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City extends contract with IT company despite being unhappy with prior work

PITTSBURGH — The city of Pittsburgh is extending work with a company that has been named in a federal whistleblower lawsuit for performing below industry standards.

The vote Tuesday to extend the city's contract with B-Three Solutions was unanimous, but that didn't stop council members from taking issue with some of the work it's doing for the city.

The company is defending itself and threatening to file a lawsuit against the Pittsburgh police officer tasked with investigating it.

It didn't take much convincing for City Council to approve the two-year extension worth more than $500,000 with B-Three Solutions, an IT company that does software maintenance and support services for several agencies, including Pittsburgh police.

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"We had to, otherwise we would have the system shut down," said Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. "It wasn't an option to not approve it and still have a software system for our Police Department."

Some criticism stems from a federal whistleblower's lawsuit filed by Pittsburgh police officer Souroth Chatterji last month.

In the lawsuit, Chatterji said he was assigned to investigate the work of B-Three, claiming the company provided millions of dollars worth of software upgrades to Pittsburgh police that were never implemented, didn't work or cost much more than similar systems.

"We know these things aren't true," said Komron Jon Maknoon, attorney for B-Three Solutions. "We know others know it's not true. We're sitting back waiting for somebody to come out and release emails and release internal memorandums and it hasn't happened."

Maknoon said the company plans on filing a lawsuit against Chatterji over the allegations.

He would not say if the city will be included in that lawsuit.

"They can't turn their back on the city," Maknoon said. "They can't turn their back on the police or the people of the city. But they're not thrilled with how this has been handled whatsoever."

Before agreeing to vote for the extension, city councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith introduced her own bill that would give council more oversight before the city enters into a contract with a company.

It's a move she believes could help prevent votes like the one taken Tuesday.