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From YouTube: Pittsburgh City Council Post-Agenda - 2/2/22
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A
Good
afternoon
everybody,
my
name
is
city
council,
anthony
coghill.
I
represent
the
4th
district
and
we're
here
to
discuss
the
wilkinsburg
annexation.
One
of
I
hope
will
be
many
meetings
coming
up.
We
have
a
lot
of
information
this
year
today,
so
I'm
going
to
try
to
move
it
along.
It's
already
been
a
long
long
day
for
for
most
of
us
many
discussions,
but
most
of
you
are
familiar
with
my
democratic
committee.
A
I'm
going
to
try
to
run
it
like
this
we're
going
to
hear
from
some
people
first,
I
would
like
to
first
start
with
our
county
executive,
rich
fitzgerald,
and
I
really
am
just
asking
for
his
insight
and
why
he
believes
this
is
a
good
idea
and
we're
also
going
to
hear
from
a
few
others
and
we're
going
to
get
the
financial.
B
Report,
thank
you
well.
First
of
all
I
want
to
thank
all
of
you
thank
councilman,
coghill
and
all
the
members
of
council
for
being
part
of
this
and
really
the
fact
is.
B
If
had
we
been
here
10
years
ago,
I
don't
know
that
anybody
wanted
to
join
the
city
of
pittsburgh
where
we
were
10
years
ago,
and
I
think
it's
a
credit
to
the
work
that
this
council
has
been
doing
with
various
administrations
over
this
last
decade
that
a
lot
of
vibrancy
a
lot
of
increased
property
values,
increased
economic
activity,
increased
young
people
that
are
moving
into
the
city.
B
It's
desirable
and
I
think
that's
the
the
credit
that
you
you
bring
that
this
community,
the
community
of
wilkinsburg,
has
has
had
a
petition
that
they
want
to
put
a
question
on
the
ballot
to
actually
join
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
So
I
think
again,
that's
a
that's
a
testament
to
the
to
the
folks
sitting
around
this
table.
I
also
think,
if
you
look
at
that
last
decade,
you
have
seen
the
city
of
pittsburgh
kind
of
go
this
way,
but
the
borough
of
wilkinsburg
unfortunately
has
gone
the
other
way.
B
We've
seen
of
the
130
municipalities
in
allegheny
county,
their
prop,
their
population
loss
has
been
at
the
top
of
that
list
or
the
bottom
of
the
list.
If
you,
if
you
will,
people
have
been
leaving
for
various
reasons
as
as
somebody
who
whose
job
is
to
really
focus
on
economic
development,
I
can
tell
you
we
can
get
a
lot
of
economic
development
in
the
city
right
up
to
the
line,
whether
it's
in
homewood,
lincoln,
lemmington
park,
place,
region
square,
north
point
breeze.
Many
of
the
communities
that
have
bought
the
borough
wilkinsburg.
B
We
know
the
vibrancy
along
the
east,
busway,
the
martin
luther
king
busway,
and
what
we've
seen
happen
in
east
liberty
and
larimer
and
places
like
that.
But
when,
in
going
over
to
wilkinsburg
once
the
developers
once
the
property
owners,
the
potential
investors
see
the
millage,
it
becomes
a
a
deal.
Breaker
and-
and
I
think
the
property
values
of
wilkinsburg
have
reflected
that,
and
I
I
we
feel
that
this
is
in
the
best
interest
of
certainly
for
the
folks
at
wilkinsburg,
but
also
the
best
interest
of
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
B
I
say
that
not
just
as
a
county
executive,
but
as
a
as
somebody
who
grew
up
and
continues
to
live
in
in
the
city
and
loves
to
see
the
great
things
that
are
happening
right
now,
so
we
know
that
over
200
businesses
have
left
wilkinsburg
in
the
last
couple
of
decades
and
again
I'm
I
mentioned
the
population
loss,
so
I
know
our
our
solicitor,
the
county
solicitor
and
we're
obviously
in
charge
of
running
elections,
including
obviously
referendums
to
make
sure
the
legalities
are
what
they
need
to
be
to
get
a
question
on
the
ballot,
and
you
know
proper
code,
the
second-class
city
code
and
second-class
county
codes
that
we
all
live
with
with
our
friends
in
harrisburg,
have
have
enacted
over
the
years.
B
So
we
feel
very
confident
that
this
is
something
that
can
really
move
forward
as
we
as
we
look
at
this
over
the
over
the
next
year.
Thank
you
thank.
A
You
county
executive,
and
you
know
before
we
move
on.
I
just
want
to
say
one
thing
to
for
the
public's
sake.
This
meeting
has
taken
on
a
completely
different
tone
than
it
would
have
last
week
through
lots
of
meetings
and
lots
of
collaboration
between
the
county,
executive
and
reverend
burgess,
and
our
leadership
and
other
council
members
have
been
talking
about.
A
So
you
know
all
the
emotional
pleas
I
you
know
are
set
aside
for
now,
and
this
is
strictly
fact-finding
information
and
I
want
to
introduce
tracy
evans,
who
is
the
wilkinsburg
cdc,
and
I
will
say
this
personally
to
you
tracy.
You
know
you
have
been
heroic
through
this.
You've
been
brave,
you've
pushed
and
pushed,
and
you
know
what
your
efforts
going
to
pay
off.
I
think
we
might
not
get
the
marriage,
others
we're
looking
for
this
year,
but
we
certainly
have
an
engagement
until
then.
A
So
with
that
you
know,
I
want
to
turn
it
over
to
mr
andrew
zeffie,
county
solicitor
and
andrew.
If
you
would
just
give
us
the
rundown
quickly,
if
you
could
the
difference
between
merger
and
annexation
and
where
we're
at
sure.
C
Sure,
thank
you
councilman.
Thank
you
for
having
me.
I
think
that
reverend
burgess
actually
laid
it
out
pretty
well
in
his
remarks
before
today's
meeting
that
there's
there's
basically
two
ways
that
municipalities
can
merge
come
together
in
the
state
of
pennsylvania.
One
is
through,
what's
generally
referred
to
the
mergers
and
consolidation
act,
and
that's
where
two
different
municipalities
can
take
referendum
votes
in
their
own
jurisdictions,
vote
yes
or
no
to
the
merger.
If
they
vote
both
vote.
C
Yes,
they
do
that
state
law
specifically
excludes
first
and
second
class
cities,
philadelphia
and
pittsburgh
as
municipalities
in
the
definition
of
municipality.
So
that
leaves
the
only
option
and
it
is
the
only
option
with
the
annexation
act
of
1903.,
so
that
has
a
slightly
different
process.
It
has
the
one
you've
all
become
familiar
with
over
here.
In
the
last
few
months,
petitions
are
gathered.
If
you
meet
statutory
requirements,
they
go
to
court
court.
Notifies
council
council
has
90
days
to
vote
up
or
down
if
they
vote
up.
C
It
goes
to
a
referendum
of
the
municipality
to
be
annexed
in
this
case
wilkinsburg.
So
it's
a
pretty
straightforward
process
and,
like
I
said,
the
big
picture
here
is
that
is
the
only
option
that
the
city
has
to
go
through
this
great.
A
I'm
going
to
ask
for
one
more
person
comment:
michael
rose
where
yeah
this
guy
has
been
very
instrumental
in
this
whole
process.
I
think
you
bring
a
lot
to
the
table
and
your
views
on
this,
and
I
just
want
the
council
to
hear
you
if
you
could
in
just
two
minutes:
okay,
yes,.
D
Thank
you.
This
is
a
great
day
for
democracy.
This
is
a
great
day
for
the
people
of
both
wilkinsburg
and
pittsburgh,
as
we
continue
to
strengthen
our
bond
into
one
community.
We
thank
I
want
to
thank
tracy
evans.
You
know
members
of
the
wcdc
wilkinsburg
action
committee
and
many
more
people,
including
county
executive,
rich
fitzgerald,
councilman
burgess
and
in
kyle,
kill
for
their
leadership
in
this
process
and
coming
to
a
brilliant
compromise.
D
This
deadline
will
both
allow
us
to
make
this
process
as
painless
as
possible
and
gives
us
the
crucial
time
to
do
outreach
to
members
of
both
communities
as
to
why
this
is
such
a
win-win.
The
city
will
receive
two
practically
brand
new
elementary
schools
with
16
million
dollars
in
new,
state-of-the-art
renovations
and
best.
The
city
will
receive
a
much-needed
infusion
of
new
blood,
15
000
people
into
its
census,
which
I
believe
will
soon
be
30
000.
D
As
people
see
the
advantages
of
wilkinsburg
offers
in
both
this
convenient
proximity
to
both
downtown
and
shopping
districts
in
monroeville,
ease
of
access
to
the
I-376
highway
and
port
authority.
Bus
line
they'll
appreciate
our
charming
classic
red
and
gold
and
brick
roads,
and
it's
thousands
of
beautiful,
all
brick
american
foursquares.
D
Anyone
in
real
estate
knows
that
they
don't
make
houses
like
they
make
in
wilkinsburg
anymore.
Subsequently,
this
influx
of
citizens
will
lead
to
more
federal
funding
for
programs
for
working-class
people
in
return,
wilkinsburg
homeowners
will
have
their
home
taxes
cut
in
half
averaging
about
2
700
a
year.
Renters
will
save
200
a
year
in
garbage
collection
fees
alone,
as
well
as
greater
access
to
programs
providing
interest-free
loans
so
that
they
can
have
their
share
of
the
american
dream
if
they
so
choose.
Everyone
knows
the
greatest
enemy
to
gentrification
is
home
ownership.
D
D
A
Thank
you
michael.
Thank
you
very
much.
I
just
want
to
note
you
know.
Wilkinsburg
is
the
size
of
brookline,
basically
15
000
residents,
just
so
everybody
has
that
concept.
You
know,
I
think
some
people
think
wilkinsburg
is
this
enormous
place,
but
it
really
isn't
so
so
with
that
and
with
the
new
spirit
here
at
the
table,
I
would
say
you
know:
let's
start
getting
into
the
information.
A
We
have
two
people
here,
h,
r
and
a
we
have
alex
stokes
to
present
us
with
the
you
know:
the
municipality
slash
school
school
school
district,
you
know
numbers
and
we
also
have
dean
kaplan
from
pfm.
So
I'm
not
sure
who
you
want
to
go
first,
but
let's
start
with
eight,
I
guess
it
was
hr
and
a
with
alex
stokes.
E
Good
afternoon,
everyone
thank
you
for
having
me,
I
I'm
kate,
whittles,
a
partner
at
hrna
and
going
to
be
presenting
the
information
alex
has
joined
me
on
zoom.
Hopefully,
you
can
see
us
and
see
see
him.
I
will
now
share
my
screen.
E
Can
everyone
see
my
screen?
Yes
great?
Well,
thank
you
again
and
it's
great
to
hear
the
collaborative
spirit
that
is
is
going
on
in
the
room.
Today
we
were
hired
by
wilkinsburg
cdc
to
better
understand
the
opportunities
and
constraints
of
a
merger
both
for
the
residents
of
wilkinsburg
and
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
We
were
engaged
in
december
2018
and
much
of
much
of
the
analysis
we
are
going
to
be
presenting
today
was
completed
in
2019
and
2020.,
as
we
have
seen
from
our
work
with
municipalities
across
the
country.
E
Decentralization
can
lead
to
a
less
efficient
government
and
with
smaller
municipalities,
duplicating
services
and
competition
for
resources
are
constrained
to
the
and
the
ability
to
tackle
systematic
regional
issues
are
happens,
thus
present
preventing
equitable
and
inclusive
growth.
E
E
Regional
divisions
such
as
the
one
that
exists
in
allegheny
county
are
problematic
for
cities
and
suburbs
alike.
Government
government
efficiency
is
constrained
and
public
services
are
more
limited,
which
means
that
services
are
more
expensive
on
a
per
capita
basis,
and
the
quality
of
the
public
service
cannot
meet
the
needs
of
the
residents
with
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
Only
representing
13
of
the
msa
achieving
regional
growth
and
implementing
a
united
and
broad
vision
can
be
slowed
when
economic
development
departments
and
public
services
are
only
focused
on
a
sliver
of
the
region.
E
As
the
bigger
cities
qualify
for
higher
thresholds
and
more
funding,
funding,
applications
for
sources
like
cdbg
money
and
arpa
money
are
more
competitive
when
they
are
representing
larger
populations.
From
a
federal
funding
perspective,
the
city
of
pittsburgh
would
be
stronger
and
more
competitive
if
more
of
the
smaller
municipalities
like
wilkinsburg
were
part
of
the
city.
E
E
Whether
it's
from
garbage
collection,
fire
protection
in
public
services,
public
schools
in
terms
of
middle
and
high
schools
have
emerged
successfully,
resulting
in
improved
services
for
the
residents
of
wilkinsburg
without
a
negative
impact
on
the
residents
of
pittsburgh.
