phrase
that
that
I've
been
been
able
to
understand
more,
which
is
urban
poverty,
and
so
you
know
partnering
with
programs
that
are
going
to
address.
AV
These
issues
are
going
to
be
essential
to
really
solving
some
of
these
problems.
Of
of
systemic
issues
that
have
just
you
know,
plagued
our
society
for
so
long,
and
so
you
know
I'm
looking
forward
to
those
relationships,
I'm
looking
forward
to
relationships
with
the
stop
the
violence
fund,
so
we
can
actually
actually
get
outreach
workers
in
people
who
live
in
my
neighborhoods
empower
them
make
sure
that
they
have
the
resources
to
succeed
and
so
and
so
that
they
can.
AV
We
can
really
you
know
they
can
really
bridge
the
gap
of
you
know
really
feeling
then
feeling
the
need
of
of
what's
what's
most
needed
to
really
get
people
to
whether
it's
employment,
housing,
affordable
housing.
AV
You
know
to
treat
any
sort
of
illness,
so
those
are
really
the
conversations
and
to
to
have
an
opportunity,
as
an
elected
official,
to
continually
try
to
center
voices
that
matter
the
most
which
are
black
voices,
and
you
know
really
have
a
you
know
robust
conversation
at
our
community
meetings.
I
would
love
to
see
the
speakers
that
come
out
today
that
take
an
opportunity
on
a
saturday
to
to
to
speak
to
us
to
come
to
these
community
meetings
that
you
know.
AV
I
need
you
at
these
meetings
because
there
are,
there
are
pivotal
moments
where
in
these
meetings
that
are
happening
where
decisions
are
being
made
on
how
money
is
being
spent,
and
we
can
work
together
on
projects
in
your
neighborhood,
and
you
know
we
can
even
talk
about
offering
funds
you
know
in
in
the
in
those
in
those
meetings.
So
I
wouldn't.
AV
I
really
encourage
you
to
come
there
as
well,
because
that's
really,
where
we're
gonna
make
some
real
change
as
well,
and-
and
you
know
I
just
want
to
thank
the
speakers
again
for
coming
out-
I'm
looking
forward
to
seeing
how
much
more
the
city
council
can
do
in
terms
of
police
reform,
and
I
appreciate
councilman
labelle's
comments
on
what
we've
already
been
able
to
accomplish
this
year.
AV
AV
It's
a
serious
conversation
and
everyone
is
trying
to
work
together
to
figure
out
how
we
can
actually
achieve
the
end
goal
of
making
pittsburgh
a
better
place
for
for
people.
AV
So
I
appreciate
your
time
today
and
I
will
I
will
what's
the
saying
I'll,
give
up
my
time
relinquish
my
time.
AW
Thank
you,
madam
president.
Thank
you
appreciate
it.
So
I
just
want
to
I'll
be
brief
with
the
speakers
have
all
been
on
the
line
for
a
long
time.
I
want
to
thank
them
all
for
coming
out
today
and
for
and
for
using
their
voices
to.
AW
We
heard
many
many
people
talking
about
asking
us
directly
to
defund
the
police
by
50.
I
think
it
is
within
his
council's
body
power
to
look
really
hard
at
those
budget
numbers
and
to
start
having
that
conversation,
I
disagree
with
members
about
our
supposed
purported
lack
of
power
over
the
budget.
AW
AW
We
had
a
60
million
dollar
revenue
shortfall
this
year
and
there
are
a
lot
of
departments
that
were
cut
significantly
by
20
percent,
some
of
them
even
slightly
higher
than
20
percent,
and
so
I
I
again
read
act
111
especially,
and
I
I
I
believe
that
it
refers
to
the
power
of
the
administration,
to
fire
police
officers,
not
to
a
body
of
nine
city
council
members
to
make
policy
choices
about
the
budget.
AW
I
do
not
believe
that
increasing
the
budget
or
decreasing
the
budget
of
any
one
of
our
departments
is
a
political
decision.
It
is
a
public
policy
decision
and
we
have
seen
very
clearly
that
we've
chosen
not
to
reduce
the
police
budget
at
this
time.
