We want the skeptics on the board.
Not as a gesture. A board of people who already agree with each other will approve whatever it is handed. We need business-minded people who will respectfully argue about overhead, question line items, and push money out of administration and into the district.
If that's you, here is what board members commit to:
- Six meetings a year, about an hour each.
- Join however you want — in person, Zoom, or a regular phone call.
- One vote, same as everybody else at the table.
How the seats are split
- Evenly divided between owners east of 18th Street and west of 18th Street, so no end of the corridor can outvote the other.
- Dedicated seats for large property owners.
- Dedicated seats for small daytime retail.
- Dedicated seats for hospitality and entertainment operators.
- One appointee from the District 3 Council office and one from the Mayor's office — they do not select the rest of the board. All other board members must be nominated by a commercial property owner in the district.
A budget, in public
An itemized budget of how this fund will be used goes to City Council each October, before Council's own budget discussions. Not a summary — the actual line items.
Reports to the Treasurer
The nonprofit reports collections and delinquencies to the City Treasurer on a set schedule. The money is auditable.
It ends unless renewed
The district terminates five years from January 1, 2027. Continuing it takes a deliberate act by Council.
Who is behind this
This legislation came out of a 2025 steering committee of local property and business owners and a public stakeholder survey run from July to September 2025. It was brought to Pittsburgh City Council by the District 3 Council office at the request of the East Carson Street Business District Advisory Committee.
This legislation is not a developer's project and it is not a city project. It is the people on this street trying to buy back the staffing the neighborhood lost in 2012, when the South Side Local Development Corporation closed.
Commercial property and business owners who served on the East Carson Street Business District Advisory Committee
- Anna CampbellOwner, East Carson Street commercial properties · Campbell Development
- Don CarlsonOwner, East Carson Street commercial properties
- John DeMauroOwner, East Carson Street commercial properties · The Urban Tap, La Bodega
- Chris FirmanCo-owner, Enclave
- Jimmy HoffmanCo-owner, East Carson Street commercial property · Mario's
- Rebecca KasavichCo-owner, Copies at Carson
- Dina KlavonOwner, commercial property in the proposed district · Klavon
- Scott KramerOwner, East Carson Street properties · Tiki Lounge
- Carmella SalemOwner, Carmella's Plates & Pints
- Scott SmithOwner, East Carson Street real estate property