Betrayals, Dishonesty,
and Moral Corruption

The following letter was sent to OPDC Board of Directors
and Staff on November 1, 2021. 

To: Oakland Planning and Development Corporation

The secretive Oakland Crossings project has brought to the forefront that the Oakland community is at a pivotal point in its history. The question is: What action will OPDC take?

OPDC was betrayed by Mayor William Peduto, Pittsburgh City Council, Pittsburgh Planning Department, Walnut Capital, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Hazelwood Green owners, and University of Pittsburgh administrators, all of whom had been considered either "friends" or "partners" of OPDC.

In a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, Walnut Capital went beyond betrayal when its president insulted OPDC by referring to it as a "fringe" organization.

The Oakland Crossings project, approved by the dishonest City Council in an 8-0 vote, is now headed for the Planning Commission. 

The moral corruption at city hall is also undeniable. Councilperson Ricky Burgess said that he will vote for the project regardless of the decision made by the Planning Commission. In other words, Oakland Crossings is a done deal!

Any negotiations with those who have betrayed OPDC for this project can be considered acts of negligence of the legal fiduciary duty OPDC has as our Registered Community Organization.

Here are some suggestions from the grassroots movement for action by OPDC:

1) File a lawsuit against the City of Pittsburgh to stop the Oakland Crossings project. OPDC clearly has enough evidence to take this action. 

Supporters of this project are fast-tracking it because they perceive OPDC as being weak and ineffective. They also fear that a new mayor, who is taking office in a couple of months, will not approve this project. 

2) If needed, create a GoFundMe account to seek financial help in filing a lawsuit.

3) Align with organizations such as transparency.org that can provide advocacy and legal support.

4) Write a letter to District Attorney Stephen Zappala, with as many signatures as can be gathered (and I will be one of the first to sign), asking that he conduct a criminal investigation into the Oakland Crossings project.

In 2015, the Mon-Oakland Connector project was also started in secrecy and was a betrayal to the Panther Hollow community, among others. When we asked for support from OPDC at that time, we received none. However, we continued to take bold action without support. 

Those same entities involved with the Mon-Oakland Connector project have now betrayed OPDC with the Oakland Crossings project. The betrayals, dishonesty, and moral corruption will continue well into the future unless OPDC takes bold action immediately.

Carlino Giampolo

Note: The OPDC executive director replied: We are leading an advocacy campaign now opposing the legislation until the planning commission in January. We will take other actions as needed as this progresses.