Pittsburgh council moves to hire its own solicitor

Pittsburgh City Council will be getting independent legal advice from its own attorney under legislation sponsored by Councilman Ricky Burgess that council advanced Wednesday.

Although the city’s home rule charter allows council to hire a legal adviser, council has instead depended on the advice of the city’s law department, which often represents the views of the mayor.

The idea is to give council a legal opinion independent of the mayor’s office.

“Council needs to have more of a voice,” Burgess said.

The move comes as Mayor Bill Peduto’s second term ends Dec. 31. Democrat Ed Gainey and Republican Tony Moreno are running for mayor in the November election.

Although the city has a “strong-mayor” form of government, council should have the power to be a check on mayoral policies, Council President Theresa Kail-Smith said.

“We need to do what is best because it’s what is best,” she said. “Council needs to be able to vote no on things.”

The council as a whole, Burgess said, is “putting some energy into strengthening itself so it can be a better steward for the city of Pittsburgh.” It’s part of an effort to make local government more open and transparent, he said.

“We are working to establish our charter-given responsibility to better advise and consent the administration so we can make Pittsburgh a better government,” he said. “The charter calls for a strong mayor and a strong council.”

“We’ve talked about this on council for years,” Kail-Smith said.

To hire a solicitor for the position, Kail-Smith would make a search committee, consisting of the city clerk, four council members and someone from the city’s legal department, Burgess said. Kail-Smith identified Burgess, along with council members R. Daniel Lavelle and Deb Gross, as among her recommendations for the committee.

Once the committee decides on top candidates, Burgess explained, City Council would select their new legal counsel.

This comes as Burgess recently introduced legislation to require council approval for assistant and associate city directors, who did not previously need to be vetted by council.

“There’s no public oversight of their qualifications,” he said.

City Council sent that proposal to Mayor Bill Peduto and are expecting a response from his office within 30 days.

“It’s a chance for the council to act as a steward of the public and to make a more open government,” Burgess said.