I
do
believe
we
should
continue
to
look
at
that.
I'm
happy
to
hear
members
saying
that
they
are
at
least
considering
looking
at
it
by
you
know
not
replacing
positions
as
police
officers
retire,
because
it
will
free
up
money
for
the
things
that
citizens
are
in
dire
need
of.
AW
We
are
rebuilding
the
city.
We
need
to
reinvest
in
neighborhoods.
We
have
done
a
lot
of
good
work
and
I
and
I
appreciate
honestly
the
good
work
that
members
have
done
to
reform
police,
to
reimagine
police,
to
create
greater
oversight
of
police
to
invest
in
the
stop
the
violence
fund
and
the
the
gang
violence
initiative.
That
is
all
was
all
groundbreaking
work.
AW
I
was
happy
to
support
and,
but
I
I've
said
this
before
and
I'll
just
reiterate
it
briefly,
because
I
thought
it'd
be
brief,
that
there
is
work
to
be
done
in
what
police
do
and
we
can
reimagine
and
reform
and
try
to
work
on
that
side
of
the
issue.
AW
But
there
is
also
the
other
side
of
the
issue
which
we
need
to
talk
about,
how
we
reinvest
in
neighborhoods
so
that
the
police
are
less
needed
and
our
callers
and
our
commenters
and
the
people
who
send
us
3,
000
emails
are
clearly
saying
to
use
some
of
that
budget
money
to
do
the
work
of
investing
in
communities.
I
believe
we
can
do
it
and
we
are
just
not
ready
to
do
it
at
this
time.
AW
I
I,
as
many
callers
pointed
out,
I
offered
just
a
very
small
budget
amendment
that
would
have
only
defunded
or
reduced
the
police
budget
line
by
one
percent
in
dollars
slightly
less
than
one
percent
and
members
were
just
not
ready
to
talk
about
it
at
this
time,
and
I
hope
that
we
continue
the
conversation
into
the
new
year.
Thank
you,
madam
president,.
AX
AX
I'm
certainly
going
to
think
about
them
a
lot
over
the
next
couple
of
days,
and
I
also
just
wanted
to
wholeheartedly
agree
with
what
councilman
lavelle
laid
out.
He
basically
took
the
words
out
of
my
mouth,
so
thank
you
to
everyone
else
who
is
here
today
to
council
members
and
and
staff,
and
our
interpreters
as
well.
Thank
you.
A
Thank
you
councilman.
I
just
want
to
also
thank
the
interpreters
and
and
the
public
commenters
for
coming
out.
I
want
to
tell
the
interpreters
my
grandchildren
were
with
me
this
week
and
they
were
watching
you
and
trying
to
learn
a
little
bit
of
everything,
you're
teaching.
So
thank
you
very
much
for
what
you
do
as
well,
but
I
do
want
to
say
that
you
know.
I
think
that
this
council,
as
I
mentioned
yes,
is
there
somebody
who
wants
to
speak.
AY
I'll
be
brief,
I
know
we're
towards
the
end.
I
just
want
to
thank
everybody
for
their
calls.
I
want
to
thank
all
council
members.
I
think
councilman
lavelle
made
some
great
points.
As
councilwoman
strasberger
said.
I
do
want
to
say
that
you
know
as
chair
of
public
safety.
We
do
know
that
there's
a
new
department,
that's
pushing
more
for
social
services,
and
I
think
that's
a
bigger
conversation
that
in
the
future
we
definitely
have
to
spend
more
funding
on.
AY
I
also
know
that
tuesday,
I'm
hosting
the
post
agenda
on
the
mayor's
task
force
and
how
public
safety
has
implemented
some
of
those
tools
over
the
last
few
months
and
what
they
plan
to
do
in
the
next
couple
years.
So
I
just
wanted
to
add
that
I
know
it's
been
a
long
day
and
I
just
want
to
thank
everybody
for
attending
and
and
calling
in.
So
thank
you,
madam
president,
as
well
for
sharing
this.
