Reflecting on 2024.

I've learned a lot about the city from watching City Council meetings over the last few months. While I'm sure there is so much more that goes on behind the scenes, you can really understand a lot from the meetings themselves. When I say meetings, I really just mean the weekly Standing Committee meetings. The formal City Council meetings really seem to just be procedural at best. The real meat of the issues being voted on is discussed in the Standing Committee.

The budget hearings with each of the departments are also super enlightening. Here are just some of the things I learned:

• Pittsburgh has its own ambulance service that charges insurers, but not residents.
• Pittsburgh Water can refund up to 100% of lead line replacements.
• Pittsburgh Police have a ~97% life-saving response rate when responding to shots fired, thanks in part to the ShotSpotter system.
• The city has a co-response program, which will be expanding in 2025.
• City residents can receive two free traps a year for exterior rodent control.

This experience has also really reinforced how much of a gap still exists between the actions taken by the Council and the awareness of the general public. No one I talk to knows about new trash can fines, red light cameras, or that we have a city-funded ambulance service. There truly is a need for something to change—something to help tie the community more closely to the people who represent them.

It is still early days for InformUp, but I'm hopeful that this time next year, we'll be able to say that we helped shed light on what our elected officials are doing on our behalf, and more importantly, that we were able to help inform those representatives about the perspectives of their constituents.