Peduto defends frequent travel that takes him away from Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto plans trips to California, Arizona and Michigan this month, and he said his out-of-town travel will increase as he works to amplify his role as the city's “chief salesman and ambassador.”

Peduto has spent nearly 1½ months on the road since taking office in January. He said the trips cost the city little and led to international recognition, networking opportunities, policymaking and grants exceeding $30 million.

“There's a balance between being a very proactive mayor, who's on the ground in the city, and also one who is the chief salesman and ambassador for the city,” Peduto said. “You can't do it by sitting in an office, either of the jobs. You have to be out and about. I burn the candle on both ends.”

The mayor has been away from the city for 44 days, including 32 days on business and 12 on vacation, according to his public schedule.

This month, he will travel to Los Angeles and Arizona to attend conferences and to Detroit to talk about improving Rust Belt cities. He said details will be released later.

Foundations, universities and nonprofits — including Carnegie Mellon University, Lincoln Institute, Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Politico Magazine and People for Bikes — paid for most of Peduto's business travel.

To date, taxpayers reimbursed him $3,626 for travel expenses, according to Controller Michael Lamb's office.

Peduto said he pays his own way on vacation.

A government watchdog said the city should pick up work-related travel bills to avoid the appearance of favoritism.

“Government has regulatory duties over these types of organizations. It has the ability to grant them money,” said Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause of Pennsylvania. “Organizations should not be paying. If it's government business, the government should be paying for it and the mayor should make the case publicly why it's important for him to go.”

Peduto does not see a conflict: “If I were taking this as gifts from vendors who have contracts with the city ... I would agree with that. Every one of these end up being 12-hour days of intense seminars and network-building on ways that I can make Pittsburgh better and where people are giving us, the city, resources in order to do it, (and they aren't) asking for anything from the city.”

Kauffman said Peduto should declare the travel payments on annual ethics reports, required by the city and state.

“He's been very open about the travel, and if it's something that should be on the ethics report, it will be,” Peduto spokesman Tim McNulty said.

Unlike former Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Peduto publishes a daily schedule, which includes a daily itinerary when he is away on business. Ravenstahl was secretive about his business and personal travel, making a comparison between the two administrations impossible.

Peduto submits expense vouchers that are available to City Council and the public. Past mayors used a city credit card for business expenses.

The mayor has met with President Obama at the White House, touted Pittsburgh at conferences in Chicago and Denver and visited Denmark and Germany to learn about building bicycle-friendly streets and how German cities use technology to improve urban living.

He rubbed shoulders with Gov. Tom Corbett and state legislative leaders in Harrisburg and attended a bicycle summit in Toronto.

Meeting with leaders in government and organizations, he said, helped net grants, including $30 million for housing and social programs in Larimer from the Department of Housing and Urban Development; $230,000 for child health care from the National League of Cities; $250,000 for bicycle infrastructure from People for Bikes; and $75,000 for low-income housing from the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Participation in the National League of Cities got the organization to commit to bringing its annual convention with 5,000 people to Pittsburgh in 2015, Peduto said.

“Thirty million dollars here, $6 million there, a couple hundred thousand dollars here is the benefit that the city gets by having a mayor who works both ends, being around in the communities and being around the country and around the world in order to promote our city,” Peduto said.

Moe Coleman, director emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh's Institute on Politics, said he cannot remember a mayor traveling as frequently.

“It's important to see what innovative and new things are going on in these other cities, but you have to weigh that with the fact that there's a lot going on here that requires his attention,” Coleman said. “How he balances all that is key.”

Peduto said he does it by working six-day weeks and long hours.

“In 252 days, I've had 26 days off,” he said. “The amount of workdays that I've put in this year, I would say, have exceeded not only everyone else in the city workforce ... but it would also exceed anybody in the private workforce.”

Bob Bauder is a Trib Total Media staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312 or bbauder@tribweb.com.