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Ordinance supplementing the Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances, Title One - Administrative, Article Three - Organizations, Chapter 111 - Departments, Generally, by adding a new subsection, § 111.03, Equity Standards and Requirements for all Departments and Units of City Government.
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Whereas, the federal Civil Rights Act(s) of 1964, 1965 and 1968 banned discrimination because of a person’s color, race, national origin, gender or religion across a wide spectrum of activities, both public and private; and,
Whereas, Article III, § 26 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania prohibits the Commonwealth or any of its’ subdivisions from denying to any person “the enjoyment of any civil right”; and,
Whereas, § 204(d) of the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter requires the Mayor, “to provide Council with information concerning the administration and conditions of the City as requested by Council”; and,
Whereas, § 204(j) of the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter requires the Mayor, “to take such action as may be necessary to ensure that no inequities exist in any unit of City government and that each unit operates in a manner which provides every citizen full and equal access to government and a like opportunity to render goods and services to the City”; and,
Whereas, § 211 of the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter requires that, “All heads of units of government shall furnish the Mayor or Council such information as the Mayor or Council shall demand at any reasonable time and shall make an annual report in writing to the Mayor and Council.”; and,
Whereas, here in Pittsburgh, a pervasive sense exists that there are “two Pittsburghs”: one which grows more prosperous with each passing day and the other, cut off from opportunity by poverty, structural racism and discrimination; and,
Whereas, data recently released by the National Equity Atlas show that this inequality comes at a great cost to the city and the region: Pittsburgh’s economic output would be nearly $5 billion dollars higher every year without the clear racial inequities in income; and,
Whereas, urgent action is needed to steer growth and change in a new direction; and,
Whereas, Pittsburgh’s racial, economic and geographic inequities are no mere moral challenge, but an existential threat to the city’s long-term resilience and prosperity; and,
Whereas, the government of the City of Pittsburgh has a legal and a moral obligation to ensure that its’ services are provided to the residents in the most equitable way possible; and,
Whereas, requiring the City and the heads of government units and departments to submit reports detailing how their budgetary decisions and operational decisions and policies either further the goal of equity in the provision of government services and in government-sponsored or government-assisted activities or fall short of this critical requirement is a fundamental and necessary means of ensuring that the City lives up to its’ legal obligations to its’ residents; and,
Whereas, the Council of the City of Pittsburgh finds it in the public interest and a public purpose worthy of the expenditure of the public moneys of the City that each Department and unit of City government provide to it and the public regular information detailing the goals set to achieve equity in government and regular updates on their progress in meeting those goals.
BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH HEREBY ENACTS AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances, Title One - Administrative, Article Three - Organizations, Chapter 111 - Departments, Generally, is hereby supplemented as follows:
CHAPTER 111: - DEPARTMENTS GENERALLY
§ 111.03 - EQUITY STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL DEPARTMENTS AND UNITS OF CITY GOVERNMENT.
(a) Definitions.
1. “Charter” means the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter, adopted November 5, 1974, as amended;
2. “City Code” means the Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances;
3. “Council” means the Council of the City of Pittsburgh;
4. “CDBG” means Community Development Block Grant or its’ successor program;
5. “Reporting Period” begins August 1 of the current calendar year and ends July 31 of the following calendar year;
6. “Equity” means that each unit operates in a manner which provides every citizens full and equal access to government and a like opportunity to render goods and services to the City;
7. “Neighborhood” means the geographical unit as defined by the Department of City Planning;
8. “Racial Equity Toolkit” means the framework, to be established by the Mayor, by which City Departments make a commitment to develop policies, procedures and regulations to address the impacts of institutional racism, and to eliminate inequities in the provision of City services and the awarding of contracts;
(b) Departmental Performance Reports.
1. Not later than the deadline established in § 508 of the Charter for the submission of the proposed six-year capital program to Council, the head of each unit of government or Department, as the case may be, shall submit to Council and the Mayor a report detailing the following information for the reporting period recently concluded:
i. A listing of what goods and/or services the Department or unit provides to the public;
ii. The Department’s stated performance goals for the reporting period;
iii. Geographic breakdown of the goods and/or services provided detailed in subsection (i.) for said reporting period, including:
1. Neighborhood;
2. Census Tract;
3. Census Block Group;
4. CDBG-Eligibility;
5. Council District(s)
iv. An explanation in both narrative and tabular form detailing any variance(s) between the performance goals stated in (ii.) and actual performance and what measures shall be taken to correct said variance(s);
v. An explanation, in both narrative and tabular form detailing the Department’s progress in achieving the goals delineated in the Racial Equity Toolkit for the reporting period;
vi. Performance goals based on the best practices in the Racial Equity Toolkit for the current reporting period;
vii. An explanation in both narrative and tabular form of how the proposed performance goals and requirements set forth in the Racial Equity Toolkit shall be measured;
viii. Budgetary needs required by Department to meet said proposed goals;
ix. An explanation in tabular form of every agreement and contract entered into either by or on behalf of the Department that details the following:
1. Goods and/or services to be provided;
2. Monetary amount of agreement or contract;
3. Term (in years, if applicable) of agreement or contract;
4. Name, race, gender and location of vendor(s);
5. Name(s) of principals of the entity(ies) identified in subsection (4.);
6. Number and dollar amount of all previous contracts and agreements with vendor(s) listed in (4.);
7. Departmental efforts to diversify the pool of potential vendors to provide those same services;