City Council - Regular Meeting

Good morning and welcome to the regular meeting of City Council on Friday, August 28th, 2026. Will the clerk please take the roll?

Mr. Sharland. Mr. Coghill. Ms. Gross. Here. Mr. Mosley.

Here.

Mrs. Salinetro. Here. Mrs. Strasburger. Mrs. Warwick. Mr. Wilson. Here. Mr. Lavelle, President. Here. Five members present.

Thank you. For those who are able, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, after which please remain standing for a moment of silence in remembrance of Gloria Ferruzan, who was a longtime activist and community activist within the city of Pittsburgh that we all knew and loved dearly. Thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, Thank you very much. Our next order of business is to amend the agenda. So motion to amend.

So moved.

Second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

The agenda has been amended. Our next order of business is public comment. I would like to remind everyone of the rules of the Council of State. The comments are limited as a concern of official action or deliberation, which may be before City Council. Profanity will not be permitted. After your call, please restate your name. Provide your neighborhood for the record. You'll be given three minutes to speak. Our first registered speaker is Dylan Vestal. I apologize, but I didn't pronounce that correctly. That's all right. Thank you.

My name is Dylan. I'm a resident of the South Side in Pittsburgh. I appreciate that everyone here likely enjoyed their vacations. I'm glad you're back. I'm here to talk about what I've been here to talk about consistently over this summer. which has been the intolerable conditions of the lockdown on the South Side between 12th and 18th Street on East Carson. While you folks were gone, I had the opportunity to get a haircut at the South Side barbershop between 14th and 15th. While I was there, the business owner there was speaking to me about how he appreciates that there are some people who are trying to do something about crime in the neighborhood. It's a concern. And we all agree that something needs to be done. but that even he could see that his employees were being harassed and questioned when they stayed late on Fridays and Saturdays to close up shop, harangued while they were trying to get to their cars in nearby parking lots, because of this supposed effort to reduce crime. And I simply don't think that harassment and questioning of innocent people is something that's going to reduce crime in this instance. There's an adage in the airline industry that you never talk about crash safety if you want to improve the reputation of the industry. Because it gets people thinking about crashes. And we hear over and over again that this is about improving the reputation of the South Side, about making it look good to the public. Well, here is what the public sees now when they look up the South Side. From CBS Pittsburgh, some calling for an end to Pittsburgh's new street festival just weeks after it launched. talking about crime only being pushed onto the side streets like Muriel and Bingham, about 80-85% of businesses being harmed, as we've seen before that business is simply dead on the South Side as a result, that they're not pouring into the South Side as much as the South Side making money pours back into them. And from Pittsburgh's public source, they report that there is no evidence provided that this effort has reduced crime in the wider area, simply that it has pushed crime that was taking place in the Bar District into the surrounding streets and areas where Pittsburgh's police are no longer monitoring it as severely. There is further a refusal to provide information from Pittsburgh Public Safety and organizers of this event to news media outside structured public relations statements. Councilwoman Warwick, I appreciated your note a number of months ago on a similar set of policies in Market Square and the lack of transparency and a genuine public-private partnership, and I urge you to apply the same scrutiny here. Scrutiny that even organizations like the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union are now applying to this gross violation of the public civil liberties. I urge you to do something about it.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Kenneth Arbel. Is Kenneth Arbel with us? If not, our next registered speaker is Ralph Williams.

