On a Tuesday afternoon in December, around a dozen public housing tenants facing eviction filled a waiting room in McKeesport, where Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi asked each if they could pay their delinquent rent. 

If so, the tenant agreed to pay the amount owed, plus court costs of more than $150. Unless they pledged to pay, Riazzi ruled in favor of the McKeesport Housing Authority, starting a process that can lead to the tenant’s removal within weeks. Tenants who said they couldn’t pay were referred to a county human services worker who waited in the lobby to help them apply for rental assistance. 

A similar scene plays out on many Tuesdays in McKeesport. 

Since the end of the pandemic-era moratorium on evictions in 2021, all three housing authorities serving Allegheny County have filed numerous eviction cases, but none has done so with the same vigor and frequency as the McKeesport Housing Authority [MHA]. These legal actions come as county human service officials and advocates cement a rental assistance network created through pandemic-era federal funding that’s helping tenants of the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny County Housing Authority. 

The McKeesport authority, by far the smallest of the three agencies with the fewest number of housing units, has filed 562 landlord/tenant cases against its tenants from the start of 2021 through early December. Pandemic-driven curbs on most evictions ended in 2021.

The Allegheny County Housing Authority [ACHA] filed 131 cases and the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh [HACP] filed 263 in that same time period, according to court data gathered by Anne Wright of Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab, who tracks eviction cases.  

Wright noted that tracking eviction filings for Pittsburgh’s housing authority can be difficult because the organization often uses various names when filing evictions against tenants. Eviction filings also do not necessarily correlate with actual evictions, as some tenants are able to gather the money and stay after a filing.

McKeesport Housing Authority solicitor Jim Creenan wrote in response to questions that the three housing authorities are structurally different. The MHA, he said, has limited resources, so it needs a consistent stream of federally required rent from tenants. He also noted that the authority has a “substantial waiting list” of families wanting to move into its communities.

Pittsburgh’s and Allegheny County’s housing authorities also have waiting lists for the units they manage.

County human service officials said that the Pittsburgh and county housing authorities are using partners including Just Mediation Pittsburgh to prevent evictions, while MHA has largely declined to use these resources. 

“Prior to the pandemic, the largest filers of evictions were the housing authorities, and at least two of the three housing authorities here are using mediation as a first step to avoid evictions. So that drastically reduced the number of filings we’ve seen in the county,” said Chuck Keenan, an administrator of the Office of Community Services within the Allegheny County Department of Human Services [ACDHS].

Keenan said the MHA used the county’s eviction prevention services at the beginning of 2023 to mediate around 20 tenant cases. Keenan said the housing authority has since stopped using mediation and returned to filing evictions against their tenants. 

“They’re not really using mediation as much as we would hope,” he said. “We would encourage all landlords to use mediation as an alternative to filing — including the housing authorities.” 

McKeesport’s Creenan said the authority “has entered payment plans and we have facilitated hundreds of applications for each stage of the COVID-era rental assistance.” In most cases, those tenants continued to rack up delinquencies, he said.

He added that each mediation requires hours of staff time and the resulting delays in payment did not “align with our limited resources and contributed to the arrears” owed the authority.

Fewest units, most landlord/tenant cases

Ziara Wright, a mother of two in McKeesport who is facing eviction and owes several months of rent, said she was still making partial rent payments last year before the housing authority took her to court. She fell behind in part because of a paperwork problem that led to her losing access to her food stamps, forcing her to spend more money to feed her family. 

After a ruling against her and a judgment of $2,417, she filed an appeal. The eviction process and filing for an appeal has been stressful, she said.

“You got to go through that while you’re juggling everything else. You got to pay your bills out there. You got to go to work every day,” she said. 

Speaking broadly, Creenan said that with all of the protections afforded to tenants — including appeal rights and rental assistance — only about 20% of the first-time evictions the authority files against tenants lead to a judge’s order for possession, entitling the authority to remove the tenant.

“Many tenants appear to be gaming the system,” he said, “as the number of tenants filing late appeals and other delay-type motions to the Court of Common Pleas have increased dramatically in the past two years.”   

Local housing advocates urge inexpensive mediation before court filings. Landlord/tenant complaints result in fees and legal stains that can hurt the tenant’s ability to find rental housing in the future. 

The McKeesport Housing Authority has 1,021 housing units, and last year it filed a landlord/tenant case for roughly 1 out of every 4 of its housing units. In contrast, the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh brought cases against around 4.6% of its tenants, or about 1 in 20. The county’s housing authority, with 3,839 units, filed cases against 2.6% of its tenants last year. 

MHA’s Executive Director Steve Bucklew declined to discuss its eviction policies with PublicSource and WESA, citing unspecified, ongoing litigation. He referred reporters to a published report by the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, citing ongoing rent collection difficulties for housing authorities. 

In an interview with PublicSource in 2022, with pandemic-era rental aid expiring, Bucklew said too many tenants were delinquent in their rent. 

“We’ve never experienced delinquencies like this,” he said at the time. “There’s groups trying to delay evictions, but I feel that the only way the message will be communicated to tenants that they have to pay rent is by filing evictions.”

Pittsburgh and Allegheny leaning against eviction

The county Department of Human Services has been working with ACTION-Housing, Rent Help PGH and Just Mediation, among others, to divert landlord/tenant disputes to mediation, rather than court.

The county and those agencies have learned a lot since 2021, when pandemic-driven rental assistance started, said Keenan. He said the county in 2023 provided rental assistance to more than 1,100 households, totaling upward of $14 million, whereas pre-pandemic spending was $2 million to $3 million a year.

Pittsburgh and Allegheny County’s housing authorities try to avoid court.  

“Eviction prevention has become a standard operating procedure for the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh,” said Anthony Ceoffe, senior director of asset management for HACP.

Ceoffe said HACP worked with Just Mediation Pittsburgh and Rent Help Pittsburgh to help mediate cases with its tenants who are facing problems paying their rent. As a result, he said, the authority didn’t evict any tenants in 2023 because of nonpayment of rent. (Some evictions did take place for issues including safety violations, he said.) 

Ceoffe said the authority also has used a partnership with a third party to connect its tenants to budgeting classes, financial literacy and ongoing case management.

“So just because somebody has received rental assistance, that does not mean that the eviction prevention coordinators are done with them,” Ceoffe said. 

Landlords and tenants in mediation have access to available rental assistance — so landlords are still able to eventually get the funds owed to them. 

HACP officials said the book “Evicted,” work by local foundations and advocates, and lessons from the pandemic have contributed to a shift away from eviction filings.

“We are in the business of providing housing,” said Michelle Sandidge, chief community affairs officer for HACP. “To evict a bunch of people just … adds to the homeless situation. That is not something that we’re trying to do.” 

Rich Stephenson, chief operating officer for the Allegheny County Housing Authority, said the agency has invested money and time in preventing evictions through mediation and financial literacy classes for tenants.

“We try to identify the problem,” Stephenson said, “because if someone’s behind in their rent, there’s usually an underlying problem.”

Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter, and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.

Kate Giammarise is a reporter at 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR News Station, covering housing and social services.

This story was fact-checked by Rich Lord.

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Pittsburgh’s Uptown will be getting a new residential development titled Phoenix on Forbes that, in the words of the developer’s consultant, looks very similar to much of the new development being constructed across the city and country. 

But it will have a unique wardrobe.

GSX Ventures presented the City Planning Commission with the design of their planned six-story building covering almost a city block. It requires the demolition of three buildings on the 1600 block of Forbes Avenue to make room for 211 units, 10% of which will be reserved for people making 60% or less of the area median income. 

