Council approves Peduto’s nominees to PWSA board
City Council agreed Tuesday to appoint three new members to the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority board, hewing to Mayor Bill Peduto’s nominations.
Six of the nine council members voted for all three nominees: Debbie Lestitian of Brookline, Chatón T. Turner of Manchester and Jim Turner of Highland Park. The Turners are not related.
“Be open. Be independent. Ask as many questions as you possibly can,” Councilman Corey O’Connor advised the trio Monday, when they appeared for council interviews. “We’re still looking for answers.”
The new members will fill out the seven-seat PWSA board, which lost three members last month to resignations. Members are facing a host of problems, including nine-figure debt, infrastructure failures, shortfalls in customer service and
elevated lead levels in some homes.
They also could see a potential restructuring of PWSA after an in-depth study sought by Mr. Peduto’s administration. All are volunteers.
Mrs. Lestitian works in Mr. Peduto’s office as chief administration officer. Ms. Turner is associate counsel at UPMC. Mr. Turner is a recent retiree and former city official who works as an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Councilwoman Darlene Harris was the seventh vote to support Mrs. Lestitian and Mr. Turner, although she abstained from the vote on Ms. Turner’s appointment. Mrs. Harris said she lacked information about Ms. Turner.
Councilwoman Deborah Gross, herself a PWSA board member, was absent. Mrs. Kail-Smith abstained from all three votes, saying she hadn’t had a chance to speak with the nominees beforehand. She said a family emergency Monday kept her from council’s interviews of them. She vowed to speak independently with the new board members.
Among council members, only President Bruce Kraus and Mr. O’Connor were present for the Monday interviews, which ran about 11 minutes. Mrs. Harris, who is challenging Mr. Peduto for mayor, criticized the brevity and Mr. Kraus’ stewardship. She said she was running slightly late that day and intended to attend.
“Eleven minutes for something that is so important to the health, safety and welfare of the residents of Pittsburgh?” Mrs. Harris said.
Reached later, Mr. Kraus said the proceeding respected the nominees’ time and workday obligations. He received no communication that Mrs. Harris was running late, he said.
“She doesn’t come to work on time, doesn’t communicate that she’s going to be late, and then it’s my responsibility that she doesn’t show? It isn’t,” Mr. Kraus said.
Also Tuesday, council voted 5-2 to approve a $274,062, four-year contract with Victor Stanley Inc. to provide advanced garbage receptacles throughout the city. Some 1,300 public trash cans will enable remote monitoring to gauge how much garbage they hold — and whether they need to be dumped. City officials expect more efficient collections could redirect more than $400,000 to other services.
Council also agreed to waive penalties for city residents who filed their local earned-income taxes one day late this year. April 18 was the federal tax deadline — a day later than the local deadline because of the federal Emancipation Day holiday. Councilman Dan Gilman has said he suspects a lot of people didn’t notice the difference.