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Tracking housing stock, two referendums for the May primary and the mayor’s first appointees

City Council

City may institute a dashboard to keep track of the housing stock.

Nobody knows exactly how many housing units the city has, or how many are available. On Jan. 13, a council member introduced a bill to create a housing data dashboard. Each month, it would show new units ready for occupancy and units no longer available. If passed, it would go live on the city's website by year's end.

Written by Amy Whipple

For all the talk about housing development, no one knows exactly how many units exist or are available in the city.

According to legislation introduced on Jan. 13 by Council Member Bob Charland of the South Side, housing data discrepancies came to light during zoning reform discussions last year. Charland’s solution would be a housing data dashboard. 

The dashboard would include monthly data of newly constructed units that are available for occupancy as well as units that are no longer available.

The legislation notes that it “may be useful to collect other data in this process, such as value, affordability, subsidy, code violations, construction time, bedroom count.” It does not, however, say if collecting additional data is permissible.

If passed, the ordinance would require the Department of City Planning to collect the data in consultation with the Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections and the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure. The legislation allows for the possibility of consulting with utility companies and the county’s real estate division. The department is “encouraged to find creative solutions to obtain and present the most accurate data set.”

If passed, the dashboard would go live on the city’s website by the end of the year.

City Council

Voters may decide on budget process and public notice requirements.

The city charter requires public hearing notices in a newspaper, but the Post-Gazette plans to stop publishing in May. On Jan. 13, council's president proposed May ballot questions to allow online notices and change the budget process. However, the Trib announced Jan. 14 that it will resume a weekend print edition in May. Both proposals go to public hearings Jan. 27.

Written by Amy Whipple

Council President R. Daniel Lavelle of the Upper Hill District introduced two possible referendums to be placed on the May primary election ballot during council’s first meeting of 2026.

The first would amend the Home Rule Charter to change the budget approval process to create a safeguard against mayor inaction.

Lavelle said at the Jan. 13 general meeting if the mayor neither signs nor vetoes council’s budget submission by the end of the year, the budget process must restart. The amendment would allow council’s budget to go into effect at the beginning of the year by default if the mayor doesn’t act on council’s submission within the allotted 10 days.

The second referendum would change public hearing notice requirements. Public hearings must be held for legislation involving budgets, land use control and tax increases, among others.

The home rule charter states that notices for public hearings must be published in a general circulation newspaper. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s announcement that it will cease publication in May would make that requirement impossible. The amendment would allow the city’s official website and digital news publications of general circulation to take the place of a newspaper.

However, the Trib announced on Jan. 14 that it will resume a weekend print edition in May.

That announcement came after council’s committee meeting; it does not meet again until Jan. 21.

Both referendums are scheduled for public hearings on Jan. 27.

City Council

Some of O’Connor’s appointees need council’s OK.

Council has to approve the mayor's pick for police chief, plus eight of his other appointments. That pick is Jason Lando, a former Pittsburgh officer who now leads police in Frederick, Maryland. Other appointees who need council's OK include the city solicitor. Lando is scheduled to meet with council on Jan. 28.

Written by Amy Whipple

For the sixth time in 10 years, council will vote on a new chief of police.

Squirrel Hill native Jason Lando is one of 14 appointments Mayor Corey O’Connor put before council for its first meeting of the year. He has been the chief of police in Frederick, Maryland, since 2021, after serving as a Pittsburgh police officer for 21 years. During his time in Pittsburgh he rose to the rank of commander overseeing the police zone that includes Highland Park, Homewood and East Liberty for five years. He was also the incident commander during the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. He later led the narcotics and vice squads for two years. He was a finalist for the chief’s job in 2023. 

Council must also approve eight of O’Connor’s other appointments. These include directors for the Departments of Public Works and Public Safety, the city solicitor and the boards of the Equipment Leasing Authority and the Housing Opportunity Fund.

The remaining five appointments do not require council’s approval. It only needs to be informed of them. These positions include city and school district treasurer and Council Member Bob Charland of the South Side to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s board of directors.

Council will hold interviews with relevant appointees from Jan. 20 to Feb. 11. Lando is scheduled to meet with council on Jan. 28.