Mixed Verdict for G20 Protester from NYC

A G20 protester has been acquitted of aggravated assault but convicted on 2 lesser counts in connection with a clash with police September 24, 2009 in Pittsburgh.
An Allegheny County jury found 28 year old Allen Weber of New York City guilty of disorderly conduct and obstruction of highways. The jury was deadlocked on a charge of propulsion of a missile into an occupied vehicle.
Police say Weber refused an order to disperse during a protest in Oakland and an officer in a SWAT truck tossed a smoke grenade to get protesters to leave. Police say Weber picked up the grenade and threw it back at the officer.

CPRB and City Spar Over Redacted Documents

The Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board (CPRB) and the city will be back in court in August to make oral arguments as to why the heavily redacted documents given to the CPRB by the city do or do not meet a judge’s order to hand over materials needed to investigate police officers' actions during the G20 summit in September. At a contempt of court hearing today, CPRB lawyer Ward McGough argued that so much information was lined through that the documents are unusable. Paul Krepps, the attorney for the city, says if the information was not redacted the city could be in violation of privacy laws. The city also argued that releasing the data could in some cases jeopardize future operations. Along with arrest, incident, summons, subject resistance, and investigative reports, the board asked for operational documents such as the manual given to visiting officers and the insurance policy taken out by the city to cover the time around the G20. CPRB Executive Director Elizabeth Pittinger says because the information in the documents has been "blacked out" the board is unable to do its job. Pittinger notes that in other cases being investigated by the CPRB the city has handed over the documents without any redaction. The judge has given the city and the CPRB until August 26th to prepare for oral arguments. Between now and then there are several deadlines including a date to submit written arguments.

It has also been learned that the Pittsburgh City Council and the Mayor are submitting new names to fill the Citizen Police Review Board. The council and the mayor choose the seven-member board. All of the current members of the board are serving under expired terms. Some of them have been serving in that capacity for two years according to Pittinger. When asked to react to the submission of seven new names Pittinger said, “I think you would have to look upon it as a retaliatory act.”

Pittsburgh Mayoral spokesperson Joanna Doven says the approval of the board nominees on the same day as the court hearing was coincidental and in no way a retaliation. Doven says the 4 names from the council were submitted to the mayor 58 days ago and he had 60 days to review them and sign off on the nominations. Doven was also quick to point out that of the three nominations made by the mayor two are current CPRB members.

G20 Bike Assault Case Delayed

Trial has been postponed for a woman accused of assaulting a police officer during the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh last September. Police say 22 year old Lauren Wasson can be seen on news video throwing her bicycle at a riot officer during a protest. She was then tackled and arrested and charged with aggravated assault. Wasson counters that police repeatedly shoved her as she was trying to leave but others were blocking her path. Her trial is now set for July 21.

Other Cities Visit Pittsburgh Thanks to G20

The Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce says it is hosting an unprecedented number of visits from other Chambers of Commerce in 2010. Chamber President Barbara McNees says it can be traced back to the exposure the city received during the G20 summit. McNees says, “No fewer than seven Chambers of Commerce from across the United States have scheduled benchmarking visits to Pittsburgh this year.” Among the cities visiting is Cincinnati OH and Baton Rouge LA. Advance teams from both of those cities are in town this week laying the groundwork for later visits. Delegations from Korea and Toronto Canada have also made trips as they prepare to host G20 events later this year. McNees says groups have often visited Pittsburgh in the past but they usually were exploring one aspect of the city such as brownfield redevelopment or cooperation with universities but now they want to look at the entire revitalization package. McNees says the heads of the chambers that are coming this year specifically mentioned the G20 as one of their reasons why Pittsburgh was selected. The Executive Directors of several of the chambers coming later this year were in town last summer for a Chamber of Commerce conference where they got their first look at the city. McNees says the G20 just sealed the deal. Also visiting this year will be: Kansas City MO, Nashville TN, Lexington and Louisville KY, Dubuque IA and Mobile AL. McNees says the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber is looking for other ways to capitalize on the publicity and interest generated by the G20 Pittsburgh Summit.

Allegheny Institute Doubts G20's Economic Impact

The Allegheny Institute says it does not think as much money was left in Pittsburgh during the G20 as some have estimated. The conservative think tank has released a policy brief regarding VisitPittsburgh's claims of a $35 million economic benefit to the the Pittsburgh region as a result of the G20 economic summit. The Allegheny Institute claims that the projection is unreasonable. The group looked at two indicators of economic impact for the region. They looked at RAD (Regional Asset District) revenues and hotel tax revenues. According to the policy brief RAD revenues were down in September of 2009 as compared to 2008, but hotel tax revenues increased by $600,000 representing an additional $8.5 million in hotel spending. Allegheny Institute senior research associate Frank Gamrat says the picture is incomplete because they were only able to analyze two sources but he believes the $35 million impact projection is still unreasonable because of the difficulty in quantifying the actual impact to the region.

