William Peduto is serving his second term as a Member of Pittsburgh City Council. Before being elected to represent the East End neighborhoods of Bloomfield, Friendship, Oakland, Point Breeze, Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, he served as chief of staff to former City Councilman Dan Cohen. On City Council he chairs the Committee on Finance and Law.

COUNCIL DISTRICT 8:
As the representative of Council District 8, William Peduto has the opportunity to help guide Pittsburgh’s new economy while preserving the strong knit neighborhoods which make up the district. Pittsburgh’s East End has emerged as the Mon Valley of the new emerging region. The district includes major regional institutions including Carlow College, Carnegie-Mellon University, Chatham College, the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museums of Natural History and Art, UPMC, theHillman Cancer Center and others.

BOARDS, COMMISSIONS and AUTHORITIES:
In addition to his Council duties, Councilman Peduto serves on several boards which promote economic development and culture throughout the region. As Council’s representative on the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Peduto plays a vital role in creating a comprehensive priority plan for the region’s economic infrastructure including transportation and land development. On the SPC he is Vice Chair of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Committee. As a member of the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, Peduto works with organizations and individual artists to promote culture as a tool for economic growth and the arts as a critical industry for this region. He is also a past board member of the Stadium Authority, the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Museums and Libraries and PCTV-21.

VOLUNTEER WORK:
In the past, Peduto has volunteered his time to several worthy causes including NCJW/Komen Foundation Race for the Cure, Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force AIDS Walk, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, ZOA Holocaust Memorial Tour, Veterans Affairs of Pittsburgh Hospital Visits and the Pittsburgh Celebrity Hockey Team.

PRIORITIES:
In order to balance the necessary economic growth of the region with the quality of life in the neighborhoods, Peduto has put forth a new economic development strategy for Pittsburgh. His plan calls for “Community-Based” development, which merges community plans with economic development initiatives and gives people a voice at the beginning of the process. He supports a more transparent government that utilizes technology to provide more efficient services for less money. He has advanced fair and equitable tax incentives that provide more resources to improve neighborhood corridors through infrastructure upgrades, rather than large grants to individual companies. Furthermore, he has championed sustainable funding of public transit and a vision of an eleven county regional transportation plan.

PROJECTS:
He has sponsored several worthwhile programs to encourage a New Pittsburgh. The projects he has sponsored include the Sprout Fund, FLUX, Cool Space Locator, Civics 101 for Artists, the Baum-Centre Initiative, Guyasuta Fellowship Program, Pittsburgh Pride Festival, Silkscreen Asian-American Film Festival, Opportunities for Hillside Protection, Information and Communication Technologies Working Group, Government Space Utilization Study, Pittsburgh’s Green Government Action Plan, and Pittsburgh’s Preserve America designation.

AWARDS and RECOGNITION:
He has been recognized by the Democratic Leadership Council as one of the “100 to Watch” New Democrats in the nation. Peduto has been profiled by the Pittsburgh Business Times as “One to Watch”, selected by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as “Pittsburgh’s 50 Finest”, named one of Pittsburgh’s “40 under 40” by Pittsburgh Magazine and PUMP, chosen by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as one of the region’s “50 Cultural Forces”, received the “Shades of Green Leadership Award” from the Green Building Alliance, and was chosen as one of the “Hotline Up & Comers” in 2004 and 2006 by the National Journal. In 2007, the Pittsburgh City Paper named him the Best Political Activist. In 2008, Bill received the Greater Pittsburgh Art’s Council Chairman’s Work of Art Award and was named Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition Citizen of the Year. Additionally, he has been awarded the Patriot Award for his support of the families of deployed troops.

BACKGROUND:
William Peduto earned his BA from Penn State University. He operated a political consulting business throughout 25 counties of western Pennsylvania. He served as general consultant, campaign manager, finance director and other roles for over one dozen Democrat candidates and elected officials. At 28, he served as western PA political director for then acting Governor Mark Singel. He has worked on Capitol Hill through a deputy press secretary internship and inside the beltway as a campaign analyst with a political research firm. In addition, Peduto worked throughout high school and college as a busboy, road crew laborer, disc-jockey, Deputy Coroner, ski store clerk, and sidewalk painter. While growing up, he spent 10 years delivering the Pittsburgh Press.

William Peduto is a “reform-Democrat” who believes that issues should outweigh special interests. He is 44 years old, single and resides in the South Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

Go to Bill’s City Council District 8 Site