Council Grapples With Abandoned Homes Issue; Rape Victim’s Father Speaks

On Wednesday city leaders began to discuss what to do about abandoned homes and the dangers that they pose.

VIDEO: Child-Rape Victim's Father Addresses City Council

Pittsburgh City Council met after President Doug Shields introduced a resolution on Tuesday to formulate a plan to deal with abandoned homes and condemned properties in the city. He introduced the resolution following the alleged rape of an 11-year-old girl in an abandoned home in the Greenfield section of the city last week.

Shields wanted to know why properties such as the one in Greenfield where the sex attack occurred had already been demolished. “I would like an explanation,” he said.

“We demolish what’s been condemned,” said Sergei Matveiew, of the Bureau of Building Inspection. “To my knowledge, none of those properties are condemned.”

Landslides have impacted some of the homes in the Greenfield area, and the Public Works Department said it would cost more than $1 million to make repairs.

“I just need to get the appraisals, and that will be the determining point,” said Guy Costa of the Public Works Department. “Do we fix the landslides, or is it cheaper to buy the properties?”

City council also voted to close and possibly fix a set of badly damaged stairs in the neighborhood.

Before the council sat down to business on Wednesday, the father of the alleged rape victim addressed council members.

Channel 11 News was there when he spoke before the council. Typically, when a city resident addresses the council, they give their full name and address the council members from the podium. However, the victim’s father sat down at the table with council members and gave only his first name.

He told the council they need to act now before someone else gets hurt.

“There have been calls on the abandoned house up there,” he said. “This has been an ongoing issue, and I just think it is time that this situation is addressed before other things happen there.”

Building inspectors began to make assessments along Ivondale Street in Greenfield on Wednesday, and Shields asked them to report back in 15 days.

Shields said the city has failed the people who live along Ivondale Street for the last ten years, where conditions remain unacceptable.

Previous Stories: May 8, 2009: Rape Suspect's Father Says Son 'Needs To Be Put Away'