The building will be largely covered in architectural paneling, contributing to the generic aesthetic.To offset that, designers plan on covering the panels with as many as 10 banners from artists that will be chosen by a panel of art advocates. 

The demolition plan and building proposal won commission approval unanimously. 

“All the buildings in Pittsburgh and the country are starting to look the same,” said William Kolano, whose firm Kolano Design is consulting with GSX Ventures on the wall art. 

Kolano said the art concept was inspired by GSX Ventures’ founder and President Jon Grant’s desire “to make something that looked different and, oh my God, can it evolve over time rather than be static.”

He said that he attended Carnegie Mellon University with Grant, and Grant wanted to create something that would set the building apart from other modern developments. 

Kolano explained that technology has recently allowed for the creation of large canvases printed with art work that can easily be added and removed from the building facades. 

“This concept of adding artwork from the very beginning is forward-thinking. It’s not like adding a mural at the end because there’s a blank wall,” Kolano said, adding that murals are often added “as an afterthought.”

“There’s a return to adding ornaments to buildings,” he said.

“By putting the art as changeable every five years, the building is allowed to evolve over time,” Kolano said. “And with this project and others like it, Uptown, too, is likely to change and evolve over time.”

Two courtyards will include an in-ground pool. The building will also be located along the planned Bus Rapid Transit route, which was a significant draw for the building’s planners. The site is in the city’s EcoInnovation District, prompting the inclusion of solar panels on the roof. 

Grant told the commissioners that the ground level will have office space, and they will be  leasing 1,200 to 1,500 square feet of retail space to be used by a “food service tenant or small grocery store, things that would essentially benefit the residents and community.”

The building will also feature a fitness center filled with aerobic and weightlifting equipment. Along with public transportation options, there will also be a 72-space parking garage that will be served by a valet to handle higher density parking.

The building’s designers told the commission that they have maintained communications with the four overlapping registered community organizations serving Uptown, along with Council President Daniel Lavelle’s office. Lavelle represents the area.

Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter, and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.

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SparkleDragon’s Magical Emporium is a place in Beechview where witches, heathens, pagans and locals can meet to find incense, books and other items of the occult. 

Beechview Points of Pride
PublicSource maps and chronicles the strengths of diverse communities

Joyce Crock, a self-described witch, envisioned her Broadway Avenue business to be a meeting place where people who feel like they don’t belong in so-called “normal” places could build a community when she opened it in 2015.

“I feel that my place is really important to the pagan community,” Crock said. “We have a lot of LGBTQ+ people in the pagan community and they don’t always feel comfortable everywhere. I’ve had people of color come in and tell me how welcome they feel cause I’m not judgmental. That was a real slap of awakening.”

Crock said that many of the businesses around her have seen dwindling customers. And while she welcomes anyone into her store, as of late she said she too has been struggling to attract them.

“I’ve been in business for so long and I’ve never made a profit,” added Crock, who also sells the work of local artists, on consignment. “I don’t know how I’m still open, I really don’t. Some people are so supportive of the shop. I get a lot of people who come in just to talk. I almost run a little mental health clinic.”

Beechview’s business district hasn’t fully recovered from a massive fraud scandal in the early aughts even as it is buoyed by an influx of new residents, many of whom are Latino. Business owners are hoping the neighborhood’s accessibility and growing immigrant population will solidify the turnaround. 

“The business district was decimated. The Latino influx helped revive the community after everything happened with Bernardo Katz,” said Charlene Saner, a Beechview resident, referring to a developer who bought numerous properties, promising to invest in the area with the help of city Urban Redevelopment Authority funding. 

Instead, Katz absconded from the country, drawing federal charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy and leaving debt that tied up many of the commercial properties he bought in Beechview. According to reports, Katz owned 80% of Beechview’s business district and promised a $2.6 million revitalization. 

Businesses catering to the Latino population have helped to fill the vacuum.

The area is home to numerous Latino-owned eateries as well as a grocery store and barbershop. The Pittsburgh Hispanic Development Corporation, headquartered on Broadway, houses a business incubator that’s promoting Latino entrepreneurs in the South Hills and across the region.

Guillermo Velazquez, executive director of the development group, said that his organization works with everyone but specializes in helping Latino people looking to start businesses. 

“It is good for Beechview because they’re incubating here and they have a business address with us during the incubation period,” Velazquez said. “There’s activity, and people come here for meetings. We increase the traffic in a positive way to Beechview.”

Velazquez said that since the organization began in 2018 they have helped more than 126 businesses open up in the region, at least one of which is in Beechview. 

He said that he hopes Beechview’s business offerings will continue to grow and bring with them a variety of industries like technology and research. Eventually, he thinks the neighborhood would benefit from an annual festival on Broadway. 

“Who knows what it would have looked like without that [Latino] influx,” said Saner, who also works for City Councilor Anthony Coghill. Some of Broadway’s immigrant pioneers struggled. “The businesses that spearheaded all of that are no longer there. But they left a really powerful legacy. They encouraged other Latinos to come to the area.”

Huddle gone, engagement promised

The Huddle restaurant on Broadway was in operation for 47 years, run by the politically influential Wagner family, before shutting down this summer.

The neighborhood is “completely different now and it’s also a completely different world,” said Peter Wagner, 78, who ran the business. “We have to move on.”

He said the neighborhood has “all gone to hell because of code enforcement. … Code enforcement officers refuse to enforce code rules that are on the books. There’s a lot of absentee landlords in this area.”

As a result, the once-strong housing stock has deteriorated, he said.

“Today you see overgrown lots and boarded-up windows and you see people just don’t take care of their properties and in most cases it’s absentee landlords and if you don’t ride them and come down on them you can’t win in a community,” Wagner said.

Pittsburgh has three environment enforcement officers who are each responsible for 30 neighborhoods, according to city spokesperson Olga George. Since September, the inspector covering Beechview has written 191 criminal complaints, of which 24 went to district court.

“The team philosophy is educate, investigate and [as a] last resort litigate,” George said. Code officers “speak with residents directly or via letters when a violation takes place. Sometimes, when they go for an inspection, the violation has already been cleared.”

Wagner said he has been trying to find a buyer for his restaurant but so far hasn’t found anyone he was satisfied with, though he’s shown it to potential buyers from Maryland and New Jersey. 

Some business district properties haven’t found buyers.

A former Katz property on Broadway Avenue was recently demolished by the city.

“It’s bittersweet because there’s this gaping hole in the business district. And now there’s going to be a methodical plan for what may go there,” Saner said. “We don’t want no more monopolies. No more one person owning multiple properties. With community engagement now, everybody will have a strong voice.” 

Saner said that community engagement is stronger because of the neighborhood’s history with bad investors like Katz. 

“Because of [Katz], more community groups emerged as a way of preventing this kind of thing from happening again,” she said. “And we’re stronger now for that.”

Signs of promise

A former Katz property on the corner where Beechview Avenue merges into Broadway Avenue is now a Dollar Eagle. 

On the other end of the business district sits Slice on Broadway, a pizzeria that has expanded into six locations across the city. Owner Rico Lunardi said he opened the business in 2010 after returning from Philadelphia with a business degree. 

“Pizza is a big deal here,” Lunardi said, noting that the area boasts legendary pizza joints like Fiori’s Pizzaria and Badamos. “There’s a lot of competition.” 

