Juneteenth festival organizer accuses city of slow walking permit application

Yahoo

a day ago

After three court hearings and two deadlines set by a judge, the City of Pittsburgh still has not issued the final permit to the long-time organizer of one of the largest Juneteenth celebrations in the country.
At a status conference before the judge today, Organizer B. Marshall learned that the city had approved phase two of his application.
They approved phase one on Tuesday morning, just hours before another status conference.
After telling the judge Wednesday afternoon that phase two had finally been approved, the city attorney said that the application was now under review by the special events committee, which includes representatives from Police, Fire, Emergency Management, Public Works, and Permits, Licenses and Inspections.
When asked by the judge how long that process would take, the city attorney said it may go until next Wednesday, the day before the Juneteenth celebration is scheduled to open at Mellon Park in East Liberty.
The judge scoffed at that and ordered the city to provide an email update on the process by 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Marshall praised the judge for appearing to expedite the process.
'We're appreciative of the judge today because he's seen today, apparently they want to continue to slow walk this process,' Marshall said.
Marshall was calm after the hearing but expressed frustration with the process, which the city said now includes a review of the permit by police, fire and other city departments.
The city attorney said that was standard procedure, but Marshall, who is organizing his 12th annual Juneteenth celebration, said he was unaware of this additional step in the review process.
The city attorney also said in court that there are some outstanding questions about fire safety concerning some vendors and public works needs more information about the size of the stage.
'I can tell you this, B has done everything in his power to respond immediately,' said Marshall's attorney, Phil DiLucente, who filed a petition in court last month to force the city to act on the permit.
Marshall had submitted his initial permit application in February.
In court earlier this week, the city said they couldn't approve the application because Marshall had requested the closing of Penn Ave, which is a state-run road. Marshall said he withdrew that request in April.
Last weekend, Marshall filed an updated permit application to reflect the change. The city received the updated application and approved phase one of his application just hours before the hearing on Monday.
Marshall believes the city is intentionally delaying the permit process because of his ongoing feud with Mayor Ed Gainey over funding.
Gainey pulled Marshall's funding last year and the city awarded the contract to a friend of the Mayor's wife.
After public outcry, city council reinstated Marshall's $125,000 funding.
Marshall did not receive any city funding this year.
In court Wednesday afternoon, the judge acknowledged that progress had been made, but he was clearly troubled that the festival is scheduled to start next Thursday and the permit is still in limbo.
'He wants an update, a status report. We commend the judge and we believe now Juneteenth will now without question kick off on time,' DiLucente said.
11 Investigates is still waiting to find out what transpired between today's noon hearing and the 4 p.m. deadline imposed by the judge.
Marshall said he's confident the four-day festival, which he expects will bring 65,000 people to the city, will go on as planned.
The celebration was held at Point State Park and Market Square last year but those venues are both undergoing renovations.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW