Pittsburgh officials should wait until the public has a chance to digest and weigh in on a proposal by Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration that allocates $335 million in federal pandemic relief money, most of the people who spoke at an online hearing over the weekend told council.

Residents and community leaders will have another chance to speak to council during a meeting at 6 p.m. Monday. For information about how to register to speak, click here or call the city clerk’s office at 412-255-2138 by 3 p.m.

RELATED: Public hearings scheduled about how to spend Pittsburgh’s $335M in relief cash

Twenty-seven people spoke during the 90-minute hearing Saturday. Most were critical of the process the city has used to draft and roll out the spending plan for the city’s American Rescue Plan funds.

The $1.9 trillion bill was signed in March by President Joe Biden. It provides $350 billion to state and local governments to offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In Pittsburgh’s case, it allows the city to cancel 600 layoffs that would have been needed. City Council passed a 2021 budget that required federal money to avoid those layoffs, which would have started this month.

The city used about $120 million in its reserves to cover losses of parking and amusement tax revenue because of the pandemic-related shutdown in 2020. Those reserves allowed the city to avoid layoffs or drastic cuts in service during the pandemic, council Budget Director Bill Urbanic said Saturday.

Before opening up the meeting to the people, Urbanic provided an overview of the plan to allocate the money that was released June 28 by Peduto.

RELATED: Peduto, Pittsburgh council release proposed plan for $335 million in federal relief

It was drafted with input from the recovery task force that council formed to ensure the allocations were made using a “lens of equity” so that the city’s Black and minority neighborhoods received investments.

Black council members Ricky Burgess and R. Daniel Lavelle and council President Theresa Kail-Smith served on the task force, along with unnamed members of the mayoral administration.

Last week, other council members hashed out the plan. The hearings Saturday and Monday are the public’s chance to provide input.

The message from the people who spoke Saturday: Slow down the process.

“If we wanted the next four years planned by the outgoing administration, we would have re-elected them,” William Parker said.

Parker said he’s an independent candidate for mayor. He was going to run as a Democrat in the mayoral primary, but didn’t file nominating petitions.

“Let’s get this right the first time,” Parker said of allocating the federal money. “Moving too fast will only divide us.”

He suggested three or four months of community meetings before a decision was made.

Celeste Scott, a community organizer who is the affordable housing coordinator for the activist group Pittsburgh United, said she was “deeply concerned” about how the plan was drafted “with no public input.”

“Pause and engage the community in a real way,” Scott said.

She lobbied for council to include emergency rental assistance as one of its priorities.

“We have to start by putting our money where our values are,” Scott said.

Others asked for lead abatement programs, which are included in the proposal, to be prioritized.

Helen Gerhardt of Lawrenceville United asked for $10 million to create a Pittsburgh Food Justice Fund, a request echoed by several others.

Gerhardt also asked for more time for people to provide input.

“This was rushed out in such a way it doesn’t allow for full participation,” she said.

Randall Taylor, a former city council candidate and school board member, called the process being used “laughable.”

“The public does not know this money is here,” Taylor said.

After the public hearings, council will further discuss the allocations during its committee meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Unless council takes action to delay implementing it, the allocations would be approved before council’s summer recess, which starts July 28 and runs through Aug. 19.

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