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From YouTube: CityTalk with John McIntire: Itha Cao & Jam Hammond
Description
On this episode of CityTalk, John interviews Itha Cao from the Department of Innovation & Performance and Jam Hammond from the Commission on Human Relations.
A
A
B
Sure
so
I
am
the
senior
civic
innovation
specialist
within
the
department
of
innovation
and
performance.
So
I
do
a
couple
things.
I
manage
all
of
the
external
partnerships
with
our
tech
community,
as
well
as
all
of
our
university
projects
and
proposals,
and
then
I
also
am
the
program
manager
for
pgh
lab,
which
is
the
government
platform
for
startups
to
test
pilot,
their
products
and
services
with
us.
A
B
Well,
so
the
idea
is
for
us
to
elevate
startup
companies.
You
know
pittsburgh
is
really
just
this
really
big,
blossoming
tech
city.
Now
I
think
now
we're
moving.
Definitely
from
that
steel
city,
reputation
to
the
hospital
and
tech
city.
So
a
lot
of
these
smaller
startups,
you
know
they're,
very
small
companies.
A
B
Sure
so
I
was
a
policy
analyst
for
about
three
years
and
I
was
hired
on
to
do
some
stormwater
and
green
infrastructure
work,
and
then
I
got
pulled
into
multiple
different
projects
because
they
all
relate
to
equity.
I
think
at
the
end
of
the
day,
everything
we
do
at
the
city
and
local
government
is
really
just
to
serve
the
residents,
so
I
did
start
to
sorry.
My
dog
is
being.
B
B
B
B
B
Sure
so
I
came
to
pittsburgh
for
grad
school
at
the
graduate
school
of
public
and
international
affairs
at
pitt.
My
degree
is,
I
have
a
master's
in
international
development
and
then
I
also
have.
I
was
fortunate
enough
to
receive
a
federal
scholarship.
It's
called
foreign
language
area
studies
scholarship
to
study
chinese,
even
though
I
have
you
know
chinese
parents,
I
didn't
really
really
grow
up
with
a
you
know,
reading
and
writing.
So
yeah,
very
fortunate,
and
then
you
know
I
ended
up
staying.
B
Well,
it's
yeah.
It's
definitely
a
work
in
progress,
it's
about
122
years
old,
so
you
know,
as
you
can
imagine,
there's
a
bunch
of
repairs
that
need
to
be
done,
but
it
is
a
really
great
neighborhood.
I
am
a
biker,
so
I
did
want
some
place
that
was
very
close
to
work
and
just
accessible
via
bus
and
bike.
B
Sure,
well,
so
I
think
you
know
everyone
has
been
struggling.
You
know
personally
well,
so
I
am
of
chinese
heritage,
so
definitely
reading
a
lot
of
the
the
recent
reports
that
honestly
have
been
going
on
for
years
even
before
kovid
have
been
definitely
unsettling
and
disturbing,
but
I
think,
in
terms
of
coping
you
know,
I
think,
met
like
many
people
getting
closer
to
family.
You
know
my
family
right
now
is
spread
out
across
the
nation
in
the
world.
B
My
dad's
in
china
spending
time
with
my
grandma
after
my
grandpa
passed
away
last
year,
my
sister's
in
california,
her
and
my
my
brother-in-law
are
actually
moving
to
maryland
to
be
closer
to
family.
My
mom's
still
in
state
college,
I'm
in
pittsburgh-
and
you
know
just
in
terms
of
coping
we've,
started
doing
like
family
zoom
workouts,
which
has
been
pretty
fun
so
highly,
recommend,
jane,
fonda's,
salsa
workouts,
because
believe
it
or
not,
they're
very
challenging
pierre
has
definitely
been
a
a
big,
a
big
help
and
a
support.
B
B
Luckily,
you
know
my
family
and
friends
have
safe,
have
been
safe.
Many
of
them,
you
know,
unfortunately,
have
gotten
covered,
but
mostly
have
just
you
know:
they're
they're,
recovering
yeah.
I
think
in
terms
of
of
coping
too
one
thing:
that's
new
to
me
honestly
is
finding
me
time
and
just
just
not
doing
anything
which
is
relatively
new,
so
yeah.
