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From YouTube: Pittsburgh City Council Post-Agenda - 12/9/21
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A
Good
afternoon
and
welcome
to
pittsburgh
city
council's
meeting
regarding
the
possible
annexation
of
wilkinsburg,
and
we
have
several
invited
guests,
but
I
first
want
to
say
that
we
are
joined
by
councilwoman
strasberger,
councilman,
coghill
and
councilman
wilson
and
councilwoman
gross
via
zoom,
and
we
may
have
others
join
us
via
zoom
and
in
person
as
we
can
continue
on
with
the
meeting
and
I'll
announce
them
as
they
join
with.
That
said,
we
have
invited
guests
and
we're
going
to
begin
I'll
say
that
we're
going
to
be
joined
by
controller
lamb.
A
A
B
My
name
is
ira
weiss,
I'm
an
attorney
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
and
I
appreciate
the
opportunity
to
participate
in
this
hearing.
Thank
you.
C
Hello,
chyna
lee
also
an
attorney
in
pittsburgh,
not
here
as
an
attorney
just
as
a
resident
long-term
resident
land,
landlord
and
homeowner
in
wolfensberg.
A
Thank
you
and
the
wilkinsburg
borough
council
members
please
take
time
and
introduce
each
one
of
yourselves.
D
Pamela
macklin,
president
of
council.
Thank
you.
F
Edward
council
member
council,
of
whatever
protest
leader,
atkins
council
member.
H
D
A
A
Say
that
we
are
going
to
be
a
zoom
by
councilman
lavelle.
So
thank
you.
Thank
you
to
the
council
members.
Thank
you
for
everybody
for
joining
us
we're
going
to
begin,
but
we
were
going
to
begin
with
controller
liam,
but
since
he's
going
to
be
on
I'll
begin
with
our
rice
from
the
school
district.
B
B
I
again
wish
to
thank
council
president
kale
smith
for
the
opportunity
to
present
the
council
issues.
I
believe
council
should
consider,
as
it
deliberates
the
question
of
whether
to
approve
a
petition
to
be
placed
on
the
ballot,
a
referendum
for
the
residents
of
wilkinsburg
borough
to
approve
the
annexation
of
the
borough
to
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
B
B
As
you
deliberate
this
matter.
I
understand
the
petition
with
the
necessary
signatures
has
not
yet
been
presented
to
the
court
of
common
pleas
of
allegheny
county
for
approval
should
that
occur.
The
matter
will
be
be
presented
to
council
by
the
court
for
consideration
and
council
must
either
approve
or
deny
the
petition
within
three
months
of
court
approval.
B
First,
section
229.1
of
the
school
code
provides
that
if
the
petition
for
the
annexation
is
approved
by
council-
and
it
is
subsequently
approved
by
referendum
in
the
borough
of
wilkinsburg,
the
wilkinsburg
school
district
automatically
becomes
part
of
the
school
district
of
pittsburgh.
This
is
not
a
merger.
B
B
B
B
B
The
support
employees
of
wilkinsburg,
that
is,
the
paraprofessionals
custodians
and
other
employees,
are
also
under
collective
buying
agreements.
The
employees
in
the
school
district
of
pittsburgh
are
represented
by
different
unions,
which
will
present
significant
problems.
As
the
wilkinsburg
school
district
employees
will
become
employees
of
the
school
district
of
pittsburgh.
B
Sixth,
if
this
area
of
the
wilkinsburg
school
district
becomes
part
of
the
school
district
of
pittsburgh,
cost
of
transportation
of
the
school
district
of
pittsburgh
will
increase
substantially
under
pennsylvania.
State
law.
School
districts
must
provide
transportation
for
non-public
school
students
within
each
district.
To
the
same
extent,
it
provides
transportation
to
its
own
students
up
to
10
miles
beyond
the
perimeter
of
the
district
for
charter
school
students.
B
That
is
a
significant
increase
in
the
radius
of
transportation.
Pittsburgh
will
be
responsible
for
currently,
transportation
represents
about
six
percent
of
the
school
district's
budget.
That
is
pittsburgh.
School
district's
budget
is
an
enormous
administrative
burden
and
both
of
these,
both
the
cost
and
the
burden
will
increase
substantially
if
this
annexation
occurs.
B
B
The
necessity
of
another
reapportionment
is
time-consuming,
expensive
and
complicated.
In
conclusion,
the
purpose
of
my
presentation
is
the
urge
council
to
seriously
consider
the
impact
of
the
points
I
have
presented
to
you.
I
urge
faculty
seriously
consider
these
issues
as
you
deliberate
this
matter
when
it
comes
before
you.
A
A
Very
much
thank
you
very
much.
I
I've
known
you
for
a
very
long
time
and
that
you
know
what
you're
talking
about
and
anything
when
it
comes
to
pittsburgh
public
schools.
So
I
thank
you
very
much
for
taking
the
time
here
today
to
share
your
and
we're
going
to
start
with
after
you
we're
going
to
have
the
controller
in
as
soon
as
he
comes,
but
in
the
meantime
we're
going
to
go
through
and
I
think
we're
going
to
start
with
the
wilkinsburg
council
president
emily
macklin.
D
A
That's
a
fine
with
me:
could
you
call
the
council
members
and
let
them
give
an
opening
statement
as
well,
and
then
our
council
members
will
want
to
ask
questions.
So
after
we
go
through
the
list
of
council
members,
we'll
go
to
china,
lee
who's
arrest,
who's,
a
resident
of
wilkinsburg,
who
I
would
like
to
make
sure
that
she
has
an
opportunity
to
speak.
E
Thank
you
for
meeting
with
us.
My
name
is
paige
trice.
I
was
born
and
raised
in
wilkinsburg
and
I'm
currently
on
council
I've
seen
many
changes
to
my
borough.
Our
council
members
have
been
supported
of
the
wcdc
ever
since
its
onset
and
even
providing
that
it's
a
support.
When
requested
the
wcdc
had
a
five-year
comprehensive
plan
to
improve
our
business
district,
which
they've
apparently
not
taken
very
seriously,
and
most
recently,
when
asked
to
give
an
update
on
business
district
progress,
the
executive
director
refused
to
come
to
council
and
provide
one
I'm.
E
I
am
very
disappointed
with
the
wcdcs
undermining
the
borough's
elected
officials
and
attempting
to
deceive
our
residents
by
misrepresenting
facts
regarding
an
annexation
with
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
This
attempt
to
blindside
our
residents
with
glossy
flyers
and
fake
facts
such
as
lowering
taxes,
is
deceitful.
E
Therefore,
because
we
have
a
large
number
of
renters,
we
can
believe
you
can
believe
that
our
owners
of
rental
rental
properties
will
not
absorb
these
increases.
They
will
pass
these
additional
fees
on
to
their
renters
in
annex
this.
Annexation
with
the
city
would
not
address
the
issue
of
lower
taxes
as
claimed
the
city's
earned
income
tax
is
three
percent.
Ours
is
one
percent
we've
been
able
to
maintain
a
balanced
budget
and
have
not
had
to
increase
our
taxes
since
2004..
E
If
there
were
to
be
an
annexation,
the
city
would
not
be
able
to
provide
our
residents
the
services
that
our
borough
now
provides,
such
as
quick
response
times
to
police
and
ambulance
calls
our
first
responders
know
our
borough.
As
I
mentioned
in
my
opening
statement,
I've
seen
many
changes
to
my
borough.
This
is
not
one
I
need
to
see,
and
I
definitely
do
not
want
to
see
and
thank
you.
F
F
And
I
do
want
to
say
you
know
as
far
as
thank
you
for
the
information
regarding
the
schools
and
it
does
kind
of
go
towards
what
I
was
saying
on
saturday
when
I
spoke
that
this
whole
thing
that
this
the
cdc
which
is
a
non-profit
and
it
has
no
elected
officials.
F
This
whole
thing
that
they
have
brought
forth
overtly
been
against.
The
will
of
council
has
just
been
a
big
massive
confusion
and
misinformation
and
people
signing
this
petition
and
they're
confused
and
it's
difficult
to
reel
that
back,
because
now
everyone
is
confused.
So
how
do
we
unconfuse
our
residents
and
help
them
to
understand
what
what
they're
they're
signing?
F
So
I
I
have
a
lot
of
concerns
with
that
people
don't
understand
what
annexation
means
versus
merger,
and
I
was
just
sent
over
the
weekend.
Some
a
glossy,
as
miss
trey,
said
a
glossy
brochure
that
was
sent
to
one
of
my
residents,
and
it's
still
mentioning
that
this
is
a
merger,
so
they
go
on
and
on
with
misinformation.
F
F
Obviously
they
don't
want
wilkinsburg
council
to
have
this
information,
because
it's
misinformation
and
it
makes
me
very
stressed
that
our
residents
are
under
this
arrest
because
they
don't
understand
what's
going
on
and
some
of
them
are
signing
petitions
that
they
don't
understand
and
I'm
just
going
to
wrap
up.
I
agree
with
miss
trice.
I've
lived
here
for
a
very
long
time.
F
G
Good
afternoon
councilman
andre
scott
personally,
as
a
resident,
I've
been
here
20
plus
years,
I've
seen
some
highs,
some
lows
from
in
between
and
my
time
on,
council
I
have
witnessed
intentional
collaboration,
intentional
conversation
and
growth
in
our
leadership.
Even
if
it's
not
to
the
optimum
level,
I've
seen
nothing
intentionally
make
steps
toward
that.
