At the second public hearing on the topic of the possible annexation of Wilkinsburg, few in attendance voiced their support for the proposal.
“We are opposed and urge the [Pittsburgh] City Council to reject the efforts to annex Wilkinsburg to the city of Pittsburgh,” Denise Edwards, the president of the Wilkinsburg Borough Council, said during Tuesday night’s public hearing. “We have great respect … and work very well with the city of Pittsburgh, but Wilkinsburg is perfectly capable of governing ourselves.”
She said the discussion of the annexation “blindsided” Wilkinsburg and has created “division” and “confusion.”
Both Wilkinsburg and Pittsburgh residents alike are concerned about the possibility for gentrification of the area — via new developments — and the speed in which these decisions are being made.
“This is a rushed process in the specifically named purpose of development,” said Angel Gober, the executive director for One PA. “How many Black folks will be pushed out of their homes in the name of development this time?”
Multiple speakers emphasized the fact that the majority of Wilkinsburg residents are renters and are anxious that new developments would also come with an increase in rental prices.
“I don’t know about you, but in 20 years of community organizing, I’ve never once heard of a landlord who saved on taxes and decreased tenants’ rent,” Ms. Gober said.
At the end of December, the Wilkinsburg School Board approved a measure to open up discussions with officials from the Pittsburgh Public Schools district about what a merger between the two could look like if the annexation goes through.
Wilkinsburg students in grades 7-12 already attend city schools, but others are concerned about what may happen if other grades join the district.
“Annexation could cause irreparable harm to the children of Wilkinsburg, increasing the debt and burden on PPS without any support from the state and community,” Ms. Gober said. “Our school district is already suffering, [and] there’s conversations about closing schools, so any more debt would be detrimental to the students of PPS and Wilkinsburg.”
Specifically, speakers were worried about school transportation, considering that at the beginning of this past school year Pittsburgh Public Schools were facing a shortage of bus drivers, which made it so that some students had to find alternative transportation to school.
“I can’t imagine how we’re going to take on Wilkinsburg’s burden, their debt, their buildings, their contracts, when we’re struggling taking care of what we have here,” said Molly Gunther, who has a student in Pittsburgh Public Schools and drove them to school for the first part of the year because a bus was not available.
However, there were some proponents of the annexation in the crowd.
Tracey Evans, executive director for the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corp., voiced her support and asked that her organization “be given an opportunity” to present a financial analysis to the city council.
The nonprofit has been largely involved in the movement to join the municipalities and was the group that collected signatures from supportive residents to present to the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
On Friday, a judge approved the petition, giving Pittsburgh City Council three months to vote on the annexation.
At the end of the public hearing, members of City Council and council’s solicitor reminded those in attendance of that.
“This was not an initiative that was founded within Pittsburgh City Council,” City Councilman Bruce Kraus said. “This came to us and we are under court order to take action.”
The council’s solicitor, Daniel Friedson, also noted that annexation is “not the only way for municipalities to merge.”
“There are other things on the books besides this one particular law from 1903,” he said.
City Council President Theresa Kail-Smith said that this proposal “did not happen in the way that we anticipated,” but that the council will move forward and in the “next few days” the public will be made aware of what the process will be going forward.
“Overall, we know that we have to do what’s in the best interest of the city of Pittsburgh,” she said.
Hallie Lauer: hlauer@post-gazette.com
First Published: January 12, 2022, 2:26 a.m.
