Wilkinsburg group seeking merger with Pittsburgh delays action

A referendum about whether Wilkinsburg should merge with Pittsburgh won’t be pursued until next year’s election cycle, its supporters said Tuesday.

“We have concluded that the compressed schedule required to place the referendum on the November 2021 ballot would not allow for the productive dialogue appropriate to address important details related to the seamless integration of the two municipalities,” Wilkinsburg Community Development Corp. Executive Director Tracey Evans said in a statement.

Most Wilkinsburg council members have said they oppose the idea, which is being pursued by the WCDC, a nonprofit that isn’t affiliated with the borough.

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It is supported by outgoing Wilkinsburg Mayor Marita Garrett, whose term expires at the end of the year. She didn’t seek re-election.

“This conversation is about equity and opportunity for both municipalities,” Garrett said. “Right now, our tax rate is oppressive and prevents home ownership, wealth generation and job creation for mostly Black residents who are leaving the borough as a result.”

The WCDC has worked for more than a year studying the issue and has been gathering signatures of Wilkinsburg voters as required by state law to begin the process, Evans has said.

More than 800 residents have signed a petition, well over the 642 people who were required for an Allegheny County Common Pleas Court judge to consider it, Evans said.

After the petition is approved by the court, the matter will go before Pittsburgh City Council, which needs to approve it.

Once council acts, the court is again required to endorse the move before it can appear on the ballot as a referendum before Wilkinsburg voters.

The process is outlined in a state law that dates to 1907 that has rarely been used in the decades since.

The WCDC initially planned to pursue the process this summer, with hopes to get it on the general election ballot this year. But on Monday they announced they were delaying it until a future election cycle, likely next spring.

Pittsburgh City Council members haven’t yet discussed the issue publicly. They were set to have a meeting with Wilkinsburg officials about it on Thursday, but it was postponed in light of the delay.

At its meeting Tuesday, Pittsburgh council members heard from Wilkinsburg resident Rene Dolney, who asked Pittsburgh officials to only listen to Wilkinsburg’s elected leaders and not the WCDC, which she described as a “rogue nonprofit.”

The WCDC’s supporters don’t reflect the sentiments of many Wilkinsburg residents, she said.

“We love being a small community,” Dolney said.

Dontae Comans, who won the Democratic primary for borough mayor, also opposes the merger.

The WCDC’s effort is a grassroots movement, Evans has said, and is led by borough residents.

“I believe we can and should use this merger as an opportunity to improve both communities,” said Derrick Tillman, a borough resident who is co-chair of a WCDC committee that analyzed the merger.

Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb supports the merger effort, He encouraged other municipalities that neighbor Pittsburgh to consider the idea because it would streamline services and make the region more competitive by increasing the city’s population.