G
Being
that
wilkersburg
and
the
city
is
about
to
go
through
a
leadership
shift
new
council
here
new
mayor
here,
new
mayor
in
the
city,
I
think,
if
this
conversation
would
come
up
if
necessary,
it
should
be
far
in
the
future.
B
G
Not
in
support
of
a
merger
or
annexation,
there
is
a
lot
of
business
development
going
on
here,
which
comes
from
councilwoman.
Excuse
me,
trice
and
councilwoman
atkins
alluded
to
as
far
as
the
responsibility
of
the
wcdc.
G
It
should
be
more
of
a
of
an
assistant
arm
to
our
borough
being
that
there
are
monies
being
allocated
for
that
salaries
and
other
things
of
that
nature
to
assist
in
building
of
the
world,
and
it
seems
at
the
same
time
there
are
monies
allocated
to
dismantle
the
verb.
So
I
don't
believe
that
it's
fear
to
anyone
resident
wise
leadership
wise
on
either
side
of
the
conversation.
So
if
this
conversation
is
necessary,
I
think
it
should
happen
well
in
the
future.
F
F
Aka
merger.
I
am
a
a
resident,
a
lifelong
resident
of
the
city
of
just
for,
born
and
raised.
I
moved
out
of
the
city
of
pittsburgh
and
I
have
been
out
here
11
years.
F
Wilkinsburg
is
a
up
and
growing
neighborhood
and,
as
the
other
three
council
members
have
stated,
the
cdc
has
ridiculed
and
undermined
our
council.
They
have
they've
lied
to
us
they're
lying
to
our
residents
they're.
These
petitions
that
they're
circulating
they're
paying
these
people
to
go
out
into
the
neighborhoods
knock
on
doors
and
the
majority
of
these
people
that
are
getting
these
petitions
signed
are
not
wilkinsburg
residents
and
there
lies
the
undermining
of
our
community.
F
Our
community
is,
has
has
gotten
a
a
bad
reputation
from
the
news
media,
especially
the
news,
media
and
wilkinsburg
is
not
a
high
crime
area.
As
far
as
I'm
concerned.
F
We
we're
just
like
any
other
neighborhood
things
happen
and
circumstances
happen.
So
therefore,
I
am
against
this
annexation
and,
if
put
on
the
ballot,
my
vote
will
be
no.
Thank
you.
F
Thank
you.
Last
winter
council
voted
to
reject
all
efforts
to
add
x
with
the
city
of
pittsburgh
by
a
vote
of
seven
to
two
and
as
you've
heard,
many
council
members
had
a
lot
of
reasons
for
casting
their
vote
in
that
direction.
F
One
of
the
one
of
the
resolution
called
for
many
things,
including
that
the
wilkinsburg
community
development
corporation
cease
and
desist
their
efforts
and,
as
as
you've
heard
consistent
with
more
consistent
with
their
behavior.
They
have
not
done
so,
and
I
think
the
other
thing
in
so
far
as
process.
You
know,
council
members
really
did.
This
really
did
drop
out
of
the
sky
on
us,
and
there
had
been
no
effort
to
discuss
this
in
a
positive
way
with
the
duly
elected
officials.
F
Having
said
that,
the
annexation
with
the
city
of
pittsburgh
can
be
viewed
as
really
a
further
gentrification.
As
many
of
you
know,
on
city
council,
east
liberty
is
moving
east
and
we
are
smack
dab
right
there.
F
Also
under
that
leadership,
we
have
been
able
to
experience
some
growth
in
business
and
residents.
I'll
just
mention
him.
I
represent
the
third
ward,
and
that
is
we
share
the
very,
very
long
border
with
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
so
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
We
see
your
police
all
the
time
where
I
live,
which
is
not
always
a
good
idea
by
the
way.
F
The
politics
of
wilkinsburg
by
the
way,
tend
to
be
much
less
acrimonious
than
what
happens
in
a
city
council
election
or
a
mayor
election
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
and
that's
because
we
don't
have
to
raise
a
whole
lot
of
money
to
be
actually
become
community
servants,
with
the
full
support
of
our
various
wars
and
communities.
F
I
think
that
that's
what
it's
about
our
residents
will
not
benefit
through
having
to
go,
find
another
place
to
live
because
they
can't
afford
to
live
here.
F
So
let
me
end,
then,
by
saying
this:
we
have
had
for
ever
a
very
good
relationship
with
the
city
of
pittsburgh
on
ems,
on
the
emergency
services
and
everything
else,
as
we
do
with
all
of
our
neighbors
of
penn
hills.
Swift
sale,
childhood,
I'm
sure
other
places,
edgewood
that
maybe
you
all
are
as
familiar
with
as
we
are.
We
all
get
along
very
well.
F
As
you
also
know,
the
city
of
pittsburgh
now
picks
up
our
trash
and
has
done
so
since
2006
and
that's
worked
out
for
both
parties
as
the
fire
has
to
fire.
That
was,
in
fact,
a
merger
and,
as
I
said,
our
residents
are
very
happy
and
I'm
sure
the
city
is
as
well.
F
Excuse
me
we
going
forward,
we
have
had.
We
want
to
continue
that
relationship.
We
do
not
believe.
I
do
not
believe
that
an
annexation
is
in
the
best
interest
of
our
residents
and
but
not
only
that,
but
we
have
demonstrated
our
ability
to
govern
ourselves,
appreciate
your
time
and
appreciate
you
all
having
us
at
your
meeting.
Thank
you.
D
All
right,
emily
macklin,
I
think
there
are
other
council
people
on
the
line
who
may
wish
to
speak-
is
that
ian
truly.
I
Sure
I
can
go.
I
just
wanted
to
make.
It
noted
that
I
am
for
the
merger.
Unlike
the
majority
of
the
council,
I
really
think
that
this
would
be
a
great
chance.
J
I
To
make
pittsburgh
a
more
diverse
community
wilkinsburg
is
super
diverse
and
it
really
would
be
a
great
chance
for
pittsburgh
to
expand
its
tax
base.
We
have
you
know.
Fourteen
thousand
residents,
still
that
you
know
and
expanding
the
land
area
and
possibility
of
redevelopment
around
along
the
penn
avenue
corridor
and
along
the
parkway
and
redeveloping
the
old,
abandoned
houses
and
blighted
properties
in
the
borough
is
a
great
chance
for
pittsburgh
to
increase
its
tax
base.
I
I
I
know
it,
people
are.
A
lot
of
people
are
focusing
on
the
short
term,
but
I
think
this
is
more
of
a
long-term
vision.
I
I
I
You
would
be
voting
city
council
today
or
and
for
pittsburgh
in
general
you'd
be
voting
to
allow
wilkinsburgers
to
have
the
chance
to
say
whether
or
not
they
really
want
this
you're
giving
them
that
opportunity,
and
I
don't
understand
why
so
many
people
are
afraid
to
give
them
that
opportunity
to
voice
their
opinion
on
this.
I
I
H
I
think
it
would
be
the
first
step
forward
in
kind
of
trying
to
combine
our
fragmented
municipalities
and
decrease
the
tax
burden
on
our
residents,
which
I
know
is,
is
heavy
for
a
lot
of
the
people
of
wilkinsburg
and
I'd
just
like
to
second
what
council
member
but
truly
said
that.
I
think
the
best
thing
at
this
time
is
to
support
the
referendum.
H
D
This
is
pamela
macklin,
it's
okay.
Now,
if
I
speak
yes,
please,
yes,
okay,
so
you've
heard
eight
of
our
council
people
speaking,
I
will
say
just
to
inform
you
that
councilman
petruli,
councilman,
edmonds
and
councilman
scott
are
no
longer
a
leading
council
at
the
end
of
the
year.
So
that's
something
to
consider
so
I
speak
as
the
president
of
council.
D
I
will
say
that
I
am
not
for
the
merger.
My
reasoning
is
I've
lived
in
wilkinsburg
43
years
and
it's
a
wonderful
place
and
because
it's
smaller
and
we
have
nine
council
members,
we
have
greater
representation.
D
We
have
normally
as
we're
a
very
diverse
community.
We
have
four
or
five
african
americans,
four
or
five
white
people,
and
we
have
gay
straight
people
and
male
and
female,
so
we
have
a
good
representation
of
our
community
on
council
and
and
on
our
boards
and
commissions,
which
vice
president
price
manages,
and
we
ensure
that
all
of
our
committees
are
fairly
represented
by
world
race
and
sex
and
sexual
preference.
D
D
And
if
you
watching
the
sunday
paper,
you
will
see
that
we
have
been
selling
houses
and
because
part
of
that
is
because
of
zoom,
I'm
sure
that's
happening
in
the
city
too,
that
more
people
bet
on
houses
and
we
are
having
a
lot
of
rebuilding
individual
family
houses
and
going
back
on
the
tax
roll
so
much
so
that
even
with
covert
and
the
loss
of
revenue
from
current
taxes
and
earned
income
tax,
lowering,
I
should
say,
loss
of
revenue
from
what
anticipated
we
have
collected
over
a
hundred
thousand
dollars
more,
which
is
a
lot
for
us
in
our
delinquent
taxes,
because
we're
actually
have
a
pipeline
where
we're
taking
individual
houses
or
groups
of
houses
on
streets
and
making
them
whole
and
people
are
buying
them
and
rebuilding
many
of
those
people
that
are
doing
that
are
wilkinsburg
residents.
