Cable Advisory Committee - Regular Meeting

good morning and welcome to the standing committee's meeting for wednesday july 8 2026. all council meetings will be live streamed on the city's website and for guest speakers at the table please do not turn off your microphones our first order of business is roll call will the clerk please take the role mr charlie here

Mr. Coghill. Ms. Gross. Mr. LaBelle. Here. Mr. Mosley. Ms. Salonetro.

Here.

Ms. Warwick. Here. Mr. Wilson. Ms. Strasburger, Chair. Here. Five members present.

Thank you. Our next order of business is to amend the agenda. Can I have a motion to amend?

So moved. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Agenda is amended. Our next order of business is public comment. I would like to remind all speakers that the rules of council state that comments are limited to matters of concern, official action, or deliberation, which are or may be before city council, and profanity will not be permitted. Please state your name and neighborhood for the record. You will have three minutes to speak. Our first registered speaker is Keisha Gomez.

Thank you. Good morning Council, members of Council and everyone there. My name is Keisha Gomez and I'm the Executive Director and Founder of Hope for Tomorrow, located in Sheridan in Pittsburgh's West End. I wanted to take a few moments to introduce myself and our organization because I know there are important conversations that you have on the agenda that's happening around violence prevention, community investment, and the allocation of Stop the Violence funds and others as well. Hope for Tomorrow provides year-round out-of-school time programming for young people from third grade through their second year of post-secondary education. We don't just provide a safe place after school, we build relationships that last for years. One of the things I'm most proud of is that we're now seeing the full circle of that work. The young people who came through our program are graduating from high school, they're earning college degrees, they're attending law school, They're starting businesses and they're coming back to Hope as employees and mentors for the next generation. That's the kind of long-term investment I believe you're looking for and that the community needs.

We're not a new organization with a new idea. We're trying our truth.

We've been doing this work building trust with youth and their families and producing real outcomes. Every day we see both the challenges of our youth that they face and the incredible potential that they have when they're given consistent support and opportunities to succeed. I know everyone here wants safer neighborhoods, and so do we. Violence prevention doesn't happen after a crisis. It begins by investing in young people before they're in crisis by creating opportunities, building trusted relationships, and making sure they know that they belong. As plans with council continue to be developed and resources like the Stop the Violence funds and other community investments are allocated, I simply ask that organizations like Hope for Tomorrow here have a seat at the table. We're already doing the work. We'd love the opportunity to continue partnering with the city, with council, and other community organizations because none of us can solve these challenges alone. Thank you for your time and I look forward to working together to continue creating opportunities for Pittsburgh's young people and hope that the West End is not forgotten. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Dr. Ronald Lynn Miller.

Dr. Ronald N. Miller, United States, Pittsburgh, PA, an Auxville neighborhood, USA, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Sioux Falls Center neighborhood, which is the location of the Ark of Dreams, New Zealand, Auckland, the Maori Center neighborhood, Te Hana, Te Marana, Mayori Cultural Center. Concerns of this council include diversity and information and intelligence that has to do with the effects of slavery on this city. Concerns that I have as a candidate for President of the United States 2028 ACE include diversity with a focus on information and intelligence optimality to millions. Copper skin indigenous in the United States and dark skin individuals of African descent. The 4th of July is not Independence Day. July 4 from 1776 is Incarceration Day. Using Manifest Destiny 1846 as an ideological propeller to create a greater USA, 20 of a minimum 40 million indigenous were killed by light-skinned, European descent, U.S. American followers of not Pacific, anti-American, lex talionis Jesus, but a violentic, institutionalized Christianity. Mount Rushmore is a sacrilege to descendants of the Sioux, barbarous, pig-head, racist, four of them up there. According to genocide centers in Deutschland, Nihon, Mexico, the United States of America, and the United Nations, followers of the institutionalized Christian religion at a minimum of 100 million killed are at the top of the list, the greatest religious killers of all time. Greater England emerged 1200 to 1800 propelled by the idea of a Greater Britain. And in 1820 or so, the indigenous of Eyre declined between 1820 and 1900 from 8 million to 4 million. 2 million by starvation and 2 million who emigrated primarily to the United States of America. How could Christian England allow this to happen? Allow Irish people to die in this way? How could this happen? How can this be a consequence of being Christian? It is not. Leave the institutionalized church and follow Jesus. That's the primary task.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Lauren Corsi.

Okay, let me just cross my name out on here. Okay. Good morning, Recreation, Youth, and Senior Services Committee and Chairperson Warwick. Thank you for allowing me to give public comment. My name is Lauren Corsi. I'm the Director of Engagement and Sustainability with Hazelwood Initiative. By training, I'm a social worker. I am here to encourage you to issue an RFP to fund staffing and programming for the recently renovated Bergman Rec Center in Glen Hazel. This is an opportunity to provide free, supportive programming for children from all over Greater Hazelwood and outside of the neighborhood in a building that has already been renovated. The rec center is all ready for the kids, but they can't use it because it needs staffing and programming. We know that we have an audience, as so many kids from the neighborhood, as well as from neighboring communities, come to use the spray park attached to the rec center. Enriching that location with programming will reach and support youth in their out-of-school time, which is desperately needed. Non-profit, community-based organizations in the neighborhood like Center of Life, Jada House, Poor Law do a wonderful job of filling in gaps and providing youth programming in Hazelwood. And still, there is never enough. They cannot do this work without the tools. The city's support would go a long way in providing safe and supportive after-school activities for the kids. Funding the rec center would mean out-of-school activities in a neighborhood where there is no movie theater, no arcade, and very few third spaces for children and teens. This is a great opportunity for the city to invest in the development of kids in the city of Pittsburgh. After-school activities are critical for kids' development and continued support outside of school. They help students build self-confidence, life skills, leadership skills, and have plenty of other long-term positive benefits to a child's academic and social life. And yet, not everyone can access them. These types of benefits should be available to everyone. Providing funding for staffing and programs will not only benefit kids in Hazelwood, but will benefit their parents and families who are working or need respite from childcare in and outside of Greater Hazelwood. We are working with parents and families who often cannot afford the high price of enrollment for summer camps and structured after school programming. So having a place where low and moderate income families can access those programs is critical. There has been a lot of talk in the city of Pittsburgh lately about what kids do when they're not in school. I think that in place of criminalizing children and teens, we need to provide them with options. Funding the Rec Center is one concrete way to do that and would be a productive use of valuable city resources and would help to bring some brighter days to Hazelwood. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Dylan James Pasescu.

