New Pittsburgh mayor to push transparency with technology

New Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto wants to bring greater transparency to the Steel City with the help of technology.

In a recent interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Peduto, who was inaugurated Sunday, called sunlight “the best antiseptic.”

Some of the initiatives include putting his schedule online, something previous Mayor Luke Ravenstahl declined to do, and broadcasting city meetings typically conducted behind closed doors, including those with department heads, the paper reported.

Peduto also created the position of chief performance and innovation officer to be a member of his cabinet. He named Debra Lam to that position and she will work to upgrade the city’s technology so it can better use data to help better spread the city’s resources.

The new mayor also wants to employ performance-based budgeting that will help to ensure city departments meet certain performance benchmarks.