D
So,
as
I
say
from
a
financial
point
of
view,
we
are
in
good
shape,
as
you
probably
know
that
we
just
floated
another
two
million
in
bond
issues
and
refinance
our
bonds
to
a
much
lower
interest
rate.
So
from
that
perspective
and
from
our
current
fund
balance,
we
we
can
see
our
way
clear,
at
least
for
three
years
of
of
improving
our
revenues
and
mitigating
our
expenses.
D
I
would
say
that
when
I
heard
that
the
city,
police
and
firefighters,
through
bargaining
units
were
allowed
to
move
out
of
the
city,
I
said
that's
what
happened
to
wilkinsburg
in
1995
around
there,
when
the
police
officers
and
firefighters
were
bargained,
I
presume
to
be
allowed
to
move
out
of
wilkinsburg
and
that
took
you
know,
a
hundred
of
the
best
paying
jobs
and
rep
income
and
housing
tax
real
estate
taxes
out
of
wilkinsburg.
So
it
saddens
me
to
see
that
going
to
happen
in
the
city.
D
I
don't
know
if
your
contracts
give
a
mileage
that
they
can
move
to,
but
that
that's
a
concern
for
us,
because
obviously
we
really
appreciate
the
fire
department
there
and
our.
We
are
an
outstanding
police
department.
D
D
I
presume
that's
true
on
the
city
side
too,
I
think
you
make
these
decisions,
not
in
six
months
or
a
year
or
two
years.
If
it's
something
you're
looking
at,
you
really
need
to
study
it.
The
governments
need
to
study
it.
Of
course,
we
don't
have
and
didn't
have
the
revenue
to
compete
with
the
cdc.
I
think
you've
got
250
or
300
000
to
take
this
forward.
D
I'm
interested
to
hear
the
and
we
are
all
interested
to
hear
the
city
council's
perspective,
and
I
sincerely
hope
that
you
will
look
to
vote
down
this
annexation
and
in
the
future.
We
may
want
to
consider
this,
but
at
this
point
in
time
I
think
it's
very
premature
and
I
would
like
it
to
be
at
the
level
of
the
elected
officials.
A
Thank
you
very
much.
Thank
you
all
for
joining
us
and
we
have
controller
liam
with
us,
but
I'm
going
to
go
to
china
lee
first
and
then
we're
going
to
go
into
controller
liam
and
then
council
members
of
pittsburgh
will
be
coming
to
ask.
So.
Thank
you
all
for
your
patience.
There's
a
lot
of
guest
speakers,
but
it's
important
that
we
have
this
conversation
chyna.
C
Good
afternoon,
thank
you,
madam
president,
for
them
for
invitation
and
for
this
opportunity
to
be
so,
as
I
mentioned
before,
I'm
here
as
a
wilkinsburg
homeowner
land
lord
and
a
long
time
resident
of
wilkinsburg.
C
C
I
don't
have
a
lot
more
to
add
to
what
I
said
on
saturday,
but
I
did
want
to
reiterate
that
the
wcdc
has
been
awarded
millions
of
dollars
from
the
state
and
also
local
foundations
since
they've
been
in
existence,
and
I
believe
2007
or
so,
and
they
failed
to
complete
its
mission.
Its
mission
is
to
revitalize
the
business
district
of
wolfensberg.
C
The
reason
for
that
mission
is
that
the
business
district
being
revitalized
was
supposed
to
attract
more
people
to
wilkinsburg,
and
they
didn't
do
that,
and
it
would
have
cultivated
growth
and
progress
in
the
borough
and
would
have
helped
with
our
tax
base
and
everything
else.
But
not
only
did
they
not
do
that.
The
wcdc
also
has
many
complaints
where
they've
not
worked
with
our
existing
businesses
and
instead
of
owning
up
to
the
failures
and
trying
to
correct
the
course
and
help
wilkinsburg
like
community
development
corporations
are
supposed
to
do
it's
their
name.
C
The
wcdc
now
is
wanting
to
focus
its
efforts
on
this
annexation
without
any
actual
regard
for
what
the
residents
want
or
what's
in
their
best
interest.
I'm
not
sure
how
long
this
plan
has
been
in
progress,
but
it's
worth
noting
that
in
the
last
three
years,
or
so,
the
wcdc
has
gone
behind
the
backs
of
wilkinsburg
council
to
secure
hundreds
of
thousands
of
dollars
in
funding
research
for
an
annexation.
C
That
money
could
have
been
used
to
help
or
borrow
and
not
fund.
These
clear
gentrification
efforts,
the
people
of
wilkinsburg
will
not
vote
yes
on
a
referendum.
If
it
comes
to
the
ballot
and
we
have
volunteers,
standing
ready
to,
you
know,
go
out
and
fight
that
if
it
does
come
down
to
this,
I'm
hoping
that
you
guys
would
vote
no
before
it
even
gets
that
far.
C
The
majority
of
people
who
spoke
up
for
the
annexation
at
the
public
hearing
on
saturday
were
associated
with
the
wcdc,
whether
they
were
employees,
members
of
the
merger
committee
developers
or
board
members.
Others
included
homeowners
in
specific
areas
of
wolfensberg
who
bought
property
in
wilkinsburg
with
the
taxes
as
they
are
and
they're
now
complaining.
The
taxes
are
too
high.
C
Residents
still
don't
know
what
will
happen
to
jobs
for
borough
employees.
Homeowners
are
still
unclear
if
there
will
be
a
reassessment
effect
in
our
property
taxes,
and
yet
the
wcdc
is
still
saying
definite
answers.
They're,
providing
these
answers
that
they're
saying
are
definite
but
they're,
based
on
speculation
and
not
fact,
they've
engaged
a
very
small
sampling
of
people
to
claim
that
the
annexation
which
they
keep
calling
a
merger
repeatedly
they're
calling
it
a
merger
which
are
two
different
things
is
what
people
want,
and
it's
not
accurate.
C
A
merger
implied
that
there's
mutual
ascent
of
two
entities
coming
to
the
table
to
discuss
coming
together,
similar
to
what
has
happened
with
our
school
districts
and
our
fire
and
trash
collection
services.
Wilkinsburg
has
been
successful
in
managing
its
affairs
and
does
not
wish
to
be
annexed
to
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
as
the
majority
council
has,
you
know,
spoke
up
and
said
today:
wilkinsburg
and
pittsburgh
each
have
blighted
properties
and
both
have
lost
residents.
C
In
recent
years,
wilkinsburg's
tax
base
has
decreased,
but
the
bros
taxes
have
not
increased
since
2004
and
our
school
district
taxes
also
were
decreased
this
year.
This
is
an
annexation
that
has
been
made
an
effort
by
a
private
non-profit
organization
with
an
agenda.
This
is
not
a
cry
for
help
for
from
wilkinsburg
residents
or
wilkinsburg
council.
If
there's
to
be
a
decision
about
wilkinsburg
and
pittsburgh
coming
together.
This
annexation
process
is
not
the
way,
and
this
isn't
the
time,
especially
not
right
now,
with
redistricting
underway
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
C
A
Thank
you
so
much
for
being
here.
Thank
you,
and
now
we
have
our
controller
michael
liam.
Thank
you
controller
for
joining
us.
K
Having
me,
I
appreciate
the
opportunity
to
talk
a
little
bit
about
this.
Let
me
let
me
first
say
this.
I
certainly
am
not
going
to
sit
here
and
suggest
that
suggest
what's
best
for
wilkinsburg,
I
don't
know.
K
For
wilkinsburg-
and
I
really
think
that's
up
to
the
people
of
wilkinsburg
to
decide-
I'm
really
more
here
to
talk
about
what
we
need
to
do
as
a
region
moving
forward
with
pittsburgh
as
a
leader
of
this
region,
our
community.
We
all
know
that
we
suffer
significantly
from
our
fragmented
system
of
government
of
our
local
government
yeah
and
so
any
time
that
we
can
talk
about
mutual
aid
consolidated
services,
merger
annexation.
K
All
of
these
are
to
me
part
of
the
same
conversation,
and
that
is
the
conversation
about
making
allegheny
county
more
competitive
as
a
region
when
it
comes
to
everything
from
affordable
housing
to
creating
jobs
and
everything
in
between
we
need
to
do
better
and
pittsburgh
needs
to
be
a
leader
there,
and
we
have
been
a
leader
there.
We,
we
led
the
effort
that
created
the
congress
of
neighboring
communities,
that
we
continue
to
be
a
key
member
of
and
play
an
important
role
in
and
working
with
the
communities
that
touch
our
our
city's
borders.
K
We
we
in
wilkinsburg,
you
know,
we
we've
worked
with
wilkinsburg
to
provide
fire
protection,
garbage
collection,
and
we
now
have
a
grade
six
through
high
school
in
our
in
our
pittsburgh
public
schools.
These
have
been
important
steps
forward
in
many
ways,
not
just
for
pittsburgh,
but
for
our
region,
because
this
is
a
broader
discussion
again,
I'm
not
going
to
sit
there
and
say
just
what
the
people
wilkinsburg
should
do.
K
K
You
know
that
that
you're,
you
are
basically
in
a
position
of
allowing
them
to
decide
whether
or
not
they
want
to
proceed
on
this,
and
so
I
I
think
it's
important
for
for
you
to
consider
that
and
and
to
give
them
the
chance
to
at
least
say
I
think
one
of
the
one
of
the
willsburg
council
people
said
this
earlier,
that
you
know
give
them
the
chance
to
have
that
vote.
