Published on April 19, 2017
Pittsburgh, PA (April 19, 2017) Mayor William Peduto today issued an Executive Order adopting measures to promote diversity in City hiring, similar to an initiative backed by late Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney within the National Football League.
The Executive Order names a Diversity and Inclusion Officer within the City's Department of Personnel to oversee diversity measures; calls on Personnel to develop policies to recruit diverse candidates for any supervisory position within the government (such as directors and managers); orders the Office of Management and Budget to adopt similar policies for contracting; and for Personnel and OMB to study disparities among wages earned and hours worked by minority City workers.
The Order also calls for a task force of City officials to develop recommendations to City Council on diverse hiring measures, and create advisory committees to oversee a settlement agreement reached with the American Civil Liberties Union in 2015 to strengthen diverse hiring measures in the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and other public safety bureaus.
The Order is similar to the "Rooney Rule" backed in 2003 by Mr. Rooney, who at the time was chairman of the NFL's diversity committee. It requires teams to interview minority candidates for all openings in head coaching and other major supervisory positions.
"I am honored to follow Mr. Rooney's example, and implement similar diversity measures in his beloved city," Mayor Peduto said.
The Order calls for all city-related agencies to adopt similar policies, and for City officials to issue regular reports to the Mayor and City Council.
A copy of the Executive Order(PDF, 98KB) is available.
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