Hello, my name is Dylan Basescu. I'm a resident of the Southside. I've spoken to you for multiple weeks about why you should end the discrimination and the curfews on East Carson Street. So to be fair, I want to discuss why some people want to keep it going, and I want to explain why they're mistaken. There is first a perception of increased crime that is held over from the past, but crime has reduced dramatically without these extremely recent restrictions on public life. These restrictions are unnecessary, and if they are truly so necessary, the city's restrictions would be, frankly, upon men. Every statistical measure of crime would support that restriction overwhelmingly if reducing crime was truly all we care about. But of course, that restriction would wreak too much of discrimination to be tolerable. But if the concern, alternatively as some have said, was the unrest on the previous July 4th holiday, our most recent national anniversary has come and gone. There is not even remaining a pretense of a need for these restrictions. There is, second, a lack of information. People across the South Side were informed of the details of these restrictions and these measures only at the last hour, and exactly as intended, had little time to educate themselves and organize to oppose the draconian measures planned months ahead of time, sought funding months ahead of time, behind the scenes. And sadly, and lastly, there are those who have said they want to keep out who they call troublemakers from outside the neighborhood. And I will not mince words anymore. This is about race. No one could be so lacking in candor as to assert the contrary. To hearken to outside agitators is an echoing cry from a sordid past. Already, we have seen hate groups in the South Side newly repeating this messaging on signs and flyers near my own home. And I am sure they are glad for a local government that validates their belief that outsiders are an insidious threat against their safety. I am asking you, again, stop giving aid and comfort to people who would see us oppressed with glee. End these fruitless restrictions.

Thank you. Our final registered speaker is Chief Ikohana Halmakina. Do not see them online, so we will come back to the Chief. We will now move on to those... We will now move on to those in the audience wishing to speak. Thank you.

Good morning. Carlino Gianpolo, Panther Hollow. In my testimony yesterday, I mentioned that the actions of council members Barbara Borowick and Bob Charlin in fully supporting the Waldorf graffiti encouraging underage drinking and recreational drug use at the Oakland do-it-yourself skate park are a broken trust for the people of Pittsburgh. I went on to say this council has full knowledge of these two council members' broken trust and ask that you file your report to the proper authorities for their breach and violation of the Code of Conduct. I trust you will do so. My full testimony is on the website, pantherhollowplayground.com. On Monday, July 6th, I sent an email to Mayor Cory O'Connor. Here are a few excerpts. Since my email to you on January 12, 2026, you have been aware of the Oakland DIY skate park issue, severely impacting Panther Hollow residents. In my email, I also congratulated you on your election as mayor and shared our commonality as Central and Duquesne graduates in being blessed with exceptional parents. On April 15th, 2026, I sent you an email and hand-delivered photos of the vulgar graffiti inside the skate park that encourages underage drinking and recreational drug use. Painting over the vulgar graffiti would not solve the issue. That would only cover up and mask the shame. The solution is to shut down the Oakland DIY skate park altogether. This issue has now moved beyond your administration. When I filed a report with the Allegheny County Health Department about rats in the skate park, I learned that Pittsburgh Public Schools in Allegheny County also own this property. These co-owners can delegate authority to the City of Pittsburgh to maintain the property, but they cannot delegate responsibility. Therefore, today I contacted the superintendent, board president, and the District 5 board member of Pittsburgh Public Schools requesting that they contact you as private citizens with the message to shut down the Oakland DIY skate park. Tomorrow I will speak at the Allegheny County Council meeting asking council members as private citizens to do the same. Whether they contact you or not, ultimately your own personal dignity will make the final decision. End of excerpts. We are going to keep on keeping on with our message to awaken the dignity and do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do. Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Hello, good morning. My name is Easton Hill. I'm a resident of Hazelwood. I'm here to tell you why I think the rec center in Burgland should be open. Kids are running the streets and doing whatever they think they want. There's only a couple camps and after schools, and the bathroom does not work, and we have to use the field. So I think we should open the rec center. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Hi, my name is Denise Johnson. I live in Hazelwood. That was my son. The reason why I think that Burgwyn needs to be open, because we see what's going on every day out in the streets. After school programs, we have a couple, but it's not enough to serve Hazelwood. So you got the kids over here running the streets. You got the kids over here learning. There's enough for everybody to be at one of these three or four different facilities that we could be at. It's not like other neighborhoods have it. And yeah, they get the kudos. We don't. They seem like we're forgotten. Other things is more important than our children. And we just need the help. I mean, if I could do it, I would open it up to get these kids off the streets. But I can't do it. But I'm just here to ask for some help. And I appreciate you all, and thank you. Have a great day. Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning, my name is Lula Cope, and I'm a resident of Hazelwood for 26 years, and I'm a member of the Art Excursion of Hazelwood. My group are here to support you and help you to get Burke Rain Center back open so we can get the kids off the street and give them something to do. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is James Cole. I'm the program director of Poor Law, and I'm the person who, well, our organization is the one who has been doing programming out of the Bergwin building for the past six years. We started off with having football 12 years ago, and with having football, we used to have... just tutoring on tuesdays and thursdays and we would pull out tables and chairs and just do tutoring before we would do football because we wanted we wanted to ensure that the kids understood that uh school that you're a student athlete not just an athlete and through that we needed there would rain and stuff we would have to pull out tents and everything And we knew that we needed a space where we can be indoors and do the work and create a wraparound program where the kids could not just only come for sports, but also educational purposes. We got in 2020, we started talking to the city and I think her name was Kathy at the time about getting access to the building. We received access to the building and we have been doing programming for the past six years. We've partnered with different neighborhoods to stop the violence with within our community by partnering with Ammons and Dapporter, Southside, Vaughn-Manton. We were able to create memories with these kids. We partnered with them with our summer camps and with after school programming. We've been doing this for the past six years, but we've been doing it on a minimal budget. We haven't had the funding to really do it, but we make it happen. I was spending a lot of my own money, and it's... Yeah, it's got to the point where I had to go and get another job, which has made it where as though I can't do what my passion is at this point, and that is to inspire and empower the kids in my community. I'm one of the people of the community. I'm born and raised in Hazelwood. I have... I'm one of the people from the neighborhood who went off and got their bachelor's degree from Oregon State University. I'm a Morgan State grad. The building was being used, well, yeah, it's still being used, but this, we need funding. At the end of the day, our organization, we need funding to be able to continue to do the work that we've been doing. It's crazy that most underserved communities have small nonprofits who are doing programming within these city buildings, and Within these city buildings and wealthier neighborhoods, get the funding and have all of this stuff to be able to have a after school program and summer camp. Thank you very much, your time has expired. But the underserved neighborhoods aren't getting the same monies to be able to do this, which is making- Thank you very much, your time has expired.

We need to give everyone equal time, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker.

