Pittsburgh City Council next week will use a new power to interview under oath the mayor’s picks to run city departments and bureaus.
Council has previously conducted public interviews with a mayor’s pick for department heads and bureau chiefs before voting on whether to approve. But council members last year approved legislation that allows them to put nominees under oath during the interviews.
Council President R. Daniel Lavelle said whoever presides over the meetings — often the council president — will have nominees raise their right hands and swear to tell the truth.
The first nominees set to be interviewed under the new rules are Jason Lando and Sheldon Williams, Mayor Corey O’Connor’s picks for police chief and public safety director, respectively. Both are serving in their roles in an acting capacity now.
Lando is a veteran of Pittsburgh’s police bureau who spent the past five years as police chief of Frederick, Md. He was accused of sending anonymous, harassing messages to a former police officer while in Frederick, though an investigation by authorities there wrapped up last month after finding “no violations of criminal law.”
Williams served 18 years in the Army Reserves and Air Force National Guard after launching his career as a Pittsburgh paramedic. He then joined the city’s police bureau, where he was a member of the SWAT team and bomb squad.
Council will publicly interview the pair next Wednesday.
City Council implemented the new rules requiring department directors and bureau chiefs to give testimony under oath after former police Chief Larry Scirotto provided answers during an interview that council members believed were untruthful.
During an interview before his appointment as chief was confirmed, Scirotto told council he would not continue his side job refereeing NCAA college basketball while serving as the city’s top cop. He later resigned amid controversy after he returned to NCAA refereeing.
Lavelle on Wednesday told TribLive the new regulations around interviews will give council recourse to remove officials if they are found to have lied under oath.
Council can only remove directors “for cause,” meaning they must have a specific reason for firing them. Council would now have cause to remove a director from their position if they lie under oath.
For example, a director may tell council members while they’re under oath that they live in the city. If council members later find out that person was actually living beyond Pittsburgh’s borders, “we now have cause — because you lied under oath — to remove the director,” Lavelle explained.
If a nominee doesn’t want to answer a question during the interview, Lavelle said, the chair will have to determine whether the inquiry is “germane.” If it is, the nominee will be required to answer. If the chair finds the question is off topic, the nominee won’t have to respond.
Another tweak to the process now allows council members to provide questions in writing to the nominee before the interview, “so that, in theory, everyone’s coming to the table with a general baseline,” Lavelle said.
Council members will still be permitted to ask other questions at the interview.