These
prior
consolidations
have
proven
that
a
merger
can
be
a
win-win
for
both
pittsburgh
and
wilkinsburg.
E
Residents
of
wilkinsburg
are
voting
with
their
feet
and
the
borough
has
already
lost
4
000
residents,
since
2000
wilkinsburg
is
especially
losing
its
black
population,
which
has
declined
by
20
since
2010..
A
major
reason
is
the
property.
Tax
rates
in
wilkinsburg
are
two
times
what
they
are
in
pittsburgh.
E
This
determines
property,
private
investment
and
with
a
dwindling
tax
base,
the
borough
has
less
and
less
money
to
address
quality
of
life
issues.
On
the
revenue
side,
the
underlying
property
tax
revenue
will
remain
stagnant
without
either
growth
in
population
or
an
increase
in
the
tax
rate.
Property
taxes
have
remained
flat
since
2014
and
the
limited
growth.
E
The
limited
growth
in
property
taxes
is
really
a
result
in
delinquent
tax
collection,
rather
than
in
actual
property
growth
on
the
expenditure
size,
wilkinsburg
expenditures
will
continue
to
increase
with
inflation.
Without
a
change
to
its
fiscal
structure,
the
borough
will
continue
to
ask
its
police
and
teachers
and
public
servants
to
do
more
with
less
absent
a
change
in
fiscal
structure.
The
borough
will
run
out
of
money
by
2018
2028.
E
I'm
sorry-
and
this
is
simply
a
factor
of
expenditures
as
a
result
of
inflation
growing
faster
than
the
tax
base.
Without
a
structural
change
such
as
a
merger,
a
vicious
cycle
will
continue
where
more
and
more
residents
will
continue
to
leave,
thus
further
depressing,
the
borough's
ability
to
support
the
residents
left
behind.
E
E
Revenue
rebalancing
would
also
reduce
wilkinsburg,
regionally
high
property
tax
rate
to
pittsburgh,
which
would
relieve
an
equitable
property
tax
burden
for
the
majority
minority
residents
and
unlock
neighborhood
reinvestment
wilkinsburg
on
wilkinsburg's
underutilized
downtown
could
also
serve
as
an
expansion
for
pittsburgh's
growth,
as
as
rich
fitzgerald
alluded
to,
and
this
could
generate
job
opportunities
for
residents
of
wilkinsburg
and
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
E
So
the
city
of
pittsburgh
and
its
residents
stand
to
benefit
substantially
from
a
merger
with
the
borough
of
wilkinsburg
you'll,
be
able
to
add
population,
which
is
something
pittsburgh
hasn't
been
growing
as
fast
as
we
all
think
it
should.
This
will
allow
for
potentially
qualifying
for
more
state
and
federal
aid.
It
will
increase
the
political
count
of
the
city
of
pittsburgh
and
it
will
provide
for
a
higher
regional
and
national
profile.
E
It
will
also
increase
economic
development
opportunity.
A
conduct
connected
district
can
allow
for
regional
planning
and
capturing
growth
within
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
So
and
improving
regional
coordination
will
streamline
administration
of
the
region's
core,
enhancing
pittsburgh's
regional
leadership
and
could
foster
greater
consolidation,
as
the
residents
of
wilkinsburg
have
been
considering
a
merger.
They
also
are
recognizing
that
the
there
could
be
impacts
from
growth
on
certain
populations
and
they're
really
committed
to
looking
at
how
do
we
instill
inclusive
policies
that
will
promote
inclusive
growth?
E
F
My
colleague
ian
tyson
will
be
working
on
the
on
the
slides
here.
I
think.
Hopefully
everyone
can
see
that
our
presentation,
if
you'd
like
to
go
to
the
first
slide
in
public
financial
management
pfm,
as
many
of
you
know,
has
been
involved
in
pittsburgh
for
for
some
years
in
during
the
state
oversight
period.
Pfm
was
on
the
act,
47
recovery
coordinator
for
pittsburgh
and
subsequently
has
worked
with
the
wilkinsburg
school
district
under
the
auspices
of
the
department
of
education
on
on
their
financial
review.
F
We
use
most
of
ours
focused
most
of
our
attention
on
on
specific
land
finances
and
operations,
using
existing
financial
documents
and
other
publicly
available
information
on
the
finances
of
both
governments,
both
municipal
governments
in
both
districts
and,
where
possible,
supplemented
that
with
discussions
with
stakeholders
and
and
officials
of
the
of
the
various
various
entities,
our
work
was
really
focused
on
providing
the
financial
information
that
will
allow
all
parties
to
engage
in
database.
F
Discussions
of
the
merger
and
now
is,
of
course,
particularly
apt,
as
as
we
enter
this
this
next
year-long
period
of
working
through
some
of
the
details.
As
several
previous
speakers
have
mentioned.
In
performing
our
work,
we
made
several
assumptions
about
factors
related
to
the
merger
in
order
to
provide
meaningful
estimates
of
its
financial
impact,
and
we've
described
those
in
in
throughout
the
detailed
reports
that
underlie
this
presentation
and
we'll
mention
some
of
those
today.
F
But
it's
important
to
note
that
those
are
the
areas
where
we
think
that
the
various
parties
should
focus
over
this
coming
year
in
working
out
the
the
day-to-day
details
of
how
the
merger
arrangement
will
work
the.
So
let
me
ask
my
colleagues,
gordon
mann
and
ian
tyson
to
speak
about
the
specific
pieces
of
this.
F
Gordon
some
of
you
know
was
the
act
47
coordinator
for
pittsburgh
for
many
years
and
led
our
analysis
of
the
municipal
aspects
of
the
merger
and
ian
tyson
is
a
colleague
who
works
with
k-12
school
districts
around
the
country
and
has
participated
in
a
review
of
a
number
of
boundary
changes
of
school
districts
throughout
the
commonwealth
of
pennsylvania.
So
with
that,
let
me
let
me
hand
off
to
gordon
for
the
discussion
of
the
municipal,
slides.
G
Thanks
very
much
dean
so
nice
to
be
with
you
all
this
afternoon
and
as
dean
said,
what
we
did
is.
We
were
brought
in
to
look
at
the
financial
impact
on
really
the
city
of
pittsburgh
as
a
government
right
from
a
from
a
merger.
There's
two
sides
to
this:
the
city
will
gain
time.
We've
talked
about
tax
base,
we'll
gain
residence
and
with
that
comes
res,
comes
revenue.
The
income
tax,
the
real
estate
tax,
the
other
revenue
generating
activities
that
are
in
wilkinsburg
that
would
become
part
of
pittsburgh
city
government.
G
Pittsburgh
will
also
spend
more
right
because
it
will
provide
services
to
a
larger
geographic
area.
In
some
cases,
services
the
city
is
already
providing
so
trash
and
fire
there's
no
additional
cost
to
that,
because
the
city
is
already
doing
that,
but
police
and
planning
and
code
and
some
of
those
other
areas.
The
punch
line
here
for
those
who
aren't
super
detail,
oriented
in
terms
of
numbers
is
based
on
the
2021
budget
figures.
G
How
soon
do
you
assume
the
economy
bounces
back
right,
but
if
we
take
the
midpoint
of
that
high
and
low
estimate
for
the
city,
it's
a
very,
very
small
net
deficit
to
the
city
and
one
that's
probably
easily
correctable
in
the
short
term
as
you
work
through
the
as
you
work
through
the
assumptions.
G
In
fact,
I
went
back
on
in
preparation
for
this
and
reran
a
portion
of
our
analysis
from
2021
and
not
by
doing
anything
just
by
by
virtue
of
the
economy
approving
a
little
bit
and
tax
collection
rates
improving
a
little
bit.
The
deficit
basically
cut
itself
in
half
in
a
year,
right
and
and
over
time,
it's
likely
and
certainly
more
than
possible
that
adding
wilkinsburg
actually
becomes
a
net
positive
to
pittsburgh,
just
from
purely
a
balanced,
cheap
financial
perspective
right.
So
let's
dig
into
that
a
little
bit
go
to
the
next
slide
ian
thanks.
G
So
what
happens
on
the
revenue
side?
In
essence,
it's
two
things
right
now.
The
borough
pays
for
trash
service
and
pays
for
a
fire
service
and
that's
about
three
million
dollars
a
year,
and
that
would
go
away
right.
If
pittsburgh
residents
don't
pay
that
mutable
service
fee
wilkinsburg
as
residents,
would
not
pay
that
fee.
What
they
would
pay
would
be
the
the
pittsburgh
taxes,
the
real
estate
tax,
the
earned
income
tax.
G
If
you
were
a
business
in
wilkinsburg,
you
would
stop
paying
the
business
privilege
tax
and
the
mercantile
tax,
and
you
would
start
paying
the
payroll
preparation
tax.
Some
of
the
other
taxes
are
are
already
there.
The
tax
rates
are
pretty
much
similar
between
pittsburgh
and
wilkinsburg.
The
big
change,
as
was
alluded
to
earlier,
is,
if
you're
a
resident
you're
going
to
pay
less
in
real
estate
taxes
and
more
in
an
income
taxes,
but
to
your
to
a
net
benefit.
G
If
you're
a
renter
you're
going,
you
don't
pay
real
estate
taxes,
you
would
have
a
change
in
your
earned
income
tax
bill,
but
potentially
an
offsetting
charge
for
municipal
trash
service
and
for
the
city.
What
it
means
is
you
come
out
of
this
with
about
a
net
gain
of
about
seven
million
dollars
so
as
net
of
the
fee
that
wouldn't
be
paid
anymore.
So
that's
on
the
revenue
side.
G
So
that's
seven
to
ten
million
dollars.
Seven
is
the
low
estimate,
so,
on
the
on
the
expenditure
side,
we
looked
at
the
at
the
borough's
services
and
we
made
our
best
estimate
in
projection
of
what
would
slide
over
right
right
now.
Wilkinsburg
has,
depending
on
the
budget,
you
look
at
22
or
23
police
officers.
We
assume
all
of
those
move
over
to
the
city
three
or
four
code
employees.
We
assume
all
of
those
move
over
to
the
city,
so
we're
not
assuming
any
kind
of
reduction
in
front
line
staff.
Now
the
reality
is
pittsburgh's.
G
Police
department
is
obviously
much
bigger.
They
could
provide
additional
coverage
and
additional
services
and
I'm
sure
the
union
representatives
will
touch
on
that
in
a
little
bit.
They
can
provide
services
that,
just
as
a
larger
force,
wilkinsburg
can't
provide
on
itself,
but
we're
not
building
that
any
kind
of
potential
efficiency
or
increase
in
service
force
into
this.
This
is
just
with
the
assumption
of
you
slide
the
bodies
over
and
they
become
city
employees,
and
you
can
see
again
the
net
cost
here.
G
The
low
end
estimate
is
7.7
million
dollars,
that's
with
some
of
economies
of
scale.
So
what's
that
mean
wilkinsburg
contracts
out
for
a
lot
of
legal
services
for
its
engineer
for
tax
collection,
these
are
all
things
that
theoretically,
the
city
may
be
able
to
take
on
on
its
own
and
you
get
a
lower
net
cost.
Overall,
let's
go
to
the
the
next
slide:
you're
not
going
to
get
out
of
a
conversation
with
pm
without
us
talking
to
you
about
your
legacy,
costs
right.
G
Those
of
you
who
went
through
the
act,
47
process
with
us
or
are
knew
this
was
coming,
and
we
saw
the
questions
and
we've
heard
the
questions
and
you're
right
to
ask
them,
and
I'm
glad
you
obviously
haven't
forgotten
the
conversations
that
we
had
over
15
years.
City
needs
to
be
mindful
of
its
debt
city
needs
to
be
mindful
of
its
pension
obligations,
and
the
city
needs
to
be
mindful
of
its
of
its
retiree
health
care
obligations.
G
The
good
news
here
is
for
wilkinsburg,
it
actually
works
out.
Wilkinsburg
its
debt
is
somewhere
it's
less
than
a
million
dollars.
This
year
it
was
less
than
a
million
dollars.
Last
year
and
relative
to
the
city's
total
debt.
It's
a
very,
very
low
percentage
pensions.
The
story
is
even
better.
The
the
the
net
contribution
from
the
borough
to
its
pension
fund
net
of
the
state
aid
is
less
than
two
hundred
thousand
dollars.
G
Someone
had
asked
me
the
question:
will
this
hurt?
Pittsburgh's
funding
ratio?
Wilkinsburg's
funding
ratio
was
91,
okay,
pittsburgh
says
57.
So
no
is
the
answer
and
the
last
part
on
the
retiree
health
insurance.
There
are
some
retired
police
officers
as
best
we
can
tell
from
the
budget
who
receive
retiree
health
insurance,
but
there
aren't
retired
firefighters
receiving
that
because
the
city
of
the
borough
doesn't
have
those
firefighters,
anymore.
