Pittsburgh council strengthens oversight of $15M Stop the Violence fund

Oversight will increase for a multimillion-dollar fund to combat violence in Pittsburgh amid City Council concerns that supervision was weak.

Council voted unanimously to add reporting requirements and other safeguards to the Stop the Violence fund, which has around $15 million in taxpayer money that is allocated to numerous grassroots groups to fight violence.

Their vote came only after rehashing a lengthy argument that started last week about whether any council members were threatening to “raid” the fund and yank money from organizations trying to curb crime.

Mayor Ed Gainey last Wednesday held a press conference railing against critics of the anti-violence program or proposals to take money from it. That same day, dozens of supporters argued at against any defunding effort.

The Stop the Violence fund provides money for independent violence prevention programs and pays for the city’s Office of Community Health and Safety, which deploys social workers to respond to some 911 calls and support people who are homeless.

Olga George, a spokeswoman for Gainey, told TribLive after last week’s press conference that it would become clear who proposed to cut the funding, but that information never materialized.

Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, on Tuesday said he believed there was a “big fabrication” in which the mayor’s press conference “stoked fear” that council members were trying to defund the Stop the Violence program.

“Somebody fed them a bunch of garbage, and it was done by the mayor’s office,” said Coghill, who added that he is a “big supporter” of the program.

Councilman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, said a decrease in homicides in recent years shows the program is working.

Each year the city allocates the equivalent of 10% of the annual police budget, up to $10 million, to the fund, which currently has about $15 million. Warwick said there have been “comments and insinuations” about whether the money ought to be used elsewhere.

Coghill, who engaged in a testy back and forth with Warwick, acknowledged he was one of those who made such a recommendation.

“Did I suggest using it for other things? You bet,” Coghill said Tuesday.

He had pitched the idea of using some of the unallocated money in the trust fund to help pay for the city to maintain its police mounted unit. The police horses have been funded only through the first half of the year.

Last week, Coghill walked back that suggestion.

City Council previously has approved measures to allow portions of the Stop the Violence fund to support the Department of Parks and Recreation and programs that give legal support to renters facing eviction.

Such expenditures were not included in the initial plan for the fund, Councilman Bobby Wilson, D-North Side, pointed out.

Council, Wilson said, should be able to discuss proposals that could lead to an evolution in how the fund operates and where its money goes.

“I don’t think it’s wrong to ask questions,” Wilson said. “I think it’s important to note the fund has changed.”

The legislation Council approved Tuesday — sponsored by Councilmen R. Daniel Lavelle, D-Hill District, and Khari Mosley, D-Point Breeze — requires grant recipients to report to the city on how they spend the money.

It outlines who should form a steering committee tasked with overseeing the fund and outlines their responsibilities.

The measure also requires organizations receiving funds to be based in communities with high need throughout the city or to be led by people living in those communities.

Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, applauded the measure as a way of improving oversight.

“That has always been my major concern,” she said, explaining she wants to make sure the Stop the Violence program delivers the results the community expects.