Yes. So I want to continue what my son was just saying, which is we do need funding. And I think that it's a blatant disrespect to put our RFP out because we have been doing this work for a long time now without an RFP. So again, and the children that we serve are the ones that a lot of people in our community don't. And that's the at-risk children. We are working with the children that other organizations don't want to work with. Let's keep that right in the forefront. Okay? And like my son said, he loves working with the youth. This is what he do. This is what we do. These are the youth of our future. These children right here trust us. You bring somebody else in the community, you're not going to get the effect that you would get if it was us. Understand that because you have to build trust. And this building is where people come, they eat, because I was cooking at home, bringing food up to the rec so that our children can eat. We had them specifically fix this building to how we need it to be fixed. They have a little kitchenette in there. We can teach them cooking. We can teach them a lot of things in here. So I just want to say this. We do $500,000 worth of work for $10,000. Okay? That's what we do. That's a blatant disrespect. We earned it. We deserve it. And we're still here. We're still here because of these children. I've been doing this longer than my son been doing it. Okay? So I know. I know what's going on. So again, we... The people. We deserve that wreck. Okay? We got people that live around in the community that watches that wreck. Not only watch the wreck, but they watch the children. Because the children is in our park. They're in the park. They might be smoking. We'll have a resident that the children know and respect come over and tell them to stop. Guess what they're going to do? They're going to stop. Because they listen and they respect us. And when you have that, you have something. Children just don't like anybody. They got to trust you. And that trust is important, y'all. Okay, it's very important. So I'm not asking for RFP. That's not what we're asking for. We're asking that money should be designated to the people who's been doing this work. Okay, that's where it should go. Now, if anybody else feel different, that's on them. But right now, we deserve it because we put the work in. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Hi, how you doing? Good morning. My name is Brianna Fisher. I am a former resident of Hazelwood. And Sandra Cole just spoke about the effect of Hazelwood and what she had done. I stand before you at 31 with children now of my own, someone who sat with her. And I had endured that neighborhood of Hazelwood, and I've endured us not having funding or anything. And I don't know anything that If they say anything, I don't mind as a devil's playground. You can either give funding where it is needed and where it is used and allow these kids to have something that my children, the seeds of my seeds, because I am Hazelwood. I'm a daughter in Hazelwood. I'm a mom in Hazelwood. I'm even an activist in Hazelwood. And you can give them people that funding because I know I rode past Shady Lane and I seen them outside cutting the grass and the kids running up with their little shorts on and everything. But I didn't see that when I rode through Hazelwood to get here. I didn't see that at all. Whether it was Shady Lane or the Shady Lane after school program or the summer camp. But I don't see that money being allocated in Hazelwood and they're continuously coming up here to fight for something that's already should be theirs. Now, you can sit and say, oh, well, these kids are rally, and they don't do this, and they don't do that, and keep allowing people in different communities and everything to be uproarly, and then say, oh, my gosh, I can't believe those kids are doing this or doing that. And then you see them on the news and everything, like they're over downtown and East Liberty and everything. Or you can give these kids an option. You can give them something to do, and then you can see the result. You can see me. I'm 31. I'm 31. I didn't sit in her yard. I didn't sit in their yard. I didn't play. They don't even remember my name because I'm grown now. I didn't have to move out of Hazelwood to give my three sons a chance. But in the neighborhood we live in, we're not necessarily welcome. So I have to come back to Hazelwood to provide my kids with something. And again, this is coming from A daughter in Hazelwood, a mom in Hazelwood, somebody who cooks in Hazelwood, somebody who looks like Hazelwood, and somebody who is Hazelwood. Provide the funding, and maybe they could be something. And not have to move like I had to move, just to come back and say, oh yeah, y'all, we can do something. We can do something today. Impact, you see it. And also, need, you see it. It's up to you guys. Put it in your hands and allow these people who work hard every day. This lady right here, she don't even have her son no more and she's here fighting for rights in the community that she lives in because she wants the community to do better. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

My name is Renee Wilson, and I live on the Hill. I'm here today to talk to the people that we elected to make laws for this city, for this body. Okay, based on everything publicly reported, the city of Pittsburgh did not follow the normal legal process required to impose a curfew in the public square. We're talking about Market Square. Instead, we let Pittsburgh Partnership and Public Safety do this curfew. which is not the way this is supposed to happen. We elected you all to do our laws. So how come this is done without you all? Okay, there's no ordinance, no executive order, no public hearing, no authorizing official. None of that happened here. So that's not the worst. The worst is after this curfew was put in place, They started moving the children out of Marcus Square. They can't even sit down, about past three. If they come from one bus stop to the other, they sit down, they're told to move. They're told to move. There was an incident with my daughter who took our children down to Market Square after a dance recital. They went into Starbucks. The people said, oh, they're too loud. They threw out the black children and left the white children in the store. So anytime that you start mixing law with somebody's perception, you're making a very big mistake. But the worst mistake that you made is that you went loud when you knew, because I know you all know the law. that they were using pepper spray on minors, chasing these people and spraying them with pepper spray. Now this happened in East Liberty. We didn't do a whole curfew for the whole city. So why, we don't mind a 10 o'clock curfew at night. We don't want the kids out, but we do not want our children chasing. We definitely don't want them pepper spray, which is excessive force. And that's the way it's written in the law. And we don't want that to happen. We want you to do your job. If there needs to be a curfew, you all better get it together and stop allowing other people who don't have no right to make law. We hired y'all for that. That's why we elect the job. Please change it. Please change it.

Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good morning. My name is Leah Pugh. When I first began my career in community social work over a decade ago, I quickly learned to know Hazelwood to be a community of mutual aid and one to this day that I think is the strongest in those efforts. When I spent time at the after school or working in the summer camp organized by the Cole family members behind me, I saw firsthand brothers and sisters that were residents of the community of Hazelwood come together to support and uplift the youth of Hazelwood. With that comes authentic, competent care centered on the community. And I also brought my own children along and saw firsthand the effect that the Coole family had on Hazelwood residents. Now that I'm in the education sector, I can't even place a number on how many students come to Coach Coos as a beacon. And this means that the work is working. There are students that in school face a lot of challenges, but when I see them in the after school, they aren't there. They aren't there. That means that they're listening. That means that these are effective community leaders. They tell me that it was six years that they've been doing their work with after school programming. And before resource came in, one thing I've also learned in my line of work is that usually the labor is not matched with the appropriate amount of support from the city. But it is, in fact, benefiting the city of Pittsburgh at large through this personal investment in the youth. It doesn't make sense to me to hamper these efforts with RFPs when the work is already right there and the funding is what needs to be present. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. My name is Pastor June Jeffries. I am a lifetime resident of the greater Hazelwood community. I was raised in Hazelwood. I raised my children in Hazelwood. And I stand in support of Hazelwood. In an effort not to echo all of the things that you have already heard, I see before me not just council people, but I see souls. hearts and minds. I come on behalf of a higher power, that there is a political arena that the world is circulating in. Much of what we have heard today speaks to the injustice and the misrepresentation and the mishandling of people. But I don't come as just another voice on behalf of people. I come as a voice on behalf of a sovereign God. who said, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And I don't know what kind of religious backgrounds you may come from or what your religious spirit thinking is, but you've already heard testimonies that the work is being done by the hands that need to be enabled. And we're fighting through the bureaucracy of politics. And at the end of the day, though, we're all going to have to stand before a righteous God. Because we must do what is right for people. We're not going to be judged by the money that we made, the house that we lived in, the position that we sat on. We're going to be judged by how do we deal with people in an equal and equitable way. For God did not say he so loved certain people. It was not a denominational thing. It was not a educational thing. It was not a political thing. Regardless, black or white, Democrat, Republican, we're all people. And children are our greatest investment because we're only given a window of time that we have on this earth. And then, as we all probably have experienced, death comes. And when death comes, we'll stand before a righteous judge who will judge the quick and the dead. And so whether you don't agree with some of our perspectives or you don't agree with some of our political allegiances, you will agree that there will be a day that there will be no more longer in this world but in the world to come. And so my appeal is to throw out to he that hath an ear, let him hear. Here with your heart and not with your political or your governing spirit, but here with a heart. You probably have children. You probably have grandchildren, nieces, nephews, whatever, godchildren. Would you do this for your own children? And this world is separating who deserves it and who does not. Amen. And that's a lie because there is enough. Every time we pay a bill and we get our taxes paid, there's enough. So let's do it according to the heart of the matter and not the religious or the political or the whatever other arenas are affecting us. Again, my appeal to come to you as a woman of God is to say, listen to the heart of God and serve the people. Thank you. Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning, council. My name is Unique Brown. I'm a homeless mother. I was born on Whiteside Road in my house. And I'm here today because I'm here every week and I'm going to keep being here. And I want to talk about what this city chooses to spend its money on. First thing I want you to notice is something about the people that come down here. When white residents come down to this podium, they are asking you to take things out of their neighborhoods, a development they don't want, a shelter they don't want nearby, a business they don't like. But when black residents come to this podium, we are begging you to put things in our neighborhoods, a grocery store, a playground, a chance to own a home. They come here with demands. We come here with prayers. And that difference right there is the story of Pittsburgh. I've been here for months, but I looked into a couple things. So the 10 million a year in housing opportunity fund, what happened to that? The 13 million in federal CDBG money that by law must help low income residents, what happened to that? The 8.3 million in home ARP funds meant specifically for homeless families What happened to that? A $721 million budget that just raised everybody's taxes for the city but has no programs to help any residents of any black neighborhoods. Y'all have nothing for us. This city is reimbursing a council member, where you at? Anthony, $54 for cleaning supplies. You could have donated that. A public works employee is getting $147 for floor decor. I'm not saying those aren't real expenses, because I'm sure they are to y'all. I'm just saying you are tracking $54 to the penny. But you cannot find money for programs or home ownership programs for the people that are sleeping without a roof, like me. This is not a budget problem. This is a priorities problem. The money exists. The only question is who you decide it belongs to. Stop making us beg for what others demand to get away. They don't even want it. We're begging for it, and they want the stuff out of their communities. Y'all don't even help us at all. And the couple of y'all black skin white people up there, y'all need to start working for us.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

I'm Hazelwood Bowne. My name is Howard H.P. Jackson, Black Political Empowerment Project. I grew up with NAACP all my life in Pittsburgh. And the human nature and the unity that I'm standing with because I moved to Wilkinsburg after my limb got cut off, my leg got cut off, and I haven't been able to participate in my community like I really want to, like I always have done, okay? Always been a community activist, blessed by the hand of Sarah Dixon, okay? And I call Sandra Cole Sarah, okay? But anyway, the reality of the complaints and disagreements you've done research yards. I've been participating with the council for years. Okay. And seeing the work that you have done, you know, I'm not pointing fingers at nobody, you know, because human rights is human rights. And, uh, disagreements is disagreements, but Bergwin poor law center of life, Reverend Murray, myself, We had a meeting with Propel in order to reopen Bergwin. All right? And we made it happen. And now we need your help to go here to pursue and protect our children, right? I'm tired of hearing the song, the love of our children and look at them. You know, you've got to really go ahead and man up and be that parent, just like you are with your own loved ones. And visualize how you want your children to visualize how you want to present them to be. I was lied to growing up. Jesus was white. Columbus discovered America. Never put a foot on it. I don't have to go with the bylaws. But human rights and protecting our babies... You know, there's a vision, right? I had a vision when I was a child. I went to Bergman, loved it. Believe me. Then I went to Gladstone, smallest school in the city. But I'm going to tell you about Hazelwood's heart. It played Westinghouse two years in a row, 66 and 67. So the identity of growth and what your heart is and what you stand for, That's the example right there. But it changed after Martin got killed in 68. And we kind of got dismantled. But Sarah Dixon unified the whole community, black and white, and named the organization of mothers Prep Mothers. And they unified black and white so we can go ahead and put that package together and touch our youth. And we need your help to support the vision that they already been working for. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Good morning. My name is Yvonne F. Brown. I live at 715 Mercer Street. That's the high rise up on Bedford, 192 apartments. Now, every time, when I come down, there's a lot of times I come with questions, and most of the time with problems. Now, I've come with a problem that we experienced last night. I signed up to speak at county council last week sometime. Anyway, Me and my daughter come down to speak. All the doors are locked. I go to the front. I'm banging on the doors. That's locked. But it says till five in the front. And for years you can come in the block. I went to the back, we couldn't get in. We walked around, and I went to the guard's office. She was in there by herself, but then she called to try to get somebody to let us in. Finally, here she said, stand there. Here comes a man, and I said, oh good sir, we signed up to speak. Okay, but I didn't notice the councilman coming to get the young lady that's getting the proclamation. They had to, took the program, the hearing, they did a recess. So they brought the meeting back, you know, like you do, and they let the young girl, they gave her a proclamation. Then they ended it. protesting because I came in with in fact I came before her because she was coming he was letting her in I didn't know it was the council man but I told him I had signed up to speak I should have been able to speak I don't care what you say And I feel like, you know I do a lot of talking, but I think I need to write and sue that I couldn't get into the meeting. Because when we got in, the man at the thing said, the meeting's almost over. How did he know? And then we stood there, he had to turn the machine off, he had to turn the machine back on, we stood there for minutes until it warmed back up. We're supposed to be able to get in the courthouse. We're supposed to be able to. Anytime there's a hearing that I signed up last week sometime, I'm tired of it. You say it's me, but I find all the little quirks that just know what to do that the people don't know because they don't come down. If they came down here and saw you every day, While we're talking, well lately you haven't been because we've been fussing at you. You used to be on your phone, computer, even go sit over in the corner talking on the phone while we're speaking. Three minutes. And especially when a bunch of white people come, you run out there in the hall while we're still speaking. Three minutes. You can't stop for three minutes? Come on. Come on, we're here hours, hours watching you, listening to you, and you won't stay for three minutes. We tried to get five years ago, we couldn't even get five minutes. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Thank you. Next speaker please.

