Firm named in suit may land more city business
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh officials may extend the city’s relationship with a Plum-based software consultant spotlighted in a pending lawsuit.
Under council legislation introduced Tuesday, the city would pay B-Three Solutions Inc. up to $572,640 for continued software maintenance and support services over two years. The administrationbacked plan is crucial for day-to-day technical operations in the city police bur e a u , said Timothy McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto.
A federal complaint brought by a city police officer last month listed unflattering claims about the company, including that it had not completed some projects that the city paid for.
B-Three did not comment.
The city generally does not comment on unresolved allegations in litigation. But “the services this [new] contract provides are absolutely necessary for the daily work of the police bureau,” Mr. McNulty said.
Over time, he said, the city is looking to bring more software management in-house from outside vendors. That’s not because of any issues with BThree, Mr. McNulty said. Rather, the city felt “we didn’t have a good handle on all the contracts that were out there” and it wants a better-organized approach, he said.
Council is set to discuss the B-Three proposal next week. Council President Bruce Kraus said some members may have questions, although he backs the plan after an internal briefing from police Chief Scott Schubert.
The chief listed about 45 systems that the contract would support, Mr. Kraus said.
Still, “it’s always better to have a number of competent resources managing the systems,” Mr. Kraus said, and “it’s always wise to diversify your portfolio” of system managers.
“There’s always room for improvement,” he said.
B-Three developed or supported many critical business systems used by the city, according to the legislation.
The pending litigation, brought by Officer Souroth Chatterji,is a whistleblower complaint. He has said he was discriminated against for exposing as much as $1 million in potential waste through the police bureau’s information technology system.
According to his complaint, Officer Chatterji was asked to evaluate the bureau’s IT programs in 2015. During the review, according to his allegations, Officer Chatterji found that the city had paid millions of dollars to B-Three for updates and upgrades for its technology, but that the improvements were not completed.