Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Deb Gross faces primary challenge from Jordan Botta

Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Deb Gross, D-Highland Park, is facing a primary challenge from Jordan Botta.

Gross, 56, has served on council since January 2016, representing a district that includes Bloomfield, Friendship, Highland Park, Lawrenceville, Morningside, Polish Hill, Stanton Heights and the Strip District.

Botta, 32, of Bloomfield, has worked as an analyst for Pittsburgh-based autonomous car technology company Argo AI and the Buhl Observatory. He also has served on several boards advocating for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Gross said she felt her office was “really starting to see progress” in her efforts to support basic needs such as housing, child care and food access in the communities she serves.

Gross pointed to her efforts to bring inclusionary zoning — which requires housing developments to include affordable units for lower-income residents — to the Lawrenceville neighborhood and later to Bloomfield and Polish Hill. Inclusionary zoning was recently expanded into Oakland.

“People said construction would stop, but even when construction stopped nationwide because of the pandemic, construction continued in Lawrenceville and produced dozens of affordable units,” Gross said.

If reelected, Gross said she would continue working on housing needs. She has been looking into ways to expand accessory dwelling units and limited-equity housing cooperatives throughout the city.

She also touted the creation of a $3 million food justice fund started with American Rescue Plan Act dollars. She also has advocated for investments in city farms and spearheaded a movement to plant food-bearing native trees throughout District 7.

If reelected, Gross said she would like to do more to cut red tape for small businesses and provide designated staff to help them through the development process.

“We have a long way to go in supporting small businesses, and we’re the problem,” Gross said.

Gross said she also would continue pushing for safe streets initiatives and to reopen more pools.

She said she would like to see more investment in the city’s youth in an effort to curb violence involving young people. Gross said the city disinvested in parks and recreation centers during the city’s Act 47 period of financial hardship.

“We need to invest in our kids,” she said, explaining that the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation still receives only 1% of the city’s overall budget each year.

Botta said if he is elected, a top priority would be working to ensure that constituents can easily communicate with their council member’s office. He said he would launch an initiative to ensure his office responds to all constituent calls within 24 hours.

“My main issue is to listen to what the people want to do and err not only on my own judgement, but on the judgement of the people,” Botta said, adding that he’s already been jotting down ideas and concerns he’s heard from residents throughout the district so he can bring those ideas with him into office if he’s elected.

“I’m going to be present for the big issues, the important issues, but also for the small issues that affect day-to-day lives,” he said.

Botta said he’s focused on ensuring there is clean transportation infrastructure that is reliable and environmentally friendly. He also called for “neighborhood coalitions” made up of nonprofits, community organizations and other local leaders to launch projects important to their communities.

In terms of the need for additional affordable housing, Botta said inclusionary zoning alone isn’t enough. He said he’d like to see more done to ensure existing housing stock is maintained and empty units are brought back to productive reuse.

Botta said he would like to see a “more progressive policing program” that bolsters co-response efforts and aims to address root problems that can be linked to crime, such as access to safe housing and food.

He also called for additional funding for out-of-school programming for the city’s youth.