An effort to annex Wilkinsburg into the city of Pittsburgh has suffered another courtroom setback, with a six-judge panel of Commonwealth Court ruling unanimously that annexation supporters are trying to use a flawed process.
As led by the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation, the annexation movement hoped to follow a procedure laid out in a 1903 state law. That approach would require a majority of Wilkinsburg voters to support annexation in a referendum, while Pittsburgh residents would not be polled — but City Council would.
Judge Michael Wojcik’s opinion affirmed a similar ruling by Common Pleas Judge Joseph James last fall. James and the Commonwealth Court both agreed that the 1903 law was voided decades later, when the state legislature drafted a new constitution but failed to create a new mechanism for mergers and annexation by a 1970 deadline.
As Judge Wojcik wrote, under the law currently, “such mergers or consolidations are governed by Article IX, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.” That provision requires an annexation effort to win a majority of voters in both municipalities.
Annexation supporters “may not utilize the procedures outlined in the 1903 Annexation Law,” Wojcik added. “[A]nd they are required to utilize the initiative and referendum procedure in article IX … unless legislation is enacted that offers another procedure for consolidations or mergers with Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.”
The ruling can be appealed to the state Supreme Court, but voters likely won’t see the matter brought up any time soon. And “if there is going to be annexation, it’s going to involve the voters of Pittsburgh weighing in, as they should,” said Charles Pascal, an attorney for annexation opponents. “Because one set of voters shouldn’t get to decide what happens for another set of voters.
Attorney Cliff Levine, who represents the Wilkinsburg CDC, said the group was “disappointed in the ruling obviously, and we’re evaluating our next steps.
“We think there are truly synergistic benefits for both Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg” should they join, he said. “It’s a relatively small group that opposes this.”
Levine has 30 days to file for an allowance of appeal with the state Supreme Court, but it could be many months before the court hears arguments, let alone hands down a decision. In the meantime, supporters could pursue annexation, but they’d have to do so by appearing on the ballot before voters in both communities.
Levine allowed that such a campaign in both municipalities was possible, but Pittsburgh’s size — it has a population roughly 20 times larger than Wilkinsburg’s — “adds an enormous cost that you don’t have in a municipality the size of Wilkinsburg.”
Pascal acknowledged there would be logistical challenges but said further litigation was likely to be unsuccessful and expensive.
“If they want this that badly, they can certainly afford to fund an effort to convince voters,” said Pascal. “Referendums on worse ideas have passed.”
