Welcome to the City of Pittsburgh's Legislative Information Center (LIC)!

City Council takes pride in its open form of government and is pleased to provide state-of-the-art technology to assist the public in tracking and retrieving legislation.

Below you will find three tabs: Legislation, Video Streaming, and Meeting Calendar. Please click on each tab and view some information we've assembled about using the LIC.

Note: Official, certified copies can be obtained in person from the City Clerk's Office.

Searching for Legislation

QUICK HELP & HINTS
When searching for legislation, make sure to check what year you are searching. The search control defaults to the current year.
You may track specific legislation and receive updates via RSS. Look for the RSS icon:
ATTACHMENT FILES
Legislative attachments are posted in .doc format. For many users, these files will open in Microsoft Word. If you do not have Word, then please be aware that many free alternatives exist. For example, OpenOffice.org is an excellent free choice available for all major operating systems.
OTHER FILES
Many other files in the LIC are offered in PDF format. Most users probably have a PDF Reader configured - but a variety of readers for all major operating systems are available here :

In the LIC, the Legislation page is a common starting point for users. You may search the legislation database by keyword, by year, by type, and more by means of an advanced search interface (you will see the Advanced Search link to the right of the search controls). More detailed help with searching is available here .

After you initiate a search, your results are returned in rows below the search interface. Legislative File numbers are hyperlinked to Detail pages.

Detail pages

A Legislative Detail page contains a wealth of information about a specific piece of legislation - sponsors, titles, committee of control, etc. Any attachments to the legislation are available here.

The Legislative Detail page is where you can track Actions taken as the file moves through the legislative process. You can see how votes were cast by clicking Action Details. All details of the meeting are linked to - click Meeting Details.

After meetings take place, the City Clerk's office works hard to edit and archive Meeting Video. When the video clip has been archived, you will find a link on the Legislative Detail page. For more help with video, please go to the Video Streaming tab.


VIDEO RESOURCES
Granicus Help Page
Microsoft WMP Download Page
Flip4Mac component page
Firefox web browser
Firefox WMP Plugin
Browser/OS Usage stats

In the LIC, video is available two ways - Live Video Streaming, and Archived Video.

Live Video Streaming

While Council meetings are in progress, links become active on the Live Video Streaming page . Click the links, and a new window will open containing the video player (see player configuration info below), and also the relevant agenda document (in PDF format).

Archived Video

After meetings take place, the City Clerk's office works hard to edit and archive Meeting Video. When video clips has been archived, you will find links on Legislative Detail pages. Links to archived video clips are to be found everywhere legislative files are listed.

Video Player Configuration

Videos are streamed using Windows Media Player (WMP). For many users, WMP should be configured correctly - however, we intend to provide as many configuration resources as possible here.

  • Granicus , the third party that provides the video streaming, has assembled a help page .
  • Microsoft has a WMP download page where the latest version(s) may be obtained. *Note - if you are hearing the audio track but NOT seeing the video stream, it's very likely that you need to update WMP at the site linked to above. After updating, you need to start WMP before the update will be in effect.
  • Flip4Mac is a free program that allows Mac users to easily view WMP files. The program adds WMP compatibility to QuickTime - the latter being standard install for Mac. A resource page has been established.
  • Fans of the excellent and free Firefox web browser can easily download and configure a free plugin for WMP playback (scroll to the page bottom and look for Windows Media Player).

Calendar

TIPS FOR CALENDAR
When searching the calendar, make sure to check what year you are searching. The search control defaults to the current year.
You may track Meeting Calendar updates via RSS. Look for the RSS icon:

Pittsburgh City Council meetings that have already been broadcast are later archived on the Calendar page . Links to Meeting Details, Agendas, Minutes, and Video are made available for each meeting after they have been prepared by the City Clerk's Office.

View Format

You can view meeting information in list format, or in calendar format. Click the "List View" or "Calendar View" tabs to switch views.