Pittsburgh officially has a new solicitor and planning director.
City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved Mayor Corey O’Connor’s picks to lead the Law Department and the Department of City Planning.
Lisa Zeidner Marcus is the city’s top lawyer and Ivette Mongalo-Winston oversees planning.
Both had been serving in their roles in an acting capacity before their confirmations.
Council members interviewed both appointees under oath last week.
Marcus spent 18 years as a trial lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice’s civil division, working under five different presidential administrations.
“I have lots of experience defending policies from different points of view, depending on the administration that enacted the policy,” Marcus told council members during her interview last week. “I do think that is relevant experience.”
She told council members she hoped to bolster the city’s law department so it is less reliant on seeking costly outside help. She also promised to be accessible for council members looking for a legal opinion on legislation they are authoring.
Mongalo-Winston launched an urban design and planning firm 12 years ago, after spending more than a decade with Urban Design Associates.
She is a certified city planner.
Mongalo-Winston has sought a compromise with council members to salvage a controversial $6 million comprehensive plan meant to guide zoning through 2050.
She also supports an effort to track housing units being built in the city. Mongalo-Winston told council members she believes the city needs to “build more of a variety of types of units.”