Wait a minute, let me get Phoebe. Okay. What y'all want to say? One at a time.

I think that you should keep the rec room open because if kids don't have a place to go, like their parents, they have work still in the summer, and there's kids that don't have anywhere to go, so they still need to go somewhere. And, yeah. I think they should keep the rec open because the kids learn. They have a lot of education. There's a lot of things to do at the rec.

I think I should open it so kids can go there after school and play and learn more. I think that you guys should open up like after schools and stuff so everybody can learn and play and eat after school.

I think that more kids should go to school and when grown-ups have so and like When, like, more and more kids lose their homes and their grown-ups are losing their jobs. So I think that they should make more schools and after-school programs.

Thank you. That's it? Yes. Say thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Good morning, Special Agent Sunshine, The Missing Child, Cerise Taylor. Wow. God, you really work in mysterious ways. I'm the 1981 CCAC dance instructor, and I am a vocalist for Harvest Street Mission on the north side on Sundays between, I say get there at 10 a.m. until 1 they feed they do a lot for the homeless I know you guys are not homeless but this is a mission that I support vocally as well as with messages from God um when i sing i'm looking for background dancers i'm looking for um models the little ones y'all like come with a suit on put that dress on and please come so i can tell you tell to get the mic you can get the mic and tell people who you are where you from and which who you represent in jesus name that's something you guys can come and do with me please come on sundays right over by the old verizon building on the north side Sunday between, I say get there at 10 to 1 o'clock. It's in the out thing that they do. They do a lot. If you need anything, you know anybody needs anything, please come. But I want to read the 14th Amendment. from section one. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The reason I read that is because my fourth fourth amendment rights have been completely violated i was privileged as a child left two houses you guys two somebody left me as a child they were stolen i'm 62 now they were stolen by the city if not the city they know who did my family the people that raised me i was abducted kidnapped whatever you want to call it there's been over a hundred thousand children abducted from europe right here human traffic right here to become what slaves really Somebody was about to win. Somebody. Anybody. In Jesus' name. Lamentations 357 says, You came here when I called you, and you said, Do not fear. Fear is written in the Bible 365 times. That's one day each of this year, of a year. Every day of the year, God is telling us not to fear. A reminder to live each day fearlessly in Jesus' name. Proverbs 22, 11 says, He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king as his friend. The song for that scripture is, I am a friend of God. This song, today's song, comes from Kirk Franklin. All things, God can do all things. In Jesus' name, amen.

Thank you. Next speaker, please. Seeing no further speakers, we will move on to the standing committee's agenda. And we move right into invoices. You'll notice that you were handed an additional invoices sheet. And on that sheet, you'll see an addition at the bottom of the second page, at the bottom of Department of Parks and Recreation, $10 to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the Homewood Pool application. This is necessary to open Homewood Pool. So I will need, I believe, a motion to suspend the rules to add this to the agenda.

So moved. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Motion passes. And now we can take up invoices as it is recorded here on this additional amendment.

Motion to approve. Second.

Discussion? Seeing none. All in favor of invoices, please say aye. Aye. Invoices are approved. That takes us to... Picards, is there a motion on Picards?

So approved. Second.

Discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of Picards, please say aye. Aye. Copycards are approved. That takes us to Recreational Youth and Senior Services Committee, chaired by Council Member Warwick.

Deferred papers, Bill 643. Resolution authorizing the Mayor, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation to issue requests for proposal for social services programming at the Bergman Recreation Center and to enter into an agreement or agreements with qualified providers at a cost not to exceed $200,000.

Motion to approve discussion.

Second. Second.

All right. Thank you, everybody. I'd like to share my screen.

One second.

Here we go. All righty. No. Can we see? Am I sharing? Just a moment. Oh, here, sorry, apologies. There we go. Alrighty. Okay, great. Alrighty, so I would like to... There we go.