G
You've
already
absorbed
some
of
those
costs
by
virtue
of
the
cooperation
that
you've
had
over
time
and
again,
whatever
liability
the
borough
has-
and
there
is
one
there
are
retired
employees
with
health
insurance-
it's
extremely
minor
in
a
very,
very
small
percentage
relative
to
the
city.
So
it's
good
to
be
vigilant
about
it.
It's
good
to
ask
these
questions
in
our
opinion,
wilkinsburg's
obligations
will
not
have
a
material
impact
on
the
city
on
these
in
these
areas,
ian
I'll.
Let
you
take
over
and
and
discuss
the
school
district.
H
Thanks
gordon
and
thanks
dean
for
the
introduction,
similar
to
the
analysis
on
the
municipal
side,
we
took
a
look
at
the
the
range
of
revenues
and
expenditures
for
the
for
the
merger,
wilkinsburg
school
district
and
the
pittsburgh
public
schools.
H
H
Now
the
merger,
the
two
school
districts,
will
also
come
with
a
substantial
amount
of
one-time
revenues,
we're
looking
at
a
net
impact
of
about
10
million
dollars
which
we'll
get
into
over
the
next
couple
of
slides.
That
will
come
along
with
the
merger.
H
So,
in
the
event
that
the
that
there's
extreme
variability
between
the
revenues
and
the
expenditures,
there
will
be
that
one-time
revenue
there
that
will
be
able
to
smooth
that
transition
over
time,
and
I
think
our
conclusion
on
the
school
district
side
is
that
is
similar
to
the
municipal
merger.
In
that,
in
the
long
run,
this
is
probably
a
net
positive
for
the
pittsburgh
public
schools.
H
Now,
on
the
revenue
side,
it's
a
little
bit
different
than
the
municipality
because
of
the
because
of
the
funding
from
the
state
that
supports
public
schools
for
local
taxes,
we're
looking
at
about
30
to
40
percent,
coming
from
the
property
tax
or
an
income
tax
and
other
minor
sources
and
we'll
get
into
the
variability
in
a
little
bit
on
the
next
couple
of
slides
the
state
aid,
we
expect
to
remain
relatively
fi
because
the
because
of
the
makeup
of
the
do
of
the
wilkinsburg
students
and
then
adding
those
into
the
funding
formula
and
the
impact
on
pittsburgh.
H
On
the
local
sources,
the
variability
are
coming
from
the
real
estate
tax
and
the
earned
income
tax
with
the
changes
in
the
real
estate
tax,
coming
from
the
collection
rate,
assumptions
for
the
wilkinsburg
school
district
or
the
pittsburgh
public
schools
and
then
on.
The
earned
income
tax,
like
gordon
said,
we're
in
the
middle
of
a
pandemic
here,
so
the
so.
The
variability
is
coming
from
the
tax
base
that
is
generating
the
revenues
for
their
earned
income
tax.
H
I
mentioned
that
the
student
population
we
expect
to
remain
relatively
stable
in
wilkinsburg,
with
a
with
a
similar
demographics
over
time,
so
we're
assuming
that
the
three
million
dollars
that
came
with
the
that
came
to
support
the
transition
of
secondary
students
over
to
pittsburgh.
Public
schools
will
remain
the
same
with
some
caveats
here
that
that
may
get
revisited,
depending
on
how
those
wilkinsburg
students
impact
the
pittsburgh
public
schools
on
the
flip
side.
H
If
that
does
occur,
the
the
the
addition
of
those
students
would
generate
additional
revenues
for
the
school
district
through
the
through
the
funding
formula.
But
here
we
just
wanted
to
note
that
those
are
two
considerations
that
we
made
in
the
analysis.
H
Now
the
variability
is
coming
from
mostly
on
the
charter
school
tuition
side
and
for
the
salaries
and
benefits
like
in
the
municipal
merger,
we're
assuming
that
all
the
all
the
all
this
all
the
teachers
and
building
level
staff,
the
administrators
and
the
clerks
running
the
buildings.
Those
will
move
over
to
the
pittsburgh
public
schools
and
be
paid
at
rates
similar
to
other
staff
in
pittsburgh.
Public
schools
for
the
charter
school
tuition
we'll
get
into
that
in
the
next
slide
and
in
terms
of
the
overall
spending
to
support
the
operations.
H
H
Now
the
key
assumptions
here
on
the
on
the
expenditure
side
are
coming
from
the
share
of
students
who
are
attending
charter
schools.
The
high
end
is
showing
that
the
the
current
amount
would
remain
the
same
as
they
are
today
in
wilkinsburg
schools
and
after
the
merger.
H
In
the
low
end
scenario,
the
assumption
is
that
that
enrollment
number
may
go
back
down
towards
the
pittsburgh
public
schools
average
we're
assuming
economies
of
scale
on
the
operational
side,
with
savings
for
administration,
administrative
services
and
central
office
staff,
they're
offsetting
some
of
those
costs
that
are
in
that
27
to
31
million
dollars
and
that
the
cost
of
educating
those
students
who
are
currently
at
westinghouse
and
other
schools
in
pittsburgh.
Public
schools
would
remain
the
same
in
terms
of
legacy
costs.
Like
gordon
mentioned.
H
Both
both
school
districts
are
in
the
the
school
retirement
the
peaser
system,
so
there
would
be
no
change
in
the
benefits
there.
That's
that's
across
all
school
districts,
so
there's
no
there's
no
difference
in
liability
there.
It's
just
based
on
the
payroll
size
then,
and
the
annual
payments
that
you're
seeing
and
we've
adjusted
for
that.
H
In
our
analysis
and
in
terms
of
the
debt
payments
that
the
district
would
would
take
on
in
pittsburgh,
public
schools-
we
we
see
in
the
district's
debt
service
schedule
that
it
will
remain
flat
at
about
1.3
million
dollars
for
the
next
12
years.
H
Now
for
the
one-time
funds
to
offset
that
17
million
dollars
or
analysis
is
assuming
that
a
portion
of
that
is
going
to
support
upgrades
at
the
district's
elementary
school
turner,
intermediate
school
and
take
care
of
some
of
the
costs
there,
and
that
there's
also
an
amount
left
over
to
cover
some
of
the
one-time
transition
costs
for
unemployed
for
unemployment,
for
those
for
load,
administrative
employees
and
that
would
leave
about
11
11
million
dollars
in
one-time
funds
to
support
the
transition.
A
Thank
you,
mr
kaplan,
mr
mann
and
miss
whittles
appreciate
that
packed
full
with
information,
but
we
could
take
a
deep
breath
because
we're
not
on
a
time
frame.
You
know
deciding
on
this
on
tuesday
at
this
point,
so
I'm
sure
council
has
a
lot
of
questions.
A
lot
of
questions
will
arise
from
the
information
that
they've
given,
but
we
plan
to
meet
throughout
the
year
to
really
you
know,
analyze
and
you
know,
decide
what
direction
we're
going
to
go
before
we
get
into
questions
for
council.
A
I
just
want
to
hear
from
our
police
union
president,
mr
schwarzwelter
as
to
how
he
sees
this
would
go
bobby
here.
Come
on
up
just
come
on
up
to
the
cody
in
there
please
yeah.
A
Yeah
yeah,
before
you
begin,
I
wanted
to
say
mr
kaplan,
mr
mayor,
ms
whittles,
can
we
get
hard
copies
to
all
council
members
as
to
the
information
that
you
just
put
up
on
the
screen,
so
you
know
we
can
have
moving
forward.
I
Council,
thanks
for
inviting
me,
mr
coghill,
especially
the
merger,
wouldn't
be
an
issue
for
the
police
side,
because
all
the
walk.
First
of
all,
I
know
the
majority
of
the
wilkinsburg
police
officers
are
a
excellent
group
of
officers.
They
they
work
very
similar
to
city
police
officers,
they're
faced
with
a
lot
of
very,
very
difficult
crime.
A
lot
of
public
service
related
issues
as
well
as
we
are,
I
think,
they're
very
bright
and
for
us
to
bring
them
on.
I
We
already
have
a
system
in
place
when
ralph
talks
the
president
firefighters
union,
he
could
tell
how
they
did
it
for
the
fire
department,
but
it's
it's
just
a
matter
of
crunching
numbers
as
far
as
their
pension
and
their
seniority-based
issues
would
come
over
because
we
bring
people
back
that
have
left
the
force
before
and
we
call
it
a
break
in
service.
I
So
what
happens
is
when
someone
comes
back
to
the
pittsburgh
police
department
after
having
had
left,
they
simply
pay
into
the
pension
system
to
pay
their
years
of
service
that
they
had
in
the
pension
previously
and
then
they're
able
to
assume
those
years
of
service
because
their
pension
is
fully
funded.
So
that
wouldn't
be
an
issue
for
the
the
police
force.
I
I
think,
as
a
quality
of
officer
they're
going
to
be
able
to
match
our
quality
of
officers
based
on
their
size,
because
crime
is
relative
and
size
of
police
forces
are
relative
to
the
size
of
the
community.
So
for
wilkinsburg
I
was
a
borough
police
officer,
I'm
a
born
and
raised
city
resident.
I
lived
here
all
my
life
when
I
first
came
out
of
the
army.
Before
I
got
on
with
the
city
of
pittsburgh
police
department,
I
worked
as
a
coreopolis
police
officer
for
nearly
five
years.
I
I
Which
what
council
needs
to
be
aware
of?
Is
you
have
a
serious
crisis
in
policing?
That's
going
to
crush
you
very
very
soon,
so
if
you
can
absorb
those
wilkinsburg
police
officers,
I
would
say
to
do
so
faster
now
than
before,
because
if
you
think
about
it,
I
have
267
police
officers
that
can
walk
out
tomorrow.
They
can
retire.
I
We
have
roughly
879
police
officers
in
the
rank
and
file
of
that
879.
571
of
them
have
less
than
nine
years
of
that
571.
I
364
have
less
than
five,
so
you
have
a
serious
problems.
You
have
267
that
can
leave
tomorrow
and
you
have
nobody
ready
to
be
hired
yet
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
So
if
those
267
say
hey,
I
want
to
take
my
pension
in
the
morning.
You
can't
hire
enough
police
officers
fast
enough
to
fill
those
ranks.
Unlike
the
big
crisis
in
93
when
they
did
the
three-quarter
pension,
you
had
a
lot
of
officers
that
they
were
bringing
in,
because
pittsburgh
had
a
lot
to
offer
and
I'm
not
complaining
to
council.
I
So
I
see
mr
burgess
already
given
me
the
look,
but
but
it
when,
when
you
pay
the
way
you
pay
you're
having
very
very
difficult
times
right
now
recruiting,
so
you
got
to
figure
out
how
you're
going
to
handle
those
numbers
and
wilkinsburg
is
a
start.
A
A
About
the
police
officers
diminishing
in
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
we've
had
that
conversation
commander.
This
council
is
going
to
have
to
have
that
conversation
very
shortly.
I
I
know
because
it's
at
a
dangerously
low
level
and
we
have
no
recruiting
class.
So
thank
you
for
your
time.
I
appreciate
it
now.
Let's
get
mr
ralph
sakura
up
here,
somebody
who
actually
did
merge
with
wilkinsburg.
K
I
A
A
L
Socorro
I
live
in
the
banksville
section
of
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
Council
president
teresa
cale
smith,
my
council
person,
so
this
process
had
started
with,
I
believe
it
was
wilkinsburg,
had
initiated
a
discussion
with
the
city
of
pittsburgh.
I've
won
the
contract
services
for
fire.
L
What
the
best
part
about
it
is
that
there
were
a
seat
at
the
table
for
all
the
both
bargaining
units
to
sit
down
representing
the
employees
with
both
sides
of
management,
in
order
to
try
to
work
to
a
mutual
agreement
on
the
goal
and
the
wilkersburg
management
wanted
to
ensure
that
their
employees
were
taken
care
of
properly
and
ensure
that
they
had
the
protections
they
need.
The
city
of
pittsburgh
was
also
receptive
to
make
sure
that
they
were
taken
care
of
when
they
came
over
and
one
of
the
unique
things
we
did
was
we.
L
We
started
them
out
at
a
30-year
firefighter
pay,
so
it
wasn't.
They
were
starting
at
the
very
beginning
of
their
career.
These
firefighters
came
over.
They
were
already
highly
trained
and
had
many
years
of
experience,
fighting
fires
in
a
in
a
very
difficult
area
in
wilkinsburg,
which
has
a
high
fire
load
over
in
that
area.
Now
the
seniority
issue
for
our
group,
they
did
start
at
the
bottom
of
the
seniority
rung,
but
that
was
our
decision
between
our
groups.
L
I
think
each
different
bargaining
group
needs
to
have
an
opportunity
to
speak,
because
each
one
has
some
unique
things,
so
this
is
just
a
basis
for
what
was
good
for
all
of
us
when
it
came
to
vacation
and
longevity
issues,
they
were
granted
a
two-year
jump
start
on
those
things,
so
they
wouldn't
have
to
again
start
from
scratch.
