community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
Late last winter the Pennsylvania General Assembly under the leadership of right wing legislators from the city's North Hills suburbs imposed on the people of Pittsburgh an "oversight board" of five rich white men whose job is to force austerity measures and fiscal responsibility (they call it tough love) on the city. This measure came in response to the city's fiscal crisis and this oversight board, called the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority for Cities of the Second Class (hereafter simply called the ICA) was given broad powers. The ICA will shortly deliver their demands regarding their relationship to our elected city council, called an Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement to the city council. The ICA is authorized by the legislation that set them up to actually withhold city funds if the city council does not obey them. The City Council is an elected body that represents diverse neighborhoods in the city. The ICA is an unelected body of 5 rich white men that represents only the interests of their own kind.
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