Despite the saucy competition, Lunardi said his business did well and “took off” after winning some local awards. He attributed the businesses success to high quality ingredients and the regional novelty of selling pizza by the slice.  

“There’s a Pittsburgh style of making pizza and we’re not that,” he said. “Pittsburgh pizza has a thicker crust, sweeter sauce and way more cheese. We’re a little different and there weren’t as many options for pizza by the slice when we started.” 

Lunardi said that he hopes to be able to franchise his business. 

“This neighborhood is great but it’s had its ups and downs,” he said, referring to Katz’s failure. “We thought we’d get more development here but that’s not the case.”

He said that the above-ground trolley, known as the T, holds the possibility for the area to attract more people looking to commute into and out of the city. 

Crock also said that the public transportation access can help revitalize the neighborhood. 

“I want to see Beechview grow and become vibrant as it should be. We have the advantage of the T line right here,” she said. “I hope to see Beechview become a city [neighborhood] like Lawrenceville or Bloomfield, without the gentrification.”

Guillermo Velazquez, who was interviewed for this story, serves on the PublicSource Board of Directors.

Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter, and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.

This story was fact-checked by Ladimir Garcia.

Translation by Zulma Michaca, a bilingual professional living in Riverside County, Calif., with family ties in Pittsburgh. She can be reached at z.michaca123@gmail.com.

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SparkleDragon’s Magical Emporium es un lugar en Beechview donde las brujas, los idólatras, los paganos y los locales se pueden reunir para encontrar inciensos, libros, y otros objetos de lo oculto. 

Beechview Puntos de Orgullo
FuentePública (PublicSource) mapea y relata las fortalezas de comunidades diversas.

Joyce Crock, autodenominada bruja, visualizaba su negocio en la Avenida Broadway como un lugar de reunión donde las personas que sienten que no pertenecen a los lugares denominados “normales” puedan construir una comunidad, cuando lo abrió en el 2015. 

“Siento que mi lugar es muy importante para la comunidad pagana,” Crock dijo. “Tenemos a mucha gente LGBTQ+ en la comunidad pagana y no siempre se sienten cómodos en todas partes. Hay personas de color que han venido a decirme cuán bienvenidos se sienten porque yo no los juzgo. Eso fue cómo una bofetada para despertar.”

Crock dijo que muchos negocios a su alrededor han visto disminuir su clientela . Y mientras ella da la bienvenida a cualquiera en su tienda, últimamente también se le ha hecho difícil atraer clientes. 

“He tenido mi negocio por mucho tiempo y nunca he generado ganancia,” agregó Crock, quien también vende obras de artistas locales, por consignación. “No sé cómo todavía sigo abierta, en realidad no lo sé. Algunas personas dan mucho apoyo a la tienda. Hay varias personas que entran solo para platicar. Casi tengo una pequeña clínica de salud mental.” 

El distrito de negocios de Beechview no se ha recuperado completamente de un escándalo de fraude masivo a principios de la década del dos mil, incluso cuando es impulsado ahora por la afluencia de nuevos residentes, muchos de ellos Latinos. Los dueños de negocios tienen la esperanza de que la accesibilidad del vecindario y la creciente población de inmigrantes van a solidificar la transformación.

“El distrito de negocios quedó diezmado. La afluencia de los Latinos ha ayudado a revivir la comunidad después de todo lo que paso con Bernardo Katz,” dijo Charlene Saner, una residente de Beechview, refiriéndose a un desarrollador que compró numerosas propiedades, prometiendo invertir en el área con ayuda de la fundación de la Autoridad de Renovación Urbana (Urban Redevelopment Authority).

En lugar de eso, Katz huyó del país, con cargos federales de fraude electrónico, fraude bancario y conspiración, y dejó una deuda atada a muchas propiedades comerciales que compró en Beechview. De acuerdo con informes, Katz poseía el 80% del distrito de negocios de Beechview y prometió una revitalización de $2.6 millones.   

Los negocios que atienden a la población Latina han ayudado a llenar el vacío. 

El área es hogar de numerosos restaurantes de dueños Latinos, así como un supermercado y una peluquería. La Corporación de Desarrollo Hispano de Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh Hispanic Development Corporation), con sede en Broadway, alberga un programa de incubación de empresas que promueve emprendedores Latinos en South Hills y en toda la región. 

Guillermo Velazquez, director ejecutivo del grupo de desarrollo, dijo que su organización trabaja con todos, pero se especializa en ayudar a personas Latinas que quieren empezar negocios. 

“Es bueno para Beechview porque se están incubando aquí y tienen una dirección postal de la empresa con nosotros durante el periodo de incubación,” Velazquez dijo. “Hay actividad, y las personas vienen aquí para reuniones. Incrementamos el tráfico en una manera positiva en Beechview.” 

Velazquez dijo que desde que la organización empezó en el 2018, han ayudado a abrir más de 126 negocios en la región, y al menos uno de estos está en Beechview. 

Él dijo que espera que la oferta de negocios continúe creciendo y que traigan con ellos una variedad de industrias, como de tecnología y de investigación. Piensa que con el tiempo el vecindario se beneficiaría de un festival anual en Broadway.

Quien sabe cómo se hubiera visto sin esa afluencia [Latina],” dijo Saner, quien también trabaja para el Concejal de la Ciudad Anthony Coghill. Algunos inmigrantes pioneros de Broadway tuvieron dificultades. “Los negocios que encabezaban todo eso ya no están allí. Pero dejaron un legado muy poderoso. Ellos animaron a otros Latinos a venir al área.” 

Huddle cerrado, participación prometida

El restaurante The Huddle en Broadway operó por 47 años, dirigido por la familia Wagner, políticamente influyente, antes de cerrar este verano. 

El vecindario es “completamente diferente ahora y también es un mundo completamente diferente,” dijo Peter Wagner, de 78 años, quien manejaba el negocio. “Tenemos que seguir adelante.”

El dijo que el vecindario se ha “ido todo al infierno por la aplicación de los códigos… Los funcionarios encargados de hacer cumplir los códigos se niegan a aplicar las reglas de códigos que están escritas. Hay muchos propietarios absentistas en esta área.” 

Cómo consecuencia, se han deteriorado las acciones  de las viviendas que una vez fueron sólidas, él dijo. 

“Ahora se ven lotes descuidados y ventanas clausuradas con tablas, y ves que la gente simplemente no cuida sus propiedades y en muchos casos son propietarios absentistas y si no los buscas y les presionas no puedes ganar en una comunidad,” Wagner dijo.  

Pittsburgh tiene tres funcionarios que velan por el  medioambiente, cada uno es responsable de 30 vecindarios, de acuerdo con la vocera de la ciudad Olga George. Desde septiembre, el inspector que atiende a Beechview ha reunido 191 denuncias, de las cuales 24 fueron a la corte del distrito.

“La filosofía del equipo es educar, investigar y [cómo un] último recurso litigar,” dijo George. Los funcionarios “hablan con los residentes directamente o por carta cuando ocurre una infracción. A veces, cuando van a una inspección ya se ha resuelto la infracción.” 

Wagner dijo que ha tratado de encontrar un comprador para su restaurante, pero hasta ahora no ha encontrado a alguien con el que esté satisfecho, aun cuando se lo ha mostrado a posibles compradores de Maryland y New Jersey. 

Algunas propiedades del distrito de negocios no han encontrado compradores. 

Una propiedad que fue de Katz en la Avenida Broadway fue demolida recientemente por la ciudad.

“Es agridulce porque hay un vacío enorme en el distrito de negocios. Y ahora va a haber un plan metódico de lo que irá allí,” dijo Saner. “No queremos más monopolios. No más de que una persona sea dueña de múltiples propiedades. Con participación comunitaria ahora, todos van a tener una voz fuerte.” 

Saner dijo que la participación comunitaria es más fuerte por el historial del vecindario con malos inversionistas como Katz. 

“Por [Katz], emergieron más grupos comunitarios cómo una manera de prevenir que ese tipo de cosa pase de nuevo,” dijo. “Y ahora somos más fuertes por eso.”

Señales prometedoras

Una propiedad que antes fue de Katz, en la esquina donde la Avenida Beechview se une con la Avenida Broadway, ahora es un Dollar Eagle.

En el otro lado del distrito de negocios está Slice on Broadway, una pizzería que se ha expandido a 6 locales en toda la ciudad. El dueño Rico Lunardi dijo que abrió el negocio en el 2010, después de regresar de Filadelfia con un título en administración de empresas. 

“La pizza es una gran cosa aquí,” dijo Lunardi, destacando que el área presume de pizzerías legendarias cómo Fiori’s Pizzaria y Badamos. “Hay mucha competencia.”

A pesar de la competencia sabrosa, Lunardi dijo que le ha ido bien en su negocio y “despegó” después de ganar algunos premios locales. Él atribuyó su éxito comercial a ingredientes de alta calidad y a la novedad regional de vender rebanadas de pizza.

“Hay un estilo Pittsburgh de hacer pizzas y nosotros no somos eso,” él dijo. “La pizza de Pittsburgh tiene una masa más gruesa, salsa más dulce y mucho más queso. Nosotros somos un poco diferentes y no había muchas opciones de conseguir rebanadas de pizza cuando empezamos.”

Lunardi dijo que espera poder franquiciar su negocio.

“Este vecindario es genial, pero ha tenido altibajos,” dijo, refiriéndose al fracaso de Katz. “Nosotros pensábamos que íbamos a tener más desarrollo aquí, pero eso no es el caso.”   

Él dijo que el tren de superficie, conocido cómo el T, trae la posibilidad de que el área atraiga a más personas que buscan trasladarse a diario hacia dentro y fuera de la ciudad. 

Crock también dijo que el acceso al transporte público puede ayudar a revitalizar el vecindario. 

“Quiero ver a Beechview crecer y hacerse más vibrante, como debe de ser. Tenemos la ventaja de la línea T aquí mismo,” dijo ella. “Espero ver a Beechview convertirse en una ciudad [vecindario] cómo Lawrenceville o Bloomfield, sin la gentrificación.”

Guillermo Velazquez, quien fue entrevistado para esta historia, forma parte de la junta de directores de FuentePública (PublicSource). 

Eric Jankiewicz es un reportero de desarrollo económico de FuentePública (PublicSource), y puede ser contactado en ericj@publicsource.org o por Twitter  @ericjankiewicz.

Los hechos de esta historia fueron revisados por Ladimir Garcia. 

Traducción de Zulma Michaca, profesional bilingüe experta viviendo en el Condado de Riverside, Calif., con familia en Pittsburgh. Para contactarla: z.michaca123@gmail.com.

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Pittsburgh’s housing authority is increasing the time housing voucher holders must stay in the city before they can transfer elsewhere, as part of a sweep of changes to the agency’s voucher programs.

While some of the changes are mandated by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD], others were added by the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh [HACP].

“This is the biggest change to our [Housing Choice Voucher] and [Project Based Voucher] regulations since the 1980s,” Amanda Hower, the authority’s senior project manager, told the board on Thursday. “We can start conversations next year on how this will all play out. We need more guidance from HUD on implementation guidelines.” 

The HACP board of directors approved revisions and clarifications on Thursday to the Housing Choice Voucher Program Administrative Plan, which dictates the policies around the rental assistance program sometimes referred to as Section 8. The plan also adopts federal mandates made through the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act program, a federal initiative amending many aspects of multifamily housing, including the way family income is calculated.

One of the main local changes, Hower said after the board meeting, is a new requirement that voucher holders live in the city for at least one year after getting their vouchers. 

“We want to keep people in the city,” she said. “We need to get people leased in the city to retain vouchers. We don’t want an exodus.” 

Hower said this would be waived in situations involving domestic violence or when tenants require disability access, as outlined in the administrative plan.

During the board meeting, HACP Executive Director Caster Binion described the the revision of voucher rules as “not complete. It’s almost like a moving target. It’s a cake being baked and we have to keep putting ingredients into it.”

One of the federally mandated rules calls for housing authorities to exclude non-recurring income in their calculations on how much assistance someone can receive.

HACP also altered their policy to set aside 100 tenant-based vouchers for full-time students enrolled in higher education. HACP will have Pittsburgh Scholar House identify people for priority housing with the eventual goal of “self-sufficiency including eventual homeownership after graduating from the program,” according to the plan.

Pittsburgh Scholar House is a nonprofit based on a model developed in Kentucky intended to help single parents complete higher education. The program accepted its first cohort of 100 people last year. 

Zero resident feedback

Federal guidelines mandate that the public be given a chance to voice thoughts and concerns about these changes prior to implementation. Mayor Ed Gainey’s Chief of Staff Jake Wheatley, who sits on the housing board, said during Thursday’s meeting that he was concerned that HACP didn’t receive any community input during the process. 

“It’s difficult for me to accept that there is no opinion from even one of our residents about these significant changes that are about to occur,” Wheatley said. “What department is responsible to ensure our residents understand what’s about to happen?”

Binion responded saying that the authority placed public notices about the changes in newspapers.

“Who’s talking to our neighbors and residents that are saying we have this very important change?” Wheatley asked. 

“Other cities had a lot of activists involved in getting the word out but we didn’t have that,” Binion said.

Binion defended the locally made changes as “procedural stuff” and efforts to keep housing benefits in the city. “We have almost 190 people getting vouchers and then going to the county. We need those vouchers for people who live here.”

Correction: Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Senior Project Manager Amanda Hower’s name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.

Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.

The post Pittsburgh Housing to voucher holders: Stay for at least a year appeared first on PublicSource. PublicSource is a nonprofit news organization serving the Pittsburgh region. Visit www.publicsource.org to read more.

Update (12/1/23): Coming off a cold snap, Allegheny County officials said they will open an emergency shelter if the temperature this season drops below 26 degrees. The shelter has been identified as the City of Pittsburgh’s Ammon Recreation Center in the Bedford Dwellings section of the Hill District.

The county’s Department of Human Services [ACDHS] announced on Nov. 30 that it has worked with the City of Pittsburgh and enacted a “Code Blue Action Plan” when temperatures drop below 26 between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. The announcement came a day after the county’s Homeless Advisory Board recommended to ACDHS Director Erin Dalton and Chief Operating and Administrative Officer Lisa Frank that a threshold of 32 degrees be set and asked that they find more beds for the area’s overtaxed shelter system. 

Dalton previously declined to define the severe weather conditions that would spur the county to open an emergency facility. 

This is the first winter season in decades that the county declined to open the longtime Emergency Winter Shelter at the Smithfield United Church of Christ, Downtown.

This week, temperatures dropped to 19 degrees on Wednesday, according to NWS, and 21 degrees on Tuesday. Meanwhile, most shelters in the area reported at-capacity, according to the county’s Administrator of Homeless Services Andy Halfhill. But with no code blue in place, no extra measures were taken. 

ACDHS now recommends people in need of shelter during code blue events first go to Second Avenue Commons, where 40 beds are provided in an overflow area. When those spaces fill the county will transport people to the Ammon Rec Center.

Reported 11/15/23:

Winter shelter beds open tonight, but severe weather plan details still scant

The winter overflow shelter at Second Avenue Commons opens this evening, providing 40 beds to unhoused adults, according to the Allegheny County Department of Human Services [ACDHS]. 

The temporary overflow space will operate daily from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. until March 15, 2024. Admission is first-come, first-serve and each guest will receive a mat, blanket, hot dinner and breakfast, and a locker to store their belongings, according to Pittsburgh Mercy, which operates the shelter. 

The county had closed the overflow shelter at Second Avenue Commons in September, but is bringing it back as part of a “severe weather action plan.”

ACDHS Director Erin Dalton told reporters the county was “really working hard on the shelter capacity” and that it would work with street outreach teams and law enforcement to “make sure people who are really staying outside know where to go for assistance.”

The county is partnering with the City of Pittsburgh to secure an additional emergency overflow facility in a location it would not disclose. It will open the facility if there is a utility problem at an existing shelter — such as a burst pipe or lack of heating — or if the countywide shelter system reaches capacity during extreme weather. 

Olga George, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s press secretary, declined to comment because the city is still “working out some details” in the severe weather plan. 

In the event of an emergency, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership will shuttle unhoused people who arrive at Second Avenue Commons to the emergency facility. 

“We will get Port Authority buses to help run people to that place” if necessary, Dalton told PublicSource after a press conference this morning. “We will make sure people get there.” 

The county wants unhoused people to show up at Second Avenue Commons first so that it can fill overflow beds in the system before transporting people to the emergency space, according to ACDHS spokesperson Mark Bertolet. 

Dalton said the county will directly operate the emergency facility, but won’t hire additional full-time staff to do so. She said the county isn’t planning for emergency situations to be “so common as to need a full-time staff.” 

Dalton also could not define the severe weather conditions that would spur the county to open the emergency facility. She said ACDHS will “take our cues” from city and county emergency services, which set up a command center during extreme weather events. 

“It’s tricky, right?” she said of setting a threshold at which the emergency facility would open. “What if the low was 33, but there [was] two feet of snow on the ground?” 

In a press release issued last week, the county touted a 65% increase in year-round shelter capacity from two years ago, putting the county-wide bed count at 370. Bertolet said in an email that the increase reflects the addition of year-round beds at Second Avenue Commons in Uptown, CommUNITY Place in Homewood, FamilyLinks Downtown Outreach Center and Shelter [DOCS], and McKeesport Low Barrier Shelter. “Two years ago, McKeesport was winter-only, DOCS had fewer beds, and Second Ave and CommUNITY didn’t exist,” he added.

Bertolet confirmed that the county would not be reopening the emergency overflow shelter in the basement of Smithfield United Church of Christ in downtown Pittsburgh, which regularly hosted more than 100 people nightly. This marks the first winter in 25 years that the church will not open as a winter emergency shelter. 

The decision not to reopen Smithfield comes at a time when a variety of factors are contributing to housing instability in the county — including a lack of affordable housing, domestic violence, mental illness and substance use and addiction. During the week of Nov. 15, the number of people in emergency shelter programs in Allegheny County was up 84%, and the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness was up 89%, versus the same week two years ago, according to a county dashboard. It now shows 723 people in emergency shelters and 197 known to be unsheltered.

“There’s just nowhere to live,” said Annie Cairns, senior marketing and communications manager at Light of Life Rescue Mission, describing the affordable housing shortage in Pittsburgh. The North Shore-based nonprofit provides about 20 overflow beds, which are at capacity on most nights. 

It’s not always addiction or mental illness that brings people to Light of Life’s Voeghtly Street Shelter, she said, adding that other forces such as evictions, domestic violence and the rising cost of food are driving homelessness in the region. 

“We recently had an 88-year-old veteran come through our doors, and this is a person that holds four master’s degrees,” she said. “So, it’s very scary.”

Dalton said the county “will never have enough shelter” space unless it works to provide transitional housing and permanent affordable housing for people who are currently in the shelter system. She said ACDHS recently put out a request for proposals to create a supportive housing program for families and individuals experiencing homelessness.   

The county has not received additional federal or state funding to address the problem, Dalton said. That’s why it’s “balancing its investments” among temporary shelter and more permanent affordable housing options. 

“What should the pie chart look like?” she asked about that process, inviting the public to weigh in. 

Shelter locations and contact information can be found at connect.alleghenycounty.us.

Venuri Siriwardane is PublicSource’s health and mental health reporter. She can be reached at venuri@publicsource.org or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @venuris.

Stephanie Strasburg is a photojournalist with PublicSource who can be reached at stephanie@publicsource.org, on Instagram @stephaniestrasburg or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @stephstrasburg.

This reporting has been made possible through the Staunton Farm Mental Health Reporting Fellowship and the Jewish Healthcare Foundation.

The post Updated: County, city will activate Ammon Rec backup shelter if temps drop to 26 appeared first on PublicSource. PublicSource is a nonprofit news organization serving the Pittsburgh region. Visit www.publicsource.org to read more.

A developer wants to replace five condemned and vacant buildings in Downtown’s Firstside Historic District with four bocce courts.

One of the buildings once housed Froggy’s bar. In 2020, Michael Troiani with the Troiani Group sought permission to tear down three late-19th century buildings along First Avenue and Market Street and replace them with a 385-foot apartment-and-office tower. But the City Planning Commission at the time blocked the plans in an attempt to preserve the historic district and respect the prevailing smaller scale of the district. 

On Tuesday the Troiani group returned to the commission with plans to demolish four buildings and create courts for people to play the sport formalized in Italy.

The Troiani family began acquiring Firstside parcels around 30 years ago, Michael Troiani told PublicSource in 2020. The family took steps to repair and lease the long-vacant buildings but couldn’t find interested tenants. Several of the buildings became too dangerous for habitation.

The Troiani Group couldn’t be reached for comment in time for publication of this story. 

During the Tuesday meeting the commission noted that the site has a national, but not local, historic designation, and thus the plan didn’t need to be reviewed by the city’s Historic Review Commission. 

Along with four bocce courts, the plan includes seating, trees and a chain link fence surrounding the site. 

Michael Troiani told the commissioners that gameplay will be arranged through paid reservations. He hoped the courts would tap into some of the bocce leagues active in the city.

“This is an opportunity to have everyone mix in good society over gameplay and I think it will benefit the city for quite some time,” Troiani said. 

Commissioner Peter Quintanilla said that the 4-foot-high chain link fence in which the developers are planning to encase the courts wouldn’t fit in with the urban character of the area. The parcel in question is zoned as Golden Triangle District C, which permits construction of parks with lighted playing courts as well as other recreational uses.

“It’s not what you would imagine to see in downtown Pittsburgh; it’s a very rural character in general, the chain link fence,” Quintanilla said. 

He suggested that when the developers bring their proposal for a vote they should provide the commissioners with other ideas for fencing that would be more inviting. 

“I’m concerned about people walking by and what would that look like for them,” Quintanilla said. 

The developers said they would look at other options for the next commission meeting. The developers could ask the commission to vote on their proposal during that meeting, which is scheduled for Dec. 12.

Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter, and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.

The post Former Froggy’s site could become hub for Italian sport courts appeared first on PublicSource. PublicSource is a nonprofit news organization serving the Pittsburgh region. Visit www.publicsource.org to read more.

