Presenter
Presented by Mr. O'Connor
Title
Resolution requesting the President of City Council to convene a Task Force to implement an action plan to improve the safety and convenience of the public reception areas in city government buildings.
Body
Whereas, city employees working in public reception areas or information counters interacting with constituents and taxpayers on a daily basis have been subject to verbal and physical abuse;
Whereas, taxpayers and constituents attempting to communicate and conduct business with the City at various public reception areas and information counters have not always been afforded private, comfortable, orderly, convenient and efficient service due to office space design problems, limited or inadequate personnel during high volume periods, or over-worked and stressed employees;
Whereas, the costly installation of metal detectors in certain public buildings will provide one measure of additional protection, perceived or otherwise, but will not provide relief or remedy safety problems in public reception areas in order to make them more safe and accommodating for both employees and the general public;
Whereas, in addition to possible re-design of public reception areas there is a need to review procedures and practices of employees in communicating to police and uniformed safety personnel for rapid response should incidents arise;
Be it Resolved that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The City Council President shall convene a small and effective working group comprised of representatives from the Mayor's Office, Controller's Office, City Council, including city employees or their representatives, with expertise and input from the Department of General Services and Department of Engineering and Construction who will meet and expeditiously develop an action plan for immediate implementation to help remedy the above mentioned issues.