“Shall the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter, Article Two, Executive, be amended and supplemented by amending and adding new language to Sections 229 and 230 and adding a new Section, 231, expanding the powers of the Independent Citizen Police Review Board to allow the Board to require police officers to participate in investigations, conducting performance audits of the Police Bureau and preventing the removal of Board members except for just cause and with City Council approval?”
Here’s what this means:
If this Home Rule Charter Amendment receives a majority of “yes” votes, two sections of the City’s Home Rule Charter, sections 229 and 230, will be amended to expand the powers of the City’s Citizen Police Review Board to require police officers to participate in investigations conducted by the Board, with the City Controller jointly conducting performance audits of the Police Bureau.
Additionally, a new Section 231 would be created. This section states that the Mayor could recommend removal of Citizen Police Review Board members only when there is just cause to do so, unless City Council overrules the Mayor’s recommendation by a two-thirds vote.
Below are the full text of the Ordinances.
You may also view the Ordinances in their entirety by visiting the Legislative Information Center here:
Ordinance Directing the Allegheny County Board of Elections to place before the qualified voters of the City of Pittsburgh at the 2020 November General Election a referendum question, "Shall the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter, Article Two, Executive, be amended and supplemented by amending and adding new language to Sections 229 and 230 and adding a new Section, 231, expanding the powers of the Independent Citizen Police Review Board to allow the Board to require police officers to participate in investigations, conducting performance audits of the Police Bureau and preventing the removal of Board members except for just cause and with City Council approval?"
Whereas, in 1968, the electors of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania approved various amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (“Pennsylvania Constitution of 1968”, “state Constitution”), among which were amendments which granted to municipalities for the first time the right and power to frame and adopt home rule charters and enjoined municipalities from the deprivation or discrimination against the exercise and enjoyment of the civil rights of any person; and,
Whereas, in 1972, pursuant to Article IX, Section 2 of the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1968, the General Assembly enacted the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, which established the process by which municipalities could frame and adopt a home rule charter; and,
Whereas, in 1974, the qualified voters of the City of Pittsburgh approved the adoption of the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter (the “Charter”) and thus the City became a home-rule municipality; and,
Whereas, the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 2961, et seq., is a broad grant of municipal authority to the City of Pittsburgh; and,
Whereas, the City of Pittsburgh is a home rule municipality, a city of the second class and a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and,
Whereas, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (“Pennsylvania Constitution”), Article I, § 26, states as follows: “Neither the Commonwealth nor any political subdivision thereof shall deny to any person the enjoyment of any civil right, nor discriminate against any person in the exercise of any civil right”; and,
Whereas, the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States mandates that, “No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. ”; and,
Whereas, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States enjoins the states from taking any actions which, “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”;and
Whereas, Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution states, “[t]he people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions from unreasonable searches and seizures,…” and the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States similarly mandates that, “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,…”; and,
Whereas, no government, federal, state or local, can function without the consent of the governed; and,
Whereas, the City has the constitutional obligation to safeguard the rights of its residents and visitors by requiring the same of its own employees; and,
Whereas, a number of citizens have impressed upon City Council the inviolability of the rights reserved to them in the Declaration of Rights in Article I, Sections 2, 8, and 26 of the state Constitution by operation of Article I, Section 25 of the same;
Whereas, after several years of increased deadly interactions between the African-American residents of this City and police, in 1996, the citizens demanded the establishment of an independent citizen police review board; and,
Whereas, the citizens pleaded with City Council in 1996 to help them but this request was met with deaf ears, as Council failed to take action on legislation which would place before the voters an amendment to the Home Rule Charter to establish an independent review panel; and,
Whereas, a number of Councilmembers and hundreds of citizens collected the necessary number of signatures to force a referendum to amend the Home Rule Charter by way of voter initiative, which, after legal action by the Fraternal Order of Police to defeat the petition, was allowed to proceed by the Courts, and 57% of the citizens voting gave their approval; and,
Whereas, in the almost 23 years since its establishment, the Citizen Police Review Board (“CPRB”) has worked tirelessly to achieve its mission to bring transparency and accountability to policing in this City and improve police-community relations; and,
Whereas, changes in the law, binding arbitration decisions and unfavorable Court rulings have worked to frustrate the purposes for which the electors successfully amended their Charter; and,
Whereas, the citizens of this City are again asking City Council to help them in protecting their constitutional rights; and,
Whereas, the public demands equitable, lawful treatment under the law by police officers and the above-mentioned state and federal constitutional obligations in addition to the constitutional right of the electors to alter or reform their government to ensure that the City’s constitutional obligations are met and the right of the residents of the City to initiate the process of amending their Charter either by petition of the City’s electors or by a successful demand to their representatives on City Council to initiate the process by enacting an ordinance calling for the same is the genesis of this action; and,
Whereas, City Council has received precisely such a demand to enact an ordinance to place this question on the ballot in the November 2020 General Election, and City Council has resolved not to fail its friends, neighbors, loved ones and employers again.