Attempts to preserve and create new affordable housing – both rental and owner-occupied – will receive a major boost from Pittsburgh’s economic development arm, in partnership with organizations including the YMCA and other nonprofits. 

During the Urban Redevelopment Authority [URA] board’s first in-person board meeting since the beginning of the pandemic, board members unanimously approved Housing Preservation Program loans for five separate initiatives aimed at preserving affordable housing through extensive renovations of apartment complexes. The program is backed by the Housing Opportunity Fund, which was created in 2017 after an affordable housing task force recommended its creation. The city commits $10 million a year for the next 12 years to address what the task force characterized as an affordable housing crisis, to which the URA added federal American Rescue Plan funds. 

Allegheny YMCA: Renovation will leave 89 units

“With your support today the Allegheny Y will be able to provide a dignified home for more than 89 individuals for decades to come,” Amy Kienle, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, told the URA board. “It’s an investment in generations of individuals and a commitment to a livable city.”

Kienle said that the space has and continues to serve as “an important third space for several generations of Pittsburghers” but that it needed “ a lot of love on the inside.”

The URA approved a preservation loan not to exceed $1.5 million that will be used to renovate the single room occupancy units in the YMCA’s nearly 100-year-old Northside location, reducing the 120 units to 89 units. As with all the projects that the board approved Thursday, the overall project cost for the Y’s Northside location is much higher than the loan amount, with other sources of funding covering the total estimated cost of $22.5 million. The units will be under two separate affordability requirements. Rent restrictions on 30 units will be set at 50% of the area median income [AMI], with 59 units capped at 80% of AMI for 40 years.

Hazelwood: Apartment building to be improved

The URA board also approved a loan for a nine-unit apartment building in Hazelwood that Rising Tide Partners, a nonprofit, bought with the intent to help the community realize the goal, expressed in the Greater Hazelwood Plan, to gain community control of the neighborhood’s larger apartment buildings in hopes of preserving affordable housing. 

“This is a very important example of how we have so many families in this city in danger of displacement because of absentee landlords,” said Kendall Pelling, executive director of the nonprofit.

Pelling’s organization bought the property in 2022 for $379,000. Pelling said that the property was poorly managed and undercapitalized for decades causing roof and plumbing leaks and significant masonry damage. A capital needs assessment was conducted and found that many features of the building are in poor condition

“When we first came in we saw families in units with leaking roofs, bricks about to fall off potentially onto somebody, leaking pipes, heat exchangers broken in old furnaces that could be potential carbon monoxide poisoning,” Pelling said. The total development cost for these renovations is just over $2.5 million. The URA is lending $450,000. 

Central Northside: Widow’s Home to be preserved

Among the other projects the board approved was a loan to renovate an apartment complex in the Central Northside known as the Allegheny Widow’s Home that was originally built in the late 1800s for widows, elderly women and women with low incomes. With nine one-bedroom units and 15 two-bedroom townhouses, the site attracted ACTION Housing and the nonprofit bought the complex in 2022. 

The affordability mandates on the complex call for 13 units with rents capped at 50% of AMI and 11 units at 60% of AMI, for 40 years. 

“We house some of the most vulnerable residents and, like everything, it’s aging so I’m so thankful for these preservation funds to continue to operate our buildings and give our residents the quality of life they need,” said Lena Andrews, ACTION Housing’s vice president of real estate development. “We don’t want to just provide housing, we want to provide quality housing that they’ll be proud of.” 

Andrews said that the Widows Home was “such an awesome example of a preservation project.”

She recalled that at the time of the purchase in 2022, the complex’s tax-credit-based affordability mandate was expiring.

“When I saw it, I said, ‘I have to buy this,’” she said. “Can you imagine if a market rate developer bought this? That’s it, affordability would be gone.”

She said that the renovations will help prepare the building to pass inspections to become a site for project based voucher tenants.

The board also approved a $450,000 loan to ACTION Housing for the rehabilitation of 10 affordable rental units in Garfield and Highland Park. At an estimated cost of nearly $2.5 million, half of the units will be reserved for people making no more than 30% of AMI and the rest at 50% of AMI.

“I felt like it’s worth reflecting on the magnitude of what will be accomplished with these sets of projects,” said Sam Williamson, a member of the URA board. “It takes skill and tenacity to create a housing preservation program and then make sure it translates to specific projects. It’s incredible.”

He continued, “That’s what the president talks about when he talks about building from bottom up. This is very much Bidenomics here.”

Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.

The post URA board approves financing to preserve housing across Pittsburgh appeared first on PublicSource. PublicSource is a nonprofit news organization serving the Pittsburgh region. Visit www.publicsource.org to read more.

Update (11/9/23): Allegheny County announced that it has partnered with the City of Pittsburgh on a severe weather action plan for winter’s “harshest nights,” which the county later described as “extreme temperatures or dangerous precipitation.” If the roughly 370 year-round shelter beds and 80 overflow beds reach capacity, or if a shelter must be closed due to a utilities issue, “an emergency facility will be activated, and individuals showing up at Second Avenue Commons will be transported to the emergency location,” according to a county press release.

The release did not specify the location of the emergency facility, but the county later indicated that it would not be the Smithfield United Church of Christ.

“Our work is not done, but I’m really pleased that our work with partners to open Second Avenue Commons, and our collaboration with other providers to increase year-long and overflow capacity has allowed us to serve even more people,” county Department of Human Services Director Erin Dalton said in a press release. “No one should stay outside when the weather is extremely dangerous.”

“Because of these efforts, we expect to be able to accommodate over 450 individuals by the start of winter, should we need that capacity.” 

Shelter locations and contact information are here connect.alleghenycounty.us.

As Pittsburgh moves to clear tents, county opts not to reopen Downtown winter shelter

Reported 11/9/23: A Downtown church that usually shelters hundreds of people  will no longer be used as an emergency winter shelter, and no alternative has been identified, an internal county memo confirms. The lack of new shelter options from Allegheny County comes as Pittsburgh moves to evict an encampment of around 12 people. 

The Allegheny County Department of Human Services [ACDHS] announced to providers on Monday that the annual Emergency Winter Shelter will not be opening at the Smithfield United Church of Christ, ending a decades-long arrangement. 

The message outlines that the county is looking for an all-year shelter with 24/7 access “but we aren’t there yet.” The message also claims that the county has increased the number of year-round shelter beds from 232 in 2021 to 377 beds currently. 

Since Oct. 4 PublicSource has repeatedly asked ACDHS to detail plans for a winter shelter, which the county usually opens on Nov. 15. ACDHS has not provided details.

The rise in beds accompanies a rise in the number of homeless people living in the county. According to the Allegheny County Analytics dashboard, the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness doubled from 2021 to 2022 and then plateaued.

During the week of Nov. 5, there were 223 people counted experiencing unsheltered homelessness, up from 104 at the same time two years ago, according to an online dashboard provided by ACDHS.

The county’s decision comes nearly a year after the  $22 million dollar Second Avenue Commons shelter opened, initially to replace the Smithfield shelter. But due to unexpectedly high need for shelter services, the county opted to open the Smithfield shelter last year, and it was operated by Team PSBG until ACDHS closed it on June 21, well past its traditional operating timeframe. 

“There has been radio silence from [ACDHS Director] Erin [Dalton] and DHS for the last two months,” said Jon Colburn, the parish’s administrator. “I’ve asked, ‘Will the shelter open at Smithfield [Street] Church?’ Crickets and chirps, all I got.”

Colburn said that last year when the county chose the church to host the shelter they gave Colburn a 72-hour notice.

