Pittsburgh City Council staffs new Office of Public Engagement

Pittsburgh City Council has hired four people to run its newly formed Office of Public Engagement.

The new office will work to improve communication and give residents more of a voice in City Council decisions that impact their communities, officials said.

“City Council created the office … to effectively connect residents with city services,” Council President Theresa Kail-Smith said.

The office consists of the Rev. F. Diane Hobson, Melissa Anne Rossiter, Schuyler Sheaffer and Bryan Staul, who together bring decades of experience in communications, mediation and conflict resolution, labor relations, group facilitation and community engagement, officials said.

Hobson, a dean and moderator for the Youghiogheny Western Baptist Association, holds a master’s degree in pastoral ministry from Duquesne University and a doctorate of ministry from United Theological Seminary. She serves as pastor of Mount Sinai Baptist Church in Charleroi.

Rossiter holds a doctorate in community engagement with a concentration in social capital and social networks from Point Park University. Before that, she earned a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication from Point Park. She previously worked as a news writer and assignment editor at WPGH-TV and KQV Radio.

Sheaffer’s work in electoral politics began in 2016, when he worked on voter registration in Pittsburgh for NextGen Climate. He has since worked on several successful campaigns, including those for council members Erika Strassburger and Bobby Wilson. He managed State Rep. Emily Kinkead’s reelection campaign, and did work for the Made to Save tour, a 2021 initiative by the White House to increase vaccination rates across the country. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from Saint Francis University.

Staul has worked as a union representative and contract negotiator for workers in Pennsylvania and New York. He previously was assistant field director for Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Kent State University and is pursuing a master’s degree in human resources and employee relations at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.