K
What
I
will
talk
about
a
little
bit
is
about
what
it
means
for
pittsburgh,
because
I
think
it's
meaningful
for
pittsburgh
and
I
think
this
merger
annexation,
whatever
language
you
want
to
use,
would
be
good
for
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
We
we
know
that
we
have
shrunken
population.
K
We
know
that
our
latest
census
numbers
put
us
right
around
300
000,
which
is
a
key
number
as
to
what
makes
the
difference
between
a
large
municipality
and
a
small
municipality.
I
would
suggest
to
you
that
the
that
that
number
is
probably
lower
than
what
we
saw
in
the
census.
We
know
that
we've
seen
some
population
loss
through
the
pandemic.
We
see
those
numbers
in
public
school
enrollment
that
have
dropped
now
below
20
thousand.
K
That
likely
is
the
result
of
some
people
moving
to
other
alternative
education,
whether
at
home
learning
through
cyber
school
or
or
private
school.
But
we
also
know
that
a
lot
of
that
is
because
people
have
left.
People
have
gone
to
new
districts,
they've
moved
to
to
to
new
to
suburban
districts,
so
we
know
that
we've
lost
some
population
even
since
the
time
of
the
census.
Adding
new
population
of
the
city
is
something
that
we
need
to
do
and
we
need
to
do
desperately.
K
So
it's
an
that's
an
important
factor
now
in
this
I'm
talking
about
the
municipal
merger
right,
so
we're
talking
about
population
we're
also
talking
about
tax
base.
We
know
that
right
now
that
the
borough
of
of
wilkinsburg
has
significant
tax
base
from
a
property
tax
perspective
and
from
a
population
perspective
and
on
the
property
tax
perspective.
We
know
that
they're
in
many
ways
unable
to
avail
themselves
to
the
benefits
that
they
could
have
because
of
their
tax
base.
K
A
new
tax
base
for
wilkinsburg,
similar
to
what
the
city
has
would
definitely
help
them
on
the
economic
economic
development
front,
and
so
so.
For
those
reasons,
I
think
it's
a
good
thing
for
the
municipal
merger.
The
school
district
merger
is
a
little
different
because
we
don't
have
all
the
information.
K
Yet
you
know,
I
I
can't
tell
you
financially
whether
or
not
the
school
district
merger
is
a
good
thing
or
a
bad
thing,
because
I
frankly
haven't
seen
the
numbers
yet,
but
I
would
implore
you
to
hold
off
on
your
vote
until
we
see
that,
and
that
may
be
the
telling
card
that
may
be
the
suggestion
that
hey,
maybe
we
shouldn't
do
this
or
maybe
we
should-
and
I
would
suggest
to
you
that
before
any
decisions
are
made,
that
data
needs
to
be
received
so
that
we
can
really
see
what
the
wilkinsburg
financial
situation
of
their
school
district
is
compared
to
ours.
K
Remember
that
the
the
kids
in
the
wilkinsburg
district
in
grade
six
through
high
school
are
already
in
our
system,
so
we're
talking
about
the
the
remaining
part
of
that
district
and
what
what's
its
debt
structure,
what
what
are
its
costs?
What's
its
budget?
What.
K
And
at
this
point
I
frankly
can't
comment
on
that,
but
but
but
it's
something
that
I
think
we
need
to
know
and
certainly
need
to
know
before
before
we
move
forward.
I
do
want
you
to
be
careful
about
a
couple
of
things
because
any
time
that
these
discussions
come
up
as
important
as
they
are
in
our
community,
a
lot
of
excuses
get
thrown
out
as
to
why
we
shouldn't
move
forward.
K
I've
heard
some
today
we
shouldn't
move
forward
because
of
elections
or
because
of
a
new
mayor.
You
know
we
have
a
new
mayor
in
the
city
with
a
new
mayor
and
workersburg.
We
should
wait
well,
there's
an
election
every
six
months,
we're
always
going
to
have
an
election
so
to
to
say
we're
going
to
hold
this
off
because
of
an
election
is
just
it's
just,
not
a
good
reason.
It's
just
an
excuse.
It's
in
many
ways
a
red
herring
as
to
why
you
shouldn't
move
forward
reapportionment.
K
Oh,
you
know
we're
going
to
reapportion
the
city
council
districts
and
the
school
board
districts
and
as
and
I
have
amazingly
high
regard
for
for
solicitor-
weiss
at
the
school
district.
But
to
suggest
that
we
should
hold
off
on
this
because
of
reapportionment,
that's
just
not
real
we're
going
to
reinforcing.
K
If
it
goes
word,
you
have
to
reinforce
them
sooner
or
later,
whether
you
do
it
this
year,
next
year,
three
years
from
now
five
years
from
now,
you're
never
going
to
do
this
in
conjunction
with
a
census,
because
there's
just
no
way
to
make
that
that
schedule
work.
So
there's
always
going
to
be
an
issue
about
re-apportioning
when
you
add
population
to
a
municipality
or
to
a
school
district,
and
so
I
would
suggest
to
you
that
that's
not
a
reason
to
hold
back
your
vote
on
this.
Some
people
are
saying
it's
too
fast.
K
K
Time
people
thought
it
was
too
fast,
so
now
we
are
going
to
delay
again
because
it's
too
fast,
you
know,
I
would
suggest
to
you
that
all
of
these
reasons
are
not
real
reasons.
The
last
thing
I
will
suggest
you
is
this,
and
it's
not
so
much
an
excuse,
but
other
people
will
say
there's
a
better
way
to
do
this
and
the
better
way
to
do
this
is
to
merge
for
the
whole
county
to
merge.
K
K
Well,
the
fact
is
that
doesn't
make
a
lot
of
sense,
because
the
city
and
the
county
do
completely
different
things.
You
know
the
the
county
doesn't
pick
up
your
garbage.
The
county
for
the
most
part,
doesn't
pave
your
street.
You
know
the
county
doesn't
provide
municipal
services,
they
don't
have
a
fire
department.
Well,
they
have
one
at
the
airport,
but
they
don't
have
a
real
fire
department.
They
they
have
somewhat
of
a
police
department,
but
it's
limited.
K
You
know
if
we
want
to
get
serious
about
having
a
metropolitan
government-
hey,
I'm
I'm
ready
to
have
that
conversation,
but
that's
not
what's
on
the
table
today.
What's
on
the
table
today
is
whether
the
people
of
wilkinsburg
should
get
the
chance
to
join
the
city
of
pittsburgh
and
whether
or
not
the
people
of
pittsburgh,
whether
it's
not
a
good
deal
for
the
people
of
pittsburgh,
and
what
I'm
suggesting
to
you
today
from
the
pittsburgh
side
of
the
argument,
at
least
on
the
municipal
level,
is
that
it's
a
good
deal
for
us?
K
We've
proven
it
already
through
the
fire,
the
service
that
we
provide
through
the
garbage
collection
that
we
provide.
We
know
that
the
the
costs
associated
with
this
kind
of
a
consolidation
annexation
merger.
Whatever
word
you
want
to
use,
we
know
that
the
tax
base
that
comes
to
us
through
this
merger
is
at
least
equal
to
the
cost
of
us
of
providing
municipal
services
to
that
borough.
K
Again,
I'm
not
I'm
not
prepared
to
comment
yet
on
the
school
district,
because
I
haven't
seen
those
numbers
yet,
but
from
in
this
perspective,
I
think
it's
the
right
thing
to
do
at
the
very
least
give
wilkinsburg
the
chance
again.
This
isn't
even
on
your
agenda
yet,
and
I
would,
I
would
think
that
between
now
and
when
it's
actually
on
your
agenda
to
vote
on
we're
going
to
get
more
information
about
what
financially
means
to
the
school
district,
along
with
some
hashing
out
of
these
other
issues.
A
I
think
council,
thank
you
control.
I
think
council
will
decide
that,
but
I
think
we'd
like
to
see
is
numbers
that
you
might
have
and
the
analysis
that
you
have
done,
and
so,
if
you
have
that
information
that
you
could
email
to
council,
so
we
can
look
over
that.
That
would
be
really
helpful
too
and
with
that
said,
we're
also
joined
by
reverend
burgess,
who
immediately
borders
wilkinsburg.
So
we're
going
to
begin
with
barges
and
then
councilman.
A
M
M
N
N
Yeah,
I
won't
be
very
long
I'll,
be
a
few
sentences,
so
my
major
concern,
I
think-
and
I
said
this
to
anybody
publicly
and
privately-
I
can
always
contribute.
I
usually
agree
with
the
controller
I
think
over
time
the
wilkinsburg
merger
makes
sense
and
it's
probably
a
good
idea.
I
think
the
process
we're
using
is
unfair.
N
N
It
empowers
our
council
and
ignores
their
council
and
I
think,
that's
inherently
unfair,
and
so
what
I'm
going
to
propose
is
that
the
two
councils
work
together
over
the
next
year
year
and
a
half
to
see
if
we
could
come
to
something
that
we
can
agree
on
and
then
we
can
initiate
and
work
together
for
merger.
That's
what
I
think
I
think
to
ignore
wilkinsburg,
council
and
wilkersburg
mayor
as
an
elected
official.
N
If
it
was
if
the
situation
was
reversed,
I
would
be
highly
offended
if
someone
was
going
to
you
know,
take
away
our
municipality
without
us
having
to
say
so,
and
so
I'm
going
to
give
the
same
courtesy
to
wilkersburg
council
that
I
would
expect
for
myself,
and
so
that's.