“We’re not opposed to housing the shelter,” Colburn said. “There is nothing I’ve seen or heard that says there is a place for the 140 people who were at the Smithfield shelter nightly last season. We have the space, so we would listen to a request, but we can’t do it ourselves.”

Closing of legacy shelter limits Downtown access

“For at least the past 25 years we’ve had what started out as the Cold Winter Emergency Shelter,” Colburn said, noting that initially the cold weather initiative opened only on nights that dropped below 25 degrees between Nov. 15 and March 15. 

Colburn said that about 10 years ago the county expanded shelter services to every night within that time frame. Earlier this year that period expanded, at first indefinitely, and then until June 21.

As the shelter operated into the summer, Downtown stakeholders urged closure.

The county’s decision not to open the Smithfield shelter severs one Downtown connection in the Continuum of Care –  a federal requirement intended to provide people with care in various stages of need. Locally, many services are available Downtown, and the advocates have said the absence of the Smithfield shelter could compromise access for some unhoused people.

Policy meets reality 

At the same time, the city is using its new encampment eviction policy to remove a number of people who have been sleeping in tents hugging a cement berm on First Avenue off the Boulevard of the Allies.

Under city policy, people staying at encampment sites targeted for removal will be given at least seven days’ notice before they have to pack up, except in emergencies. In this case, posts went up on Nov. 1 with a clearance date of Nov. 7, according to media reports.

“The city has made the decision to decommission this encampment for a variety of factors, most notably the ability to make offers of housing for the estimated seven to nine individuals who live there, as well as over safety concerns for the residents of the encampment,” Olga George, Mayor Ed Gainey’s press secretary, told PublicSource. 

“Staff from the Office of Community Health and Safety, Social Workers, ROOTS [Reaching Out on the Streets] team members, and community partners have been meeting regularly with the residents of the First Avenue encampment over the past three to four months, and nearly every day over the past couple of weeks.” 

Scenes from the shutdown of the First Avenue encampment in downtown Pittsburgh. At top right, City of Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt talks with community organizers from the Thomas Merton Center and Food Not Bombs, and Ben Talik, program manager with ROOTS [Reaching Out on the Streets] at the site of an encampment along First Avenue by Boulevard of the Allies on Nov. 7. The city planned to close the encampment by 5 p.m. that day, but pushed back 24 hours to buy more time to place people in alternative shelter. (Photos by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)

George also said the city’s actions “are not a law enforcement activity, and our first and foremost responsibility is to care for some of the most vulnerable residents in our city with compassion.”

“This narrative of we’re closing this encampment because it’s violent – c’mon, being unhoused is violent,” said Bethany Hallam, Allegheny County councilperson at-large. “Displacing people, and putting them out in the cold and the rain, is violent. When we get reports of the first person sleeping outside dying of exposure to the elements, that blood will be on all those folks’ hands who facilitated removing these people from and closing the only shelter that they had.”

On Tuesday, workers from the city’s ROOTS program began the process of finding alternative shelter for people at the encampment.  

On Wednesday morning, residents continued to pack their belongings and decide on their next steps. An arrest of one of the people who had been staying at the camp that morning slowed progress as tension flared. 

Muhammad Ali Nasir, also known by his emcee name MAN-E, spoke at the targeted encampment where his organization was passing out food and offering transportation. Nasir is a cofounder of mutual aid and street outreach group Community Care & Resistance In Pittsburgh and the advocacy, policy and civic engagement coordinator for 1Hood.

“I think it’s a serious mistake not to open Smithfield,” said Nasir. “They’re trying to get folks outside of Downtown. That presents an issue for us outreach workers who can better serve people when they’re consolidated. These folks form communities and they look out for each other, especially people who use opioids. There’s safety in communities. Right now communities are actively being disrupted.”

As rain fell on what remained of the camp on Thursday morning, activists and outreach teams started to arrive in anticipation of the arrival of DPW trucks for clean up.  A former camp member sifted through the collected bags of garbage for food. ROOTS program manager Ben Talik checked the last standing tent for people.

If not here, where? Shelter space limited

ACDHS identified at least three alternative shelter spaces to accommodate the closure of Smithfield shelter but the majority reported at or near full capacity. 

Light of Life Rescue Mission, on the North Shore, provides 20 overflow beds to accommodate the county’s decision to close the Smithfield Street shelter earlier this year. Those beds are at or near capacity most nights.

“Every night is different — sometimes we have 17 beds (out of the 20 overflow) filled and other nights we have 18, 19 or are completely maxing out at the 20 overflow beds. It just varies each day depending on how many walk through our doors,” said Annie Cairns, Light of Life’s senior marketing and communications manager, in September. 

Similarly, East End Cooperative Ministries in East Liberty provides 20 overflow beds and since the middle of September those beds have been filled every night.

Second Avenue Commons’ shelter operator Pittsburgh Mercy declined twice to share any information regarding their overflow shelter plans. An Allegheny Links operator told PublicSource that Second Avenue Commons didn’t report any vacancies on Wednesday.

The 95-bed shelter operates year-round but there is also overflow capacity for an additional 40 beds. In September, the county opted to shut down the 40-bed overflow space after about three months of operation, during which it accommodated unhoused people who had been staying at the Smithfield shelter. 

Second Avenue Commons also has a single room occupancy section that is operated by a contractor, rather than by Pittsburgh Mercy.  

Another shelter, Wood Street Commons, Downtown, includes a 32-bed shelter run by Community Human Services. An Allegheny Links operator said people can only stay at Wood Street Commons if they’re there referred by a street outreach team. 

Cairns said Light of Life has seen “changes in our homeless community” that include “a significant increase of the women and children and seniors that are walking through our doors.” 

She attributed those changes to evictions, food insecurity, domestic violence and a deficit in available housing in the city of Pittsburgh. 

She predicted that many shelters will be “completely full for the winter” due to the closure of the Smithfield shelter. “So we’ve got to come up with something,” she added. 

“What already felt like a bad situation feels so much worse with the back and forth on the deadline for these guys to be gone,” said Russell Beyer, 44, on Wednesday, while taking a break from serving pizza and coffee to people at the targeted camp. Beyer said he is currently staying at Second Avenue Commons. 

“First it was yesterday, then they moved it to today – graciously or not,” he said of the camp’s impending decommissioning. “And while most of the people have been offered opportunities of a place to go, you know, it’s still the unknown.”

Beyer said that moving people from one place to another doesn’t address the underlying problems that many people are dealing with. 

“You want to see movement and you want to see these people obtaining their own living situation, but they’re not,” he said. “And now you’re telling them they can’t tent here. . . . It’s just this shuffling. You’re moving them from here to here to here to here. 

“Are we addressing the root of the issues? Are we really making their lives better or are we just continuing to move the pieces around the board in this game of musical chairs?”

Stephanie Strasburg is a photojournalist with PublicSource who can be reached at stephanie@publicsource.org, on Instagram @stephaniestrasburg or on Twitter @stephstrasburg.

Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.

Venuri Siriwardane contributed.

The post Updated: County touts, but does not detail, ‘severe weather’ plan for unhoused amid camp clearance appeared first on PublicSource. PublicSource is a nonprofit news organization serving the Pittsburgh region. Visit www.publicsource.org to read more.

Sara Innamorato will be Allegheny County’s next executive, the first woman in the post and a departure from the centrist Democratic leaders that have held the office for two decades.

Speaking to her supporters after 11 p.m., Innamorato said she got a call from Republican nominee Joe Rockey, “and I thanked him for running a strong campaign.”