I
think
we're
all
we're
all
working
on
it.
B
B
I
recently
got
a
cortisone
shot
last
week,
actually
because
I've
been
getting
radial
tunnel
syndrome
which,
for
those
of
you
who
don't
know
it's
very
similar
to
carpal
tunnel,
but
it's
basically
overuse
of
like
the
arm
and
the
wrist
so
yeah.
I
think
it's
just
important
to
listen
to
your
body
and
just
unplug
for
a
little
bit
too.
I
think,
is
also
healthy,
because
yeah
reading
all
these
news
articles
at
2am
is
definitely
not
a
good
way.
Yeah
and.
A
B
B
I
guess
it's
it's
very
common
amongst
women
and
among
a
lot
of
racial
minorities.
Just
go,
go,
go.
You
know,
I
think,
especially
within
the
asian
community.
There
are
not
a
ton
of
us
here,
but
the
people
who
are
very
active
are
exhausted
and
I
think
I've
been
learning
a
lot
that
it's
okay
just
to
stop
and
take
a
break,
and
it's
it's
actually
better,
because
you
can't
pour
from
an
empty
cup.
A
A
C
Television,
the
baby
of
the
radio
family
is
creating
openings
for
experienced
engineers,
most
of
whom
are
graduating
from
radio
work
for
regularly
scheduled
programs.
The
production
department
has
a
multitude
of
duties
to
perform
primarily
concerned
with
planning
and
preparing
the
programs
to
go
on
the
air
from
the
scene
of
action,
cameramen,
televise
events
which
you
may
see
in
your
own
home.
If,
of
course,
you
have
a
television
receiver
control,
men
skillfully
operate
the
apparatus
which
mixes
sound
effects,
music
and
dialogue.
C
C
C
A
D
So
the
pittsburgh
commission
on
human
relations
is
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
civil
rights
enforcement
agency,
anytime,
that
somebody
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh
feels
that
they
have
been
discriminated
against
in
either
housing,
employment,
public
accommodations
or
the
delivery
of
city
services.
They
can
file
a
complaint
with
us
and
we'll
investigate
it.
We
also
do
a
lot
of
outreach
education
and
looking
at
examining
policies.
D
So
I
just
came
from
a
different
position
inside
the
commission.
I
was
the
outreach
and
intake
coordinator
starting
in
march
of
2019,
but
I
came
to
pittsburgh
to
get
my
master's
in
public,
accommodations
and
social
work
and
community
community
organizing
social
work
and
when
the
position
came
open
at
the
commission,
it
seemed
like
you
know,
a
really
good
intersection
of
both
of
those
two
disciplines
that
I
was
studying.
D
D
D
We
also
have
a
few
infrastructure
issues
that
that
make
it's
possible
that
the
reporting
is
higher
so
particularly
for
people
with
disabilities
in
terms
of
our
streets
and
the
way
that
our
buildings
are
are
not
renovated.
Typically,
and
we
have
an
older
infrastructure,
there's
a
more
likelihood
for
complaints.
There.
D
D
So
the
way
that
the
process
works
is
that
the
staff
actually
investigate
the
complaint,
and
then
they
write
a
a
summary
or
report,
and
then
it
goes
to
half
of
the
commissioners.
So
the
commission
is
bifurcated
and
half
of
them
serve
on
a
public
hearing
section
and
then
half
of
them
serve
on
a
compliance
review
section.
So
the
compliance
review
section
receives
that
staff
report
and
typically,
we've
done
enough
thorough
investigation
that
there
they
understand
our
findings.
D
A
A
D
If
we
come
to
a
lack
of
probable
cause
finding,
which
is
what
we
would
call
you
know,
we
didn't
have
enough
evidence
of
discrimination
to
say
that
we
believe
it
was
there.
We
still
present
that
to
the
compliance
review
section,
they
can
ask
questions
about
our
our
investigation,
such
as
did
you
look
into
this
factor
or
this
factor
to
determine
whether
we
really
did
enough
investigation
and,
I
would
say,
more
cases
than
don't
end
in
an
lpc
finding.
