February 27, 2004

Honorable Ed Rendell

Governor

225 Main Capitol Building

Harrisburg, PA  17120

Dear Governor Rendell:

RE: City of Pittsburgh Fiscal Oversight Board

On behalf of Sustainable Pittsburgh I am writing to encourage you to expeditiously enable the addition of a sufficient number of full seats (we recommend four) to the City of Pittsburgh's new fiscal Oversight Board to ensure it diversity and balance representation of the citizens of Pittsburgh.  Sustainable Pittsburgh deems the current board's lack of minority and female representation to be reflective of a systematic barrier to equitable development of regional proportions and importance.

 The current members of the Oversight Board are indeed qualified and deserve the region's gratitude for their service.  However, with women constituting over half the population of the city and African Americans almost a third, the Board's (surely unintended - all white male) make-up misses opportunity to reflect the richness of the community it serves and benefit from the wisdom and perspective accrued through diversity. 

 It would be shortchanging the future of the City and our region for this imbalance to not be corrected.  We encourage the Governor’s Office and Legislature to take corrective action to diversify the Oversight Board.  This extraordinary circumstance deserves extraordinary consideration.

 Sustainable Pittsburgh stands ready to be of any assistance we can as the Commonwealth, The City, and Southwestern Pennsylvania pull together to strengthen the future of Pittsburgh's and thus our region's sustainability.

Sincerely,

Court Gould

Director