Peduto Must Resign
Let's End the Crookery at City Hall

City Council Public Comments
August 24, 2018

On July 31, 2015, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) filed an application with the State Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) for a $3 million grant to build a roadway from the old Almono site in Hazelwood, through The Run and Panther Hollow, and to Pitt and CMU. The mayor kept this plan a secret from our two communities, clearly violating the state Sunshine Act.

Councilmen Kraus and O'Connor, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and our communities eventually received copies of the application. We were all deceived. Compared to the application on file at the DCED in Harrisburg, our copies were missing documents.

Among the missing pages was a letter from the mayor, asserting that the city "will be committing $400,000 in the 2017 budget for the construction of this project."

Another missing page was from the URA Chair Kevin Acklin stating, "The URA will be committing $400,000 from our major projects budget to be used for the construction of this project."

There were also discrepancies. The application asserted that the project would be a partnership between four entities, including with the University of Pittsburgh, but Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said he had no knowledge of the application. Who is telling the truth?

The application asserted that the land for this project is owned by the City of Pittsburgh. However, at the first community meeting, four months after the application was filed, Director of City Planning Ray Gastil stated that the roadway would traverse railroad property and a parking lot owned by Pitt in Panther Hollow. It is unscrupulous and unconscionable that the mayor and Pitt would use that lot, which exists because of a 1982 agreement with our community, for this roadway that would destroy our neighborhood.

Also, in the application and without any community input, Ray Gastil wrote a letter to the DCED on behalf of the Department of City Planning, supporting the roadway project.

Twice, we asked District Attorney Stephen Zappala to investigate this issue. He has chosen silence.

In his 16 years as a councilman and mayor, William Peduto has been a puppet of the University of Pittsburgh and always supported its uncontrolled growth that has severely devastated Oakland's residential and business districts.

The assertions made in this deceptive application clearly indicate that the mayor believes our community's voices are irrelevant and powerless. Nothing could be further from the truth. He continues to impose his will upon our community by attempting to build this roadway. Peduto must resign. Let's end the crookery at city hall.

Carlino Giampolo

Pittsburgh Communities Need
Federal Prosecutors to Oversee City Hall

City Council Public Comments
October 3, 2018

"Peduto must resign. Let's end the crookery at city hall." On August 24, I spoke before this council and ended my comments with these words. I echo these same words today.

In those comments, I talked about the shameful deception of the mayor and his administrators who, in July 2015, secretly filed for a $3 million dollar grant to build a roadway from the old Almono site in Hazelwood, through The Run and Panther Hollow, and to Pitt and CMU. We asked the Allegheny County District Attorney to investigate this sordid affair, but he did not respond to our requests. Pittsburgh communities need federal prosecutors to oversee city hall.

This past April, the city repeated that shameful, opaque deception when they applied for federal funds through the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission's Smart Program. In July, the city's application was approved for $1,000,000. Again, our communities had no knowledge or word from our council members that this application was being made. Pittsburgh communities need federal prosecutors to oversee city hall.

A syndicate in the city of Pittsburgh controls city hall. That syndicate is known as the University of Pittsburgh. For 16 years, as a councilman and mayor, Peduto has been a puppet of this syndicate. This was clearly evident 10 years ago when he chaired the hearings for Pitt's master plan. The first two hearings lasted less than 20 minutes, and he never asked the Pitt administrators a single question of how that plan would further decimate Oakland. Pittsburgh communities need federal prosecutors to oversee city hall.

However, the mayor is not the only puppet of this syndicate. The university also controls this council, which has never written a law to curb their uncontrolled growth. In matters pertaining to the university, this council thinks what the university wants it to think, and acts how the university wants it to act. Even though the city has lost 120,000 residents in the past several decades, this council attempts to justify their inaction by saying that the university is the economic engine of the city. Tragically, that engine is toxic and lethal for the university's host community. Pittsburgh communities need federal prosecutors to oversee city hall.

Until the strings of these puppets are cut and the domination by the syndicate has ended, Pittsburgh communities need federal prosecutors to oversee city hall.

Those listening to these comments can visit the websites OaklandDignity.com and SavePantherHollow.com. If there are any attorneys whose ethical, moral, and spiritual values guide them on a journey to end social injustice, then contact myself or someone you may know in Panther Hollow or The Run to offer your support. In the end, truth and justice will prevail.

Carlino Giampolo