There was very little deliberation in what was supposed to be an exercise in deliberative democracy on Tuesday, as the Pittsburgh City Planning Commission listened to 10 hours of testimony on dueling reforms to the city’s zoning code: Mayor Ed Gainey’s proposal to extend so-called “inclusionary zoning” citywide and Councilman Bob Charland’s alternative affordability incentives.
A seemingly inexhaustible supply of activists repeated the same platitudes over and over and over again in favor of Mr. Gainey’s plan. The unsurprising result: The commission gave a positive recommendation to the mayor’s concept (despite the misgivings of several members) but a negative one to Mr. Charland’s (despite the sympathies of several members).
It was the activism-industrial complex at its finest: creating a false impression of a progressive consensus in order to generate political change most people don’t want. A circular system of money and influence that masquerades as grassroots action, it has distorted Pittsburgh politics for several years now, as the city’s leadership continues to drift further away from the people.
It’s all smoke and mirrors, and the illusion is finally fading away.
Astroturf
The effectiveness of activist organizations depends on their appearing to be genuinely local, organic outpourings of political energy, representing the people and not those in office. They create an impression of mass support to force change, followed by pillorying anyone who questions that change as a reactionary, a profiteer, an outsider trying to oppress those they claim to represent.
This was, unsurprisingly, a running theme of statements delivered before the commission, including remarks questioning the value of testimony from people who weren’t born in Pittsburgh.
In other words, everyone else has bad motives, while activist organizations are local, real, pure. But they aren’t. Take two of the groups that brought speakers to the meeting: Pittsburgh United and 412 Justice.
On the very bottom of the “about” page on its website, Pittsburgh United reveals that it is “affiliated with The Partnership for Working Families,” which has recently been rechristened PowerSwitch Action. This national group is funded by labor unions along with major national and international foundations, and has particularly close ties to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
For instance, PowerSwitch Action’s executive director joined the organization after 17 years in SEIU leadership. As for the local affiliate, these national ties mean it’s cash-flush: Pittsburgh United had nearly $3.5 million in the bank at the end of 2022, the most recent IRS disclosure online.
Meanwhile, in its own IRS documentation, 412 Justice states that it was formerly known as the OnePA Education Fund. OnePA began as One Pittsburgh, which was itself a project of — you guessed it — the SEIU.
SEIU Healthcare, of course, is the biggest donor to Mr. Gainey, who has appointed SEIU-affiliated people to several leadership roles and board positions.
In other words, these “grassroots” organizations are classic astroturf, laid down by national and international organizations that see Pittsburgh and its people as a means to an end.
While many of their rank and file are sincere community advocates, the organizations themselves — and their relationships with the mayor and other elected officials — represent a self-perpetuating and self-justifying system of money and influence.
The vanguard
Another nonprofit well-represented at the Planning Commission was 1Hood Media, which calls itself “the vanguard of arts and activism.” The group has successfully nurtured and uplifted Black arts and media in Pittsburgh, while its branded merchandise has become synonymous with progressive politics. It counts among its donors nearly every prominent local foundation.
Last year, 1Hood also counted among its best financial supporters the City of Pittsburgh. That’s because the Gainey administration proposed, and City Council approved, an appropriation of $210,000 for 1Hood Media to provide “community engagement” services in support of a proposed comprehensive plan for the city. It is unclear what this will entail, because the organization has never included such work in its portfolio.
It’s also unclear how 1Hood will collect community input in an unbiased way when it sends representatives to shill for Mr. Gainey’s agenda at public hearings. And when its 501(c)(4) political action affiliate, 1Hood Power, supports the mayor’s reelection.
The coming “community engagement” sessions are obviously meant to present a false consensus around the existing priorities of Mr. Gainey and the activist network that supports him. It’s another part of that same circular system.
The wizard
Both the greatest strength of this system, and the source of its predictable undoing, is that it can never be satisfied. Like the military-industrial complex, in order to justify its continued existence (and funding), the activism-industrial complex must always conjure more battles to fight, more enemies to vanquish, more milestones on the road to utopia.
Eventually, inevitably, the people tire of it. They see that this system represents itself, not them or their interests.
The biggest question in Pittsburgh politics over the next four months — the mayoral primary is May 20 — is whether this system still has the power to deliver political victories. It can pack a conference room with paid talkers, to be sure, but does it still inspire fear in City Council, or passion in voters?
I don’t think it does. After more than three years of Mr. Gainey’s failed leadership, transparently as the creature of this system, too many Pittsburghers have peaked behind the curtain, and found the wizard wanting.
Brandon McGinley’s previous column was “Practicing the habit of democracy.”
First Published: January 31, 2025, 4:50 p.m.
Updated: January 31, 2025, 6:27 p.m.
