City Council passes anti-BDS legislation
Ordinances await Mayor Ed Gainey's signature for inclusion on May ballot

Pittsburgh City Council has passed two pieces of legislation it hopes will prevent groups like Not On Our Dime from introducing referendums that would prevent the city from doing business with Israel or any company conducting business with the Jewish state.
The two ordinances, which would add questions to the May 20 ballot, were approved during a Feb. 4 regular council meeting.
The first ordinance asks voters to decide if Pittsburgh’s Home Rule Charter should be amended to prohibit discrimination “on the basis of race, religion, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or expression, disability, place of birth, national origin or association or affiliation with any nation or foreign state in conducting business of the City.”
It was approved unanimously by the council.
The second ordinance asks voters if the Home Rule Charter should be amended to prohibit “the use of the Home Rule Charter Amendment process to add duties or obligations beyond the lawful scope of the city’s authority.”
It was approved by a vote of 6-2. Councilmember Deb Gross, District 7, voted no. Councilmember Barb Warwick, District 5, which includes Squirrel Hill, attempted to abstain but her vote was recorded as a no vote because, according to council rules, in a final vote an abstention is recorded as a no vote.
Warwick attempted to explain her vote by saying she was concerned about the current federal government and the effects of the bill.
“It’s quite alarming what we’re seeing at the moment in Washington,” Warwick said. “I have concerns about really doing anything at all that sort of hamstrings the power of the people of Pittsburgh to exercise their ability to participate in the democratic process as is laid out in our Home Rule Charter.”
Warwick outlined the same concerns during a Feb. 3 public hearing about the bills.
During the Feb. 3 hearing more than 20 people spoke about the proposed ordinances; three-quarters of those addressing council spoke in favor of its proposed legislation.
Many of those who spoke at the hearing addressed Warwick directly, saying that they lived in her district and believed the council’s referendums should be added to the ballot.
Share Torah Rabbi Yitzi Genack said the proposed legislation would safeguard the city from being “distracted by special interest groups pushing politically extreme agendas that do nothing to serve the city of Pittsburgh.”
Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers recalled the federal jury trial of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, saying he thought that would have ended antisemitism in Pittsburgh. He questions that now, he said, given Not On Our Dime’s proposed referendum.
“Are we going to continue to be a place that harbors all forms of discrimination, including antisemitism? That’s a fear that not only I have but the vast Jewish community of 50,000 persons in the Greater Pittsburgh area still continue to have when you single out one nation on this planet,” he said.
Julie Paris, StandWithUs’ Mid-Atlantic regional director and a Squirrel Hill resident, said the two council referendums would “ensure that our focus remains on issues that directly impact our city, support our residents, keep our communities safe and address the local challenges that matter most to constituents.”
Not On Our Dime’s legislation, Paris contended, would cost the city millions of dollars “by limiting our access to the global marketplace at a time when our city is already struggling financially.”
Not On Our Dime is attempting to gather more than 12,500 signatures so that its referendum will be added to the May ballot. It seeks to amend the Home Rule Charter to establish “a financial policy to divert funds from governments engaged in genocide and apartheid — such as the state of Israel and corporations doing business with them,” implement “investment policies with goals to reduce arms production and promote human dignity” and increase “transparency of City business relationships and investments.”
One of the organization’s leaders, Ben Case, spoke out against the council’s proposed legislation, which he acknowledged targeted Not On Our Dime’s referendum. Recognizing that one of council’s concerns was the city’s ability to function if forced to divest from companies that do business with Israel, he said their language “makes is clear that the divestment practices would be where possible.”
Case said, if approved, the Not On Our Dime referendum would provide added transparency about what companies the city does business with and with whom it was unable to divest and why.
He went on to address the divisiveness that he said was apparent during a meeting a week ago that voted both referendums out of committee, allowing a full vote by the council.
“We’re not creating divisiveness,” Case said. “There is divisiveness out there. We’re trying to find a productive and democratic outlet for a lot of frustrations that are out there. We’re not creating that.”
Following public comments, Councilmember Erika Strassberger, who introduced the legislation — co-sponsored by Bob Charland, District 3, Anthony Coghill, District 4, Daniel Lovelle, District 6 and Bobby Wilson, District 1 — addressed some of her constituents’ concerns.
She noted that the Not On Our Dime legislation targets Israel and makes no mention of countries like China.
If Not On Our Dime’s legislation passes, Strassburger said the city would be unable to do business with companies including Amazon, Apple, Caterpillar, City Bank, Coca Cola, Dell, General Electric Google Alphabet, HP, IBM, Intel, JP Morgan Chase, McAffee, McDonald’s, Micron, Microsoft, Nestle, Oracle, Pepsi, Qualcomm, Siemens and Toyota, among others.
“We can’t subject our residents to the threat of service disruptions because we can’t contract with a mainstream corporation that happens to operate in a country that some don’t like,” she said.
Now approved, the two ordinances head to Mayor Ed Gainey’s desk for his signature before being added to the ballot. It is unclear if Gainey intends to sign the legislation or if the bills can be added to the ballot should he choose not to sign them.
Gainey told the Chronicle last month that he wasn’t sure amendments to the Home Rule Charter “are an appropriate or effective way for us to engage in dialogue.”
The mayor said he has asked the city’s law department to review the council’s ordinances, as well as the proposed referendum Not On Our Dime hopes to have added to the ballot.
Even if Not On Our Dime gathers enough signatures, it will still likely face legal challenges before being added to the May ballot. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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