Mayor Gainey tours Pittsburgh neighborhoods as his administration touts affordable housing successes
Affordable housing has been one of the issues central to the Democratic primary race for mayor of Pittsburgh.
Mayor Ed Gainey is seeking to tout what his administration did to build and restore affordable homes, but his party challenger is pouring water on some of those figures.
Democratic challenger Corey O'Connor did not attend Mayor Ed Gainey's affordable housing tour. He declined the invitation, saying it turned into a campaign rally.
The tour went on, with five stops, including one in Oakland. It's a tour born out of a debate over numbers.
The mayor says his administration has brought 1,600 affordable housing units, but his challenger says that use of the word "delivered" lacks consistency.
"My opponent didn't believe that we delivered 1,600 units of affordable housing," Mayor Gainey (D) said.
"He knows they did not build 1,600 new units of affordable housing. They do not exist across this city," Corey O'Connor (D) claimed.
Mayor Gainey showcased multiple affordable housing projects on Wednesday morning. He and a group were bussed from East Liberty, through the Hill District, and ended in Oakland.
"What we wanted to do is demonstrate that we did," Mayor Gainey said. "Delivered, secure, preserving them, and new construction. Those are the things that make up delivered, and that's what we've done," Gainey said.
"He's changed his tune again. He gets caught, and he changes his tune," O'Connor said.
A tracker the mayor put out last week says that out of nearly 1,600 affordable units, 201 new ones have been created. Six hundred thirty are under construction.
"We are actually proving that housing is a human right and that everybody has the ability to have safe, affordable housing."
Twenty-seven units are labeled as "preserved," which includes those restored and rehabilitated, and 729 are listed as "in the pipeline," units that have some, but not all, financing.
"Empty promises and rhetoric is what we're seeing out of the mayor's office," O'Connor said.
O'Connor says it's part of why he didn't take up Gainey on his offer.
"Why was I going to go on a tour when I knew we weren't going to go see 1,600 new units that he promised everybody in Pittsburgh," O'Connor added.
He claims Gainey has changed that figure multiple times, but the mayor says "delivered" means pipeline, process, construction, and completion.
KDKA-TV is hosting a debate between Mayor Gainey and Corey O'Connor. The debate is scheduled for May 7 at 7 p.m. on KDKA+.
