Procedures

Public Hearings

To register to speak at a City Council Public Hearing you must fill out the Speaker Signup form on the meeting schedule page; or you may contact the City Clerk at 412-255-2138. Testimony is limited to three (3) minutes for registered speakers. One (1) minute will be allotted to nonregistered speakers once the list of registered speakers has been exhausted.

Petition

Public Hearing Petition Form

1. The City Clerk must accept a petition requesting a public hearing if the petition, and its signatories meet the following requirements:

• At least 25 original signatures; no photostatic copies.
• The petitioners are eligible to vote (whether registered to or not).
• The petitioners and signatories are residents of the City of Pittsburgh.
• The petitioners intend to appear at the requested hearing.
• In cases of requesting hearings relative to pending legislation, the petition must be presented within three (3) days of the introduction of the legislation.

2. All petitions will be clocked in at the time received by the City Clerk from the petitioners or Council members.

3. Other than to determine facial validity of the petition, the City Clerk is not required to make an investigation to determine the validity of the information set forth in the petition unless specifically requested to do so by Council.

4. Upon determining that the petition meets the above requirements, the City Clerk will forward a copy of the petition to all Council members with a statement indicating the petition is valid; and will submit the petition to the Council President for introduction and scheduling.

• Petitions received by the City Clerk from petitioners will be submitted to the Council President for introduction, and referred to the proper committee.
• Petitions received by the City Clerk from Council members will be introduced in Council by that Council member, and will be referred to the proper committee.

5. Petitions considered at Council’s Committees Meetings, where Council motion to schedule a public hearing and refer the petition to the appropriate department for a report prior to setting a hearing date, the City Clerk will forward a copy of the reports to Council.

• A copy of this report will be sent to the petitioner requesting they review the report and notify the City Clerk as to whether or not a hearing is still desired.

6. In the event that the City Clerk rules a petition invalid, a copy of the petition will be forwarded to Council accompanied by a statement indicating the reasons of invalidity.

• The petitioners will be notified that the petition was ruled invalid, and given reasons why this ruling was made. The petition will be submitted to the Council President for introduction.

7. If the validity of a petition is challenged, the City Clerk is required to receive evidence offered by the challenger, and he or she will weigh said evidence in deciding the validity of the petition.

Post Agenda Meetings

Post Agenda Meetings are information-gathering sessions sponsored by City Council. Specific guests are invited to share their expertise with Council on targeted subject matters in a roundtable discussion format.

Please be advised that while the general public is invited to attend Post Agenda Meetings, there is no public comment.

Legislative Information Center Web Video

City Council provides video streaming for all Regular Meetings, Standing Committee Meetings, and any Public Hearing or Post Agenda that is Cablecast.