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Council Considers Homeless Protections From Housing Discrimination and May Monitor Social Media

City Council

City could bar landlords from rejecting applicants over housing gaps.

Landlords increasingly ask for a housing history, and some reject applicants with gaps or past shelter addresses, a city official said. The city's human relations commission wants to make housing status a protected status in city code. However, two council members worried about an undue burden on landlords and the city. The final vote is set for Sept. 30.

Written by Amy Whipple

The Commission on Human Relations is looking to add “past or present housing status” to the city’s code as a protected status.

Christopher Soult, the commission’s deputy director, said landlords are increasingly asking for a housing history, similar to a work resume. Some landlords are automatically denying applicants with gaps in their housing history or who list addresses linked to shelters or residential treatment facilities.

The legislation does not prohibit landlords from refusing to rent to people based on credit or eviction history, which is allowed by law.

Council Member Bob Charland of the South Side said housing discrimination clogs the shelter to housing pipeline. People who are denied housing remain in shelters they wouldn’t otherwise need.

Council Members Theresa Kail-Smith of Westwood and Anthony Coghill of Beechview both said they were worried the change would put an undue burden on landlords and the city.

Rachel Shepherd, the commission’s executive director, said there would be no additional cost to the city. The commission, which was founded in 1955, already has systems in use for investigating discrimination.

The final vote is scheduled for September 30.

City Council

City looks to monitor social media for 311.

The city's switch to a new 311 system has drawn confusion and complaints. Now, the city plans to expand it to monitor social media and tie users to their comments. A council member said the city should get trash pickup right before adding capabilities like that. However, council doesn't get a vote on the expansion.

Written by Amy Whipple

Pittsburgh is planning to start monitoring social media and tie individual users to their comments.

The change would come as an expansion of the new Salesforce 311 system, which now has the ability to tag duplicate reports.

Heidi Norman, the city’s director of Innovation & Performance, told City Council Monday that the current 311 system is the first phase of the city’s “customer relationship management system.”

In the future, she said, “We are going to get into things like: what is a particular constituent saying about government in social media?”

The transition to the Salesforce system has been plagued with confusion and complaints.

Council Member Charland also responded to Norman’s plan: “I would rather us stick to picking up the trash and figure out how to do that and get that part right before we talk at all about expanding into any of these kind of troubling capabilities that we might have.”

The expansion of the system is not up for a vote by Pittsburgh City Council.