The
most
significant
side
side
of
this
was
the
pension
side
and
the
value
after
the
actuaries
looked
at
everything.
L
They
were
granted
54
of
the
years
of
service
that
they
had
in
wilkinsburg,
going
towards
pittsburgh
applied
towards
pittsburgh,
and
those
revenues
were
brought
over
to
cover
those
costs.
That
may
not
be
the
case
in
all
other
bargaining,
so
don't
get
fixated
on
that
the
actuaries
need
to
look
at
those
things
and
put
a
cost
to
it
and
and
justify
what
that
value
will
be.
I
will
disagree
with
one
thing
that
was
stated
about
the
pension
fund.
We
are
at
74
funding.
He
was
missing
the
parking
asset,
which
is
significant.
L
In
order
to
make
sure
that
that
happens,
you
would
be
in
sense,
closing
out
a
pension
plan
that
has
its
own
unique
issues
that
have
to
be
dealt
with,
but
then
you
have
retirees
in
both
ends
that
have
to
be
looked
at,
whether
it's
prior
fire
employees
that
are
still
being
handled
in
wilkersburg
or
other
employees
that
are
still
existing
in
a
retirement.
Somebody
has
to
oversee
them.
L
A
L
It
was
pretty
smooth
and
again
it
was.
It
was
a
benefit
for
the
city
of
pittsburgh
to
gain
these
employees,
but
a
tremendous
benefit
on
the
borough
of
wilkersburg,
who
now
has
access
to
30
fire
engines,
11
trucks
and
166
firefighters
on
duty
at
one
time
that
can
handle
a
variety
of
issues
at
once
in
that
jurisdiction.
A
All
right,
thank
you.
Thank
you,
sir.
Thank
you
very
much.
I
next
want
to
call
up
here
just
for
if
you
could
just
take
a
couple
minutes,
miss
monica
garcia
from
the
wilkinsburg
school
board,
monica
I'm
just
looking
for
you
know
how
you
feel
about
this,
and
what
the
you,
how
you
feel
this
could
happen
or
can't
happen.
Okay,
so.
M
Okay,
thank
you
for
giving
us
opportunity
to
speak.
I
think
there
hasn't
been
a
lot
of
discussion
about
the
schools
and
the
children
in
the
district
of
wilkinsburg
and
how
this
is
gonna.
This
would
affect
them.
So
I
speak
on
behalf
of
myself,
as
vice
president
of
school
board
and
ed
donovan,
the
president
of
the
school
board.
M
We've
come
a
long
way
with
our
schools.
Over
the
years,
we've
made
lots
of
lots
of
financial
investments
in
staff
development
and
in
programs
supportive
programs
for
our
students
from
pre-k.
You
know
which
is
free
in
our
district.
We
also,
you
know
to
sixth
grade.
We
also
offer
spanish
so
from
pre-k
on
through
six,
we
are
the
best
teachers
in
pennsylvania,
some
of
the
best
like
every
district.
M
Of
course
covet
has
hurt
us,
but
the
next
round
of
pssas
we
feel,
will
show
that
there
has
been
lots
of
progress
in
our
district
if
wilkinsburg
becomes
pittsburgh's
next
new
neighborhood,
we
want
our
schools
to
stay
right
here
and
we
want
them
to
continue
to
be
innovative.
That
is
why
we
were
glad
to
see
this
analysis
being
done,
showing
that
pps
could
operate
our
little
system,
both
schools,
same
staffing,
levels,
same
expenses
and
still
pocket
almost
up
to
a
million
dollars
net.
M
We
are
not
the
same,
struggling
district
that
pps
rescued
seven
years
ago
with
the
partnership
for
our
high
school
kids.
We
know
that
was
bad.
The
pps
partnership
not
only
gave
our
students
amazing
opportunities,
but
it
allowed
us
to
refocus
on
our
elementary
grades
and
to
rebuild
them
as
a
school
board.
We
love
our
kids,
our
teachers
and
our
staff.
Our
board
is
hands-on
and
we
somehow
find
the
money
to
fund
every
good
idea
or
new
program
that
they
bring
to
us
and
still
manage
to
cut
taxes
twice.
M
We
are
a
solid,
secure
district
with
very
little
debt
compared
to
all
of
the
districts
in
the
county
and,
frankly,
out
of
this
whole
big
annexation,
discussion
pbs
would
be
lucky
to
get
us.
Maybe
they'd
even
see
that
we're
doing
some
things
even
better
than
they
are
so
bottom
line.
We
have
a
great
little
district
of
550
kids
here
and
we
love
it.
We
just
can't
afford
it
under
the
current
tax
rates.
Sooner
or
later,
the
taxes
will
crush
us
and
all
our
hard
work
could
be
lost.
M
M
We
feel
it
is
our
responsibility
not
just
to
educate
our
kids,
but
to
leave
them
a
good
community
to
inherit,
not
someplace.
People
want
to
move
away
from
while
the
district
has
improved
itself
in
every
measure.
The
borough
government
side
of
wilkinsburg
has
failed
to
turn
the
ship
around.
Our
population
is
shrinking
every
day,
as
we
all
know,
and
there's
no
plan
or
vision
for
growth,
but
becoming
part
of
pittsburgh
could
bring
investment
here
so
that
when
our
kids
grow
up,
they
won't
want
to
leave
this
neighborhood.
They
will
be
able
to
buy
homes
here.
M
Get
jobs
here,
raise
families
here
and
yes
send
their
kids
to
school.
Here
I
think
I
speak
for
our
entire
board.
When
I
say
we
would
love
to
stay
an
independent
little
district,
but
with
the
borough
government
failing
us
year
after
year,
it's
so
clear
that
the
way
for
our
district
to
survive
and
thrive
is
for
pittsburgh
to
take
it
over.
We
just
want
them
to
run
it
with
the
same
love
and
respect
we
do
now.
M
As
we
said
in
our
december
resolution,
our
board
really
welcomes
the
chance
to
sit
down
and
talk
about
the
future.
With
our
colleagues
at
pittsburgh,
we've
reached
out
twice
no
answer
it's
time
for
both
governments
and
both
districts
to
get
together.
Look
at
the
financials
look
at
the
opportunities
and
get
to
work
planning
a
great
future
together.
Great.
A
Thank
you
monica
appreciate
it.
I
do
want
to
point
out
that
ira
weiss
is
here
the
solicitor
for
pps
and
ira.
You
have
a
chance
to
respond.
I
just
want
to
go
to
michael
lamb
and
go
to
questions
with
the
council
right
now.
Okay,
so
michael,
if
you
just
want
to
respond
and
just
tell
your
thoughts
and
then
we're
going
to
go
right
into
questions
from
council,
okay,
thank.
N
N
So
so
let
me
just
talk
a
little
bit.
First
off
our
office,
we've
had
the
chance
to
review
the
the
information
you
were
presented
today.
I
I
agree
with
it.
In
fact,
I
would
say
it
leans
a
little
on
the
conservative
side
and
I
think,
as
you
know,
a
lot
of
you
know
in
dealing
with,
particularly
with
pfm.
N
They
have
that
ability
right.
That's
that's
what
they
were
during
our
entire
time
as
the
act
47
coordinator.
If
you
look
at
their
projections
as
to
when
we
could
have
left
distress
status,
we
beat
them.
We
beat
that
number
by
by
years.
Frankly,
and
while
we
didn't
leave,
we
didn't
leave
act
47
until
2018.
N
I
think
we
all
know
that
we
were
eligible
to
leave
back
in
2013
and
and
so
we
outperformed
their
projections.
I
expect
that
we
will
outperform
these
projections
as
well.
I
don't
mean
that
as
a
criticism
by
any
stretch,
I
appreciate
the
conservative
view
of
this,
but
I
actually
think
that
just
on
a
purely
financial
basis,
this
is
a
bigger
win
than
even
these
numbers
would
project
and
I
think
that's
that'll
that'll
be
borne
out
as
we
continue
these
conversations
and
we'll
be
able
to
show
show
why
that's
true.
N
N
Never
in
my
lifetime
have
we
had
a
neighboring
borough
want
to
join
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
and
now
we
have
a
large
number
of
the
population
of
our
neighboring
borough,
who
want
to
be
here
and
it's
because
of
the
work
that
this
city,
and
particularly
this
council,
have
done
in
making
the
east
end.
So
vibrant
and-
and
I
would
say
particularly
what's
happened-
around
east
liberty
and
and
a
lot
of
reverend
burgess's
district
is
what's
making
that
making
that
true.
N
There
have
been
some
people
who
have
been
proponents
of
this
merger,
this
annexation,
who
frankly,
have
been
vilified
because
for
suggesting
that
they're
doing
an
annexation.
Well,
what
we
know.
Frankly,
I'm
glad
I'm
glad
that
mr
zephy
is
here
to
make
clear
this
isn't
just
a
mechanism
to
get
there.
This
is
the
mechanism
to
get
there
when
a
borough,
when
the
people
of
borough
want
to
join
a
second-class
city.
This
is
the
only
way,
so
I
know
there
are
issues
with
the
process.
I
had
issues
with
the
process
too.
N
We
all
do
that's
why
we
now
have
the
opportunity
to
make
this
process
so
much
better,
but
but
the
way
that
some
people
have
reacted
to
this
is
is
troublesome,
and
I'm
glad
that
we
finally
got
it
on
the
record
that
this
is
the
way
that
this
works
and
we
can
blame
the
our
statutory
construction
here
in
the
commonwealth
for
that
and
a
lot
of
other
things,
but
we
certainly
shouldn't
be
blaming
the
residents
of
wilkinsburg
who
have
proposed
this
this
this
this
annexation.
N
The
other
thing,
I
think,
is
interesting.
I
hadn't
thought
about
it
until
they
were
talking
about
it.
Today
is
the
change
that
this
will
bring
to
wilkinsburg
and
its
business
taxes.
You
know,
I
don't
know
how
many
of
you
remember
what
it
was
like
when
we
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh
had
a
business
privilege,
tax
and
a
mercantile
tax.
N
N
Is
a
big
deal
and
the
fact
that
they
will
now
pay
a
tax
based
on
the
size
of
their
payroll
is
a
much
more
manageable
situation,
particularly
for
small
businesses
who
who
we've
seen
in
pittsburgh
since
we've
changed,
our
tax
pressure
have
become
more
vibrant
that
that
sector
has
has
done
much
much
better
than
it
was
before.
N
So
I
I
will
say-
and
the
last
thing
I
will
address
because
it's
been
raised-
is
the
issue
over
debt,
and
you
heard
a
little
bit
about
it
today,
but
everyone's
concerned,
oh
my
gosh
we're
going
to
be
taking
on
the
wilkinsburg
school
district's
debt.
So
what
is
that
debt?
Well,
we
know
now
that
it's
really
not
that
much
money
right.
It's
it's
a
matter
of
fact.
N
So
so
for
for
some
people
who
are
out
there
look
trying
to
throw
trying
to
throw
red
herrings
into
the
mix
on
this
debt
at
the
school
district
is
not
one
of
the
issues,
and
not
only
that
they've
already
identified
the
revenue
within
their
own
budgets
to
pay
that
debt,
so
so
it
really
has
a
very
minimal
impact
on
the
school
district.
N
H
A
I
want
to
thank
this
council
for
being
very
patient.
It's
a
lot
of
information.
I
was
trying
to
examine
one
day,
not
knowing
I
was
going
to
have
a
year
to
do
it,
but
we
are
joined
by
councilwoman,
erica
strasberger.
We
are
joined
by
councilman
bobby
wilson,
councilwoman
deb
gross
councilman,
ricky
burgess
and
our
madam
president,
theresa
kell
smith.
I
wanted
to
state
that
for
the
record,
and
I
do
feel
obliged
to
have
our
solicitor
for
pps
reply.
A
Okay,
well,
I'm
not
gonna,
repeat
everything,
but
but
I
do
feel
that
ira
weiss.
Our
solicitor
for
pps
should
have
the
opportunity
to
reply
before
we
get
into
our
questions.
Okay,.
P
Ira,
thank
you
councilman
coghill,
and
thank
you
to
council
for
inviting
me
here.
I
would
just
just
identify
myself
for
the
meeting.
My
name
is
ira
weiss.
I
reside
at
154.
It
was
beltfield
avenue.
As
councilman
colgill
said,
I
have
I'm
the
solicitor
for
the
school
district
of
pittsburgh
and
have
had
a
26-year
relationship
with
the
district
in
various
roles
as
legal
counsel.
P
I
first
was,
and
I
did
provide
written
a
written
statement,
but
I
learned
through
the
discussion
that
this
meeting
that
there
apparently
has
been
some
action
to
defer
a
final
vote
on
the
annexation
for
some
period
of
time.
So
I'm
going
to
revise
my
comments
to
some
degree,
but
I
want
to
say
first
of
all
that.
P
It's
good
that
several
speakers,
including
school
director
from
wilkinsburg,
ms
garcia,
has
correctly
labeled
at
least
the
school
district
process
as
an
annexation.
