Pittsburgh Mayor Vetoes Council's Plan for City Vehicles
PITTSBURGH – Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl vetoed the City Council’s plan to slash city take-home vehicles and swapped it with his own plan.
PITTSBURGH – Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl vetoed the City Council’s plan to slash city take-home vehicles and swapped it with his own plan.
In a letter to council members, Ravenstahl agreed to reduce the number of take-home cars to 29 “in the spirit of cooperation,” but stressed he holds the power to determine the size of the city’s take-home vehicle fleet, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
City Solicitor George Specter told council members that legislation to restrict use of take-home cars was illegal, and he characterized it as micromanagement.
The mayor said he would inform department heads of his decision to cut the number of take-home cars from 61 to 29. Among the 32 city employees who will lose their take-home cars are:
Pittsburgh’s six police station zone commanders, police spokeswoman Diane Richard, Finance Director Scott Kunka, and Public Works crew supervisor Kevin Quigley.
City Council could have an early opportunity to override Ravenstahl’s veto with a two-thirds majority vote. It appears unlikely since the legislation was approved by a 5-3 vote.
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