Okay, great. All right, so this bill, as we have all heard, is for funding for after-school and summer programming at the Bergwin Rec Center. So I just wanted to start today to talk a little bit about Bergwin Rec and the work that is done here, because I've had a lot of conversations at this point, and I think that there's maybe a little bit of confusion about what goes on there, right? So I know there's some folks that have said it's not a rec center, it's just a pool building, oh, they only do football. So I just wanted to, you know, give a little insight into the work that's done there. So a gentleman named James Cole, who spoke at public comment today, has been doing the football there for a number of years, about 12 years, I'd say, and Coming out of the pandemic was when poor law got the lease for the building and the after-school program was launched, after-school and summer programming. So it is true that Bergwin was the old pool building. So anyway, so I just have some photos here. You see kids are getting fed. Lots of kids. Performances. Homework help. Again, food, right, food is a big deal for communities, just sort of, these are just picks, just hanging out. Lots of kids, all ages, you can see, we've got teens, we've got littles, a little composting there for Councilwoman Gross. Thank you. Little art. Music programming, again, just homework help. There's Mr. Cole, as you can see. There's, you know, reading room, so this is the little reading nook, little library nook, which is really kind of like a closet, right? It's just like this tiny little space. Got the video game console, you know, some kind of activity. There we go, the teens just kind of hanging out, having some food. We got a, you know, fun activity. Someone brought a snake, some dance, right? The second room, it is two rooms. It's two large rooms with some office space upstairs. You know, this is the game room. They do summer programming as well, outdoor stuff like planting, gardening. You know, these are the kids. They grew some tomatoes. Again, I think this is more composting. Right? So I just want to make it clear. Oh, this is indoor, this is like hydroponic indoor growing, growing your own food. I think they were doing cucumbers. This is a drumming class. I think this was during the summer program. This is a field trip. They also take the kids on field trips. They did an overnight camping field trip. That's what this is. Again, another art project doing some signs. Oh, this is another field trip to the caves. Field trip. Now going to the beach. All right, this is, again, this is inside the rec. Oh, the printmaking, where they make their own T-shirts, right? So this is making T-shirts for the team. Here we have Mr. Cole again, helping with homework. Reading. That's just Pittsburgh's cutest there. And then, you know, that's just sort of like a final picture. So I just wanted to show, for the record, that even though the building, you know, was not in great shape, right, it was being used regularly, right, for after-school and summer programming every day. And that is why... I moved funding into renovating the building, right? Because it was not an adequate building. It had concrete floors, like water on the floor, kind of gross. The bathrooms were kind of a little bit yucky, right? And I felt that this community deserved a better space for this programming. At any rate, so... during sort of the one and a half years or so that it took to renovate the building. You know, it's obviously been closed for the renovations. And, you know, over that time, we all know that operating programs like this has become increasingly difficult, right? CDBG dollars are drying up. Foundations, unfortunately, I have to say, unfortunately, are shifting their focus away from operating budgets and wanting to do more like... one-off projects and competition for this kind of funding has become greater and greater. And so what you have and what you always have had here essentially, and I think we heard from Mr. Cole, you know, who had to leave to go to work, is that, you know, we are asking communities to essentially run a volunteer organization, right? And In the case at Berguin, that has become no longer feasible, right? I heard about this back in May. He's still running the football program, but he's no longer able to sustain the daily programming. You know, like all of us, he has bills to pay. He has rent. He's starting a family of his own. And he actually has, I think you say, you know, he has a job. That's a sort of job job, right? Not this job, another job. So the renovations are going to be complete soon. The school year will be starting before we know it. And it is my priority to ensure that the kids in Glen Hazel have access to a safe place to go after school to do homework, to get food, to have fun. So with this bill, why stop the violence funding? Well, we all know that the purpose of violence stop the violence funding is to provide culturally competent social services for our highest need communities, especially our youth. This includes violence intervention and programming for kids to support families, keep families from being evicted, make sure that kids have a place to go while their parents are at work. This does not include paving or building renovations or police cars or demolitions, all of which are important, but that is not what these dollars are for. You know, just over the past couple of weeks, we've moved $1 million to Learn and Earn, $250,000 to Safe Passages, all fantastic programs that I fully support. The money is there, we know, just under $9 million, unencumbered. So there is more than enough to ensure that we can cover programming at Bergwin, at least for the coming school year. Now, I know that there's been some concern among community members about why an RFP. So I first came into this asking if city parks could just staff, right? If we could staff. I would love it. To be honest, in my perfect world, We as the city would be staffing programs like this, and we would be staffing them, you know, looking at least to staff them out of the communities, right? So not only would we be providing services to the communities, we're providing, you know, good city jobs to people who work in the, who live in the communities, right? That would be the ideal. But obviously that's, you know, the hiring at the city can be slow, right? Operating budget is locked up to the end of the year to the budget process. So that did not seem like the most expedient avenue. The only other option is to pay a third party. You know, in the RFP process, when it's public dollars, we do an RFP. That's just how it works. So, you know, where did I come up with 200K? This is basically just a rough budget that I put together based on a similar program that we run at the city. Again, it doesn't have to be this number. It could be less. It could be more if that's what's needed. But the purpose of this legislation is that council would authorize the use of Stop the Violence funds for this purpose, right? And just sort of in response to the concern that, well, if we give it to Glenn Hazel, then everybody's going to want some. I would say, yeah. Yeah. Right? Because... This is a citywide issue, right? This is a citywide issue. There are multiple council members at this table who have programs just like this, operating small nonprofits on shoestring budgets, you know, sort of barely, you know, maybe they're relying on a retiree that's just, you know, being a hero for the community, right? But that's not how it's supposed to work. My kids, I live in Greenfield. My kids have access to free after-school programming at the City Rec Center at McGee Rec. There's a gym where my teenage son can go play basketball with his friends. There is free summer programming, which I think all of my kids, at least at some point or another, did the McGee summer program. And there's an after-school where my 9-year-old goes basically every day after school. He gets help with his homework. He gets to play with his friends. He gets dinner, and he's there until we go pick him up around 5, 30, or 6. And it is a godsend. But in poor communities across this city, communities like Glen Hazel, kids don't have that. Instead, we say to those communities, figure it out for yourselves. If you're lucky, we'll let you use one of our rundown buildings. But if you can't find the funds, then your kids and your families will go without. It's time that we change that. I believe that we can. The money is there. We just need the will to do it. I spoke with the Mayor and Chief Gilman and Director Sloan on Monday, and I believe that they too now understand the situation at hand and they've expressed that they're on board to work toward a solution. But they did ask for some more time. And so I want to be respectful of that. So I am going to motion to hold this bill for two weeks. to let them have conversations. But I will say that regardless of what they figure out, regardless, I promise you, I promise you it is going to cost money. So, you know, when we all come back to the table again next week, I hope that, you know, that we have a solution, and if the solution, again, is this, to make sure that the money that is needed today, right now, I hope I can have your support in allocating those funds. So with that, I would like to motion to hold for two weeks.

We have a motion to hold. There's a second. And discussion? Councilwoman Gross. Thank you, Madam Chair. So...

We, many of us, in many different kinds of discussions over many years said we wish we could do more for all the volunteer groups in our districts because there used to be a time when we were able to provide programming directly as the city. before austerity, before Act 47, we had paid city employee grown-ups in recreation centers who were there for our kids, right? Decades ago. It's been a long time that some of our rec centers have been closed. Decades in my district. And so in the interim... Pittsburghers stepped up and started doing the work, right? A lot of our districts have really robust athletic leagues, whether it's soccer, whether it's baseball, whether it's football. And those are parents or just community members who get their certifications to be able to work clearances, to work with kids, who raise the funds. who do all the organizing, who pay for the insurance. I have watched these coaches come into meetings with like 10 inch binders. They're running a small business in their spare time. we require that they carry the insurance to be able to pull the permits for our fields right we put all of this work on to community members but it isn't only in kids programming we also do it because we weren't doing city planning for so long we all had community development corporations kind of doing the community organizing raising money to pay for actual city planners to write city plans that weren't our city planners but like for you know just hiring their own planners in the marketplace and doing the work buying buildings rehabilitating buildings creating business districts on their own because we didn't have the city staff to do it and in some of these cases we have created cooperation agreements where it's like okay well we have We have this facility, for example, or, you know, an athletic building. I always think of, like, I don't actually have in front of me how the – clubhouse, the golf clubhouse works, right? But there's a non-profit that raises money and does things. I think a classic example here is when we were doing how to allocate the parks tax funds and we kind of realized there were like 53 different agreements with just the Parks Conservancy. And we do those because it's kind of like an equal exchange of resources, right? So maybe we're paying for some things, but we understand that the nonprofit is paying for other things, either with in-kind staffing, right? So they're covering payroll or they're providing free volunteer staffing or they're bringing in a special skill set or they're bringing in, they're raising outside funds. And it's my understanding in those situations, there is not a competitive bid process, right? I could be wrong, right?