Excuse me. Oh, man. Sorry about that. Thank you, President Lavelle, members of council. I had a lot to talk about today, but I had to stop my track myself because Wednesday night, my good friend in media, Smokin' Jim Frazier, passed away. And Smokin' Jim and I did a sports program on AM 1250, The Answer. Not only did we do that sports radio show, but I've been coming down here for years now, asking you, pleading with you, and with the prior administration to do something about PCTV. And in case you're not aware, and you never watched any of the programs on PCTV, Channel 21, Smoking Jim Frazier was on a lot of them, okay? Smokin' Chill was not only a friend of mine, but he also was my best friend. And he also was the face of PCTV. That you let shut down. That the prior administration let shut down. Many of us producers came down here and said something, and nothing was done as usual. Okay? I don't want to get into this today because there are a bunch of other things I wanted to talk about. But this is disturbing to me because my best friend has now passed away, Smokin' Jim Frazier. Some of you know who he is. You've seen him on TV. He was on PCNC, you know, talking sports with Dee Thompson and several other people, okay, around the media circuits in Pittsburgh. And he was my co-host on my sports show on Saturday on 1250 The Answer. And I'm devastated by it. And the fact of the matter is that we couldn't get PCTV back on the air before he passed. That's the part that bothers me today. And I hope, and I really hope that you'll drop everything you're doing and get PCTV back up and running. To dedicate it to smoking Jim Frazier. Because he was one of the faces of that station. and you let it shut down and you didn't care. Thank you.

Thank you. That is also on the list of registered speakers. If there's anyone in chambers wishing to speak, please come forward at this time. Also provide your name and neighborhood for the record.

Good morning. Carlino Giampolo, Panther Hollow. Welcome back from your recess. Here is an update on the illegal Oakland DIY skate park in Panther Hollow. This issue was brought to the attention of attendees at the Little Italy Days Festival in Bloomfield two weeks ago. They were guided to visit the website PantherHollowPlayground.com. I met the mayor and asked him once again to shut down the skate park. I also sent the Mayor a letter this past Monday with the same request. A new action was also initiated that I call Meditation in the Park. I brought a chair to the skate park and meditated from 9 to 9.30 am every day for a week. This was a symbolic action to show that the skate park is an illegal takeover of our playground and that we will take it back. Something interesting happened on one of those days. A skateboarder in his 20s came with a friend to take a video of him skateboarding. He skated past me several times. I then stopped meditating and had a 20-minute conversation with him about this issue. He walked away, spoke briefly with his friend, and then came back and said something very interesting. He mentioned that six years ago he was a drug addict and that if we had this conversation back then he would have totally disregarded it and continued skateboarding. He went on to say that he's no longer a drug addict, is a little older and understands the impact to our community. He then said he would not return to skate at the playground. However, my encounters with other skateboarders these past few weeks were different. They called me derogatory names and expressed the same attitude of council members Barbara Warwick and Bob Charlin of I Don't Care. What is it that experienced council members Warwick and Charlin, some city administrators and others don't understand that they continue to defend this illegal skate park? While a young former drug addict could quickly comprehend this issue and more importantly, make a decision not to harm our community. If the skate park is not shut down, much more will need to be said next week and beyond. 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 at the top of befford was 192 apartments i have a sign that says good trouble lives on and that's john our freedoms our votes this is john lewis who marked march with martin luther king it was a tap He had a concussion. He almost died. But he fought for our freedom. And me standing here is standing on his shoulders so many years later. That's why I come. I have the hat that says freedom because I believe that I come to this podium to be able to speak without being interrupted, which Burgess took and when Ms. Gross was interrupting me talking in the conversation too, Claudia told me I was not allowed to question her or say anything or talk to her that way. Well, why is she allowed to speak? We only get three minutes. And I think, and I fought for five, but the three, we must be able to put our points or our concerns to you. Who makes the decision on whether we get help in some situations or not? I am really, really thinking about not coming and speaking as much as I do. You know I come every meeting that I possibly can. It don't seem like you're listening, and I'm tired of you. I am very tired. All these years looking at you while you're looking at me, and you're not paying any attention. You may be looking, but you don't even respond if we ask you a question. I believe that some of you are receiving pay that you don't deserve. And that's in the thousands. And me also, I still am against you getting paid that much and you only come two days a week. I've never heard of a job like that. All that money, and you only come two days a week. You're starting to look at us because we fuss at you so much, but usually on your phones, computers, you'll get up and walk over and sit over in the corner. All kind of stuff, like you children, not grown, but you're getting paid all that money. So you just need to think about... When the citizens are coming down here, I'm making a sacrifice. There's times I don't want to come at all. Thank you. Have a nice day.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Since school is back, I thought it would be appropriate, late as always, I thought it would be appropriate to come and teach y'all a lesson because this class clearly skits the course when it comes to basic community safety. Welcome to our neighborhood's new reality show, Survive the Sidewalks, City Council Edition. with our challenge being try not to get hit while walking to the library or the store. The contestants are our kids, our seniors, people with walkers, people with canes, wheelchairs, basically everyone in Mr. Lavelle's district. Now children, let's begin the lesson. When you start a construction project, you're supposed to finish it. You don't just leave it abandoned for days or weeks. You don't block off the sidewalks, then disappear like you're on summer break. And you definitely don't force kids, seniors, and handicapped and people with strollers into the street like it's the city's own obstacle course for us. So in class, I have a question. Do you think this is okay? Okay, a class full of adults and no answers, but why is it okay for our kids walking home from school to have to dodge traffic? Why is it okay for seniors with walkers to be rolling down the street like they're in a parade? Nobody asked for it. Why should a wheelchair have to choose between a pothole or a passing car? Is it okay that the library, the stores, and the high-rises are all right there, but the sidewalks are missing, like they've been kidnapped? Who approved this? What meeting did that come from? Because I would love to see that. Did y'all really say, let's rip the sidewalks out right before school, right before winter? and have this happen when they're slowing stuff, then there's not going to be any sidewalks for us? Like, who really made that choice? Because that sounds very responsible. We have to think logically, children. Winter is coming. That's going to be a problem that's more dangerous for everybody. I don't know why y'all don't see that. It's on the news, it's on the courier. That's already been blocked off for how long? Why can't y'all make sidewalks in between that at least? Why is that okay? Y'all waiting for somebody to get hit and killed and sue the city. Is that what y'all want?

