Title...
An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending and supplementing the Administrative Code of Allegheny County, Part 7, “Properties” Article 701, entitled “Grounds, Properties and Buildings,” in order to establish a procedure for entering and enacting County contracts relating to land use.
Body...
WHEREAS, pursuant to Article V, §2(i) of the Home Rule Charter of Allegheny County, the Chief Executive is vested with the power to “[n]egotiate, award and sign, or cause to be negotiated, awarded and signed on behalf of the County, all contracts, agreements and other instruments, except as provided in Article IV, Section 2 (j) and (k).”; and
WHEREAS, Article IV, §2(k) establishes that County Council is vested with the power to “[b]y ordinance, lease, convey, vacate or abandon, or permit the use of County land, buildings or other real or personal property.”; and
WHEREAS, the plain language of these two Charter sections clearly and unambiguously states that the transactions enumerated in Article IV, §2(k) are specifically removed from the Executive’s contract power and placed within Council’s legislative power; and
WHEREAS, it is the judgment of Council that, in light of the plain language of the Charter, any practice of issuing requests for proposals or undertaking any negotiations relating to land use prior to obtaining the permission of Council would be counterproductive, insofar is it could result in the negotiation or execution of contracts for land use that do not receive the necessary legislative authorization; and
WHEREAS, it is further the judgment of Council that the transparency of the legislative process, which is required by the Charter within the context of land use, is desirable, but that such transparency unavoidably suffers when requests for proposals and negotiations take place prior to the required legislative process; and
WHEREAS, it is accordingly the desire of Council to establish a process for a...
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