Our Mission:
Economic justice & racial equity for Pittsburgh.
The Economic Justice Circle (EJC) is a grassroots coalition committed to creating an economic justice agenda for Pittsburgh and the region with a racial equity lens.
We value transparency, integrity, accountability and equity.
Members of the Economic Justice Circle
Alliance for Police Accountability
Casa San Jose
Circles Greater Pittsburgh
Landless People’s Alliance
Pittsburgh UNITED
Riverside Center for Innovation
UrbanKind Institute
Read the Economic Justice Circle’s Response to Mayor Peduto’s FY 2020 budget.
Our analysis of the City’s proposed budgets finds that both the operating and capital budgets fall short on addressing current racial disparities and meeting the profound needs of Pittsburghers….
WHAT WE WANT FROM THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH
We want to change the way the City approaches economic development. The first step is to look at the budget.
The budget is the moral document of a city.
Today, it is nearly impossible for everyday residents of Pittsburgh to understand the choices that the budget represents, how City leaders express their priorities through the budget, or how budgetary decisions affect investment, service provision, or attention in their neighborhoods. The current lack of access to easy-to-understand budget information and limited opportunities for residents to engage means advocates for racial equity and economic justice in Pittsburgh do not have avenues to exert their agency and shape the City’s budget priorities to improve their lives.
BUDGET EQUITY AND TRANSPARENCY FOR PITTSBURGH NOW!
EQUITY
Actively use the budget, procurement, and contracting opportunities with the City to advance equity and reduce the racial wealth gap.
Recommendations: Increase and sustain funding for projects that advance equitable outcomes until communities of color and low-income communities have safe and affordable places to live and we reverse the current trends of poverty and out-migration of Black residents. Communicate contract opportunities with the City on a monthly basis and target outreach to MWBEs. Create or revise criteria for who can contract with the City by aligning criteria with goals that advance racial equity. Establish MWBE goals for citywide contracting activity and prioritize MWBE businesses.
COMMUNITY VOICE
Transform the budget process to include community input at all stages, and transform the budget office into a vehicle for community engagement and equity in budgeting.
Recommendations: Transform the budget process to include community input at all stages, and transform the budget office into a vehicle for community engagement and equity in budgeting. Ensure meetings are accessible to all residents regardless of prior knowledge of the budget, ability to attend in person, income, language, care giving responsibilities, and learning style. Hire City staff responsible for making the budget accessible to residents, and who work with the community to shape the budget. Support a Human Relations Commission-run citywide resident survey to help City agencies track service performance, address service disparities across Pittsburgh’s marginalized communities, and inform investments and budget priorities that realize an equitable vision for the City.
Precedent: Greensboro, North Carolina uses Participatory Budgeting to empower residents to identify and fund capital projects by council districts. A Participatory Budget Commission made of 10 community volunteers structures the process and creates budgeting guidelines.
TRANSPARENCY
Create a City-run web platform that makes budget data readily available online, is easily accessible to all residents, and is updated in real time.
Recommendations: Design the website with input from community members. Detail line-by-line information on sources, uses, and active contracts for all City agencies and authorities, and show how allocations connect to specific citywide priorities such as affordable housing, transportation, and public safety. Publicize the website at least 8 months in advance of the Mayoral budget release and include detailed user guides.
Precedent: The Statewide platform Ohio Checkbook offers searchable, detailed information about budget line items for the State of Ohio, its municipalities, and even some school districts. Budget data includes detailed sources and uses and offers analyses of the highest paid contractors and largest expense categories.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Make the Pittsburgh commitments to Equity and Inclusion extend to the budget process.
Recommendations: Expand Bill 2019-1670 Equity Standards and Requirements for all Departments and Units of City Government to mandate that budgets for City authorities align with a newly established “Racial Equity Toolkit,” which community members will help create and approve. Use the Racial Equity Toolkit and the Gender Equity Commission’s Gender Analysis to ensure that City agencies and authorities analyze proposed and finalized budgets each year both for their impact on City finances and their impact on residents, including whether they advance equity in Pittsburgh. Mandate training in racial equity, community engagement, and local and national best practices in budgeting for City staff and City Council Budget Office. Include impact metrics and year-over-year indicators from past budgets to track the City’s performance on equitable and inclusive priorities.
Precedent: Seattle uses a Racial Equity Toolkit to guide the development, implementation, and evaluation of policies, initiatives, and budget issues to address their impacts on racial equity. The toolkit process involves establishing outcomes for racial equity and tracking impacts on communities of color to hold the City accountable.
A strong and growing coalition support the Economic Justice Circle’s budget platform:
Pittsburgh Food Policy Council
Pittsburghers for Public Transit
Power West End
Regional Housing Legal Services
South Oakland Community Group
Sierra Club PA Chapter
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
Bloomfield Garfield Corporation
Hill District Consensus Group
Just Harvest
Lawrenceville United
Northside Community Development Fund
Economic Justice Circle Members
