Mayor Gainey signs one anti-BDS referendum question
Allows the other to be added to May ballot without signature
The city of Pittsburgh is one step closer to stopping the type of BDS referendum that Not On Our Dime is attempting to have added to the May 20 ballot. That referendum would prohibit the city from doing business with Israel or any entity conducting business in the Jewish state.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey has signed ordinance 1425, a referendum that City Council approved this week. If the referendum passes a ballot vote in May, it will amend the Home Rule Charter 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.”
The mayor did not sign the other referendum passed by City Council this week — ordinance 1426, which 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.”
While Gainey said that the intent behind ordinance 1426 is commendable, “serious concerns about its legal soundness were raised in Council’s deliberations.” In an email to the Chronicle, the mayor said he shared these concerns and, as a result, returned ordinance 1426 to the council unsigned.
“Returning a bill unsigned is not the same as a veto and will allow the bill to take effect after 10 days, in time for the City Clerk to file the referendum with the County Elections Division and have it placed before the voters in May,” Gainey said.
Julie Paris, a Squirrel Hill resident and StandWithUs Mid-Atlantic regional director, spoke in favor of both referendums at a Feb. 3 public City Council hearing. She said that she appreciates Gainey signing ordinance 1425 and his “strong stance on advancing Pittsburgh’s anti-discrimination policies.”
“His leadership in this area is vital for building an inclusive and welcoming city,” she said.
Paris said that she was disappointed, however, in Gainey’s decision to not support ordinance 1426, legislation which she believes is crucial to protect Pittsburgh from extremists seeking “to exploit our democratic process to promote hate.”
“I hope he will reconsider this position and support both bills and take a vocal stand against ‘Not on Our Dime,’” she said. “This deeply misleading campaign does nothing to help Palestinians or Israelis. It only deepens divisions and hostility in our community, jeopardizes our city’s financial stability and distracts from the issues that matter most to the people of Pittsburgh.”
Jeremy Kazzaz, executive director of Beacon Coalition, an advocacy and education nonprofit that works to combat antisemitism, also spoke in favor of council’s two referendums at the public hearing.
He stressed that both referendums are important.
“They work in slightly different ways to protect the fiscal stability of the city of Pittsburgh and to make sure that the Home Rule Charter amendment process is not getting abused,” he said.
He said he is disappointed that Gainey isn’t supporting both ordinances.
“One was passed unanimously, and the other was passed overwhelmingly by City Council,” Kazzaz said.
The council’s referendums will be presented for voter approval in May.
Anti-Zionist group Not On Our Dime is attempting to gather more than 12,500 signatures so that its referendum also will be added to the ballot. That referendum 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.”
City Council’s referendums were introduced by Councilperson Erika Strasburger, District 8, in reaction to Not On Our Dime’s ballot proposal, and co-sponsored by Bob Charland, District 3; Anthony Coghill, District 4; Daniel Lovelle, District 6; and Bobby Wilson, District 1.
Strassburger said that she was concerned with the effect the BDS referendum, if passed, would have on the city, noting that a partial list of companies the city would no longer be able to do business with included Amazon, Apple, Caterpillar, City Bank, Coca Cola, Dell, General Electric, Google, Alphabet, HP, IBM, Intel, JP Morgan Chase, McAfee, 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 during the public hearing.
Even if Not On Our Dime gathers enough signatures for its referendum to be added to the ballot, it will still likely face legal challenges before the May election. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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