Visit Pittsburgh has released a written response saying in part; "The Allegheny Institute fails to note that most of the 33 delegations associated with the Pittsburgh Summit were exempt from paying any taxes. These delegations represented over 3,500 attendees. In addition, security forces were also exempt from paying taxes. Used as the cornerstone for the Allegheny Institute’s faulty analysis, tax collections in this case are not a meaningful measurement of direct spending relating to the Pittsburgh Summit." "VisitPittsburgh stands behinds our estimate of $35 million in direct spending as a result of the Pittsburgh Summit."

Pitt Prof: G20 is a Big Deal

University of Pittsburgh economics professor James Cassing says one of the most important aspects of a G20 meeting is to allow the heads of state to publicly announce agreements that have been made in private meetings leading up to the gathering. He says with the economic downturn, it is also important for the world to see that the leaders of the world’s richest nations are on the same page when it comes to righting the world economy. He says it is “confidence building.” The “G” groups began with the G-7 and have expanded to included 19 countries and the European Union. Cassing says that expansion was important because it brought in some of the world’s largest developing economies including China and India. G20 meetings have attracted protests in the past. Cassing says anytime heads of state gather there will be protests but he understands why this group would attract even more. He says many people believe it is these leaders that have caused the problems the world economy is facing and they should not be trusted to fix the same problems. Cassing believes that among the topics to be discussed in September will be funding the G20’s commitment to the international monetary fund (IMF), the operations of the World Bank and the stalemate at the Doha Development Round. The Doha Round is aimed at lowering international trade barriers including tariffs. It has stalled with the US, Japan and the EU digging in on one side and India, Brazil, China and South Africa on the other side. Cassing agrees that this will raise the international profile of Pittsburgh. He says the event will make headlines around the world and with that many reporters in town there is bound to be coverage of issues outside of the event itself.

Mayor Not Happy About Reporters Laughing at Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl says he was “somewhat insulted” when he heard that reporters were snickering when Pittsburgh was announced as the host location for the G20 meeting in September. Ravenstahl says the city has been trying to overcome that image for a long time and this event will help. He says the battle is getting people to Pittsburgh because once they visit they always leave raving about how great the city is. Ravenstahl says work on forming a host committee for the event is underway. He says the committee will include “the leaders of Pittsburgh” including corporate leaders, non-profit leaders and government officials. He says the planning for an event like this needs to be very detailed. He says that ranges from logistics and public safety to selecting locations to take visitors outside of the summit’s meetings. He says there are plenty of things in the region that he would like to highlight for the visitors but he will leave the final choice up to the host committee. Ravenstahl says he has already started getting calls from businesses and community leaders who say they are excited about the potential income tat will be generated by the event itself and the potential for stronger businesses ties with the rest of the world.
Ravenstahl says the selection process started about three weeks ago and it was hard to keep it under wraps but he says the White House said if there was a leak Pittsburgh would fall out of contention.
Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Michael Huss says he is working closely with the Department of Homeland Security and will be calling in support not only from federal agencies but from other police departments in the region as well. He says they will be ready to handle the security needs of the officials and the potential crowd control needs. He says at this point he is not going to tell people to avoid downtown during the meeting. He says he “sees no reason why the city should stop just because we are having this event.” Huss says all officers are being informed that they should plan to be on duty during the two-day event. Right now there are no plans to change the date of the Great Race. It is scheduled for just two days after the last G20 session.

City-County Looks to "Showcase" during G20 Meeting

Shortly after the White House announced that it would host a mid-year meeting of the G20 in Pittsburgh, the city and Allegheny County issued a joint statement touting the meeting as a great way to “Showcase Southwestern Pennsylvania to an international audience.” County Executive Dan Onorato says, "During the past few years, we've transformed Southwestern Pennsylvania into a hub for next-generation jobs and 21st Century innovation. We've also made great strides in cleaning our air, water and land, as well as promoting smart growth, sustainable development and green jobs. I want to thank President Obama for giving us this remarkable opportunity to showcase our accomplishments and transformation on a world stage." Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl says, “We are honored to have this tremendous opportunity to showcase Pittsburgh to the rest of the world. We're especially proud that Pittsburgh was chosen because of our status as a symbol of economic transformation as well as our leadership in the green movement.” The city and county are in the process of forming a host committee and public safety officials are already working with the Secret Service to formulate plans to handle officials, support staff and protestors. A spokesperson for the mayor's office says the city was informed about the meeting just this morning.

G20 coming to Pittsburgh

The White House has announced that the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (G20) will meet in Pittsburgh September 24 and 25. The meeting is planned as a meeting of “deputies” according to the G20 website. The full session meets once a year with several smaller meetings held throughout the year. The group is made up of leaders from the world’s 19 largest economies and the European Union. The G20 was formed “as a response both to the financial crises of the late 1990s and to a growing recognition that key emerging-market countries were not adequately included in the core of global economic discussion and governance.” The website lists a mandate for the group of, “The G20 is an informal forum that promotes open and constructive discussion between industrial and emerging-market countries on key issues related to global economic stability. By contributing to the strengthening of the international financial architecture and providing opportunities for dialogue on national policies, international co-operation, and international financial institutions, the G20 helps to support growth and development across the globe.” In the past, thousands of protesters from around the world have gathered in the cities hosting the meetings. In April, London hosted the annual meeting where mostly peaceful protests turned violent when a group began smashing windows and looting a Royal Bank of Scotland office.