I
think
we
need
a
different
process,
so
I
think
the
outcome
may
be
the
same,
but
the
process
should
be
slower,
fairer
and
different.
Thank
you.
A
Thank
you
reverend.
I
just
want
to
add
to
that
that
I
have
been
talking
about
having
a
city
county
task
force,
to
work
on
entire
mergers
for
the
city
of
pittsburgh
and
allegheny
county,
and
so
that
we're
not
piecemealing
this
together,
but
we're
doing
this
right
with
that
said.
So
we
can.
We
can
talk
about
that
said.
Councilwoman
gross.
L
Thank
you,
madam
chair
and
president,
and
I
thank
all
the
speakers
for
being
here
and
for
sharing
your
perspectives,
and
we
also
just
for
the
record,
as
most
of
you
know,
had
a
public
hearing
and
heard
from
the
public.
Since
then,
council
members,
including
myself,
have
received
phone
calls
and
emails
from
citizens,
and
we
have
received
some
communication
from
the
consultants
to
the
wilkinsburg
cdc.
L
L
Emails
about
the
studies
that
they
commissioned
that
were
commissioned
and
paid
for
by
the
wilkinsburg
cdc
about
some
annexations,
the
financials
a
little
bit
about
I'm
actually
looking
at
them.
Excuse
me
a
summary
of
financial
impact,
but
they
are
summaries.
L
L
Vaguely-
and
I
I
don't
find
that
persuasive
and
I
I
don't-
I
believe
that
is
a
good
argument
for
rushing,
as
opposed
to
to
his
admonition
that
we
should
rush
forward
without
adequate
information.
L
I
I
have
the
opposite
opinion,
so
I
think
that
the
public
deserves
to
know
the
more
about
the
logistics
of
how
this
would
happen
and
then
about
the
implications
of
it
happening
and
and
and
what
we're
hearing
now,
I
think,
are
a
lot
of
introductory
arguments
and
what
we
need
to
hear
next
is
more
of
the
evidence
behind
these,
basically
just
opening
opinions,
and
so
I
I
hope
that
we
do
that
next
and
I
I
would
encourage
or
discourage
actually
the
the
wilkinsburg
cdc
to
from
submitting
their
petition
to
the
courts
and
and
just
a
reminder
that
that
is
the
process
that
is
described
in
the
state
code
around
annexation
from
I
think.
L
L
Much
confusion
and
questions
from
citizens
and
and
even
from
all
of
us
here
at
the
table
about
what
does
it?
What
are
the
implications
for
our
school
districts,
and
perhaps
I
think
that
needs
to
be
elucidated
in
studies
that
everyone
can
read
and
then
process
to
see
what
their
opinions
are
about,
that
we
have
nothing
but
conjecture
about
bond
structures
and
death
structures
and
what
annexing
wilkinsburg's
debt
means
and
how
that
would
work
and
what
would
happen
next?
L
We
have
no
one
has
addressed
or
begun
to
discuss
what
would
happen
in
annexing
the
wilkinsburg
water
and
sewer
authority.
Is
it
the
pen
wilkins?
So
what
happens?
Is
it's
a
joint
municipal,
water
authority,
water
and
sewer
authority?
I
understand,
and
so
what
happens
is
wilkinsburg.
L
Let
me
finish
this.
Those
these
are
basically
rhetorical
questions,
because
I
don't
believe
we'll
be
answering
them
in
this
post
agenda
and
post
agendas
are
meant
to
are,
are
designed
to
increase
pittsburgh
city
council's
understanding
that
at
an
expert
level
of
issues.
That
is
why
we
have
them,
and
yet
what
I'm
finding
is
that
I
just
have
more
questions
than
answers
after
here.
At
this
point,
we
don't
have
an
in-depth
analysis
of
vacant
properties
which
is
being
thrown
around
a
lot
right.
We
know
that
wilkinsburg
has
a
significant
vacancy
rate
right.
L
The
city
of
pittsburgh
has
about
140
000
parcels
in
the
city,
there's
about
at
least
14
000
of
them
that
we
already
have
under
city
control,
because
they're
abandoned
we're
already
the
agents
on
the
d,
that's
nearly
10,
of
our
land
mass
and
yet
and
there's
more
than
that,
there's
another
14
000
or
so
that
are
delinquent.
So
we're
approaching
20,
and
I
wonder
what
that
percentage
is
for
wilkinsburg
and
again.
L
Maybe
you
have
those
easy
answers,
because
that's
just
a
ratio
of
like
how
much
vacant
property
do
you
have
in
the
numerator
and
how
much
total
parcels
do
you
have
in
the
denominator,
but
we
don't
have
an
analysis
of
kind
of
what
that
means
moving
forward
in
terms
of
its
detrimental
impact
to
either
or
both
municipalities
or
a
positive
impact
to
either
both
municipalities.
Our
land
bank,
to
my
knowledge
in
eight
years,
hasn't
actually
recycled
a
single
property.
L
So,
yes,
we
have
one
on
paper
that
I
don't
know
how
possible
to
introduce
the
legislation
in
2014
and
we
passed
it
in
2014,
but
it's
been
nearly
eight
years
since
it
was
created,
and
then
I
I
hear
a
lot
from
proponents,
including
some
city
residents,
who
own
property
in
wilkinsburg
about
the
impact,
the
positive
impact
to
property
owners.
Well,
we
know
that
wilkinsburg
residents
have
a
very
high
rate
of
rentership,
and
so
who
are
the
property
owners?
L
L
You
know
if
it's
mostly
wealthy
out
of
town
property
owners
as
opposed
to
kind
of
homeowners
resident
property
owners,
then
that's
a
very
different
picture
and
I
think
that
deserves
its
own
analysis.
And
so
I
I
disagree
wholeheartedly
with
our
city
controller,
that
we
should
rush
headlong
without
answering
any
questions.
L
But
I
would
love
for
our
council
to
continue
this
kind
of
conversation
and
to
get
answers
to
these
questions
both
for
the
benefit
of
city
residents.
For
our
benefit
and
for
the
the
residents
of
wilkinsburg
benefit,
these
are
these
are
just
the
concrete
things
that
I've
thought
of
today
that
we
don't
have
answers
to,
and
so,
if
anyone
wants
to
respond
to
that,
please
do.
But
that's
really
the
the
my
my
main
points
today.
Thank
you.
M
I
think
that
you
know,
because
the
pittsburgh
city
council
at
least,
is
in
the
midst
of
a
very
busy
time
of
year,
as
we
finalize
our
budget
we've
had
you
know,
budget
hearings
for
the
last
four
weeks
and
to
to
focus
on
this
right
now
is
a
little
difficult
in
2022,
we'll
have
a
little
bit
more
bandwidth
and
space
to
to
really
dig
in.
I
certainly
don't
have
all
the
answers
to
questions
that
I
have
either
and
I
I
don't
think
that
those
here
today
are
equipped
to
answer
my
questions
either.
M
I
think
to
councilwoman
gross's
point:
there's
a
lot
more
information
that
I'd
like
to
have
a
lot
of
more
numbers.
I'd
like
to
have
before
I
make
a
decision.
M
Question
specific
questions
are:
are,
you
know,
are
the
beginning
of
my
list
as
well
that
I've
that
I've
made
so
I'd
like
to
continue
these
conversations,
I
guess
to
to
controller
lamb.
One
of
the
people
who
has
you
know
you
have
made
a
decision,
your
own
decision
on
whether
we
should
move
ahead
or
not.
M
One
of
the
reasons
you
gave
as
sort
of
a
red,
herring
or
or
not
so
great
reason
to
hold
off
on
making
a
decision
or
move
forward
with
allowing
wilkinsburg
voters
to
take
a
vote
is
that
the
process
is
moving
too
fast,
and
I
understand
you
know-
we've
been
talking
about
this
for
40
years.
Wilkinsburg
cdc
has
been
engaging
people
since
2013..
M
M
K
You
know
this
was
originally
discussed
for
the
november
election
of
last
year
and
because
of
a
lot
of
questions
and
and
other
concerns
it
was
withdrawn.
I
don't
think
it
matters
frankly
which
election
it's
on.
I
think
in
fact,
I
I've
seen
what
the
what
the
wilkinsburg
folks
are
submitting
to
the
court
and-
and
my
guess,
is
that
it
would
it
would
be
for
a
future
election.
I
don't
know
that
it's
specific
to
a
date.
I
do
think
there
is
some
logistical
issues
around
having
in
the
spring.
K
Some
of
you
may
remember
that
I
led
the
effort
to
brought
home
rule
to
allegheny
county
and
we
were.
We
thought
it
was
important
to
get
that
on
a
spring
primary
election
because
of
the
logistics
of
getting
ready
between
may
and
january,
rather
than
just
having
from
november
to
january,
to
get
that
done.
So,
if
you
think
back
to
when
we
created
the
county,
the
current
county
government,
which
I
was
obviously
involved
in
it
was
we
thought
it
was
a
bet.
It
was
better
to
have
it
in
spring
primary
so
that
if.
E
K
M
Thank
you
for
answering
that
that's
helpful.
I
I
really
just
will
just
reiterate
what
I
just
said.
I
will
continue
to
you
know,
look
forward
to
these
conversations
to
meet
with
those
who
can
provide
us
with
answers
to
questions
that
have
been
raised
today
and
continue
to
have
dialogue
and
learn
more.
Thank
you.
