Archive for December, 2009
Bringing Transparency to Government
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
Yesterday, City Councilman Bill Peduto and City Controller Michael Lamb announced that a reform package to bring transparency to City Government, which was passed by City Council in May, will take effect on January 1st, 2010.
“It was a historic day for Pittsburgh when City Council passed the reform package in May,” said Councilman Peduto. “The changes that Controller Lamb and I are implementing are an important step in ending pay-to-play politics in Pittsburgh.”
Controller Lamb and Councilman Peduto have been working for the past 7 months to create a user-friendly system that will make the City of Pittsburgh government more transparent and accessible to all. The new tools for transparency will include lobbyist registration, the disclosure of lobbyists on all RFP responses, and a new searchable dataset of all campaign donations.
View the Searchable Database of all City Government Contracts
Frequently Asked Questions About Lobbyist Registration
View the Lobbyist Registration Form
Campaign Finance Reform Frequently Asked Questions
No Bid Contracts Reform Frequently Asked Questions
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
The Universities Strike Back
Saturday, December 12th, 2009
On Friday, December 11, 2009 the Pittsburgh Council of Higher Education put out the following letter to Mayor Ravenstahl. Among many important points, the PCHE stated AGAIN that there can be no negotiations until the Education Tax is taken from the table.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
City’s State Senators Call on Local Non-Profits to Commit to $6 Million Annual Contributions
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
State Senators Jay Costa, Jim Ferlo and Wayne Fontana wrote to non-profit organizations asking for a $6 million dollar payment per year to the City of Pittsburgh in lieu of taxes.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Mayor Offers Counter Budget Proposal
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
On Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Ravenstahl offered this alternative budget to the Oversight Board.
Many of the recommendations from Controller Lamb and Councilman Peduto were adopted by the Mayor as part of his new proposal. The notion of an Education Tax to balance the books in 2010 was taken out of the budget, but the Mayor still intends to pursue the idea and five members of City Council still support him.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Act 47 Has Weighed in on the Budget Crisis
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
Act 47 appears to support the Peduto/Lamb alternative. Read the letter, and the Peduto/Lamb alternative below.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
