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Updated 1 hour ago
Pittsburgh will pay a $14,235 legal bill for an attorney who represented former police Chief Cameron McLay during a controversy surrounding McLay's appearance at the Democratic National Convention in July.
City Council on Tuesday voted 8-1 to pay a legal bill submitted by the Downtown firm of Rothman Gordan. McLay retained attorney Bill Ward when the city Law Department advised him to seek outside legal representation because his appearance posed a potential conflict of interest, according to Anne Parys, a spokeswoman for the law firm.
Mayor Bill Peduto's office previously said the city hired the firm for an unbiased legal analysis of McLay's appearance because of allegations McLay violated city regulations and the federal Hatch Act.
Kevin Acklin, Peduto's chief of staff, later confirmed that McLay retained the firm. Acklin said Pittsburgh would pay the bill because Ward's advice helped the city address the allegations.
A city ordinance prohibits police officers from campaigning on behalf of a political candidate while on duty in uniform. The Hatch Act prohibits political activity by certain federal employees and municipal officials involved in programs financed by the federal government.
McLay appeared in uniform at the Philadelphia convention on July 26 to speak about police-community relations. He said at the time that he broke no city, department or federal regulations and asked the city's Office of Municipal Investigations for a review. OMI concluded that McLay did not violate city regulations.
McLay resigned in November and left the state. He could not be reached for comment.
Councilwoman Darlene Harris of Spring Hill voted against the payment, saying the city shouldn't need outside legal advice to interpret its ordinance.
Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbauder@tribweb.com.
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