It
is
not
a
merger.
A
merger
is
a
vote
of
two
boards
of
school
directors
to
enter
into
an
agreement
to
make
one
district
this
annexation,
if
it
occurs
whenever
it
occurs,
will
result
in
the
wilkinsburg
school
district
ceasing
to
exist
as
a
district,
and
it
will
become
part
of
the
school
district
of
pittsburgh.
P
The
report
of
the
public
finance
public
financial
management,
which
was
commissioned
by
the
wilkinsburg
cdc
involved
no
consultation
with
any
representative
of
the
school
district
of
pittsburgh.
School
district
of
pittsburgh
had
not
even
officially
received
these
reports.
I
received
them
informally
and
I've
provided
them
to
the
district.
P
The
there
are
several
issues
here
and,
unfortunately,
the
issues
I'm
going
to
raise
can
be
viewed,
as
quote
nay
saying,
but
details
are
important.
P
First
of
all,
in
taxation
and
finance,
there
are
a
lot
of
unknowns
that
require
collaboration,
consultation
and
agreement.
That
would
normally
take
place
in
a
merger,
but
it
did
not
take
place
this
way
they
this
these
districts
have
different
fiscal
years.
Pitch
school
district
of
pittsburgh
has
a
calendar
year.
P
Local
park
school
district,
like
all
but
one
other
district
of
pennsylvania,
has
a
fiscal
year
july,
1
to
june
30..
Why
is
that
important?
Well,
it's
important,
because
these
districts
levy
their
taxes
at
different
times.
Pittsburgh
levied
his
taxes
in
december
for
the
year,
the
next
year,
wilkinsburg
and
all
their
districts
levy.
Their
taxes
typically
in
june,
take
effect
for
that
school
year.
P
You
can
only
have
one
tax
levy
per
year.
There
is
no
provision
in
the
code
for
extending
taxing
periods
or
anything
like
that,
and
the
the
the
reports
don't
address
that
problem.
P
P
That
may
be
the
case,
but
what
is
very
unclear
is
the
subsidy
reimbursement
level
that
was
alluded
to
in
your
earlier
speakers,
as
well
as
a
chartered
tuition
rate.
We
believe
that
wilkinsburg
currently
pays
a
much
higher
charge
tuition
rate,
particularly
for
special
education
students
that
has
not
been
analyzed
in
these
reports.
P
I
also
want
to
mention
that
there
have
been
some
talk
that
the
in
the
report
that
the
merger
process
quote-unquote
merger
process,
started
with
the
agreement
between
the
two
school
districts
under
which
pittsburgh
would
educate
the
wilkinsburg
7-12
students
on
a
tuition
basis
that
was
specifically
described
as
not
a
merger.
It
was
an
agreement
to
educate
students.
The
wilkinsburg
school
district
still
retains
legal
responsibility
for
many
aspects
of
the
students
education.
P
I
was
pleased
to
to
hear
representative
from
the
fraternal
order
of
police
and
the
representative
from
the
firefighters
talk
about
the
impact
on
the
wilkinsburg
employees.
This
is
a
major
area
of
concern
in
this
discussion
with
school
districts
when
school
districts
actually
emerge,
that
is
to
say,
there's
an
agreement.
P
P
P
There
are
three
other
units
in
pittsburgh:
the
custodial
maintenance
employees
who
are
represented
by
afscme,
the
technical
clerical
employees
are
represented
by
asme
and
there's
a
unit
of
building
trades
employees.
P
P
It
is
very
unclear
what
happens
to
those
collective
borrowing
agreements,
what
happens
to
those
employees
any
assumption
that
those
employees
will
remain
employed
is
simply
conjecture.
At
this
point,
when
the
7-12
agreement
was
reached,
there
was
a
specific
provision
that
there
was
no
guarantee
of
employment
for
displaced
wilkersburg
teachers
or
other
employees
as
a
result
of
that
agreement,
and
I
recognize
that
the
wilkinsburg
school
district
has
done
a
wonderful
job
with
the
two
buildings,
as
was
alluded
to
by
ms
garcia,
the
kelly
and
turner
schools
are
fine
schools.
P
A
I'm
sorry
I
I
don't,
I
don't
mean
to
jump
in.
I
just
really
want
to
push
this
along
to
get
answers
from
council
members.
You
will
have
ample
opportunity,
of
course,
and
you
know,
and
and
just
speaking
broadly,
you
know,
we
want
the
school
district's
opinion
we
want
to
see.
You
know,
make
sure
that
it
works
for
pps,
we're
all
concerned
about
that
and
we're
just
beginning
talks.
I
just
didn't
want
to
have
to
answer
every
question
right
now
and
you
know
moving
forward.
This
is
a
city
council.
P
This
is
not
a
no
impact
process
for
the
school
district
of
wilkinsburg
or
the
school
district
of
pittsburgh
and
to
assume.
I
don't
want
council
to
assume
that
if
this
annexation
moves
forward,
life
will
continue
as
it
is
now
in
both
districts.
That
is
simply
not
the
case.
I
respect
your
admonition
about
time
and
I
will
simply
ask
council
to
review
my
statement
and
to
take
it
into
consideration
when
you
are
making
your
final
decision.
Thank
you
for
having
me.
A
Thank
you,
mr
weiss.
I
apologize,
I
didn't
mean
to
cut
you
off.
You
will
have
ample
time.
We
will
be
going
through
this
throughout
the
year
and
you
know
all
points
will
be
made
and
presented
to
council
as
we
go.
So
thank
you
again
for
your
insight
and
with
that
I
will
turn
it
out
over
to
council
president
kill
smith.
She
has
a
something
to
say
thank.
O
You
I
just
I
just
want
to
remind
council
first
that
we
have
an
executive
session
in
one
hour.
So
please
keep
our
comments
to
the
point
and
and
brief-
and
I
just
want
to
remind
you-
explain
to
and
apologize
to
solicitor
white
ira
weiss
that
I
did
not
have
an
opportunity
to
call
you
in
advance,
but
we
did
outline
today
a
process
that
will
take
place
which
does
include
the
school
district
going
forward.
O
So
there'll
be
a
lot
of
times
that
we're
working
together
and
we
do
care,
but
I
think,
setting
the
tone
moving
forward.
I
think
helping
to
stop
insulting
one
another,
helping
to
not
say
things,
but
you
know
and
negative
about
school
districts
or
our
children
or
anything
else,
moving
forward
our
police
department
or
fire
department.
O
Anything
I
think
if
we
set
the
tone,
as
you
know,
we
respect
one
another
and
we're
trying
to
do
what's
in
the
best
interest
of
both
the
borough
of
wilkinsburg
and
our
city
of
pittsburgh
residents
who
we
were
elected
to
represent
going
forward
with
that.
That's
that's
the
process
I'm
going
to
take
and
I
hope
that
others
follow
suit.
But
I
do
think
that
there's
a
lot
to
be
said.
You
know
I
have
a
lot
of
hesitation
when
it
comes
to
numbers.
O
You
know
I
was
going
to
have
dr
nedley
attend
today
and
decided
that
I'll
have
her
look
at
the
numbers
independently
and
and
we'll
work
work
towards
whatever
the
the
the
best
interests
of
our
residents
are.
But
I
do
want
to
say
I'm
going
to
keep
my
eye
and
my
comments
focused
on
making
sure
that
whatever
happens,
we're
doing
something
southwest
of
the
river,
because
expanding
east
end
is
just
doing
that,
it's
not
doing
anything
to
help
southwest
river.
I
don't
care
how
many
people
you
put
in
to
the
city.
O
You're
gonna
probably
lose
that
many
in
the
southwest.
If
you
don't
do
something
on
that
side
of
town
to
start
making
those
residents
feel
valued
and
that
they're
they're
getting
something
for
their
tax
dollars.
They're
too
close,
we
border
the
most
boroughs
on
our
side
of
town.
They
are
too
close
to
other
boroughs
and
they're
moving
out.
We
have
the
the
the
largest
number
of
middle
class
residents
and
the
city
of
pittsburgh
southwest
of
the
river,
and
we
want
to
keep
them
there
and
the
only
way
you're
going
to
keep
them.
O
There
is
starting
to
put
some
resources
in
that
side
of
town
as
well.
So
with
that
said,
I'm
from
the
east
end
born
and
raised
on
fifth
avenue.
I
love
the
east
end,
but
I
also
love
southwest
pittsburgh
and
the
north
side.
I
want
to
see
things
happen
there
as
well,
and
I'm
looking
forward
to
working
with
everyone
in
the
future
on
what
we
can
do
for
the
best
interest
of
all
of
our
residents.
Thank
you.
Thank.
A
You,
madam
president,
and
I
love
what
they
hear
you
fight
for
southwest
of
the
rivers
as
you're
such
a
big
advocate
for
so
thank
you
so
much
and
I
just
want
to
say
before
council
starts,
you
know
I
don't
feel
like
we
have
to
get
every
question
answered
today.
Obviously
we're
not
even
councilwoman
gross
asked
me
about
the
source
system.
You
know
we're
not
even
going
to
get
to
things
like
that
today.
That's
why
we
wanted
to
start
today.
We
have
a
full
year
to
proceed
and
get
gather
the
information.
A
K
That
I
appreciate
that,
so
I
really
don't
know
that
my
questions
can
be
answered
today,
which
is
why
I
was
supportive
of
council
voting
down
the
current
90-day.
You
know
petition
process
for
annexation,
and
I
was
also
supportive
of
councilman
burgess's
and
I
think,
working
with
council
leadership's
plan
to
do
an
official
council
investigation
into
how
this
can
work
right.
As
I've
said
before
right,
I've
said,
as
I've
said
before,
there's
a
variety
of
things
that
are
required
in
a
merger
process
that
are
not
required
in
this
annexation
process.
K
But
the
citizens
of
the
city
of
pittsburgh
and
of
wilkinsburg
deserve
to
have
those
answers
in
front
of
them,
and
we
don't
have
those
answers.
Yet,
how
would
the
merger
of
the
pwsa
water
system
and
the
joint
municipal
wilkinsburg
penn
water
system
work
if
the
city
is
annexing
wilkinsburg,
but
not
wilkinsburg
and
penn
hills?
What
is
the?
What
are
the?
What
is
the
debt
load
there?
What
are
the
pension
obligations
there?
We
just
we
don't
have
those
numbers.
Those
numbers
are
still
not
in
front
of
us.
K
We
have
some
study
of
the
pps
wilkinsburg
school
district
annexation.
There's
still,
I
think,
of
some
soft
parts
of
that
analysis.
If
I'm
not
mistaken
about
whether
what
millage
is
being
collected
on
the
properties
on
the
high
version
of
revenue
and
the
low
version
of
revenue,
we
don't
know
there
is
no
plan
in
writing
for
the
disposition
of
existing
municipal
assets,
hard
assets
and
otherwise
at
wilkinsburg.
K
There's
no
plan
in
front
of
us
for
the
disposition
or
liquidation
of
any
debts,
and
so
these
are
the
things
that
I
think
we
can
all
put
in
front
of
us,
and
then
we
can
have
an
intelligent,
informed
conversation
and
not
just
an
emotional
one.
So
I
look
forward
to
that
process
and
I
thank
the
speakers
for
coming
today.
This
is
just
an
introduction,
yep
yeah.
I
appreciate
it.
Yeah.
A
Thank
you,
councilwoman
grace
and
as
councilwoman
gross
said,
this
is
really
just
the
beginning.
We
have
a
lot
of
questions,
but
with
that
councilman
wilson,
do
you
have
any
remarks.
Q
Late
councilman
and
thank
you
all
everyone
for
coming
today.
I
appreciate
all
your
time,
so
I
did
have
some
questions
about
the
school
because
I
did
get
some
calls
about
that.
The
pittsburgh
public
schools
can't
take
on
the
debt
that
the
wilkinsburg
schools
have
I'm
just
after
seeing
the
numbers,
I'm
curious.
Q
I
know
you
were
talking
previously,
mr
weiss,
but
I
was
just
want
to
ask
you
directly.
It
looks
like
there
isn't
much
debt
on
the
school
district.
So
can
you
respond
to
that
like
why
this
wouldn't
be
a
bad
idea
for
the
for
the
school
district.
P
I
do
know
that
from
looking
at
the
wilkinsburg
budget,
they
that
district
had
planned
for
some
additional
capital
improvements
in
one
or
the
other
of
these
existing
schools
they
have,
but,
from
my
perspective
at
least
the
comments
that
I
intended
to
make
today,
that
was
not
focused
on
the
debt
councilman
wilson.
P
The
takeaway
is
that
there
are
a
number
of
unknowns
that
would
result
in
if
pittsburgh
school
district
basis,
if
wilkinsburg
school
district
becomes
part
of
pittsburgh,
I've
enumerated
many
of
them.
P
There's
a
transportation
issue
that
I
didn't
get
to,
but
it's
in
my
written
remarks
and
I
just
think
we
have
to
have
answers
to
those
before
this
process
would
move
forward
now.