Be it resolved that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The Allegheny County Board of Elections is hereby directed to place before the qualified voters of the City of Pittsburgh at the 2020 November General Election a referendum question:
"Shall the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter, Article Two, Executive, be amended and supplemented by amending and adding new language to Sections 229 and 230 and adding a new Section, 231, expanding the powers of the Independent Citizen Police Review Board to allow the Board to require police officers to participate in investigations, conducting performance audits of the Police Bureau and preventing the removal of Board members except for just cause and with City Council approval?"
§ 228. - INDEPENDENT CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD.
There is established an Independent Citizen Review Board, comprised of seven members reflecting Pittsburgh's diversity, for the purpose of receiving, investigating and recommending appropriate action on complaints regarding police misconduct and for the purpose of improving the relationship between the police department and the community. The members shall serve four year staggered terms and serve until the appointment of their successors. Four of the seven appointments shall be made from a list of nine nominations submitted to the Mayor by City Council. Members shall be residents of the City, shall not be employed by the City or any of its Authorities, and shall serve without compensation.
§ 229. - POWERS OF INDEPENDENT CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD.
The Board shall:
§ 230. - RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATIONS OF INDEPENDENT CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD.
§ 231. REMOVAL OF INDEPENDENT CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD MEMBERS
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Charter the mayor may remove a Board member only for just cause as provided herein. The Mayor shall notify the Board and City Council, detailing the findings of cause. If the Mayor recommends removal, unless City Council, by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, disapproves this finding within ten (10) days of notification, the recommendation of the Mayor shall be final, and the Mayor shall cause the member’s removal.
Section 2. City Council shall, upon completion of the legislative process, shall cause a copy of this ordinance to be filed with the Allegheny County Board of Elections pursuant to the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 2961, et seq., as amended.
Section 3. The City Clerk is hereby authorized and directed, upon notification by the Allegheny County Board of Elections of the acceptance, by the Board, of the referendum question, to cause a copy of this ordinance along with a summary, approved by Council, to be sent by United States Mail to every registered elector in the City within thirty (30) days of the November 3, 2020 General Election, in addition to causing the same to appear on the City’s website and sending, by electronic mail (“e-mail”), to any person who shall request a copy.
Ordinance, amending Ordinance 22 of 2020, entitled “Directing the Allegheny County Board of Elections to place before the qualified voters of the City of Pittsburgh at the 2020 November General Election a referendum question, "Shall the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter, Article Two, Executive, be amended and supplemented by amending and adding new language to Sections 229 and 230 and adding a new Section, 231, expanding the powers of the Independent Citizen Police Review Board to allow the Board to require police officers to participate in investigations, conducting performance audits of the Police Bureau and preventing the removal of Board members except for just cause and with City Council approval” to remove the requirement to mail to every registered elector in the City.
The Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 3 of Ordinance 22 of 2020, effective July 22, 2020, entitled “Directing the Allegheny County Board of Elections to place before the qualified voters of the City of Pittsburgh at the 2020 November General Election a referendum question, "Shall the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter, Article Two, Executive, be amended and supplemented by amending and adding new language to Sections 229 and 230 and adding a new Section, 231, expanding the powers of the Independent Citizen Police Review Board to allow the Board to require police officers to participate in investigations, conducting performance audits of the Police Bureau and preventing the removal of Board members except for just cause and with City Council approval” is hereby amended at Section 3 as follows:
Section 3. The City Clerk is hereby authorized and directed, upon notification by the Allegheny County Board of Elections of the acceptance, by the Board, of the referendum question, to cause a copy of this ordinance along with a summary, approved by Council, to be sent by United States Mail to every registered elector in the City within thirty (30) days of the November 3, 2020 General Election, in addition to causing the same to appear on the City’s website and sending, by electronic mail (“e-mail”), to any person who shall request a copy.
