Though the contentious 2023 election is over, it appears Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey is still in the sights of the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office.
Though the mayor himself was not a candidate in the race this fall, D.A. Stephen Zappala made the City of Pittsburgh a target of his re-election campaign. And at his swearing-in ceremony Thursday, Zappala told reporters he still intends to press an investigation into the city’s contracting procedures.
The inquiry began after criticism about the city’s dealings with a staffing consultant, California-based Matrix Consulting Group, which conducted a study of police staffing levels and assignments. Zappala submitted Right to Know requests to the city for all contracts that were exempted from the usual bidding process — a review that dates back to 2020, before Gainey became mayor.
Zappala said Thursday that the city’s response to his requests has been inadequate.
“There are several contracts that were at issue that they didn't include in what they submitted,” Zappala said. “I think their response was very unreasonable.”
Zappala did not elaborate on which contracts he knew were missing from the documents turned over by the city, nor how he knew about them.
Gainey’s office, which has repeatedly characterized Zappala’s inquiries as a campaign stunt, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
After an identical Right to Know request submitted by WESA, the city furnished material related to the $180,000 police staffing study.
Matrix was hired while the city was negotiating a new contract with the police union. A document filed to request a waiver from the competitive process states that Matrix "is a consultant of the City with regards to police-related litigation, so a public solicitation could potentially result in sensitive information being made public.”
The document further claims that Matrix uniquely uses city-specific data as part of its reporting and recommendations process.
But Zappala said Matrix was selected in order to get a “preordained” outcome from the study — one that could prompt leaders to decrease the size of police force. The Matrix findings suggested the city could reassign up to 188 patrol officers in favor of more specialized jobs.
Gainey and Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Scirotto have largely rejected the findings of the study. (The city budgeted 50 fewer sworn officer positions for 2024, but the city said the number reflects a more accurate assessment of the force's likely size this year, given recent departures and the difficulty of recruiting and training officers.)
Zappala told WESA Thursday that his office may commission its own study of the city’s police staffing numbers as he explores why Matrix was selected.
Unrelated to how the city selects its vendors, Zappala said city leaders need to do more to lock up repeat violent offenders. “The murder rate is down, but violent crime is not,” Zappala told reporters. “Bad guys are shooting at each other. They're just not killing each other.”
The city this month launched a new specialized unit dedicated to “proactive” policing based on violent crime data. Police Chief Larry Scirotto said the unit will focus on “known offenders” who are tied to repeat gun violence incidents.
Despite his criticism of the mayor, Zappala praised the chief Thursday, saying his efforts to crack down on known drug dealers has had an impact.
“We sent agents down there to take a look at the lower-level drug trafficking, and they said [they] can't find it because the city has taken those guys on,” Zappala said. The police themselves, he said, “want to do the right thing.”
His swearing-in ceremony Thursday included the likes of City Councilors Theresa Kail Smith and Anthony Coghill. The rest of the audience was bipartisan — a reflection of the fact that Zappala, although a Democrat, ran as a Republican against Democratic nominee Matt Dugan last year. Republican guests included Allegheny County Councilor Sam DeMarco, Pennsylvania state Senate Pro Tempore Kim Ward, and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett.
Zappala told reporters he’s moving forward with an idea to create a "Regional Asset District" along East Carson Street in Pittsburgh’s South Side. He argued such a move would allow the county to have more input on public safety strategies in the area, which has earned a reputation for mayhem during the summer months.
“I don't think it's fair for the city alone to handle all the tourists and the influx of people that come into that area," Zappala said.
Zappala said he plans to meet with incoming City Councilor Bob Charland, who represents the area, to discuss a potential county role. Charland said he’s looking forward “to having a cooperative and collaborative discussion and relationship" with Zappala.
“I'm open to any new productive ideas about how we don't just police our way out of problems on East Carson Street, but actually improve the economy and culture to celebrate this vibrant main street,” Charland said.