As
I
said
coming
into
this,
I
was
assuming
that
this
vote
would
be
imminent
and
that
a
yes
vote
would
place
us
on
the
ballot
this
year
with
his
annexation,
if
approved
occurring
in
january.
Q
Do
they
entrust
you
with
the
financial
you
know,
were
you
asked
to
come
here
and
talk
about
the
financials
like?
Do
they.
P
Q
A
Can
I
can
I
jump
in
there
for
once,
but
he
came
previously
from
the
school
district.
I
will
say
I
invited
mr
weiss.
I
just
wanted.
You
know
school
board
to
have
some
representation
here
and
mr
weiss,
I
want
to
apologize
to
you.
I
should
have
called
you
when
we
found
out
that
we
were
going
to
proceed
differently.
I
understand
you
came
to
this
meeting,
probably
thinking
this
is
up
for
a
vote
tuesday
and
if
pittsburgh
advances
you
had
so
many
concerns,
so
I
just
want
to
apologize
for
not
informing
you
of
that.
A
Q
N
So
I
mean
the
report
that
you
got
today
does
talk
a
little
bit
about
the
condition
of
the
schools
and
and
that
information.
I
will
tell
you,
though,
that
the
the
testimony
we
heard
earlier
from
solicitor
weiss.
I
agree
with
a
hundred
percent.
There
are
real
issues
that
we
have
to
find
a
way
to
deal
with.
I
think
we
they're
solvable
issues
and
he's
right
that,
given
that
we
have
time
now,
there
are
solvable
issues.
Just
the
issue
on
the
fiscal
year
alone
is
an
issue.
N
I
can
tell
you
from
our
perspective
that
it
is
an
issue.
The
issue
I
think
the
biggest
issue
he
mentioned
is
is
the
is
the
the
integration
of
the
union
members
teachers
union
in
the
wilkinsburg
district
into
the
pittsburgh
school
district,
talk
about
two
different
unions,
psea
and
pft.
N
N
We
need
to
find
a
way
to
solve
these
problems
and-
and
I
know
he
didn't
get
a
chance
to
talk
about
the
transportation
issue
but
and
or
the
and
any
he
briefly
touched
on
the
special
ed
funding
issue,
I'm
not
suggesting
by
any
way
that
those
aren't
issues
they
are,
but
I
think
they're
solvable.
Q
So
you
know
I
should
have
started
off
with
with
you
tracy,
because
I
should
have
asked
you
this.
There
was
a
question
I
had
earlier
about.
This
is
that,
if
we,
you
know,
we
form
this
and
we've
well
we're
going
to
take
a
final
vote
on
in
terms
of
the
investigation,
the
inquiry
that
we're
talking
about
you
know
about
this
next
year
at
the
end
of
that
road.
Q
Since
there
is
one
option
and
you
you
circulated
the
petition
or
you
know,
your
organization
worked
to
get
approximately
eight
percent
of
the
population
you
know
was
signed
on
to
the
petition
to
you
know,
then
take
that
to
the
judge,
take
a
bus
and
then
possibly
have
that
on
the
ballot.
Is
that
process
something
that
you're?
Q
You
know
if
we're.
If
we
walk
away
you
know
at
in
december-
and
we
say
we're
interested
in
this
mer
and
then
this
in
this
annexation.
Would
you
circulate
that
same
petition.
R
I'm
sure
it
would
be
again,
I
mean
we
had
done
it
once
in
the
summer
and
then
went
back
around
again
in
the
fall.
When
we
were
asked
to
slow
down,
then
again,
two
we
are
learning
as
we
go
along
like
when
we
started.
Having
conversations
about
this,
we
honestly
thought
that
we
would
be
looking
at
a
merger
that
the
referendum
for
the
government
would
be
a
dual
referendum
and
that
the
school
district
would
do
their
own
vote
and
they
could
proceed.
You
know
on
their
own,
regardless
of
an.
F
R
Is
part
of
the
city
school
district,
but
still
a
separate
borough,
the
school
board
could
always
you
know,
school
board
to
school
board
could
vote
on
their
own
to
engage
in
a
study
and-
and
that
might
be
a
smart
way
to
move
right
now
if
they
want
more
help
from
the
state
or
looking
at
these
union
issues.
I
know
wilkinsburg
school
district
has
taken
a
vote.
They
want
to
have
these
conversations.
R
You
know
they
want
to
see
how
that
looks
for
them.
So
that's
an
option
in
this
process.
Right
now
you
know
they
could
start
talking
on
their
own
if
they,
if
they
chose
to
so
we
we've
been
trying
to
figure
out
how
you
do
it
right.
You
know
the
correct
way
and
then
we
did
learn
that
this
1903
annexation
was
the
right
way
because
of
pittsburgh
being
a
second-class
city.
R
So,
certainly
aware
of
all
the
complexity,
a
lot
of
the
questions
you
ask
around
the
like
infrastructure
buildings,
we've
been
collecting
information
for
over
a
year.
You
know
we
have.
We
worked
a
lot
last
year
with
the
peduto
administration
talking
with
doug
anderson
and
different
budget
people,
so
we
have
things
in
spreadsheets
and
like
a
an
actual
website,
that
we
can
pull
up
information
when
people
say
we
don't
have
this
information,
we
actually
do
have
a
lot
of
that
information.
D
R
Haven't
been
in
a
forum
or
figured
out
how
that
gets,
reviewed
or
shared
or
worked
on,
there
is
yeah
one
elementary
school
kelly
and
monica
can
probably
say
better
than
me.
I
know
they're
looking
to
do
around
four
million
dollars
of.
A
R
But
they
also
have
money
right
now
to
do
those
and
turner
elementary.
Fourth,
through
sixth
grade
actually
just
had
a
14
million
dollar
renovation.
It
is
state
of
the
art
beautiful
school
building.
So
you
know
ideally
people
just
like
anyone
in
their
neighborhood
would
like
to
see
their
neighborhood
school
stay.
Obviously,
as
it's
brought
up,
you
know
that's
a
negotiation
that
kind
of
has
to
take
place
and
conversations
have
to
you
know
there
are
a
whole
list
of
how
this
works.
It's
not
just
because
it's
annexation
doesn't
mean
that
you
wouldn't
still
have
acid
agreements.
R
Q
We
we
have
the
financial
people.
Well,
sorry,
I'm
trying
to
be
fair.
Q
J
What's
in
it,
for
for
wilkinsburg,
for
for
the.
Q
Yeah
yeah,
they
have
very
little.
I
mean
it
looks
like
a
very
good
like
a
good
scenario
for
pittsburgh.
The
way
you
lay
it
out
and
I'm
just
curious
like
what
you
know
is
it
like
like?
Could
their
council
make
a
move?
That
would
you
know
in
terms
of
property
tax
or
what
you
know
is
there?
Is
there
some
other
move
that
they
could
make?
That
would
make
it.
Q
You
know
what
would
help
them
in
the
future,
because
I
know
that's
one
of
the
big
you
know
that's
one
of
the
big
sticking
points
is
that
their
property
taxes
are
so
high
and
you
have
real
estate
saying
I
can't
sell
houses
in
wilkinsburg
yeah
and
I'm
just
curious
on
that
question.
You
know:
is
there
actually
something
internally
that
they
that
you
would
recommend
that
you
see
since
you've?
You
know
recommended
to
you
know
I
wasn't
on
the
council,
but
previous
councils,
I
guess,
like
your
organization,
was
hired
during
act.
47.
Q
Is
that
what
what's
the
case
right?
That's
correct,
yeah,
yeah,
yeah!
So
is
there
something
glaring
that
you
see
that
you
would
like
recommend
to
them?
And
let
me
just
state
that
you
know
in
terms
of
like
good
governments,
good
governance-
I
like,
I
definitely
am
looking
at
allegheny
county.
Q
You
know,
grew
up
with
the
conversation
of
we
should
really.
I
mean
that
is
that
is
pittsburgh's
history.
Pittsburgh's
hit,
you
know,
councilman
coghill
was
saying
you
know,
allegheny
city,
like
a
lot
of
these
municipal,
I
have
maps
in
my
office
that
you
know
still
were
the
the
old
maps
that
people
have
given
to
me.
You
know
throughout
throughout
my
life
and
that
I've
kept-
and
I
just
like
I'm
fascinated
by
them
because
pittsburgh's
history
is,
you
know
it
is
a
history
of
annexation,
right
right,
yeah.
J
G
A
really
good
question:
let
me
say
that,
as
dean
had
mentioned
at
the
beginning,
when
we
did
the
financial
analysis,
we
were,
we
relied
on
publicly
available
documents.
So
what
I
know
about
the
wilkinsburg
financial
position
is
is
what's
in
their
documents.
What's
in
their
budget.
What's
in
their
audit,
I
have
not
met
and
spoken
with
their
finance
director,
and
I
don't
want
to
misrepresent
that
now.
It
sounds
like
you'll
have
the
time
to
do
that.
G
What
I
would
say
I
see
from
looking
at
their
numbers
is
it's
a
pretty
typical
story
of
a
of
a
small
municipality
in
pennsylvania
that
has
a
deteriorating
tax
base
and
really
has
very
limited
options
on
the
revenue
side.
So
pittsburgh
folks
will
remember
this
from
the
early
days
of
act
47,
but
this
is
even
more
true
for
municipalities.
G
G
If
you
go
back
to
when
you
have
a
chance,
when
you
go
back
to
the
slides
you'll
see
that
the
2022
capital
budget
for
wilkinsburg
has
basically
no
capital
investment
right,
I'm
not
saying
they're
not
ever
going
to
pay
the
road
or
do
anything
else,
but
their
ability
to
invest
in
capital
is
extremely
limited
and
that's
not
unique.
That
is
common
of
of
a
lot
of
different
municipalities,
both
around
pittsburgh
and
elsewhere.
So
the
question
of
well,
could
they
just
turn
it
around
on
their
own?
F
And
on
the
on
the
school
side,
first
of
all,
I
wanna.
I
wanna
echo
controller
lamb's
comments
about
what
solicitor
weiss
had
to
say.
I.
I
also
agree
that
the
issues
that
he's
mentioned
are
are
ones
that
do
need
to
be
addressed
and
and
can
be
addressed.
Over
this
period.
We've
now
been
granted
and
they're.
F
You
know
they're
not
on
thorny
issues,
but
I
I
think
that
we
have
suggested
in
our
report
some
ways
to
address
them,
and
I
think
there
are
other
people
who
will
have
additional
ideas
and
I
think
well-intended
folks
can
come
together
and
find
a
solution
to
those
and
and
hopefully
create
a
a
package
that
makes
sense
for
everyone.
F
But
in
terms
of
your
specific
question,
I
think
ms
garcia
was
very
clear
in
speaking
on
behalf
of
the
board
that
in
in
the
long
run,
while
they
have
done
a
really
remarkable
job,
that
many
smaller
districts
have
not
done
in
turning
around
their
own
finances
in
the
last
last
five
years.
In
the
long
run,
the
structure
of
school
finance
and
municipal
finance
in
pennsylvania
makes
it
very
difficult
for
small
districts
to
take
to
be
successful.
F
In
the
long
term,
without
regular,
significant
tax
increases,
right
and
and
other
other
injections,
and
I
think
that
they're
they're
a
point
now
where
it's
you
know,
they're
financially
in
a
good
place,
and
they
can
really
the
areas
where
they
face.
More
challenges
tend
to
be
ones
where
pittsburgh
has
been
successful.
F
In
terms
of
you
know,
maintaining
students
in
the
public
schools
because
they
have
a
good
alternative
to
charter
schools
in
terms
of
doing
a
lot
of
their
special
ed
supports
inside
the
district
in
ways
that
are
both
more
efficient
and
better
for
kids.
So
I
think
that
this
is
a
particularly
apt
time
for
them
to
think
about
it,
and,
and
certainly
for
to
take
some
time
to
sit
down
with
the
pittsburgh
public
schools
and
work
through
some
of
the
issues
that
have
that
have
been
raised.
Q
Okay,
I'm
gonna
end
my
comments,
but
I
are
in
my
time
for
questions
here,
but
I
am
curious
if
you
know
similar
to
councilman
gross
some
of
the
some
more
of
the
numbers
and
how
you
arrive
to
them
and
what
other
numbers
out
there
can.
We
can
we
see
so
specifically,
like
you
mentioned,
like
they
wouldn't
have
the
funds
to
maintain
their
roads
up
to
a
certain
point:
investment
in
their
in
their
infrastructure.
Q
What
are
the
state
or
their
roads?
So
some
of
the
questions
I
have
like
did
you
look
into
the?
Did
you
look
into
the
state
of
the
roads?
Did
you
for
that?
For
that
analysis?
One
second,
then,
also
like
the
cost
of
a
new
ems
center.
The
cost
of
ems,
because
currently
ems
is
contracted
out
right,
right,
yeah.