But I always thought there were like three buckets.

Like if the city decides it wants to purchase something, it has to go through a competitive bid process. Sometimes the law department in the second bucket says there's actually only like one person that exists on the planet who could provide this, and those are like professional service agreements. And then in the third bucket... There's a kind of like we're, you know, we do this intergovernmentally, like maybe there's a cooperation agreement with the county and the city, but sometimes it's with the nonprofit and the city because we're saying, well, you're kind of providing these things and we'll provide those things. And then that's a cooperation agreement. I now see sometimes in the records that if you look, you can just find these things on the, they should all be on the city controller's website, right, on the open book. Like these aren't, we're not allowed to have like secret agreements, right? So everybody in the public should be able to read these. There's another one that is like if there's an organization in a neighborhood, Again, I'll just go use a sports team as an easy example. You know, a baseball team and they're storing things in a portion of a city building, then that's a separate thing called a facility usage agreement. So I don't know where the lines fall here and where the buckets fall, but I do think it would be constructive to find out before this comes back to the table to figure out kind of if the You know, how do these things work in various city kinds of facilities, whether those is, you know, a rad park versus a regular city park or a city building, et cetera. So I just, I think it's really important that we be consistent. And that's the thing that I can't say confidently that we are, because that was part of what I heard in public comment today, is that there's some either correct understanding or misunderstanding that there's certain types of city arrangements in some parts of the city and a different kind of city arrangement in other parts of the city, and that is not okay. And we should be sure that we clean that up. and that we're making sure that we're being consistent. So I just wanted to offer that as well, Councilman Ward. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Further discussion? Councilman Coghill.

Thank you, Madam Chair. First, I want to thank the people from Hazelwood that came down and spoke on this, and the kids as well. It's always effective. And thank you to Councilwoman Warwick. It's a really great presentation. It seems like a really worthwhile, great place. So I'll let you work that out with the administration as to where the funding comes from. I think that's the only thing that's in question as far as I'm concerned. But I'm committed to... you know, finding or helping you find or getting approved the funding so this place can continue to operate. Like I say, it seems like a really great place. I am confused about one thing, and if you'll allow interrogatory, Madam Chair. So, I got the message from the folks that spoke that they didn't want an RFP going out. Basically, they just said, you know, wait, we're the ones that are operating this. We were, you know, and RFP, I feel like they feel like they're being undercut. So I wanted to know, I guess, first, are they a 501c3? Can they, they can apply, the people, the folks that come down, that run the place can apply? Correct. through the procedure. So I understand, I guess, and maybe they didn't today, as to the procedure and, you know, how to go through the RFP process. And obviously, I would think they're the favorites to, you know, accept it, but I don't know that, but I'm just assuming. But yeah, there's certainly no better people than them to operate this place. So, what did you want to say?

Correct. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. And I mean, the way that I sort of approach this with the help of Sean Carter is that, of course, at City Council, we are not in a position to say that's not what we do. Right. We allocate money and it is the administration's role to figure out how, you know. This is money allocated to programming at Bergwin Rec, and it is the administration's role to figure out how that works. And, you know, obviously taking into account all of the factors, including the long-time work that has been done there by the community and by Mr. Kohl.

Okay, well, I hope you reach a consensus with the administration as to... We're funding, whether it be, you know, to stop the violence funding or another pot of money. But, yeah, so it seems like a great place. That's all I wanted to say. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Further discussion? Councilman Wilson.

Yeah, just to further reiterate what I've heard was that it would be a blatant disrespect to do an RFP. and that the money should be given to the people that have been doing it. And so my understanding with an RFP is that, well, first off, if they don't want the RFP, then why are we doing this legislation? Do they want a sole source or some sort of agreement that could be worked out? There seems to be some sort of disconnect there.

Yeah, so again, it's not, I don't see it as my role as the council member to make decisions like that. That is the administration's role. But there is, you know. If we wanted to amend to just say that the funding should come from Stop the Violence and how it works, that would be fine with me. I was just sort of under the impression that an RFP was the appropriate way to move forward with Stop the Violence funding, taking into account the amendments that we made. I think it was... last year. Right. Um, that that was the way we wanted to move forward with stop the violence.

So at any rate, um, uh, they just seem very concerned that they're not going to be able to get the money if it goes out to RFP. That's what, that's what I heard.

So, um, I, I heard those concerns too. Yeah.

So it seems like, I don't know if, yeah, obviously you, I don't know what more I could say about that, but, um, I'm interested to see how this plays out. Thanks.

Thank you. Further discussion? Okay. The two-week hold is the motion. All in favor of a two-week hold for Bill 643, please indicate by saying aye.

Aye.

The bill will be held for two weeks. Thank you all. That moves us to new papers, Bill 687.

Resolution authorizing the Mayor, on behalf of the City of Pittsburgh, to enter into an agreement or agreements or amendments thereto with LA28 for coordination of events related to the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games at no cost to the City.

Is there a motion?

Motion to approve. Second.

Discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of Bill 687, please say aye.

Aye.

Affirmative recommendation. That moves us to Innovation, Performance, Asset Management and Technology Committee, chaired by Councilwoman Gross.

Bill 682, resolution authorizing the Mayor and the Director of the Department of Innovation and Performance on behalf of the City of Pittsburgh to enter into an agreement or agreements or amendments thereto with Eplus Technology Inc. for the purpose of general networking and IT support to augment the existing internal team at a cost not to exceed $95,440 over one year. Motion to approve.

Second.

Discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of Bill 682, please say aye. Aye. Affirmative recommendation, Bill 683.

Resolution providing for the issuance of a warrant in favor of Dell Financial Services in the amount of $58,283.18 to pay the remaining balance owed to this vendor for electronic devices with installation and support services.

Is there a motion?

Motion to approve.

I got lost in the agenda. Are we still on my committee? We're in Bill 683.

Page 6. For Dill.

I am totally... Oh, I'm in the wrong agenda. Look, I have two agendas in front of me, so forgive me to my colleagues. Motion to approve.

Second.

Discussion?

Discussion.

Council Member Sharland. Discussion.

Yes, I believe people are here to discuss this. I'm probably going to have some questions about the last bill, too. I probably should have asked.

Good morning.

Would you guys like to introduce yourselves?

Sylvia Harris, Acting Director, Department of Innovation and Performance.

Zoe Burning, Senior Manager of the Service Desk.