J
I
just
have
a
couple
questions
I
did
hear.
Mr
weiss
talk
about
transportation
reaching
out.
As
far
as
to
you
know,
10
miles
from
from
the
border
it
could
you
explain
a
little
further.
I
missed
that
what
you
were
trying
to
say
there.
B
B
Currently,
that
radius
is
almost
the
monroeville
so
that
if
this
becomes
this
annexation
proceeds,
then
the
school
district
of
pittsburgh
will
be
transferring
transporting
students
10
miles
beyond
where
they
are
now,
which
is
almost
or
is
in
murrysville.
So
my
point
is,
and
that
is
a
matter
of
state
school
code.
We
can't
change
that,
so
I
think
that
will
result
in
significant
increase
in
transportation
costs
for
the
school
district.
B
Challenges-
and
you
know
to
the
point
made
by
several
members
of
council
the
appropriate
time
if
council
requested
we'll
be
happy
to
do
an
analysis
to
the
extent
we
can
of
what
exactly
impact
that
will
have.
But
there
is
no
question
that
the
radius
of
transportation
will
increase
10
miles
further,
actually
more
than
10
miles
further
than
it
is
now,
because
it
covers
all
of
wilkinsburg
plus
10
miles
beyond
the
eastern
border.
J
Okay,
thanks
for
that
clarification,
I
appreciate
you
going
over
that
have
a
question
about
tax.
I've
been
hearing
a
lot
about
the
property
tax
difference,
but
whenever
so
from
my
understanding,
there
is
no
payroll
tax
in
wilkinsburg.
J
Okay,
so
so
they'll
be
a
new
tax
for
their
employers.
It
seems
like
okay.
I
just
want
to
get
that
clear.
J
You
know
I
mean,
as
we
move
forward,
I'm
just
continuing
to
form
my
opinion.
I
I
do
like
to
hear
some
of
these
questions
about
you
know
all
the
different
like
there
was
a
question.
That's
brought
up
about
the
the
water
and
sewer
authority
and
it's
an
interesting
question.
A
O
Thank
you.
First
and
foremost,
I
want
to
welcome
the
people
from
wilkinsburg
the
council
of
people
from
wilkinsburg.
You
know,
there's
not
a
conversation
that
I
have
had
with
another
council
member
about
this,
where
we
don't
respect
your
opinion
and
take
account
everything
you
have
to
say
so
so
it's
really
nice
hearing
from
you.
I
think
it
would
be
a
lot
better
if
times
were
different.
You
could
be
here
in
person.
I
would
prefer
that,
but
it's
really
nice
to
actually
hear
from
you.
O
O
We
used
to
go
to
wilkinsburg
and
I
tell
you
you
had
a
great
athletic
organization,
tough
kids
and
we
always
enjoyed
going
out
there
and
playing
them
and
the
community
really
backed
it
and
I
hope
that's
still
intact
for
you.
I
know
in
some
of
my
neighborhoods
it's
not
so
I
hope
it
didn't
continue
to
decline
out
there
as
well.
I
will
tell
you
that
you
know
I
I
kind
of
did
a
preliminary
vote
here.
O
Listening
to
you
all
speaking-
and
it
sounds
like
it's
about
a
six
to
three
ratio
of
four
and
against
six
against
three
four
again,
we
take
in
consideration
as
to
how
you
feel
as
to
mr
burgess,
what
he
said
about.
You
know
the
process.
You
know
I
wish
we
would
have
had
that
process
when
we
raised
taxes
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh
with
the
parks
tax,
because
that
was
put
on
a
referendum,
and
this
body
didn't
have
a
say-so
in
that.
O
I
just
want
to
add
that
to
the
conversation,
but
I
want
to
really
address
you
know
we
could
talk
about
the
school
district.
We
could
talk
about.
You
know
the
water
authority.
We
could
talk
about
a
lot
of
things
and
a
lot
of
these
questions
will
need
to
be
answered.
O
However,
I
want
to
talk
about
the
elephant
in
the
room
as
far
as
I'm
concerned,
and
the
elephant
in
the
room
is
a
property
tax
today
in
pittsburgh,
if
you
own,
a
hundred
thousand
dollar
home
you're,
paying
roughly
twenty
three
hundred
dollars
in
property,
tax,
wilkinsburg
you're,
paying
twice
as
much
okay,
forty
five
hundred
dollars
and
and
that's
on
a
hundred
thousand
dollar
home.
Now
I
did
my
own
kind
of
initial
survey
and
you
know
just
kind
of
got
the
lay
to
land.
I
took
a
ride
through
wilkinsburg.
O
I
must
have
been
out
there
for
about
four
or
five
hours
just
trying
to
spot
what
I
feel
was
municipal
properties
and
private
properties
and
the
business
district.
Okay,
now
that
tax
rate
for
me
just
seems
like
it's
almost
impossible
for
somebody
to
want
to
invest
into
their
property
or
to
buy
there,
so
I'm
very
interested
to
see
what
home
sales
are
like
in
wilkinsburg
over
the
past
four
or
five
years.
Now,
that's
one
thing
in
in
private
homes.
But
when
I
look
at
the
business
district
I
see
I
was
surprised
at
the
vacancy.
O
I
was
surprised
at
the
vacancy
in
the
business
district.
I
was
surprised
at
the
vacancy
in
the
residential
area.
We
also
have
plenty
of
it,
but
per
capita.
I
would
say
I
think
you
have
20
vacancy.
If
I
recall
reading,
which
is
to
me
not
even
close,
I
I
may
have,
I
think,
four
or
five
percent
in
my
district.
O
If
that
so
again,
this
is
the
elephant
in
a
room
for
me
and
when
we
talk
about
the
business
district
and
I
see
four-story
buildings
that
are
boarded
up,
that
obviously
will
go
for
a
million
dollars
plus,
I
would
say
so,
you're
asking
somebody
to
come
in
there
and
invest
into
the
business
district,
whether
it
be
a
developer
or
just
a
you
know,
do-gooder
in
the
neighborhood
for
them
to
purchase
a
million
dollar
property
you're
now
paying
45
000
in
taxes
per
year.
O
Talk
to
the
county
executive
about
this.
I've
talked
to
the
city
controller.
About
this,
I
feel
it's
virtually
impossible
to
get
development
into
the
wilkinsburg
neighborhood
at
the
current
tax
rate.
So
I'm
very
curious
as
to
see
what
your
answer
is
to
that,
whether
you're
going
back
to
the
state
and
just
trying
to
you
know
renegotiate
that
because
I
don't
think
it
can
survive.
I
don't.
I
don't
think
you
will
flourish
with
that
tax
rate.
It's
just
dollars
and
cents.
O
O
I
know
we
already
share
some
of
that,
but
and
if
I
got
my
figures
right,
you
said
six
percent,
which
would
be
roughly
six
million
dollars
worth
of
taxes
from
the
school
district
that
we
put
out
per
year,
but
I
don't
think
it
was
factoring
in
the
taxes
that
you
know
wilkinsburg
puts
in
to
their
school
district.
So
so
far
everything
I've
seen
points
to
a
neutral.
O
You
know
in
fixation
towards
you
know,
cost.
We
can't
say
that
for
sure
I
know
there
are
many
unanswered
questions,
but
for
me
you
know
I
looked
at
it.
I
have
a
list
of
things.
O
Why
would
be
beneficial
to
the
city
of
pittsburgh
and
you
heard
the
controller
go
over
most
of
those
things
besides:
geographic,
adding
land
to
our
city-
and
you
know
the
population
is
very
concerning
when
we
drop
below
300
000
people,
it's
going
to
be
a
lot
tougher
for
us
to
get
state
federal
grants
and
things
that
help
us
out.
O
So
I
tend
to
want
to
support
it.
I
would
really
love
to
see
what
the
wilkinsburg
residents
would
say
about
this.
I
wish-
and
I
hope
somebody
can-
maybe
maybe
mr
weiss-
you
can
answer
this
question
for
me.
I
wish
we
can
put
it
on.
I
wish
wilkinsburg
would
keep
it
on
the
referendum
and
then
we
can
talk
about
it,
but
from
what
I
understand
it
cannot
go
on
the
referendum
there
without
our
approval.
Is
that
correct.
B
Under
the
municipal
code
that
councilwoman
gross
referenced,
this
only
goes
on
the
ballot.
If
the
council
of
the
city
of
pittsburgh
approves
it.
O
So
that's
my
understanding
as
well,
which
disheartening
to
me,
I
you
know
to
me,
would
make
a
big
difference
to
see
what
the
residents
of
wilkinsburg
want
to
do.
Through
my
travels
through
wilkinsburg
I
stopped,
and
I
was
talking
to
people
on
their
porches
and
kids
on
the
corners,
and
I
mentioned
it
to
them.
They
were
kind
of
clueless
about
the
whole
thing,
but
they
thought
oh
yeah.
We
want
to
be
poor
pittsburgh.
They
thought
they
were
some
of
them
actually.
O
So
so
you
know
in
saying
that
I
really
wish
we
could
see
what
wilkinsburg
wants
to
do.
First,
however,
I
would
tend
to
support
it
if
they
do
decide
to
put
it
in
front
of
us
again,
I'm
not
an
expert.
I
don't
have
all
the
answers.
I
can't
say
if
it's
good
for
wilkinsburg
or
pittsburgh,
but
my
heart
tells
me
it's
good
for
both
and
therefore
I
would
be
likely
to
support.
That's
it
for
me,
madam
president,
thank
you.
