In order to better understand the financial situation of the city and the Mayor’s demand of a student tax, it is essential to see the bigger picture. These documents provide the details of what the city can and cannot do - they also shed light on missed opportunities. Councilman Peduto and Controller Lamb have outlined an alternative plan to the Mayor’s proposed student tax - you can read all the documents here - including the Lamb/Peduto alternative.

Mayor Ravenstahl’s 2010 Budget - Understand who is paying and what you are getting.

Pennsylvania Local Tax Enabling Act - Understand the rules of what municipalities can tax and what we cannot.

Act 47 Five Year Recovery Plan - Understand the changes that were approved in July and then look at the Mayor’s proposed budget to see if we are doing it.

PA Act 55 Public Charity Act -Understand the limitations placed on municipalities in PA to receive voluntary payments in lieu of taxes from non-profits and the restrictions to tax non-profits.

Peduto/Lamb Alternative - Another option for our City.

City Councilman Peduto and Controller Lamb today presented a list of potential budget changes that will make up the $15 million shortfall in the city’s 2010 proposed budget. The ICA rejected Mayor Ravenstahl’s proposed student tax, leaving a $15 million hole in the budget. Controller Lamb and Councilman Peduto believe that this shortfall can be made up through other means - through recommendations approved during the Act 47 process and through other good government proposals that will stregthen the city budget and make it more transparent for years to come.

Their plan is available here.

Earlier this year, Councilman Bill Peduto introduced a plan to create an LED energy-efficient lighting system in the City of Pittsburgh. This plan would not only create a more environmentally-friendly lighting system, but would also save money for City residents by reducing lighting costs for years to come.

But this plan is not just about replacing light bulbs - this plan is also about creating a new model of urban lighting. This new model needs to utilize technology to do more than just create an energy-efficient system- it needs to realize the potential that light offers in creating a safe, livable community.

In New York City, Leni Schwendinger is an artist an designer who leads “Lightwalks” through the City at night. During these walks, Schwendinger shows participants the importance of street lighting in the night life ambience, and looks at street lights in terms of what they add to the community. Check out this video to learn more, and see part of one of Schwendinger’s Light Walks.

Also, check out this article from TreeHugger.com - Nightlife Made Sustainable: Street Lights that Match Evening Sensitivities Save Considerable Energy.  This article discusses the possibility of redesigning street lights to utilize less energy by using information about what part of the light spectrum the human eye is most sensitive to in the dark.

The announcement by the Pittsburgh Carnegie Library system that some of the neighborhood branch libraries will be closing has been met with much public outcry, and has sparked discussions about the role of libraries in our communities.

Bookless Libraries, an article published on Inside Higher Education’s website highlights the debate about the role of the library in the 21st century.

In the age of technology, can libraries be replaced by online substitutes? Or are the “bricks and mortar” of the library essential to it’s definition? These are the questions debated in this article, which discusses the different perspectives on the library as a community center, or simply as a place to locate information.

Today Mayor Ravenstahl presented his 2010 budget proposal to City Council.

View the Mayor’s Budget Proposal Here

Sincerely,
Bill Peduto

On Wednesday, Councilman Peduto presented the findings from a six- month study investigating the feasibility of creating a commuter line system in Pittsburgh. This city line would connect Hazelwood on the Monongahela River to Lawrenceville on the Allegheny River. It would pass near The Technology Center, Schenley Park, CMU and Oakland, The Baum-Centre Corridor, Bloomfield and Lawrenceville.

Just as this line was critical to the rise of Pittsburgh’s industrial age, it is now the lynchpin in a transit-oriented development plan for our new economy. Oakland is a job creator, and it needs the help of this line to allow those jobs to expand to neighborhoods that have not seen growth in a long time. This line does just that, and it does even more.

This commuter line has the capability of creating a much larger, regional commuter rail system and a multi-modal transportation vision for Southwestern PA. It connects to the Norfolk Southern line, which runs through the Mon-Valley, to Greensburg and beyond. It connects to the AVRR line, which connects the Allegheny Valley to Armstrong County and Downtown. It creates the possibility of having park-and-ride garages off of Route 28 and the Parkway East, as well as a link downtown to the T-line (which would connect south) on Second Avenue. Finally, it also connects with the MLK Busway connecting many neighborhoods and eastern suburbs.

In short, we need to build this line - NOW.

View Councilman Peduto’s Presentation

Yesterday, Councilman Bill Peduto introduced six bills intended to increase environmental standards in the City of Pittsburgh. These bills are modeled after the initiatives laid out in the Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan, which Councilman Peduto helped to create.

If passed, the new green legislation would:

1. Codify the Sustainability Coordinator.
2. Codify an 11 person Sustainability Commission with representatives from Council, Mayor, and many City Departments.
3. Energy Audit – Require the City to do an energy audit of municipal buildings every 10 years.
4. Green Purchasing - Create a resolution calling for New Sustainable Purchasing Guidelines to be developed by administration.
5. Green Roofs - Create 2 categories of green roofs (greater than 5 inches of soil/more than 5 inches), and create guidelines for green roofs.
6. Recycling - Call for recycling cans on city streets, and increase recycling enforcement levels. It would also create the first steps toward a blue bin recycling program, and step up recycling in commercial, office and municipal buildings .

Visit the links below to read the legislation.

Energy Audits
Green Roofs
Recycling Changes
Sustainability Commission
Sustainably Purchasing Resolution

Read more:
Peduto Pushes Green Legislation - Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Who is Guyasuta? He was a Seneca chief who led the French and the British through the wilderness of western PA.

Six years ago, Councilman Peduto captured his spirit and created a Fellowship for young and young hearted Pittsburghers to help form public policy through a unique process. This year you are invited to be a part, as we study triple bottom line economics and see how it can be utilized to revitalize our neighborhoods. The fellowship is looking for young, committed residents of Western PA that plan on staying in the area for at least the next 2 to 5 years.

The first presentation of the fellowship this year, The New Deal/ A Better Deal - A Context For Historical Change, will take place on Thursday, October 29, 2009 6:30pm - 8:30pm at AVA Lounge, 126 S. Highland Avenue, 15206.
Just email pat@jacksonclark.net to sign up or learn more, or visit www.guyasutafellowship.com.

At the beginning of October the International Urban Development Association held their INTA33 Congress in Taiwan to discuss the topic of “Innovative Urban Environments.”  The mission of INTA is to bring together public and private urban practitioners in a series of conferences, seminars, peer-to-peer panels and yearly conferences to promote an exchange of ideas, and to create strategies to work towards achieving the goal of sustainable development.

Councilman Bill Peduto has been involved with INTA since 2003.  He was granted a scholarship by the group to travel to The Hague in the Netherlands to study “regional governance” from a global to local perspective with this organization. In 2005, Councilman Peduto joined the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation in welcoming them to Pittsburgh.

INTA helps us all to understand that the problems facing cities are the same worldwide, and so are many of the solutions.

Learn more about INTA33