Q
So
questions
like
that,
you
know
what
was
that
all
into
your
your
numbers,
this
nice
table
here
that
I
have-
and
I
really
appreciate
that
I
mean-
are
those-
are
those
everything
you
factored
into.
G
So
so
my
answer
to
that
would
be.
We
did
try
and
take
those
things
into
account
based
on
what
we
know
to
set
you
up
to
have
exactly
the
conversations
you're
having
so
for
the
ems.
There's
an
assumption
about
what
the
city
would
add
in
terms
of
an
ems
unit
based
roughly
on
on
population
right,
the
number
of
people
you
have
the
number
of
chief
paramedics
and
ambulance
and
trying
to
do
a
per
capita
ratio.
Not
because
that's
exactly
the
way
to
do
it.
G
You
want
to
staff
ems
based
on
call
volume
not
based
on
humans
right.
That's
that's
the
way
to
do
it,
but
we
have
set
those
up
so
that
you
can
look
at
the
numbers
and
come
back
to
us
and
do
exactly
that
say
wait.
Why
did
you
assume
this
instead
of
that,
and
we
can
tell
you
and
we
can
have
a
conversation
about
whether
those
assumptions
make
sense
or
not.
Q
Okay,
great
and
then
you
know
to
that,
it's
not
numbers,
but
it's
just
you
know
in
terms
of
zoning
like
how
do
they
do
zoning?
Is
it
all
set?
You
know
different
types
of
zoning
like
we
have
so.
R
Again,
it's
a
lot
of
complex
things.
We
have
a
very
multi-layered
zoning
map
right
now.
There's
a
couple:
transit,
overlays,
historic
district
overlay.
Things
like
that
we've
been
working
with
danny
pucco
because
I
think
there
would
be
some
sort
of
change
that
would
be
adopted
that
it
might
actually
sort
of
go
back
and
you'd
have
to
then
re-adopt
different
areas.
I'd
say
the
zoning's
fairly
similar
and
then
we'd
have
a
lot
of
information
around.
R
F
R
P
F
R
Q
A
Know
before
we
go
on
to
councilwoman,
strasberger
and
councilwoman,
thank
you
so
much
for
being
so
patient.
I
really
appreciate
that
you
know
and
for
you
know,
wanting
to
know
the
facts,
and
I
put
really
appreciate
that,
but
I
did
councilman
wilson
want
to
introduce
you.
This
is
krista
ross
and
she's
a
re
max
real
estate
agent.
I
thought
you
mentioned
something
about
if
you
had
any
questions
about
real
estate.
Well,
she's
here
you
know
she's
available
and
same
with.
You
know
you
councilwoman
and
mr
burgess.
Q
I
just
want
to
be
mindful
I
mean
if
you
just
want
to
say
a
couple.
You
know
a
few
words
about
the
real
estate
situation
that
you're
seeing
yeah.
S
In
wilkinsburg,
so,
actually
let
me
start
by
answering
your
question
of
what's
in
it
for
the
school
district,
and
this
is
one
of
the
things
that
so
as
real
estate
age.
I
work
in
wilkinsburg
with
buyers
and
sellers,
so
I
hear
a
lot
about
what
they
have
to
say.
I'm
not
going
to
talk
to
you
about
facts,
and
you
know
all
that
this
is
just
sort
of
what
I
have
conversations
with
that
people
may
want
to
move
into.
The
neighborhood
may
may
want
to
move
out
of
the
neighborhood
and
what
they
they
find.
S
S
They're
losing
students,
they've
been
losing
students
for
years,
and
when
you
have
a
shrinking
area,
you
have
a
tax
base,
that's
shrinking
as
well,
so
these
schools
are
dealing
with
students
in
a
district
that
families
are
not
choosing,
they
won't,
they
they
won't
choose
and
when
it
comes
down
to
real
estate,
when
it
comes
down
to
school
districts
in
real
estate,
the
rankings
matter
period,
everybody
that's
looking
for
a
house
goes
online,
greatschools.org,
okay,
there.
S
It
is
there's
where
the
ranking
is,
I'm
sorry
to
say
that
wilkinsburg
still
shows
up
way
down
at
the
bottom.
So
one
thing
the
district
gets
out
of
this.
Basically,
is
it
immediately
becomes
part
of
pittsburgh
public
schools,
its
ranking
increases
that
gives
it
a
better
chance
of
attracting
people
to
the
district.
S
They're
higher
ranked
pittsburgh
public
school
district
actually
has
a
lot
of
good
opportunities
for
students
that
wilkinsburg
cannot
provide
right
now.
So
that's
something
that
would
attract
parents
into
that
district
and
right
now
from
a
real
estate
standpoint.
If
you
have
families
that
want
to
come
into
wilkinsburg
very
many
of
them,
and
this
is
no
offense
to
the
people
that
are
working
in
the
district,
who,
I
know,
work
hard.
Very
many
of
those
parents
are
looking
at
it
and
going
well.
S
If
I
buy
that
house,
that's
great,
that's
nice
house
and
I'm
going
to
pay
for
private
school,
or
I'm
going
to
send
my
kids
to
a
charter
school,
because
I'm
not
sending
them
to
wilkensburg
school
district,
so
something
that
the
wilkinsburg
school
district
actually
gets.
Is
it
actually
gets
to
be
part
of
a
higher
ranked
school
district
that
parents
feel
that
there
are
options
where
they
can
send
their
kids
real
estate?
The
rankings
mean
something.
S
The
other
thing
that
comes
down
here
is
just
the
fact
that,
like
I
mentioned,
parents
are
starting
to
do
the
math
on
other
options
for
their
kids
for
school.
They
also,
frankly,
have
to
do
the
math
on
taxes
when,
when
you're
buying
a
house,
the
taxes
can
make
more
of
an
impact
on
your
monthly
payment
than
the
house
in
wilkinsburg.
S
If
you
are
the
difference
between
a
house
with
six
thousand
dollars
a
year
in
taxes
and
twelve
thousand
dollars
a
year
in
taxes
is
five
hundred
dollars
a
month
and
it's
five
hundred
dollars
a
month
that
doesn't
go
to
pay
down
their
loan.
It
doesn't
go
into
their
equity,
it
just
goes
out
the
door,
they
get
services
true.
S
So
we
have
all
these
people
in
here:
they're,
not
building
equity,
because
their
houses
are
in
a
market,
that's
not
appreciating
and
they
have
no
incentive
to
improve
the
house.
So
here
we
are
stuck
and
it's
a
circle.
It's
this
loop
that
keeps
going
around
and
frankly,
wilkinsburg
needs
to
get
out
of
it,
because
wilkinsburg
has
so
much
to
offer,
and
this
is
actually
one
of
the
reasons
why
I
think
pittsburgh
really
should
look
at
this.
As
a
positive
wilkinsburg
has
a
great
location,
it
is
the
gateway
from
the
suburbs
into
the
city.
S
We
have
traffic
flow
every
day
that
businesses
can
capitalize
on.
We
have
frankly,
a
beautiful
downtown.
The
architecture
in
wilkinsburg
is
lovely,
and
it
is
that
walkable
business
district
that
developers
go
out
in
the
suburbs
and
try
and
build,
because
this
is
our
ideal
america,
and
yet
it's
sitting
there
waiting
to
be
revitalized.
S
S
A
Yep
and
christa,
thank
you.
I
think
your
real
estate
perspective
is
very
important
in
this.
I
see
that
as
the
number
one
thing
the
lack
of
people
wanting
to
invest
when
I
see
20
plus
abandoned
buildings
that
says
it
all
so
with
that
I'd
like
to
go
to
that
councilwoman
erica
strasberger,
please
thank.
T
You,
mr
chair,
it's
a
pleasure
to
be
here
and
I
really
appreciate
everyone
who
has
spoken
and
who's
here
today
and
thank
you
thanks
to
you
and
council
president
and
and
really
everyone
who
is
part
of
making
sure
that
we
had
the
full
time
that
we
needed
to
consider
all
the
facts,
gather
more
data
and
consider
all
those
as
well.
I
was
I
had
the
great
fortune,
I
guess,
of
being
part
of
the
sewer
trunk
sewer
consolidation
conversations
a
couple
of
years
ago,
and
that
was
complex
for
us
for
different
reasons.
T
It
was
like
all
the
municipalities
in
allegheny
county
trying
to
consolidate
their
sewer
lines,
but
but
not
as
many
issues
to
cover
as
as
as
we
are
here
and
that
took
like
two
years
of
conversations
with
lawyers
and
engineers
and
working
through
every
little
detail.
So
I
have
no
doubt
that
it's
going
to
take
the
same
kind
of
attention
for
this,
which
takes
time.
T
I
guess
one
question
I
have
is,
and
it
was
this
is
for
ralph,
but
he
he's
he's
not
no
longer
here
and
I'm
sure
we
can
follow
up
with
him.
But
you
know
I'm
curious.
What
the
numbers
look
like
when
they
did
merge
the
fire
departments
and
I
don't
know,
does
okay
I'd
love
to
hear
any
kind
of
take
that
you
have
on
that,
because
what
it
sounds
like.
T
The
reason
I
ask
is
it
sounds
like
the
numbers,
the
financial
numbers
assume
that
all
of
the
employees
come
over
to
pittsburgh,
and
maybe
I'm
wrong
about
that,
but
it
seems
like.
Maybe
we
need
to
account
for
some
attrition
based
on
you
know.
If
one
bargaining
unit
says
you're
you're
at
the
bottom
rank
because
of
seniority,
it's
only
54.
T
T
It
seems
like
we
need
to
re-crunch
those
numbers
again
once
we
know
that,
but
I'd
be
curious
to
know
if
you
know
anything
about.
Why
did
you
step
up
just
how
what
happened
with
some
of
the
fire.
I
So
what
happened
was
that's
where
they
bought
in
at
54
percent,
so
they
got
a
lot
of
their
years,
but
they
didn't
get
year
for
year
because
they
just
couldn't
purchase
into
it
where
on
the
police
side,
if
you
would
do
a
comparison,
wilkinsburg
police
pension
is
better
than
pittsburgh
police
pension,
so
they
would
be
able
to
buy
more
years,
so
some
did
leave
and
actually
some
from
the
wilkinsburg
fire
department
have,
since
retired,
from
the
pittsburgh
bureau
of
fire.
So
no
neither
municipality
lost
any
money.
I
In
other
words,
the
the
valuations
of
the
pensions
were
done,
based
on
the
total
valuation
of
each
individual
firefighter's
pension
that
came
over
so
benefited,
both
wilkinsburg's
pension
system
and
the
city
of
pittsburgh
pension
system
and
that's
as
far
as
I
really
want
to
take
it.
Okay.
T
R
It
I
was
on
borough
council
during
that
time,
and
I
know
that
out
of
was
it
26,
I
you
know
26,
say
or
24
firefighters
all,
but
one
chose
to
come
over
to
the
city,
one
retired,
okay,
so
yeah
people
were
really
that
you
know
there
were
a
lot
of
benefits
in
terms
of
being
able
to
move
up
better.
You
know
days
off
all
sorts
of
things
that
that
they
did
like.
R
So
it
was
a
pretty
successful
and
you're
correct
in
in
the
analysis,
we
are
looking
at
almost
every
employee
having
the
opportunity
to
be
hired
if
they
want
to,
except
for
maybe
a
few
like
administrative
jobs
that
wouldn't
be.
That
would
be
duplicative,
but
you
know
we
want
to
make
sure
people
have
the
opportunity.
We
think
is
the
best
choice
and
there
would
probably
be
people
who
might
say
I
don't
want
to
yeah,
I'm
ready
to
retire
or
you're
right,
so
we'd
get
better
numbers.
Once
people
started
having
those
conversations
yeah.
T
And
I'd
raise
it
only
because
I
want
to
make
sure
that
we're
working
off
of
the
numbers
adam
when
we're
at
the
point
where
we
know
a
little
bit
more,
but
we
might
not
know
it
until
we're
there.
So
I
understand
that's
difficult
to
do,
but
hopefully
that
doesn't
change
the
calculation
too
much
or
the
analysis
too
much.
T
That
was
really
the
only
question
I
have
the
only
thing
I
guess
I
can
phrase
in
the
form
of
a
question
is
it
would
be
really
nice
through
this
process
to
either
have
the
participation
or
the
technical
support
from?
I
don't
know
if
you
can
speak
to
this
solicitor
zephy,
but
from
county,
and
maybe
state
economic
development
departments
and
state
education
department
to
be
able
to
help
guide
us
and
or
give
us
some
technical
support
to
the
extent
that
they
can.
T
I
think
we
are
forging
this
sort
of
new
path
and
getting
around
the
restrictions
that
prevent
us
from
using
the
mergers
and
consolidation
act
and
that's
exciting.
