Pittsburgh resolves Juneteenth dispute, issues permit
A dispute over a large annual Juneteenth festival in Pittsburgh was resolved Friday afternoon, with the city issuing a permit to event organizer William “B” Marshall less than a week before the holiday.
The acrimonious disagreement had landed in court after Marshall and his lawyers claimed the city was stalling in giving him a permit for the event, which he said drew more than 65,000 people last year.
Phil DiLucente, the lawyer for Marshall and Stop the Violence Pittsburgh, who are the petitioners in the case, said the resolution occurred around 4 p.m. Friday after lengthy negotiations.
“He is elated that one of the most important holidays to celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation will take place,” DiLucente told TribLive.
Olga George, a spokeswoman for Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, confirmed the city had issued a permit for the festival.
She did not respond to a request for further comment.
Marshall’s Juneteenth event is taking place this year in Mellon Park, which straddles the city’s Shadyside and Point Breeze neighborhoods, on June 19-22.
Point State Park, which hosted the event last year, is unavailable because of renovations.
DiLucente credited Allegheny Common Pleas Judge Daniel D. Regan as being “instrumental” in helping the two sides come to terms.
He said Regan monitored the situation daily and helped narrow the issues to plans for fire and police, parking and times and dates for the event.
Marshall took the city to court May 29.
According to court filings, Marshall applied for the necessary city permits on Feb. 5. Earlier this month, George said the application “remains under review.”
One sticking point had been Marshall’s initial intention to seek the closure of Penn Avenue. Marshall ultimately decided not to seek the street’s closure.
Marshall’s Juneteenth celebration will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on all four days, according to DiLucente.
The City of Pittsburgh is hosting a series of events to commemorate Juneteenth, but none on the holiday, itself.
Last year, the city contracted with an outside company to host a city-sponsored Juneteenth celebration. The process sparked controversy, as the city selected Bounce Marketing & Events through a competitive bid process to put on the event. That bypassed Marshall, the longtime Juneteenth event organizer, who criticized the mayor for not backing his festival.
DiLucente said his client is concerned he might have missed out on financial backing because of the squabble with the city.
“Mr. Marshall may have lost substantial donations due to the delay, in our opinion, of the city in issuing this permit,” DiLucente said.
That said, the Juneteenth festival will go on as planned.
“Without question this will transpire,” DiLucente said. “One of the city and country’s most important holidays will be celebrated on time.”
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