D
Well,
I
was
looking
for
for
a
program
that
was
probably
a
social
work
program
but
combined
elements
of
public
policy,
so
I
was
also
looking
at
masters
of
public
policy
programs
or
public
administration
and
pitt
has
a
joint
degree
program
and
in
social
work
and
and
public
administration,
so
that
seems
like
a
pretty
natural
fit.
I
looked
at
a
couple
of
others,
but
honestly,
I
think
something
about
pittsburgh
seemed
like
it
was
going
to
be
a
really
great
fit.
It's
a
really
affordable
city.
D
The
program
looked
great
after
having
been
here
for
for
a
couple
of
years.
I
think
that
all
of
that
was
true,
but
it's
also
a
really
great
environment
to
be
a
policy
student
or
an
administration
student.
We
have
so
many
different,
different
and
unique
factors
here
in
pittsburgh
that
I
think
I
don't
know
if
I
could
have
chosen
a
better
place
to
study.
You
know
administration
and
policy.
D
I
don't
know
that
I
had
particularly
chosen
any
any
way
or
another.
My
partner
also
went
to
school
at
the
same
time,
so
I
knew
I
was
going
to
be
there
as
long
as
as
long
as
she
was
in
school.
But
beyond
that
I
really
didn't
know.
I
think
actually.
Actually,
my
plan
was
to
try
to
get
to
dc
for
policy,
and
I
ended
up
coming
to
pittsburgh
and
I
just
up
ended
up
staying
pittsburgh
is
probably
you
know.
Some
people
say
you
have
to
be
in
dc.
D
D
Kofu
has
been
interesting,
I
mean
I'm
really
lucky
because
back
in
july
of
2019,
I
bought
my
house,
so
I
have
a
house
that
I
can
just
be
in
just
me
and
my
wife
and
that's
great,
and
we
have
enough
income
that
we
haven't
had
to
worry
about
anything.
So
I
really
can't
complain
too
much
about
covet.
I
mean,
of
course
you
know
I
struggle
with
you,
know
social
isolation
and
mental
health,
but
I
couldn't
ask
to
be
luckier
than
to
have
a
house
and
income
during
covet.
D
D
D
D
D
Yeah,
it's
really
interesting.
I
don't
think
there's
there
a
very
limited
number
of
places
that
you
could
do
this
exact
kind
of
work.
Civil
rights
enforcement
is
a
pretty
like
niche
category.
So
there's
so
many
you
know.
Moving
parts
and
and
the
policy
is,
is
fascinating
and
the
impact
is
fascinating.
So
it's
it's
really
unique
work.
It's
really
interesting.
A
D
D
Yeah,
definitely
I
mean
especially
if
you
can't
stop
yourself
from
doing
it.
That's
a
lot
of
the
public
servants
that
I
know
if
you
just
can't
get
the
idea
out
of
your
head,
it's
different
than
a
non-profit,
it's
different
than
a
private
company.
Your
your
salary
is
paid
by
your
neighbors,
and
you
really
have
this
strong
feeling
of
obligation
and
you
somehow
love
it.
So
I
would
definitely
especially
if
you
can't
get
the
idea
of
service
to
the
public
out
of
your
head-
definitely
go
into
government
at
least
try
it.
A
D
A
And
finally,
you
made
the
news
recently
because
there
was
a
bill
passed
by
the
city
council,
as
you
know,
to
prevent
discrimination
regarding
hairstyles,
mostly
with
people
of
color.
Correct
me
if
I'm
wrong,
but
then
a
guy
in
the
police
department
wanted
to
grow
a
beard,
but
the
public
safety
department
doesn't
want
police
officers
with
beards.
So
what
was
the
status
of
that.
D
I
mean
the
status
of
that
is
that
city
council
decided
to
remove
the
term
other
forms
of
hair
discrimination
or
other
forms
of
hair
presentation
from
the
legislation.
I
don't
know
that
it
necessarily
actually
changes
the
a
person's
right
to
file
if
they
believe
they've
been
discriminated
against
on
the
basis
of
their
beard.
But
what's
interesting
is
that
this
kind
of
this
discussion
really
focused
on
the
department
of
public
safety.
This
law
is
for
the
entire
city
of
pittsburgh.