T
I
mean
we're
we're
really
getting
we're
we're
sidestepping
that
in
a
way,
but
in
the
end
we
still
have
to
go
through
the
annexation
process
and
so
we're
doing
some
work
here,
we're
going
through
this
process
and
seems
like
the
end
of
it,
we
should
come
together
and
lobby
the
state
to
change
the
law,
to
allow
second
class
and
other
municipalities
to
do
this
in
a
different
way
in
the
future,
so
that
at
the
end
of
some
sort
of
merger
process,
it
really
truly
is
a
merger
rather
than
an
annexation.
T
T
C
Can
be
done,
it
would
have
to
be
done
through
legislation.
I
will
say
that
the
issues
don't
go
away:
merger
versus
annexation,
all
the
things
we're
talking
about
with
unions
coming
together.
Those
are
all
the
same,
whether
it's
a
merger
annexation.
You
still
have
all
that
stuff.
So
but
yes
it
it's
a
matter
of
changing
the
state
law.
If.
T
I'm
thinking
ahead
to
you
know
the
talks
around
more
consolidation
around
the
county
seems
like
it
would
be
an
easier
lift
if
they
knew
at
the
end
of
it.
They
didn't
also,
then,
have
to
collect
the
ballot
petition
signatures
and
take
it
to
a
vote
and
all
those
different
things.
C
T
Okay,
okay-
well,
that's
interesting,
still
would
be
interested
in
changing
that
law
in
the
in
the
future.
If
we
can
come
together
and
lobby
the
state
legislators
on
on
that,
that's
really
all
I
had
to
say.
I
think
this
is
the
right
process.
I'm
grateful
to
everyone
for
their
for
their
work
on
this,
and
I
know
we're
going
to
be.
You
know
just
really
beginning
the
work
now.
A
A
A
So
you
know
I
want
to
close
it
out.
First
of
all,
I
just
want
to
say
on
a
personal
note,
thank
you
to
all
the
guests,
but
I'm
going
to
turn
it
over
to
the
stardust
show
today,
all
right,
the
guy
who
really
really
is
forwarding
this
process,
where
everybody
can
deal
with
it,
and
that's
mr
reverend
burgess.
U
So
I
won't
be
long
the
hours
late.
I
want
to
thank
everybody
who
participated,
miss
garcia.
I
get
it
right.
Thank
you
for
participating
all
those
who
are
here.
Thank
you
for
your
leadership.
I
do
have
to
give
two
shouts
out
and
then
I'll
ask
one
question.
U
One
shout
out
is
to
our
weiss.
Our
weiss
is
the
most
thoughtful
insightful
and
wise
municipal
attorney.
I've
ever
met,
certainly
in
this
region,
and
I
wanted
to
say
publicly.
I
thank
you
for
your
leadership.
I
thank
you
for
your
service
and
for
your
years
of
knowledge
and
for
your
friendship.
God
bless
you.
Thank
you
for
being
here.
I
love
you
very
much.
U
Second
of
all
dean,
it's
good
to
see
you
I
I
can't
say
I
miss
you.
We
spent
multiple
years
together.
I
don't
say
I
don't
what
do
we?
How
do
we
call
it
dean
in
mutually?
U
I
guess
interesting
conversations,
I'm
not.
I
don't
know
how
we
phrased
them
when
when
they
were
the
act,
47
coordinators
right,
we
weren't
allowed
to
do
much
without
their
approval,
and
so
it
was
always
this
push
and
pull.
But
I
will
say,
without
dean
in
many
ways
directly,
not
just
his
firm
dean
himself
was
for
the
most
part
him,
and
I
guess
I
think
mr
roberts
is
that
my
right
am
I
right
about
that
name.
Yeah.
U
Yes,
they
were,
they
were
really
the
architects
of
our
recovery.
Without
them,
we
would
be
in
really
bad
shape.
Instead
of
this
place,
we
are
now
so
dean.
I
thank
you
very
much
for
what
you've
done
for
our
city
and
how
you've
taught
me
to
understand
some
of
this
future
forecasting
and
that
cliff
all
that
stuff
happened
when
I
was
financed
here,
the
first
time
and
with
dean.
I
do
have
a
question,
though
dean
just
so
I
get
this
so
and
at
this
right
now,
who
is
your
client
is
the
wc?
F
Yes,
wilkinsburg
cdc.
U
So
is
there
a
world-
and
maybe
I
should
be
asked
off
camera,
but
I
don't
know
about
conflict
of
interest,
but
I
know
you
guys
know
our
finances.
I
know
that
right,
you,
you
know
the
city
of
pittsburgh's
finances
and
you've
done.
Is
there
a
world
in
which
the
council
perhaps
could
hire
you
to
be
the,
and
then
we
have
to
go
through
this,
but
is
there
a
world
where
we
could
either
on
their
grand
or
somehow
I
get
you
to?
U
We
need
we're
going
to
need
someone
to
be
the
collector
of
the
financial
data
that
we're
going
to
gather
during
our
our
six
months
inquiry,
and
so
using
this
as
a
base
will
acquire
more
information.
It
just
seems
to
be
easier
to
use
you
as
a
base
and
then
add
later
on
the
other
data
that
we
come
up
with.
Is
there
a
world
where
that's
where
we're
in
some
collective
collaborative
way
that
can
happen.
F
I
I
can't
imagine
that
that
there
I
mean
I
can
imagine
there
must
be
a
way
to
do
that.
I
think
that
you
know
as
you've
seen
today.
There
are
a
number
of
of
folks
who
have
very
important
roles
in
this.
So
so
you
know
ron
joseph
and
I
are
wise
from
the
school
district,
the
controller
lam
and
others
on
the
city
side.
We're
happy
to
you
know
play
whatever
role.
The
parties
agree
would
be
helpful
in
doing
that
and
happy
to
discuss
it.
U
It's
because
it's
just
because
I
know
you
and
I
know
you
know
the
city's
finances
intimately
in
ways
that
few
others
do,
and
so
we'll
talk
more
about
that.
I
just
want
to
thank
you
for
sticking
around
both
of
you
for
being
around
so
long
with
us.
It's
been
a
full
day,
and
I
just
appreciate
the
moment
I
just
I
will
say
I
will
push
back
on
one
thing:
I've
been
I've
been
not
saying
this
all
day.
I've
been
trying
not
to
say
it.
U
It
is,
it
is
explicitly
untrue
that
poor
communities
are
competing
for
dollars.
That
thought
is
wrong
and
it
is
it
is.
Unfortunately,
I
don't
hit
it,
I'm
trying
not
to
say
it
real
hard,
but
it
is
born
in
many
ways
out
of
racism
that
that
that
poor
communities
only
receive
only
deserve
money.
That's
given
to
them
in
a
small
pot.
You
know-
and
that's
just
for
the
black
folk,
really
all
low
and
middle
class
communities
are
really
competing
against
squirrel
hill
shadyside
southside
flat
in
oakland.
Those
are
the
places
that
are
disproportionately
getting
the
resources.
U
The
poor
communities
are
not
at
all
competing
against
each
other,
we're
all
competing
against
the
wealthy
communities,
because
those
dollars
are
not
being
invested
in
poor
communities,
and
if
you
want
poor
communities
to
flourish
that
has
to
be
in
partnership
with
more
fluent
communities,
it
is
never
never
ever
gone.
Poor
communities
are
never
going
to
ever
make
other
poor
communities
better.
That's
not
how
it
works.
It
is
middle
class
and
in
stable
communities
that
partner
with
poor
communities
that
in
in
the
case,
I'm
going
to
make
in
our
city.
The
best
example
is
larmor.
U
The
only
reason
that
you've
seen
the
rebirth
of
warmer
is
because
of
its
proximity
to
east
liberty.
If
there
wasn't
east
liberty
warmer
would
have
never
occurred.
When
we've
got
the,
we
know,
300
million
dollar
stuff,
30
million
from
the
government
did
about
300
million
dollars
of
development
warmer.
When
hud
came,
they
didn't
even
come
along
at
first
they
went
to
google
in
east
liberty
and
they
looked
at
shadyside.
U
First,
they
looked
at
east
liberty
first
and
said:
if
we
put
this
money
in
alarm,
these
residents
can
walk
to
these
amenities.
Well,
let's
invest
in
larger,
and
so
I
I
I
I
do
this
work,
and
so
I
try
to.
I
try
not
to
say
it
all
the
time,
but
it's
really.
The
money
in
pittsburgh
is
disproportionately
invested
in
wealthy,
segregated
communities.
U
That's
who
we
are
competing
against
we're
competing
against
that
private
dollar
public
we've
done!
If
you
look
at
our
records,
the
city
of
pittsburgh's
done
remarkable
over
the
last
10
years
of
investing
in
poor
communities,
the
competition
is,
how
do
we
get
the
shadyside
investment?
How
do
we
get
the
oakland
investment?
How
do
we
get
the
southside
flats?
Investment,
how
do
we
get
those
very
wealthy
bank
investments
that
are
targeted
for
segregated
affluent
communities
to
be
invested
in
emerging
and
communities
of
potential?
U
U
That
way
is
it's
not
true,
and
both
of
them
can
be
successful
at
the
same
time
with
probably
different
strategies,
but
neither
one
of
them
have
to
suffer
because
they're,
both
poor
and
be
wilkinsburg
coming
in
the
city
will
not
ever
really
directly
make
other
poor
communities
in
pittsburgh
better
worse
off.
It's
just
it
just
doesn't
work
that
way
and
that's
my
last
speech.
I
listened
to
it
most
of
the
day
I
didn't
say
anything
until
today
I
had
to
say
something:
it's
just
not
how
I
come
up.
Q
Wilson,
well,
I
don't
know
if
we
could
play
off
each
other
here,
but
I'm
curious,
you
know:
what's
the
vacant
abandoned
property
issue
like
in
wilkinsburg,
it's
high
right
now,
I
believe.
P
Q
Q
The
city
is
on
board
to
waive
liens
and
we're
asking
the
school
board.
We've
been
trying
to
work
with
the
school
board,
a
waving
lean
so
that
we
can
move
properties
faster,
and
this
is
part
of
a
larger
conversation
if
wilkinsburg
can
actually
be
a
part
of
that.
That's
the
conversation
I'm
interested
in.
Q
I
would
love
to
you
know,
continue
this
conversation
with
mr
weiss
and
to
hear
the
school
board
out
in
terms
of
if
they
could
get
on
board
wave
and
lean,
so
that
we
can
all
be
a
part
of
this
solving
of
this
recycling
tool
to
actually
improve
lives
for
people
that
live
next
to
vacant,
abandoned
property.
Q
You
know
that
that's
that's
the
it's
probably
plaguing
wilkinsburg
as
much
as
is
us,
so
we
got
all
the
entities
here
entities
here
that
we
could
really
work
together
to
solve
that
problem,
but
I'm
not
sure
if
you
agree
with
that
kind
of
not
councilman
but
yeah.
So
hopefully
you
know
that
could
be
a
larger
conversation
if
it's
the
right
move
in
terms
of
like
involving
wilkinsburg
in
that
conversation.
So
all
right
thanks.
A
P
We
do
have
regular
conversations
with
the
city,
principally
about
waiving
tax
liens,
and
we've
been
having
conversations
with
the
urban
redevelopment
authority
about
restructuring
the
land
bank
so
as
to
give
the
school
district
representation
and
making
it
a
more
robust
process
and
we're
ready
to
do
that.
Now
that
the
new
administration
is
in
place.
So
we
are
ready
to
talk
to
whomever
would
like
to
have
that
conversation.
A
Councilman
wilson,
thank
you
for
bringing
that
up.
You
know
I
want
to
be
involved
with
the
land
bank.
I
want
to
be
involved
with
that
with
you.
I
has
to
be
on
the
board,
we'll
see
we'll
figure
that
out
at
some
point,
but
you
know
so
anybody
else
have
anything
they
want
to
add
or
any
any
questions
to
sum
this
up
for
today.
A
Okay,
so
listen,
I
just
want
to
say
thank
you.
Thank
you
to
everybody
to
come
into
a
consensus
as
to
how
we're
going
to
move
forward.
Obviously
we
see
it's
a
lot
of
information
to
digest.
You
know,
and
we
have
a
long
way
to
go.
I'm
going
to
encourage
other
council
members,
whether
it's
mr
wilson,
about
what
he
was
just
talking
about
or
other
council
members
to
have
post
agendas
throughout
the
year.
I
think
we
need
at
least
three
more
or
four.
You
know
as
many
as
it
takes.
A
I
think
so
I
want
to
thank
mr
weiss
again.
I
apologize.
I
didn't,
fill
you
in
on
exactly
what
transpired
in
the
last
day
or
two
and
wasn't
really
certain
until
today.
So
I
think
you
came
here
with
you
know,
a
different
frame
of
mind
and
that's
my
fault,
so
I
apologize
for
that.
I
want
to
thank
all
of
our
guests
as
to
what
they
added
and
what
they're
going
to
add
and
then
we'll
be
seeing
you
again
and
for
now
this
meeting
is
adjourned.
Thank
you
very
much.
Thank
you.