Pittsburgh sticks with IT firm criticized in whistleblower suit — for now
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Thursday said the city continues to do business with a Plum-based tech company while investigating allegations of substandard work outlined in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday by a city police officer.
Pittsburgh paid B-Three Solutions at least $3.9 million for software updates and improvements between 2010 and 2017, according to Pittsburgh's Office of Management and Budget and audits in the Pittsburgh Controller's Office.
Officer Souroth Chatterji, in a whistleblower lawsuit filed Wednesday , said police officials — including Linda Rosato-Barone, an assistant chief and deputy public safety director — subjected him to racial discrimination for investigating B-Three and reporting that company software either did not work, wasn't used or was more expensive than similar software from other companies.
Chatterji notes in the lawsuit that he is the only city police officer of Indian ethnicity.
A B-Three official has called the allegations “baseless and groundless.” The company did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.
Peduto on Thursday said former police Chief Cameron McLay, who ordered Chatterji to conduct the investigation, advised him of potential problems with B-Three several years ago. He said an FBI investigation turned up no wrongdoing on the part of the company or city personnel, but the city's Office of Municipal Investigations is investigating Chatterji's allegations.
Peduto said he knows of no connection between Rosato-Barone and B-Three.
“There is still an ongoing OMI investigation on this, so if there were any connections I'm sure OMI would be able to find it,” Peduto said.
He said B-Three is still performing work for the Department of Public Safety, including the Office of Municipal Investigations, known as OMI. In 2016, City Council approved a $14,500 contract with B-Three to upgrade OMI's case management software.
“When we came in we evaluated all of our different computer systems and there was no rhyme or reason for any of them,” Peduto said. “They weren't even compatible between departments. With B-Three a lot of the problems we're having is the transfer of data and being able to put it into a new system.”
Peduto said the city contracted with B-Three through the state's cooperative purchasing program, which permits municipalities to acquire goods and services at lower costs.
In 2010, the city retained B-Three under a seven-year contract to provide a variety of computer systems and applications for city departments, including public safety and the police bureau, according to a 2011 Controller's Office audit of the city's Computer Information Systems department.
The audit reported that B-Three consultants were paid hourly rates of $75, $90 and $95 and recommended that the city hire its own computer personnel to do the same work at lower costs.
Peduto said his administration, after taking office in 2014, hired Deloitte, an audit and consulting firm, to review city information technology systems and create a plan for improvement. He said the city would overhaul all of its systems over the next five years.
“With the B-Three contract and several other contracts the best thing we can do is let it die on the vine,” he said. “Let it go through its course and then have a new operating system that's created simultaneously.”
He said the city does not plan to seek reimbursement from B-Three unless the OMI investigation turns up wrongdoing. He said the same goes for police officials whom Chatterji says subjected him to racial slurs and harassment including “muhammed,” “haji” and the n-word, preceded by the word sand.
“There is no room, not only within the police bureau, but within the city of Pittsburgh for any discrimination based on ethnicity,” the mayor said. “We will certainly take action against any supervisor who would have done so. That being said, these are allegations.”
Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312, bbauder@tribweb.com or on Twitter @bobbauder.