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Good morning.

Special Agent Sunshine Cerise Taylor. I'm no longer the missing child. The people that are looking for me have found me, Mosley. Lord, thank you for another beautiful day. It's going to be a good day. Thank you for using me as a vessel to expose all injustice. Thank you for choosing me for this assignment. For those trying to kill me, you cannot kill something or someone that has already been here. I was chosen to be here at this time, in this place, at this moment. So, my father really did love me, huh? He made a declaration to make sure I was okay. Y'all trying to steal it, burn it up? What you trying to do? You don't think he could come up from the other side and handle his business? To all those trying to steal keep from me what he left for me? You don't think? I know he will. And he is. It's already started. There's no rest for the wicked. You didn't know? There's no rest for the wicked. The song for today comes from Grayson Soul. The most beautiful songs you'll ever hear in R&B style. Go there on YouTube, the very first song. It's called, You Are My Hope From My Youth. It's a very beautiful song. Touch my heart and my soul. I'm celebrating spiritual growth because it's not about achieving perfection. It's about genuine transformation. And I've been transformed in the Lord. And a lot of people look at me and they say, she's not the same. There's exes chasing me. They think we're just going to pick up where we left off. To anybody who's trying to date me, I'm not dating at this time. And God told me it was not a sin for me to remain celibate and unmarried. There's power in abstinence, young women. Please learn how to say no. Because the little you gain from saying yes can lead to your death. In Jesus' name. Isaiah 57, 20 through 21, it says, But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mirror and mud. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked. 1 Peter 3.17 says it's better if it is God's will to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. Thank you, Jesus, for using me.

Thank you very much. Next speaker, please.

