URA elects top union official as chairman of board
A top local union official has been elected as chairman of the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority board.
Sam Williamson, a regional leader with the Service Employees International Union, was unanimously selected Thursday by his fellow board members to fill that role.
The selection is a departure from tradition. Typically, the board chair has gone to the mayor’s chief of staff. Mayor Bill Peduto’s chief of staff, Dan Gilman, is not on the URA board.
Mr. Williamson replaces Kevin Acklin, Mr. Peduto’s former chief of staff, who resigned his board seat last fall after taking a job as senior vice president and general counsel for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In his remarks after the vote, Mr. Williamson thanked the board for “the trust that you have placed in me to take on this incredible, humbling responsibility.”
He said he always has been committed to making Pittsburgh “a truly livable place for everyone in every neighborhood” and plans to continue to push for that in his URA post.
“I am regularly reminded by my own members that there doesn’t need to be any inherent conflict between economic development and building a city for all, that we can both build a strong green economy in which everyone has an opportunity to participate in the American dream [and where] we are creating good jobs for everyone and have economic development,” he said. “There need not be any tension or conflict between those two things.”
Mr. Williamson noted that the URA’s focus has been equity and inclusion, as prioritized by the board, the creation and preservation of affordable housing, and making sure every development creates good jobs “from shovel to broom.”
“It’s no secret at this moment in America that the economy is not working for lots of people. Too many are left out. … I believe government can be a bulwark against the worst excesses of American capitalism,” he said.
For the URA, he said, that means development, economic growth and making Pittsburgh “truly a city for all.”
Mr. Williamson was appointed to the board by Mr. Peduto in January 2018.
As he takes over as chair, another URA board member, Cheryl Hall-Russell, is leaving, as her term has expired. She is being replaced by Lindsay Powell, Mr. Peduto’s assistant chief of staff.