Experts call the surveillance report just a starting point, $346,683 in pandemic aid moves to paving, and a Banksville site advances toward 124 townhomes

Top Agenda Items

• Speakers warn that surveillance technology threatens civil rights
• Paving becomes the quickest way to use unspent pandemic aid
• Golden Horizons would bring a 55+ community with pickleball to Banksville

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Speakers warn that surveillance technology threatens civil rights

Council is studying the use of surveillance technology by local governments after receiving a report on it earlier this month.

“AI-powered state surveillance represents one of the most urgent civil and human rights crises of our time,” said Clarence Okoh, National Director of Civil Rights and Technologies at Tectonic Justice during a Sept. 21 post agenda meeting.

He said even though the United States Supreme Court and lower federal courts have found that surveillance technologies can conflict with constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, governments continue to use them. 

“Elected officials play a critical role in safeguarding our civil rights and liberties against ever-growing tech-powered surveillance states,” Okoh said.

Mike Siegel, a city council member for Austin, Texas, talked about the difficulty his city had regulating surveillance technology. Initially, Austin instituted guidelines around the technologies, but found that approximately 20% of police department searches were noncompliant. 

Austin ultimately canceled its Flock and Axon automatic license plate reader (ALPR) contracts last year because of concerns surrounding federal immigration enforcement as well as tracking women who seek reproductive care across state lines. 

Pittsburgh’s report lists contracts between the Pittsburgh Police Department and Axon for body, vehicle and interview cameras. The city uses PlateSmart for automatic license plate reading, though the report doesn’t name the company. 

“As a part of that process of uncovering how damaging these systems were, we realized that local governments — city and county governments — are not very well equipped to evaluate these surveillance tools,” Siegel said.

Okoh suggested approaching policies through a co-governance lens, rather than depending solely on a technology company or requesting department. 

He also said creating an AI Bill of Rights can provide protections for navigating future technologies, rather than relying on reactionary policies.

Lorrie Cranor, co-director of the privacy engineering and AI governance master’s program at Carnegie Mellon University, said Pittsburgh’s governance structure made the technology report feel incomplete. It does not, for instance, include information about the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, Pittsburgh Regional Transit or Pittsburgh Public Schools because those are independent entities from the city.

Council Member Erika Strassburger of Squirrel Hill North said the city also does not have jurisdiction over private companies using surveillance cameras according to state law.

Paving becomes the quickest way to use up unspent pandemic aid 🔗 🔗 🔗

With three months of the year remaining, the city may pour its remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding onto the streets.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requested council’s approval to transfer $346,683 that had been previously set aside for streetlights and mobile toilet projects into the paving budget. 

This brings the total amount of ARPA funds allocated for street resurfacing to $32.2 million. 

Rea Price, acting director for OMB, said during the Sept. 23 committee meeting that ARPA funds must be completely spent — not just set aside for pending or in-progress projects — before the end of 2026. Any remaining money would likely have to be returned to the federal government. 

Reallocations, however, must go to previously approved projects. “The only way that we can quickly get these funds out of the door is basically by moving anything unspent to paving,” said Price.

She said she expects to amend allocations at least one more time before the end of the year. Price has also notified project stakeholders that any money that is unspent by the end of September would likely be directed toward paving. She did not have an estimate for how much that would be.

Council agreed to move forward with the transfers.

Golden Horizons would bring a 55+ community with pickleball to Banksville 🔗

A senior housing community that is planned for Banksville is set to clear another hurdle when council accepts the Pittsburgh Planning Commission’s recommendations and rezones the former Vincential Marian Manor campus.

The 26-acre site, renamed Golden Horizons, is slated to become a housing development for people who are 55 years old and older. The plan includes 124 townhomes, a community center, pickleball courts and a pool. 

Marian Manor had provided skilled nursing and long-term care for almost 70 years when it closed in 2024 after operating at a continual financial loss.

Then-Council Member Theresa Kail-Smith of Westwood introduced the rezoning legislation in Sept. 2025. The Planning Commission held hearings on the plan twice before recommending it for approval last month. 

“This is a highly anticipated project in my district,” said Council Member Kim Salinetro of Banksville, “and we are glad to see it come to fruition.”