A handful of staffers to Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, including one of the most visible figures in the administration, were among those who signed a petition to have residents vote on a controversial city boycott of Israel this fall — even though the administration itself has said it has grave concerns about its legality.
Communications director Maria Montaño was among the signatories, a WESA review has confirmed. And press secretary Olga George said Wednesday evening that Montaño resigned earlier in the day.
George and Gainey repeatedly declined to answer questions about Montaño's departure Thursday, describing the issue as a "personnel" matter.
But Gainey later released a statement mid-afternoon Thursday reiterating that Montaño had resigned. The statement was largely complimentary of her contributions to the city and did not address her signing the petition or if it led to her exit.
"I look forward to applauding and supporting the future contributions she will make to this City and our region," Gainey's statement said.
The mayor, in the statement, said Montaño's decision to resign from her position "was her own and reflects her selfless desire to keep the focus of the administration on the required work and mission of creating a safe and welcoming city for all."
The Beacon Coalition, a pro-Israel group that has spoken in opposition to the petition, said it has identified three other staffers in the administration who also signed.
Gainey declined to comment on the other staffers who signed the petition Thursday. When pressed by multiple reporters at an unrelated press conference, George stepped in to decline to comment beyond the written statement.
Jeremy Kazzaz, who heads Beacon, told WESA the names of those staffers were less important than “the structural problem.”
“We have people working for the city who aren’t being stewards of it,” Kazzaz said. “The mayor knew other people would be stewards, and he let others challenge [the ballot question] so as not to [anger] his activist supporters.”
Reached by WESA Wednesday afternoon, Montaño confirmed that she had signed the petition but did not respond to a follow-up for comment after the Beacon Coalition issued a Wednesday-evening statement that said a number of government and political figures had signed.
“We were dismayed to see so many of Pittsburgh’s political elite take part in circulating and signing a petition that targets Israel, the local Jewish community and the entire city of Pittsburgh by threatening to cut it off from critical infrastructure, public health and safety services,” the statement said.
As WESA first reported on Monday, critics of Israel’s role in the war in Gaza hope to let voters weigh in on a proposal that would effectively bar the city from doing business with any entity that had ties with or inside of Israel. While the language of the ballot question is broad, if enacted it could prevent the city from buying from such well-known vendors as Ford and Dell — who provide emergency vehicles and computers to the city — and compel the city to reject the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations tied to the country.
Opponents of the proposal, including City Controller Rachael Heisler, have said that in a global economy, the measure would make it almost impossible to purchase the equipment and services on which residents rely. They have argued, too, that it runs afoul of various state and federal laws.
Legal challenges have already been filed over the ballot question, objecting both to its substance and to the legitimacy of the petitions themselves. Opponents of the proposal have said fewer than 5,000 of the roughly 15,000 signatures gathered are legitimate — far fewer than the number needed to put a proposed change to the city’s home rule charter before voters.
Montaño’s signature appears among the hundreds of pages of petitions filed, as do those of others who work in government. Other signers have included Morgan Overton, the vice chair of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, and County Councilperson Bethany Hallam. The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle reported that members of City Councilor Barbara Warwick’s staff were also among the signatories.
"It’s concerning that any member of government or representative of our elected officials would sign this dangerous petition," said Jeffrey H. Finkelstein, president & CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. The federation on Tuesday joined a group of local Jewish clergy in filing a lawsuit aimed at striking the question from the November ballot.
On Thursday, the mayor declined to comment on the contents of the ballot referendum petition or take a position on it. His subsequent statement said city employees are "free to advocate as they see fit."
"I will always uphold their freedom to participate in our democracy and to express their moral and political beliefs,” Gainey said.
The Beacon Coalition also said it had identified signatures of dozens of members of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, who act as foot soldiers that seek to mobilize support for the party in each of the county’s voting precincts. A former staffer to Congresswoman Summer Lee had also signed, it said.
“We are disappointed but not surprised by the participation of politicians, city staff and party committee members in an action that harms both the City of Pittsburgh and the local Jewish community,” the coalition said in its statement.
Gainey’s office itself has not taken a firm position on the ballot question. On Tuesday, the administration put out a statement that said it had “serious concerns about conflicts with state and federal law that would prevent [the policy] from being enforceable.”
But the administration did not join the effort to remove the question from the ballot. When asked whether Gainey might seek to intervene in the lawsuit, spokeswoman George told WESA that the administration “would allow the residents to decide” but wanted “everyone to understand our position” and concerns about the measure’s legality.
Montaño has been among the administration's most visible public figures, almost since the outset of Gainey's term in 2022. A former communications specialist with the SEIU, she is also the first openly trans woman to represent the city, and her hiring was celebrated as a sign of Gainey’s commitment to hiring a diverse staff.
This is the second time this year that the administration has faced controversy involving the war in Gaza. In late spring, a city employee turned independent contractor, Mario Ashkar, was charged with ethnic intimidation and other offenses for allegedly tearing down an Israeli flag outside a North Side home and throwing it in the trash. While Ashkar had never been more than a rank-and-file employee, the issue mushroomed for the administration amid questions about how he was paid and whether he should have been permitted to contract with the city at all.
In May 2023 the administration hired George, a former KDKA news producer, to serve as Gainey’s press secretary. But Montaño has remained a visible figure since then, responding to media queries on a number of stories — including the controversy around Ashkar.
90.5 WESA's Kiley Koscinski contributed to this story.