So what, I mean, the bill explains that we're paying a remaining balance. Why we don't usually see remaining balances? What's going on with this?

Yeah, so we inherited this budget. This happened before our time. And they did not account for interest over the four years. So that is the interest that had occurred. But once we pay that off, we will be fully paid off for our four-year lease. And we do own the devices. Okay.

So this is for our computers? Yes, correct. And there was interest accruing on it?

Correct. It was a lease, yeah. And it was included in the contract, but it didn't get budgeted for.

So the lease, the cost every year increased on our computers, but now it was like a rent to own. We own them now?

That's correct.

Okay. Okay. Yeah. How did that budget mistake happen? We don't know. This was previous director. Okay.

It just got missed is what it looked like.

Gotcha. Can you also explain, I should have asked before, just what the previous bill was with the IT support augmentation?

Right, yes. So that is for a specific person that we had that designed the network originally, has worked with it over the years. And so we need that person to help us stand up some connections that we have and also to be able to document this so that we no longer have to have that specific person.

So we're paying one person $95,000, is that right?

So this is over a period of a year, I believe. And that person is going to do other networking support as well.

Okay. Why aren't we hiring them? Because they work for E+. Okay. Okay, that seems a little odd to me, but I can understand that. That puts my questions. Thank you.

Councilwoman Gross. Thank you, Madam Chair. So let's start with Bill 682 that we were just talking about, the $95,000 supplement for IT support. That is basically what I heard is our innovation and performance department bringing skills in-house.

Yes.

Okay.

And that is good. Yes. So next time we won't have to pay for that exact... Need. That is correct. We'll have it in-house. That is correct. Okay, so that's super good. I don't want to give, like, two thumbs up, like I'm reading, like, a movie or something. But, yeah, so that's always what we're looking for, and I really appreciate that because I know it's been a big transition over the last 10 years that I've seen that kind of, you know, the Internet has completely changed everything. We used to have our own servers, you know, right, that we managed, and now managing both cloud-based and going – digital in so many ways in so many departments is a lot of management. Which brings me to the next bill, which is when you say devices, how many devices?

There was a, I would have to have the count, but it was over 2,000. It's all the laptops that you guys are using today. Anything that says Dell on it, the desktops, the laptops, the tablets, the rugged, it was everything that we've had since we moved over to Dell that was included.

Got it. So 2,000 devices. And this is... A correction to the invoice, basically, of $58,000 for over 2,000 devices over, you say, how many years? It was over four years. Over four years. All right. Yeah, very good. Thank you. I appreciate that. That's all I have, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Further discussion? Okay, seeing none. All in favor of Bill 683, please say aye. Aye. Affirmative recommendation. Thank you. Bill 684.

Resolution amending Resolution 7062 of 2025, which authorized the Mayor and Director of Public Safety to enter into an amended agreement or agreements with Julata for software subscription-based client relations management services by increasing the total not to exceed amount by $520 for a new total not to exceed amount of $276,044.72 over four years. Motion to approve. Second. Discussion?

Seeing none, all in favor of Bill 684, please say aye. Aye. Affirmative recommendation. That moves us to Intergovernmental and Educational Affairs Committee, chaired by Councilman Mosley.

Bill 685, resolution providing for a professional services agreement and or contracts with M'lady and Wooten, Inc. for professional consulting services for state government affairs and legislative services and providing for the payment thereof at a cost not to exceed $264,000 over four years.

Motion to approve. Second.

Discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of Bill 685, please say aye. Aye. Affirmative recommendation, Bill 686.

Resolution granting unto AlkaSand, their successors and assigns, the privilege and license to construct, maintain, and use at their own cost and expense, two new below-grade diversion structures at no cost to the city at 2200 Spring Garden Avenue, 26 Ward, 1st Council District.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of Bill 686, please say aye. Aye. Affirmative recommendation. That exhausts our meeting agenda. Meeting announcements. This afternoon at 1.30 p.m., Council will hold a cablecast public hearing on Bill 518 pertaining to the East Carson Street Neighborhood Improvement District. Speaker registration has closed. Tomorrow, Thursday, July 9th, at 11 a.m., Council will hold a cablecast public hearing on Bill 513 as it relates to the rezoning of parcels on Kelly Street in the Homewood West neighborhood. Speaker registration will close at 8 a.m. Thursday morning. Next week, Council will hold their regular and standing committees meeting on Tuesday, July 14th, and Wednesday, July 15th, respectively, both at 10 a.m. Speaker registration will close at 9 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. To register to speak at any of these meetings, please complete the sign-up form on the council meeting webpage or contact the clerk's office at 412-255-2138 by the applicable registration deadline.

Is there anything for members? Councilman Concombe.

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I really just wanted to say thank you to our fire department and our police department and EMS. The fire last night on Grandview Avenue, the Presbyterian Church, it was an inferno, really. And my Lisa, I was there more as a constituent. Lisa lives right next door to the place. But I wish everybody could see our firefighters in action on such a difficult fire and battle that they had in front of them. It was really simply amazing. And for them to come out, nobody was injured. The fire didn't spread. The professionalism and the equipment that they had. And it just reinforces me. As part of the Equipment Leasing Authority Board, along with Councilwoman Warwick, we're going to be fighting hard that the fire gets their proper apparatus. But it was a job very well done, and it was a sight to see. I know we spend a lot of money on public safety, but I will tell you, they're worth their weight in gold. and um you know a situation like that was very dangerous and i want to thank councilwoman selenetra who was on the scene throughout and she was feeling questions through our neighbors and all the neighbors and uh you know thank you for informing and i even though i didn't see you because we were at separate ends of this thing but uh many people i ran into that had spoken to you and you know you're trying to just figure out what the next steps are and my lisa's Most impressed and not an easy task, I will tell you. So thank you for your leadership up there. Yeah, it was great that everything, you know, nobody was injured. So thanks.

Thank you. Further discussion? Councilwoman Salanitro.

Well, I want to echo what Councilman Coghill had said, but I also want to make sure that both of you know, Barb and Anthony, that when I spoke with the firefighters after the – I spoke to the acting chief.

Yeah.

And he told me all three vehicles that I was looking at had their check engine lights on.

Somebody told me you told me that. Yes, they told me. And I wanted to talk to you about that, so thank you.

Yeah, so, I mean, I think that's food for thought that, you know, this fire had been fought for many hours. Absolutely. And by the time, you know, they were putting on hot spots in the very end, you know, check engine lights were on. So that really, again, reinforces the need we have to upgrade our equipment and our fleet. That's it for me. Yep.

You have further discussion? All right, I'll take a motion to approve the minutes and adjourn the meeting.

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Meeting is adjourned.

Thank you.