The City of Pittsburgh Standing Committees convened on July 15, 2026, at 10:00 AM in Council Chambers, chaired by Councilmember Strassburger. Seven council members were present (Wilson, Salinetro, Charland, Coghill, Warwick, Lavelle, Strassburger) and two absent (Gross, Mosley). The meeting addressed financial resolutions, invoices, transfers, land use items, and public art agreements, with public comment from four speakers.
Good morning, and welcome to the standing committee's meeting for Wednesday, July fifteenth, twenty twenty six. All council meetings will be live streamed on the city's website, and for guest speakers, please do not turn off your microphones. Our first order of business is roll call. Clerk, please take the roll. Mr. Charland, Mr. Coggill, Miss Caros, Mr. Lavelle, Mr. Mosley, Miss Salonetra. Here, Miss Warwick, Mr. Wilson. Miss Strasberger cheer. Here. Sorry, Fab members. Testing us today. Second. All in favor? Aye. Agenda is amended. Our next order of business is public comment. I would like to remind all speakers that the rules of council state that comments are limited to matters of concern, official action, or deliberation, which are or maybe before city council, and profanity will not be permitted. Please state your name and neighborhood for the record, and you will have three minutes to speak. They do not want it to be a city of all its people. They fear the stories of the evening news and their fearful minds do exactly what those stories are designed for them to do. Restrict, oppress and subjugate. And in your silence, I can only draw the adverse inference that you abide this. But like any reaction of fear, this will not make your fears abate. This is not a medicine, it is a tempting poison. The only medicine to this fear of young people in this city is to resource them to provide the community center. Folks in Homewood came here to ask for last week to provide opportunities to harness what young people of this city have to offer and are telling you they wish to offer every single day. Listen to them. Thank you. Carlino jumped low, Panther Hollow. Today marks one year in the 30th time that I have come before this council. Having spoken well over 10,000 words, asking that this council shut down the Oakland Do It Yourself Skate Park. The day will come when someone else speaks here about an issue similar to this one. Those three words, which have been my theme throughout this past year, are awaken your dignity. For some issues before this council, you have to weigh one side against the other to create a just solution. Then other issues, like the Oakland do it yourself skate park, are so egregious that deciding on a solution becomes a no-brainer. What does it mean when someone says it's a no-brainer? For me, it means that their dignity is so fully awake that they directly connect to the depth of their own spirituality. And it formed a heightened conscience that they do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do. Awaken your spirituality. Awaken your conscience. Awaken your dignity. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good morning. My name is Yvonne F.