As the Lower Hill District prepares for a spate of development, city Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle and black leaders want to make sure that minority workers and companies get a fair share of the work.
Mr. Lavelle said last week that he's considering legislation to broaden employment opportunities for the black community across the city, including Hill District residents who will see the lower part of their neighborhood transformed by impending redevelopment of the 28-acre Civic Arena site.
Meanwhile, Rashad Byrdsong, founder of the Community Empowerment Association in Homewood, is gathering signatures to force council to hold a public hearing on whether publicly subsidized developments employ fair numbers of black workers. He also hopes to have a community forum on the subject later this month.
"We definitely support the call for the public hearing," said Carl Redwood, chairman of the Hill District Consensus Group, which led efforts to tie construction of the new Consol Energy Center to job opportunities for neighborhood residents.
The city Urban Redevelopment Authority and Sports and Exhibition Authority already have policies for including minority-owned, women-owned and small businesses in publicly subsidized projects. But Mr. Lavelle said more is needed, given the unemployment and poverty levels in minority communities.
"For the long-term viability of the city, that's got to change," Mr. Lavelle said. The city may provide access to jobs and projects without doing enough to connect people to the work, he said.
He said one possibility is the creation of a "clearinghouse" that would give black firms substantial advance notice of contracting opportunities so they would have time to prepare bids. He said another possibility is sizing contracts to make sure that small- and medium-size firms have the wherewithal to take on the job.
Mr. Lavelle and Mr. Byrdsong said the work must begin now so that black firms are ready when the Penguins begin work on redeveloping the arena site. Mr. Byrdsong also called for improved training programs to help workers prepare for development-related jobs and said the training should be provided in minority neighborhoods.