The former state lawmaker prevailed with just 51% of the vote, and portrayed the race as a highly charged contest with bracing highs and historic import.

“Over my time as a state rep and throughout this campaign, I have heard from other people who have struggled with their own addiction or have lost someone too soon to gun violence,” she said. “It’s not easy to share these stories, but we do so because government is best when it’s connected to the struggle of everyday people.”

She described her “North Star” as the “promise of building an Allegheny for all” that “is transparent, responsive and equitable.”

She raised a fraction of Rockey’s campaign haul — “millions of dollars got spent against us trying to divide us,” she told her supporters — but was armored with the backing of most area unions.

“I stand here as the first woman Allegheny County executive. I stand here because of the passion, faith and support of the people who are around me. A lot of them women.”

She said she stands on the shoulders of women elected before her, but especially credited her mother.

“My mom, when my family was struggling, she made sure that we had a place to stay,” she said. “​​Your strength gave me the fortitude to share my own story of losing my dad to the opioid epidemic, losing our home and our stability.”

Innamorato will succeed Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who has hit a term limit after 12 years in the post. Republicans made a strong run to replace Fitzgerald with Rockey, and came closer to winning control of county government than any time since 1999.

With the news, the progressive wing of the local Democratic party reached a new altitude as Innamorato, a 37-year-old from Lawrenceville, captured the county executive’s office in an atypically close election.  Supporters were ecstatic at the prospect of a strong ally of both Pittsburgh’s mayor and its major healthcare union occupying a position held by a political centrist since 2012.

Slideshow from Innamorato’s election night party: Democrat Sara Inamorato claims victory in her bid to be Allegheny County’s first woman executive on Nov. 7, 2023. (Photos by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)

“People questioned her experience. The best experience you can ever have is lived experience,” Mayor Ed Gainey said at Innamorato’s watch party. “When you have somebody that has had life struggles and get up and come again. When you see somebody that has lost loved ones and get up and come again … that’s the type of leader we need for Allegheny County.”

Matt Yarnell, the President of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, in a press release, called it “an historic victory for working people. The right to organize and build worker power among the region’s largest employers was on the ballot this year and voters made it clear that it is a top priority in Allegheny County.” SEIU Healthcare has been in a lengthy struggle to unionize UPMC.

Innamorato will be sworn in Jan. 2 as the fourth county executive.

Lieut. Gov. Austin Davis, of McKeesport, predicted that Innamorato would be a partner to the governor who would “make sure we protect our fundamental freedoms like a woman’s right to choose, to make sure every person has equal access to the ballot box here in Allegheny County, and to make sure that people closest to the pain are closest to the power.”

Fitzgerald’s exit, overlapping with the takeover of the local Democratic party by a younger, more progressive power center, made this year’s executive closely watched and hotly contested, with different political factions seeing a chance to set the county’s course for the next four years and beyond.

The campaign attracted several million dollars in campaign contributions, first to a six-way Democratic primary and then to the General Election showdown between Innamorato and Rockey.

Rockey was a newcomer to the political arena, but ran a strategic and well-funded campaign to try to peel off moderate voters and counter the county’s Democratic leaning. 

In the end, he cut into the Democrats’ margins, but not enough. Innamorato was on track late Tuesday to significantly underperform Democrats’ margins in the county in recent years, but still cleared the 50% threshold with thousands of votes to spare. 

“I called Sara and wished her the best,” Rockey told his supporters. “I wish her and Allegheny County the absolute best as we move forward.”

He singled out police and the unions representing them, as well as correctional officers and building trades locals, for special thanks.

“We issued a jobs Renaissance plan, and again, I hope some of it will be followed,” he said.

“The middle truly matters, and the middle can truly make a difference in Allegheny County,” he said, noting that many Democrats appeared to choose moderate politics, “and I think that’s very symbolic.”

He called Will Parker, who ran for executive in the Democratic primary, someone with whom he “immediately knew we had a connection.”

After Rockey’s speech, Parker demanded the crowd’s attention, saying: “As we look around, what is this stage missing? It’s missing people of color. That’s why we lost. You can’t write us off.” Some Rockey supporters began to walk away as he spoke.

Democrats will have controlled county government for 24 consecutive years once Innamorato’s first term is up. Republicans last painted the county red in 1999 when Jim Roddey edged out Cyril Wecht to become the first county executive under the current form of government.

The result is welcome news for Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, a political ally of Innamorato, who could enjoy a better working relationship with the county government under her administration. 

Gainey was elected two years ago in a major breakthrough for the progressives, but Tuesday’s result could give the movement even more momentum: While Gainey won in uber-liberal Pittsburgh, Innamorato prevailed countywide, showing that her message promoting diversity and economic and social justice can win over a broader swath of the electorate.

There are few places progressives have not taken over the levers of power in the county, from Innamorato and Gainey, to Congresswoman Summer Lee (elected last year), County Councilors Bethany Hallam and Anita Prizio and new City Councilors Khari Mosley and Barb Warwick.

Innamorato’s ascent is sure to bring the biggest change in local government in more than a decade. She could appoint new leadership to the county’s sprawling departments, including the multi-billion dollar Department of Human Services, 200-officer County Police Department, Health Department and more. Also of note: The county’s search for a new jail warden will still be in its early stages when Innamorato takes office.

Innamorato said during the campaign she would pursue a countywide property reassessment, something Fitzgerald vowed never to do, which would change tax bills for many county residents and is meant to result in a fairer system overall. Rockey said during the campaign he would not reassess.

She is poised to take a harder line against industrial polluters, ramping up enforcement against firms like U.S. Steel through the county’s health department. She has also opposed new fracking projects in the county.

On an Election Day in which abortion rights seemed to be on the minds of voters in Kentucky and Ohio, that issue seemed to bolster the Democrat’s showing.

A nurse at Allegheny General Hospital who asked not to be named, said abortion rights motivated her to vote for Innamorato because Rockey “refuses to state his personal beliefs” on the issue. 

Rockey has said abortion rights are irrelevant to the race because the county executive role does not influence abortion policy. But the nurse said the idea that Rockey’s personal beliefs — on abortion and other issues — wouldn’t influence his policies is “absolute bullshit.”

Much of the conversation in the final weeks of the race centered around national politics and the 2024 election. The county executive casts the deciding vote on the county’s Board of Elections, which is responsible for certifying the election results. The Innamorato campaign brought in figures like Gov. Josh Shapiro to persuade voters that they should elect a Democrat to the post in light of the Republicans’ efforts to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

Innamorato will serve on the Board of Elections for the 2024 election, alongside Democrat Bethany Hallam and Republican Sam DeMarco. DeMarco voted against certifying the county’s 2020 results, but was outvoted by Fitzgerald and Hallam.

Innamorato was born in the late 1980s in Ross Township — late enough to make her the first county executive to grow up after the fall of the steel industry in the region. She frequently talked during the campaign about losing her father to the opioid epidemic, an experience she said informed her campaign’s focus on social services. 

She eventually became one of many young professionals to buy a home in Lawrenceville in the 2010s. Not long after, she was elected to the state House in 2018, knocking off an establishment-backed Democrat in a primary. She was affiliated at the time with the Democratic Socialists of America, though she recently said she left the group in 2019.

She cruised to easy reelection wins in 2020 and 2022, and resigned her seat after winning the nomination for executive this spring.

Charlie Wolfson is PublicSource’s local government reporter and a Report for America corps member. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.

Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter, and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.

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