A
Thank
you
thank
you,
councilman,
and
so
I
just
want
to
get
back
any
other
members
before.
I
start
make
sure.
Okay,
I'll
just
be
real
brief.
I
just
want
to
say
that
I
think
that
councilman
lavelle
said
just
about
everything
that
we
really
wanted
to
say,
but
he
said
it
much
more
eloquently
than
I
would
have
said
it
myself,
but
I
do
want
to
say
that
we
have
a
a
council
that
really
does
what
they
really
do
want
to
hear
from
people.
A
They
really
do
are
thinking
outside
the
box
and
how
we
can
do
some
different
things,
including
a
regular
meeting
and,
and
you
know
once
a
month
or
something
on
a
different
day
or
time.
So
we
are
looking
into
that
and
and
it
wasn't
because
council
was
forced
to
it-
was
because
council
heard
and
we
and
we
do
hear-
and
it's
not-
that
we
don't
want
to
do
some
of
the
things
that
you
want
to
have
done.
A
We
have
for
a
long
time
advocated
and
and
wanted
social
social
services
to
get
into
our
communities
me.
Personally,
I
would
like
to
see
the
county
who
gets
two
billion
dollars
to
do
so
to
make
sure
that
they're
doing
a
needs
assessment
and
to
bring
some
of
those
programs
into
our
area.
I
disagree
with
the
part
about
defunding,
the
police
and
and
not
for
the
reasons
you
know.
A
I've
heard
all
sorts
of
sorts
of
things
and
they're
almost
insulting
the
reasons
why
people
think
that,
but
it's
because
my
community
and
and
that
needs
them
the
most
are
the
ones
saying.
Don't
you
dare
so
I
just
want
you
to
understand
it's
not
that
and
they
do
do
a
lot
in
in
terms
of
police,
community
relationship
building
and
they
are
delivering
food
and
they
are
doing
things
to
help.
A
A
A
I've
spoke
about
numerous
times,
but
I
do
want
to
say
that
you
know
I
don't
I
don't
talk
about
this
work
and
I'm
not
talking
about
just
because
there's
a
mayoral
election
coming
up
or
just
because
some
there's
a
presidential
race
coming
up
or
whatever
you
know
before.
I
I
talked
about
these
things
and
did
these
things
for
25
years,
as
did
many
of
the
members
here
on
council.
Many
of
us
have
fed
people
in
the
community
have
helped
people
with
housing
have
delivered
resources
throughout
our
communities,
and
it's
not
that.
A
Then
we
don't
come
on
and
and
tell
you
about
all
the
things
we've
done,
but
we
we
here
and
we
know
the
needs
out
there.
We
are,
we
are
in
the
trenches
and
the
these
council
members
I've.
Never,
I
can
be
honest
with
you.
I've
been
involved
in
the
community
for
decades.
I
never
remember
having
council
members
doing
the
things.
A
I
see
these
people
doing
and
they
work
really
hard,
and
I
just
want
to
acknowledge
that,
and
I
think
that
people
want
to
hear-
and
I
think
that
councilman
strasberger
and
I
were
talking
about
possibly
having
a
meeting
with
some
of
the
people
in
the
community
that
are
that
have
concerns,
and
maybe
we
can
try
to
try
to
work
through
some
of
those
those
issues,
because
they
always
think
things
are
better
when
we
work
through
them
and
then
we
get
the
best
results
for
the
people
that
we
all
say
we
care
about,
and
so
it's
not
we're
saying
that
we
care
about
them,
we're
actually
showing
that
we
care
about
them
by
working
together.
A
So
I
hope
that
we'll
do
that
and
I'll
work
with
you
councilwoman
on
the
things
we
were
talking
about,
but
I
I'm
looking
forward
to
working
with
all
the
council.
I
just
want
to
thank
you
all
again
for
giving
up
your
time
on
a
saturday
and
and
look
forward
to
having
more
meetings
where
we
could
have
publicly
have
greater
access
to
to
us.
We
used
to
have
district
offices,
so
people
come
see
us
anytime
and
they
cut
that
funding
out
without
47..