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An 8-hour Council meeting covers protecting sex workers, a new public safety training campus and funding violence prevention—City Council Week of June 30

Update

City Council

At This Week’s Standing Committee Meeting.

Council's committee meeting this week ran 8 hours, and almost 70 people gave public comment. The largest group, 59 speakers, favored strengthening the Stop the Violence Fund. Speakers also weighed in on protections for trans healthcare and sex workers, and 11 opposed a public safety training campus. Top agenda items included reducing the minimum penalty for sex work.

Written by Amy Whipple

  • Almost 70 people gave public comment. (Note: several people spoke about or voiced a brief opinion on multiple bills.)
  • In favor of trans healthcare protection: 8
  • Against trans healthcare protection: 1
  • In favor of sex worker protection: 10
  • Against sex worker protection: 2
  • Against a Public Safety training campus: 11
  • In favor of strengthening the Stop the Violence Fund: 59
  • The meeting lasted for 8 hours, not including a half-hour recess for a fire alarm.

City Council

Reducing the minimum penalty for engaging in sex work.

A bill would make the minimum penalty for sex work a $100 fine, like a traffic ticket. Currently, it's a misdemeanor, with up to a year in jail for a first offense. The bill doesn't decriminalize sex work, though. Council unanimously advanced it, and a final vote is set for July 8.

Written by Amy Whipple

  • The minimum penalty for engaging in sex work will soon be a summary offense (like a traffic ticket) with a $100 fine. A judge would be able to authorize no more than 20 hours of community service instead of the fine.
  • Previously, sex work was a misdemeanor offense. A first-time offense carried a $2,500 fine and up to one year in jail.
  • According to the text of the bill:
  • Between 2016 and 2022, only 3% the City’s arrests for prostitution concerned incidents of violence, sex trafficking, or the victimization of minors. The remainder are presumed to be consensual exchanges between adults.
  • 67% of people arrested for prostitution during those years were sex workers, rather than clients.
  • A disproportionate amount of people arrested for prostitution are non-white and non-men.
  • In Pittsburgh, clients routinely had their cases resolved with a summary offense at the preliminary hearing level.
  • A misdemeanor offense creates a criminal record that can hinder future employment, housing and child custody.
  • Reducing penalties for sex work allows for improved health outcomes. Sex workers are more empowered to report crimes or seek social and medical services.
  • The bill does not de-criminalize sex work. Councilmember Warwick reported that doing so is a state-level decision.
  • The bill received a unanimous recommendation. It will receive a final vote on July 8.

City Council

Planning for a Public Safety training campus.

Firefighters' current burn site sits on a floodplain and can't be used. A $1.8 million assessment of a former VA site would be the first step toward a public safety training campus. If it isn't done by the end of May 2026, the land goes back to the federal government. For now, council has put a two-week hold on the bill.

Written by Amy Whipple

  • The bill would authorize the first step for creating a Public Safety training campus. This would be an assessment of the site—formerly a VA—to see which buildings can be reused, which need to be demolished and locations/conditions of utilities infrastructure. This assessment will cost $1.8 million over two years.
  • Currently, Public Safety training is spread out across and outside of the City. Councilmember Coghill confirmed that the first priority is firefighters. Their current burn site is on a floodplain and is unusable.
  • There is no actual plan for the training site yet. A plan cannot be made until after the assessment is completed.
  • Assistant Director of Public Works Gaul said a fully completed site is at least 10 years out.
  • Public comment and Council concerns came from the initial 2017 plan for the site, which was more akin to the controversial “Cop City” in Atlanta. It had been estimated to cost $120 million.
  • Councilmember Gross said that the changes to Pittsburgh’s concept are not reflective in the language of the bill. She requested that language be added to prohibit military-style training for police officers.
  • Use of the property is through a deal with the Federal government. If the assessment is not completed for review by the end of May 2026, the land will revert to the Federal government. Councilmembers and other City representatives expressed fear that the land would then be used for the “worst-case scenario,” implying use by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
  • The land must be used for the purpose of Public Safety training because that was the City’s original proposal. It cannot be changed now without the property reverting back to the Federal Government.
  • Council agreed to a two-week hold so that they could further investigate the plan as well as inform the public.

City Council

Strengthening the Stop the Violence Trust Fund.

The Stop the Violence Fund, which pays for violence prevention, hit its $10 million ceiling this year. A bill would set new rules for how that money gets spent. Instead of receiving grants, community groups would compete openly for contracts. Council gave the bill a unanimous recommendation, and the final vote is set for July 8.

Written by Amy Whipple

  • The Stop the Violence Fund was started in 2020 to take a public health approach to violence prevention and intervention.
  • It uses much of the same inter-organization and government model as the Safe Passage program in Pittsburgh Public Schools.
  • Funding is allocated by the City. It is a percentage of the allocation for the Police (increased each year since the Fund’s founding), up to $10 million. In budget year 2026, the Fund will reach its percentage ceiling of 10%.
  • The Fund reached the $10 million ceiling for the 2025 fiscal year.
  • In the most recent funding cycle, almost $1 million went to 43 organizations.
  • Funding also goes to departments such as the Office of Community Health and Safety. (The budget breakdown begins on page 260.)
  • Initial years of the Fund included pilot programs and seeing what worked and what didn’t. Council President Lavelle said that the new bill provides “guard rails” as well as codifies elements of the system that have been working.
  • Notable inclusions in the bill:
  • Extreme-need and high-need communities will be identified using 5-year data to account for communities located within gentrifying neighborhoods.
  • There are two ways an organization is defined as community-based: 1) the organization's business location is in an extreme- or high-need community or 2) the organization's executive director/president/CEO lives in an extreme- or high-need community.
  • Community-based organizations are considered contractors and not grant recipients. They will be chosen through an open and competitive selection process.
  • Each year, $1.5 million will be allotted for six community-based organizations with experience in community-level convening, strategic planning, and youth development programming. They will assist in the overall coordination of violence prevention efforts in the City’s six police zones.
  • Organizations will need to submit monthly reports to help the City make data-driven decisions about emerging needs and trends.
  • A 9-person steering committee will include three Councilmembers whose communities are impacted by gun violence. The committee will advise in the selection and distribution of funds.
  • Unused assets will be carried into the next fiscal year.
  • Councilmember Wilson expressed concerns about funds going unspent.
  • Council also spent time discussing the hours of passionate public comment that started the meeting.
  • A recent editorial in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called the Trust a slush fund that should be reduced or eliminated. Councilmembers wondered if public commenters took that to mean Council wanted to reduce or eliminate it, too.
  • Councilmembers Warwick and Mosley pointed out that communities are already feeling the effects of federal funding cuts. There is also high anxiety about future cuts at all levels of government.
  • The bill received a unanimous recommendation. The final vote will be July 8.