Ed Gainey, Democratic nominee for Pittsburgh mayor, 1-on-1 with Pittsburgh’s Motion Information 4

By jimadmin On May 22, 2021

Ed Gainey, the Democratic mayoral primary winner who upset incumbent Bill Peduto and is on track to be Pittsburgh’s first Black mayor, sat down for a one-on-one interview Friday with Pittsburgh’s Action News 4. Gainey talked about his plans for city policing, getting what he considers a fair share toward city expenses from tax-exempt nonprofits, and defending the city’s gun laws against legal challenges.What vision for the future of Pittsburgh does Gainey hope to portray to the nation?”What I want to portray today is a city that is changing to encompass all and wants to be a city for all. I think that makes us more welcoming. I think that opens us up for business, and I think it makes us a national tourist attraction for all people to come here and say look at the change of this city,” Gainey said.As for the police bureau, “I want to go straight to community-oriented policing. That’s number one. How do we build relationships? Communication. How do we build communication? Being there,” Gainey told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4. “If we want to make sure the relationship between the police and the community is getting better, it’s because they’re on the beat. They’re walking the beat. They’re knowing the community, they’re inside the community. They’re talking to people in the community.””We can’t close a blind eye to Black residents making 23% of the city but accounting for 65% of the arrests,” Gainey said. “We have to stop over-policing in neighborhoods. There has to be an equitable distribution across the city of Pittsburgh. That’s how you build positive relationships. We don’t have to over-police in certain neighborhoods. How do we know that’s happening? Arrest rates tell a story.”Gainey also said Pittsburgh can’t turn a blind eye to the number of Black and brown people across the country who have died at the hands of police.He says Pittsburgh can de-escalate violence in the community by having more social workers on call.”We (will) put police back on the beat. When I was a kid, the police knew my name in the community. They knew everybody. They built those relationships. Those relationships over the years have eroded and now you don’t have that anymore,” Gainey said.Another top Pittsburgh priority for Gainey is “Affordable housing. People (are) being pushed out. We know that people want to live in the city.”Gainey also wants to sit down with the city’s big nonprofits that hold major properties but pay no property taxes.”Maybe you have to challenge their tax status in court. We will have the conversation but if push comes to shove, we would be left to no choice. We all got to pay our fair share,” Gainey said.Gainey says he would continue to defend Pittsburgh’s gun laws that are being challenged in court.”There are just some things I don’t believe we need on our streets. Military-style weapons is one of them. I don’t see a need for AK-47 or AR-15 on our streets,” he said. There are several thousand write-in votes that were cast by Republicans in their Pittsburgh mayoral primary. The Allegheny County elections returns board was just sworn in to start their work Friday. They won’t get to identifying and counting write-in votes until after they finish going through 1,500 provisional ballots first, so the answer to identifying any Republican candidate for mayor could be a week or two away.

PITTSBURGH —

What vision for the future of Pittsburgh does Gainey hope to portray to the nation?

“What I want to portray today is a city that is changing to encompass all and wants to be a city for all. I think that makes us more welcoming. I think that opens us up for business, and I think it makes us a national tourist attraction for all people to come here and say look at the change of this city,” Gainey said.

As for the police bureau, “I want to go straight to community-oriented policing. That’s number one. How do we build relationships? Communication. How do we build communication? Being there,” Gainey told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4. “If we want to make sure the relationship between the police and the community is getting better, it’s because they’re on the beat. They’re walking the beat. They’re knowing the community, they’re inside the community. They’re talking to people in the community.”

“We can’t close a blind eye to Black residents making 23% of the city but accounting for 65% of the arrests,” Gainey said. “We have to stop over-policing in neighborhoods. There has to be an equitable distribution across the city of Pittsburgh. That’s how you build positive relationships. We don’t have to over-police in certain neighborhoods. How do we know that’s happening? Arrest rates tell a story.”

Gainey also said Pittsburgh can’t turn a blind eye to the number of Black and brown people across the country who have died at the hands of police.

He says Pittsburgh can de-escalate violence in the community by having more social workers on call.

“We (will) put police back on the beat. When I was a kid, the police knew my name in the community. They knew everybody. They built those relationships. Those relationships over the years have eroded and now you don’t have that anymore,” Gainey said.

Another top Pittsburgh priority for Gainey is “Affordable housing. People (are) being pushed out. We know that people want to live in the city.”

Gainey also wants to sit down with the city’s big nonprofits that hold major properties but pay no property taxes.

“Maybe you have to challenge their tax status in court. We will have the conversation but if push comes to shove, we would be left to no choice. We all got to pay our fair share,” Gainey said.

Gainey says he would continue to defend Pittsburgh’s gun laws that are being challenged in court.

“There are just some things I don’t believe we need on our streets. Military-style weapons is one of them. I don’t see a need for AK-47 or AR-15 on our streets,” he said.

There are several thousand write-in votes that were cast by Republicans in their Pittsburgh mayoral primary. The Allegheny County elections returns board was just sworn in to start their work Friday. They won’t get to identifying and counting write-in votes until after they finish going through 1,500 provisional ballots first, so the answer to identifying any Republican candidate for mayor could be a week or two away.