Through much of the pandemic I’ve worked with the Pittsburgh Union of Regional Renters, the Hill District Consensus Group, RentHelpPGH and the Pittsburgh DSA to keep people housed, and fed, and able to access the medicine and other resources they need to survive and then some. I think that’s what being in community with folks should be about, and that the same should be true for any elected official.

In Polish Hill I’m surrounded by teachers, cooks, contractors, parents, students and families who all need each other. With the information I can share as a neighbor and constable, I think we can help keep us together.

With financial and real estate interests lining up to profit off our misery, however, many local officials have taken COVID-19 as an opportunity to speed up ongoing displacement in our community. Either by stealing relief resources or kneecapping protections for the most vulnerable, we’ve been cheated of time, money, and lives.

Sad yet true: Our local political establishment types continue to show just how quickly they’ll literally sell out their own neighbors.

If we are to stay, their power has to go. Let's build a movement together.