A
So
I'm
just
going
to
say
a
few
things
and
if
councilman
lavelle
comes
on,
please
let
me
know,
I've
heard
a
lot
today
and-
and
I
want
to
thank
the
controller
for
joining
us
so
quickly.
A
I
actually
asked
him
yesterday
and
he
came
on
today,
so
I
want
to
thank
him
for
going
out
of
his
way
to
make
sure
he
joined
us
today
and
I
apologize
for
not
being
more
clear
about
what
our
what
we
were
looking
for
in
terms
of
information,
so
we'll
work
with
him
to
get
some
numbers
we'll
also
work
for
an
independent
value.
Analysis
of
the
numbers,
as
councilman
gross
had
suggested
that
we
also
do
so.
A
I
want
to
thank
her
for
that
as
well,
but
I
heard
I
heard
a
lot
about
the
schools
and
it's
it's
been
a
very
serious
issue
with
our
school
district
and
my
sister
kelly's
school
in
wilkinsburg.
So
I
I
want
to
first
begin
by
thanking
everyone
for
joining
us,
including
our
members
today,
because
our
city
council
members
as
well,
because
we
have
been
very
busy
it's
budget
season,
we're
also
running
around
our
districts,
doing
different
events.
I
just
want
to
thank
everybody
for
being
here,
especially
during
this.
A
You
know
challenging
time
of
year,
but
with
that,
as
I
mentioned
my
sister,
we
really
do
she
taught
at
kelly
school.
We
I
have
family
and
friends
in
wilkinsburg.
We
think
very
highly
of
wilkinsburg.
It's
not
about
wilkinsburg,
it's
about
the
process
as
reverend
burgess
mentioned,
and
it's
also
about
what
we
should
be
doing
and
looking
at
this
as
a
bigger
picture,
I'm
not
saying
I'm
for
or
against
any
type
of
city,
county
merger.
What
I'm
saying
is,
we
should
be
doing
it
more
methodically.
A
We
should
be
sitting
down
together
with
a
task
force
and
a
team
of
people
looking
at
what
this
would
look
like
for
every
municipality
and
if
we
would
actually
do
a
city
county
merger,
I
don't
know
that
there
are
benefits
to
doing
piecemealing
it
together.
The
way
we
are
and
by
the
time
we
actually
fill
those
benefits
I
for
one,
probably
won't
be
around,
so
I
I
just
think
that,
and
I
mean
living
I
don't
mean
just
on
council
I
mean
so.
A
I
would
really
like
to
make
sure
that
you
know
what
we
do
is
done
and
done
right
with
the
best
interest
of
our
residents
and
the
people
that
we
serve,
but
I
can't
help
but
think
that
if
we
were
really
serious
about
mergers
that
we
would
have
started
in
the
southwest,
we
border
the
most
boroughs.
I've
said
this
time
and
time
again
and
we're
talking
about
development
the
opportunity
for
development
in
wilkinsburg.
A
Well,
I
actually
would
like
some
development
southwest
of
the
river,
and
I
would
actually
like
to
see
some
commitment
from
the
people
that
are
committed
to
this
project
also
say
that
they
are
committed
to
helping
southwest
of
the
river
and
the
north
side.
Everything
we're
just
adding
more
land
to
the
east
end
and,
as
one
of
the
speakers
on
saturday
mention
that
this
is
just
a
way
to
continue
bakery
square
and
penn
avenue,
and
when
you
use
the
argument
that
this
is
good
because
we're
we
need
to
increase
our
black
population.
A
Well,
that's
what
gentrified
that
area
in
the
first
place.
So
that's
not
really
a
good
argument
for
me
as
far
as
I'm
concerned.
So
I
think
that
what
we
need
to
do
is
come
together
with
a
with
a
task
force
on
working
and
looking
at
mergers
for
real
and
and
to
not
worry
about
elections.
As
the
controller
mentioned,
we,
although
we
don't
have,
we
do
have
elections
every
six
months.
We
do
not
have
mayoral
elections
for
both
boroughs
every
six
months.
A
This
is
this
is
one
in
four
years
and
with
two
new
mayors
coming
in
I'd
like
to
hear
a
little
bit
more
from
them
as
well.
But
you
know
when
we
talk
about
increasing
population,
you
know,
whereas
losing
population
is
southwest
of
the
river.
We've
lost
a
lot,
we're
having
to
gain
we're
doing
the
redistricting,
and
we
both
have
to
gain
because
we
lost
population
and
we're
losing
population,
because
there
is
no
investment
southwest
of
the
river
we're
losing
population
because
people
they
feel
like
their
voice
is
not
earned.
A
We're
losing
population
because
our
schools
need
to
be
better
and-
and
we
need
to
have
more
opportunities
in
those
areas.
We
need
to
support
them
as
well.
So
I
don't
know
how
this
helped
southwest
the
river,
but
it
seems
to
me
that
it's
just
we're
just
always
an
afterthought.
This
should
have
been
part
of
the
conversation.
How
will
this
affect
southwest
of
the
river?
How
will
affect
the
north
side
of
pittsburgh?
Not
just
how
it's
going
to
affect
more
east
end
development
and
give
more
people
the
opportunity
to
develop
and
to
make
money?
A
I
want
people
to
make
money.
I
want
people
to
do
well
in
the
city.
I
love
development
and
I
want
more
of
it.
So
I'm
not
like
everybody
where
you
like.
Let's
stop
this
and
let's
do
no.
I
want
I
want
it,
but
I
want
to
do
it
right.
I
want
to
do
in
a
way:
that's
not
going
to
gentrify
an
area
but
enhance
an
area.
I
don't
want
to
do
it
the
way
that
it
was
done
with
my
family
when
they
were
pushed
out
of
the
hill
district.
A
I
want
to
do
it
in
a
way:
that's
going
to
keep
people
there
and
help
people
in
their
communities
and
jobs
will
come
to
the
residence.
That's
what
I
wanted
to
do,
but
I
think
when
we
talk
about
you
know
we
we
suffer
the
the
from
a
merger
if
we
or
if
we
don't
merge.
We
also
have
benefits
from
our
fractured
system.
A
But
I
really
think
that's
where
a
task
force
is
going
to
be
important,
so
I
think
it
would
be
really
good
to
talk
to
our
county
elected
officials
and
see
what
we
can
do
there,
but
for
me,
I'm
not
going
to
go
along
with.
I
do
know
a
lot
about
what
the
effects
would
be
on
bussing.
I
know
that
the
challenges
with
busing
now
in
the
city
pittsburgh
and
how
far
we
take
people.
I
know
it's
been
extremely
challenging
for
the
school
district.
A
It's
lastly
they're
having
a
difficult
time
finding
people
to
do
the
busing.
To
me.
This
is
another
unfunded
mandate,
so
to
speak,
for
the
school
district,
so
I'd
like
to
make
sure
that
we're,
including
our
school
district
and
school
board
members
in
these
conversations
we're
not
islands
here,
we
don't
just
get
to
say
what
you
know,
what
we
want
to
have
happen
and
that's
it.
A
I
will
say
that
I
don't
even
know
if
we
should
put
it
to
a
vote,
but
if
we
do,
you
know
it's
my
understanding
that
it
can't
come
back
up
for
five
years
and
I
from
my
conversations
with
members,
I
believe
it
will
not
pass
so
I
think
that
they're
going
down
a
very
slippery
slope
by
not
engaging
and
not
talking
and
being
it's
the
process,
the
same
process
we
didn't
like
with
the
pittsburgh
parks
tax.
A
It's
not
that
we
were
opposed
to
our
tax
people
and
helping
our
attack
our
parks,
it
was
we
were
put.
We
were
opposed
to
the
process,
and
so
I
think
this
is
the
same
thing,
and
I
don't
want
to
do
this
to
another
borough.
I
don't
want
to
do
it
to
our
residents,
I'm
going
to
be
very
cautious
as
we
as
we
proceed.
I
will
just
say
that.
O
D
F
I
would
say
this:
that
is
what
china
lee
pointed
out
earlier.
F
Yes,
we
had
a
plan
to
deal
with
some
of
the
issues
of
redevelopment
and
everything
else,
but
the
community
development
corporation
failed
in
their
mission,
so
we
need
to
kind
of
go
back
and
rework
and
figure
out,
as
a
matter
of
fact,
the
borough
itself,
without
the
cdc,
expanded
the
tax
base
built
new
construction,
including
the
grocery
store.
I
think
many
of
the
neighborhoods
in
pittsburgh
do
not
have
a
grocery
store,
and
this
was
under
a
a
village
which
was
higher
than
it
currently
is
and
as
to
the
magic
wand.
F
Here
I
think
I
don't
think,
there's
a
living,
breathing
elected
official
anywhere.
Who
knows
that
solution,
but
I
think
we're
very
disappointed
that
the
cdc
has
failed
to
help
us.
That
is
redevelopment
is
one
of
the
things
you
learn,
whether
you're
borough,
government
or.
G
F
Saying
that
yes,
we
have
had,
we
cannot
provide
that
number,
but
it
is
significant,
significant
home
sales
throughout
wilkinsburg,
as
well
as
over
the
last
three
four
years,
but
we
we
would
be
more
than
happy
to
supply
those
figures
and
also,
I
think
we
just
got
a
new
county
assessment
for
doing
the
county
taxes,
but
at
any
rate
we
will
be
more
than
happy
to
cooperate.
F
O
O
Ma'am,
I
can't
see
it's
a
difficulties
of
zoom
but
yeah.
You
know,
I
think
it's
kind
of
a
shame.
It
seems
like
between
cdc,
you
know
or
wilkinsburg.
The
development
corporation,
it
seems
to
become,
have
become
political.
However,
I
know
they
don't
control
the
tax
rate
controller
lamb.
Can
you
add
anything
to
this?
If
you'd
like.
K
Thank
you
and
I'll
I'll
just
make
a
couple
comments
before
we
close,
but
first
off,
there's
there's
no
doubt
that
the
tax
structure
in
wilkinsburg
is
a
problem.
It's
a
problem
for
development.
K
You
know,
anthony
you've
had
these
conversations
with
some
of
our
county
officials
and
and
some
of
our
state
delegation
about
about
the
issue
and
how
difficult
it
is
to
attract
development
into
wilkinsburg.
Given
the
tax
structure,
that's
there.
But
let
me
let
me
say
a
couple
of
things
about
that.
K
Know
somehow
it
doesn't
matter
to
renters
it's
a
it's
just
a
non-argument,
but
let
me
let
me
first
say
to
to
our
council
president
as
a
as
a
member
as
a
resident
of
district
two,
I
full-heartedly
support
everything.
You
just
said
about
the
need
for
efforts
in
the
southwest
communities
and
working
with
our
near
suburbs
toward
a
more
consolidated
approach
and-
and
I
certainly
will
support
anything
you
do
in
that
regard.
K
I
would
tell
you,
though,
that
those
efforts
are
most
successful
when
they,
when
they're
homegrown
and
come
from
the
municipalities
as
we're
seeing
here
in
wilkinsburg
and-
and
I
would
also
tell
you
that
when
you
talk
about
merger
and
consolidation
and
annexation
and
the
concern
you
have
over
loss
of
neighborhood
culture,
that
just
doesn't
happen.
You
represent
some
phenomenal
neighborhoods
here
in
the
southwest.
K
K
You
know
we
all
continue
to
have
great
neighborhood
identity,
and
that
would
continue,
I
believe,
under
a
more
consolidated
system
of
government
and
and
again,
let
me
restate-
I
don't
think
you
should
consider
this
question
until
you
get
these
questions
answered
about
this
about
the
pittsburgh
public
schools,
and
I
agree
with
you
that
that
requires
some
engagement
with
our
school
board
members
and
with
with
solicitor
weiss
and
with
the
new
superintendent
and
with
the
wilkinsburg
schools,
personnel
and
board
as
to
what
it
actually
means,
I'm
not
prepared
to
tell
you
what
their
financial
situation
is.
K
I
know
they
have
debt.
I
don't
know
how
significant
it
is
as
compared
to
their
assets,
but
those
are
basic
financial
questions
that
need
to
be
answered
before
you
make
a
decision
on
this
question.
K
I
don't
think
you
should
just
say:
well
we're
not
going
to
consider
the
question
but
but
between
now
and
when
the
question
becomes
before
you,
which
is
still
a
good
bit
of
time,
I
think
you
need
to.
We
need
to
have
have
those
questions
answered
and
the
one
thing
I
will
say
to
you,
councilman
smith.
I
don't
I
don't
agree
with
you
about
five
years.
K
I
I
don't
think
the
five
year
requirement
so
when
this
can
come
up-
and
I
just
go
back
to
my
days-
working
for
the
honolulu
government
and
the
various
referendum
that
we
had
through
that
there's
a
five-year
period
between
votes
of
a
referendum.
K
That's
not
the
same
as
a
five-year
period
between
discussions
or
or
a
vote
like
this.
That
would
be
five
years
between
when
it
actually
gets
on
the
balance
that
you
couldn't
consider
it
not
five
years
from
when
council
would
consider.
So
so
if
this
were
to
fail
that
wouldn't
stop
it
from
coming
up
sooner
than
that,
in
my
opinion,.
A
L
Thank
you.
I
don't
know
how
much
longer
we
want
to
go
on.
I
just
wanted
to
remind
members
about
this
question
of
property
taxes
and
vacant
property
because
they
do
go
together
right.
One
of
the
reasons
that
our
millage
in
the
city
even
is
as
high
as
it
is,
is
that
again
we
have
20
of
the
properties
either
abandoned
or
delinquent
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
and
a
quite
high
additional
percentage
of
properties
owned
or
controlled
by
nonprofit
corporations
that
are
not
paying
taxes
on
those
properties
right.
L
So,
if
all
of
those
properties
were
paying
taxes,
then
our
millage
would
be
lower
and
similarly
for
the
pittsburgh
school
board,
and
so
I
just
heard
the
wilkinsburg-
I
think
it
was
the
council
president
macklin
saying
that
they
have
actually
really
turned
around
their
vacant
property
recycling
and
have
been
recycled,
hundreds
of
properties
to
wilkinsburg
homeowners
that
are
restoring
those
properties
and
they
had
a
windfall
of
a
hundred
thousand
dollars
in
delinquent
taxes.
L
I
I
bet
the
the
city
of
pittsburgh
has
not
had
a
100
000
windfall
in
delinquent
taxes
this
year,
so
kudos
to
wilkinsburg,
and
if
you
it
looks
like
you're,
outpacing
us
and
putting
properties
back
on
the
tax
rolls
and
which
could
very
well
mean
that
you
will
be
in
continuing
to
lower
your
property
taxes,
because
I
think
I
also
heard
testimony
today
that
wilkinsburg
has
in
fact
lowered
property
taxes.
So
they
are
on
a
downward
trajectory,
as
opposed
to
in
the
city.
Where
there's
an
upward
trajectory.
A
D
So
this
is
pamela
macklin.
I
would
like
to
thank
the
city
council
for
inviting
all
of
our
council
members
to
speak.
It's
been
a
thorough
discussion.
I
think
we
can
continue
the
discussion
currently
we're,
obviously
as
a
majority
of
council,
not
in
favor
of
this
base
of
many
reasons,
but
partly
because
the
data
that
we're
receiving
is
not
matching
our
personal
financial
information
that
we
have
about
the
borough.
D
So
I
think
it's
a
good
thing
to
continue
a
dialogue
going
forward
and
I
would
be
we're
interested
in
looking
at
the
obviously
the
financial
condition
of
pittsburgh
too,
particularly
the
school
district,
but
this
has
been
rather
enlightening
and-
and
I
think
it
just
goes
to
show
where
just
the
microcosm
of
the
city
of
pittsburgh
as
to
the
the
positives
and
negatives
that
go
on.
But
we
have
a
very
committed
council-
and
I
don't
know
if
any
other
council
member
would
like
to
make
a
comment.
F
G
F
For
the
syrians
to
receive
funding
from
the
government,
my
my
assumption
to
that
is.
Currently
we
have
what
is
the
14
000
in
wilkinsburg?
Okay?
So
it
seems
to
me
that
with
your
population
being
300
000
being
concerned
that
it
might
drop
that
this
14
000
people
in
wilkinsburg
would
be
able
to
be
a
buffer,
so
to
speak
for
your
funding.
F
In
addition
in,
I
believe
in
2018,
you
said
that,
well
recently,
you
said
that
you
took
a
ride
through
wilkinsburg
and
along
pan
avenue
you
saw
the
boarded
up
dilapidated
home
buildings
and
whatnot
along
the
corridor
in
2018
the
wcdc
tracy
adam
tracy
evans.
Excuse
me,
ceo.
F
They
received
70
million
dollars,
70
million
dollar
grant
to
redo
the
penn
avenue
corridor.
Miss
evans
did
come
before
council.
She
was
asked
about.
The
70
million
dollars
could
not
answer.
Any
questions
is
regard
in
regards
to
where
that
70
million
dollars
went
so
you're
seeing
buildings
that
should
have
been
rehabbed.
F
Businesses
can't
come
in
so
it's
it's
cbc
has
basically
been
a
thorn
in
our
side
for
many
years,
and
then
I'm
hearing
that
you
know
this
this
initiated
in
2013
that
the
cdc
was
that
correct
so
and
this
this
is
something
that
again,
council
was
not
made.
J
F
Of
so
I'm
just
saying
that
you
know
okay,
I
I
just
have
concerns
about
what
the
the
real
truth
of
this
this
and
it's
not
a
merger.
Excuse
me,
I
hate
to
you,
know
it's
not
a
merger.
This
is
the
annexation.
This
is
a
takeover.
A
There
is
a
difference
between
the
merger
and
annexation,
especially
in
terms
of
the
school
district,
and
with
that
said,
I'm
going
to
ask
for
a
motion
to
join
them,
but
I
do
want
to
say
before
we
adjourn
that
I
am
going
to
ask
you
if
you
have,
if
this
council
has
a
statement
or
something
that
they'd
like
for
us
to
post
on
our
website
along
with
receive
some
an
email
from
the
cdc
with
what
they
think
is
information,
we're
sharing
and
maybe
we'll
have
somebody
go
over
both
of
those
and
if
they're,
both
valid
and
and
we're
able
to
share
in
a
responsible
way.
A
We'll
we'll
do
that,
and
if
this
will
also
post
solicitor,
rice's
comments
as
well,
so
that
we
want
the
public
and
if
we
can
get
some
numbers,
we'll
post
those
too.
So
we'll
just
give
us
a
little
bit
time
to
get
that
all
together
and
to
verify
the
information.
Can
I
have
a
motion
to
adjourn
the
meeting.
Second.