Pittsburgh Mayor-elect Bill Peduto will seek to hire the sliver of city employees in nonunion jobs through a foundation-backed job website, his transition team announced Friday.
His administration can hire about 100 workers in mostly management positions after it takes over in January, and Mr. Peduto vowed to make the picks without respect to patronage or political IOUs.
"Everyone will be given an opportunity to apply, decisions will be made based on talent, and nobody will be evaluated based upon who they supported at the ballot box," he said in a prepared statement.
Most of the city's 3,200 employees, from police officers to refuse workers, are covered by union or civil service job protections. However, his team could pick managers of planning, parks and other departments on its own. The mayor-elect planned to meet with overseers of the foundation-backed Talent City website Friday to discuss how and when the job openings would be posted, with hopes of doing so the week of Nov. 18.
Those seeking to volunteer for non-paid city agencies and boards also should be able to apply through the site. The Talent City oversight committee will have about a month to review applications and make hiring recommendations to Mr. Peduto's team before he takes office in January.
Mr. Peduto's transition team was issuing letters to all current "at will" nonunion employees and board members Friday informing them of the job process and inviting them to reapply for their current positions.
The announcement was the third in a row from his transition squad: Wednesday he asked the Ravenstahl administration to hold off on any major new contract or personnel decisions through the balance of the year, and Thursday unveiled members of his Cabinet. On Monday he is expected to detail his process for naming transition teams to study city services.
"Looking back over some of the best examples for transition teams, the ones that have a very strict mission and a very short time frame are the ones that are able to present the most effective recommendations," he told reporters Wednesday.
On Tuesday he is expected to discuss legislative priorities for the coming year.
Tim McNulty: tmcnulty@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1581. Follow the Early Returns blog at www.post-gazette.com/earlyreturns or on Twitter at @EarlyReturns.
First Published: November 8, 2013, 3:05 p.m.
Updated: November 9, 2013, 4:28 a.m.