Dr. Ronald N. Miller, USA, Pittsburgh, South Hill North neighborhood, Nihon, Japan, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima. When I was at Oxford University, I was at the Institute for Japanese Studies at St. Anthony's College, and I'm a member of the American Physical Society, the nuclear division. I'm a Global Intelligence Society candidate for president, 2028, Alt-Gov advocate, 412, 969-7997-247. A concern of this council and my own, the initiative three, is local government and local government in my view, primacy. Crush corruption and conserve credibility, anti-corruption. Corruption, in my view, is government-assigned resources, material and non-material, for A, care, transferred by fiat to B. So that's anti-corruption. Corrupt Act is impeachable according to the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter 8.806. Care Anti-Corruption Council Proc 2, August 2016. And or Not Care No Proc 3, August 2026, 2016. Quote. Whereas August 6th and 9th, 2016 marked the 71st anniversaries of the U.S. and the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and whereas in June 2012 the U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously passed a resolution for the abolition of nuclear weapons by 2020, therefore be it resolved that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh recognizes the need to reduce spending on nuclear weapons. Is this still your point of view? This is sponsored in 2016 by our Daniel Lavelle, co-sponsored by Cory O'Connor and others. 2026, the 81st anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There's no proclamation. This is corruption, in my view. CARE anti-corruption appearance also appears in a not CARE corruption connection between 14 July 2026 and 21 July 2026. Lavelle, District 6 hill right, YF Brown, that's a fact, who does not know her neighborhood boundaries. That's a recorded fact. Olivelle sponsored proclamé, 21 July, 2026. Another fact. One of her expressions is dime a dozen proclamations. That was one of those. Articulated 14 July, 2026. Not care, not care. That is altogether corruption.

Next speaker, please. Next speaker, please. Seeing no further speakers, and given that we have no papers to be presented, as well as no actions for final action, we'll move on to motions and resolutions. Is there anything for members? Councilman Mosley.

Yeah, I just wanted to join my colleague Councilman Salinetro in honoring the life of Gloria Ferruzan. I wanted to thank her family as well as her friends and loved ones who came to the chambers today. We hope to have them back in the near future and do a proper proclamation and a proper I'm ceremony honoring her life. I've worked with her closely over the years, most closely about 20 years ago. It's hard to believe it's been 20 years, but 21 years ago when former Mayor Peduto first ran for mayor. And we worked on that campaign together and worked on a number of initiatives. And she stayed in touch with me over the past several years, always quick to give me an idea. She was constantly brainstorming. And, you know, whenever she had an idea about something, she was always happy to put that seed in your brain, you know, to get your brain working and taking on new initiatives and I'm sure we sorely missed and I was really sad when I came back in town for vacation and found out that she had passed away. But I made her memory continue to be a blessing.

Thank you. Anything else for members? Councilwoman?

I want to thank the councilman for sharing that photo of Gloria and that camp. I was not in Pittsburgh at that time, but that is quite a photo. That's quite a photo.

Anything else? If not, we have a number of meeting announcements. Excuse me. Next week on Monday, August 31st at 12 p.m., Council will hold a cablecast post-agenda discussion on utility coordination, chaired by Councilwoman Warwick. On Tuesday, September 1st, Council will hold our regular meeting at 10 a.m. Speaker registration will close at 9. Also, Tuesday at 1.30, Council will hold a cablecast public hearing on Bill 606 as it relates to a liquor license transfer for Silver Ashes Hospitality Group. Speaker registration will close at 11.30. And also, Tuesday at 2 p.m., Council will hold a cablecast post-agenda discussion on the 2026 Second Quarter Financial and Performance Report, chaired by Councilperson Strasburger. And on Wednesday, September 2nd, Council will hold our Senate Committee Meeting at 10 a.m. Speaker's Ration will close at 9. Also on Wednesday at 1.30, council will hold a cablecast public hearing on Bill 518 pertaining to East Carson Neighborhood Improvement District. Speaker registration will close at 11.30 a.m. To register to speak at these meetings, please complete the sign-up form on the council meeting webpage or call the clerk's office at 412-255-2138. With that, we need a motion to excuse the absent members, approve the minutes, and adjourn the meeting.

So moved.

Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. We are adjourned.