Pittsburgh City Council president calls for more oversight of Stop the Violence grants

Pittsburgh City Council President Theresa Kail-Smith introduced legislation Wednesday that would require recipients of the city’s Stop the Violence grants to report to council on how they use the funds.

The city announced in November that it had distributed nearly $1 million in Stop the Violence grants to more than 30 local organizations. The grants are meant to be spent on violence intervention programs and other initiatives that address root causes of violence in Pittsburgh.

Each year, the city deposits 6% of the police budget into the Stop the Violence Trust Fund. The money funds some city-led initiatives, including the Office of Community Health and Safety, but the majority of the money is set aside for grants to outside organizations.

Kail-Smith said she wants to ensure there’s proper oversight after the money is distributed.

“There’s too much money going out this door that (is) not going to operations and not going to things that are under our purview,” she said.

Kail-Smith said she’d like to see similar reporting required for organizations that receive money from the city’s park tax and other grants. It is council’s responsibility to ensure that all money given to outside organizations is spent as intended, she said.

As the city deals with an uptick in violence, she said, officials need to ensure that “every dime” of Stop the Violence grant money is being put to use on initiatives that actually produce results in curbing violence.

Organizations would have to provide information to the city such as how their work is curbing violence, whether they have the necessary funding and community support to achieve their goals, how ending violence aligns with the organization’s broader priorities and when they anticipate to see results.

The council president has voiced concerns before about how much cash the city gives to outside organizations and how little oversight council has over those funds. She has similarly highlighted the need for a plan and oversight regarding the city’s newly created food justice fund, which is set to distribute $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars to food-based organizations citywide.

Councilman Ricky Burgess said he didn’t disagree with the measure, but called for a similar reporting mechanism for the police bureau. The police have several trust funds, he said, and expenditures from those funds are not reported to council.

“If we’re going to start having this oversight with community groups, we should have the same level of oversight with the police and all the funds they receive,” Burgess said.

Kail-Smith said she is already working with council’s budget office and budget officials from the mayor’s office on measures that would provide oversight of all of the city’s trust funds. She said she would also like to minimize the city’s overall number of trust funds.

The measure could be ready for a preliminary vote as early as next week, and a final vote as soon as the following week.