Planning department switcheroo raises red flags about comprehensive plan
The sudden announcement of the departure of Director of City Planning Karen Abrams — less than two weeks after she appeared at a press conference launching a new comprehensive plan — must throw into doubt the viability of the $6 million project, approved by a split City Council after tense debates just last month.
Further, the appointment of Jamil Bey as her replacement raises serious conflict of interest concerns, as some of the extravagant “community engagement” funding for the plan was earmarked for a director of the UrbanKind Institute, which Mr. Bey founded and runs.
In other words, Mayor Ed Gainey is appointing Mr. Bey to oversee a project that is committed to paying $71,000 to one of his current employees. This is inappropriate, and City Council must ensure that either Mr. Bey withdraw from consideration for Director of the Department of City Planning, or that the appropriation is canceled.
While Ms. Abrams’ departure was only confirmed on Monday, March 25, multiple sources informed the PostGazette Editorial Board that she had submitted her resignation the previous Monday, March 18. That’s only five days after she joined Mr. Gainey to announce the plan, which, along with the rapid appointment of Mr. Bey, means the administration was aware of her departure beforehand and hid it from the public and other city officials.
City Planning is one of the most important Pittsburgh departments, with influence in almost every aspect of the life of the city. The department has become all the more essential with the approval of the comprehensive plan, which is meant to direct the city’s development for the next generation.
The $6 million plan is split into two parts: about $3.5 million for the plan itself — a steep price tag for a city with a fragile budget, but not out of keeping for such an ambitious proposal — and $2.5 million for “community engagement.”
The Editorial Board has sharply criticized this aspect of the plan, which involves the unaccountable distribution of taxpayer funds to community groups and individual citizens.
Ms. Abrams was essential in choosing the vendors for the engagement portion of the plan, including an unusual choice to contract with an individual, as opposed to an organization. Alyssa Lyon is Director of the Black Environmental Collective at the UrbanKind Institute, a Pittsburgh-based “think-and-do tank” that aims to bring the voices and concerns of marginalized communities to urban policymaking. In documents presented to City Council during the comprehensive plan debate, the Planning Department indicated that Ms. Lyon was slated to receive $71,000 as a community engagement consultant.
But Mr. Bey founded and runs UrbanKind. Listing Ms. Lyon as the contractor, as opposed to UrbanKind itself, gives the appearance of creating a fig leaf to cover a clear conflict in the planned appointment of Mr. Bey.
City Council must refuse to approve Mr. Bey unless the Lyon funds are withdrawn and should reconsider the comprehensive plan itself. Council has the power and the responsibility, as it did with a deeply suspicious payment to Homewood Community Sports last year, to repeal appropriations it later discovers to be inappropriate or dishonest. And with only six of nine votes, it could override Mr. Gainey’s veto.