Pittsburgh City Council
Records rules are being considered after years of operating on the honor system.
Written by Amy Whipple
The city clerk’s office wants to formalize how Pittsburgh documents its history in the making.
The Records Management Division of the clerk’s office requested an amendment to the city code to create records retention schedules.
Under the change, departments would be required to keep a list of all the records that it creates or receives, a description of them and retention length. Manager Nick Hartley said at the May 18 committee meeting that the city adheres to the state’s records retention laws but only has an informal system for doing so.
In 2012, council approved creating an archive commission. It spent several years collecting 10,000 cubic feet of city records, which had been in disarray. (The county currently faces a similar problem.)
Council Member Deb Gross of Highland Park said the lack of organization and document preservation created problems during the lead pipe crisis in 2016. Inadequate and disintegrating records meant re-recording underground pipes for every household in the city.
In 2023, the management division launched a digital repository containing more than 1 million pages. Records include meeting minutes for city council dating back to its formation at Pittsburgh’s incorporation as a city in 1816.
Council gave preliminary approval for the request.
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- Pittsburgh City Council
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- City Council · May 18, 2026
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