South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association

"Neighbors working together to make the Slopes a more livable, beautiful, and safe community"

Author: Web Master

  • 2022 Slopes Board Updates

    The South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association (SSSNA) is excited to announce its updated Board of Directors as of our Annual meeting on March 8, 2022.

    We wish a heartfelt thank you to our retiring board members Denise Fillip and Brian Oswald. We are thankful for their combined decades of volunteering with the South Side Slopes. They will continue to be involved in the association, especially with the Dirty Dozen Hot Chocolate Stop and StepTrek.

    Re-elected board members were: Cara Jette, Gavin Robb, Lucia Sanchez-Madrigal, and Jami Szalla. We also welcome two new board members, Marc Bowman and Andrew Fetzko.

    Marc Bowman lives on Shelly Street, near the Oakley Street Mosaic Steps. He’s into running, mountain biking, walking around outside, video games and technology in general, and he is a senior web developer at Pitt’s School of Medicine. Marc has served on several boards and committees, including The Friends of South Park, The Whitehall Wildlife Management Committee, and he currently serves on the board of a 501(c)(3) non-profit known as Vegan Pittsburgh (veganpittsburgh.org). Expect more vegan options at our events going forward!

    Andrew Fetzko has been a resident of the South Side since 1993. He graduated from Duquesne University and owned the retail store, Head Board Shop, a skate and snowboard shop on Carson St. from 1994 to 2014, which grew to 5 locations in the Pittsburgh area. In addition to retail sales, he did logistics and promotions for dozens of community events and music festivals, including fundraising for Pitcher Memorial Skate Park, a public skatepark in Carnegie. Andrew is also an ICC certified Building Inspector and is currently employed at Legal Tax Service, a municipal billing and law firm servicing the mid Mon Valley, where he oversees the lien dept. in recovery of delinquent taxes and municipal service fees. In 2018, he and his wife, Steph moved to Windom Street, from Sidney St., becoming official South Side Slopes residents. Andy is looking forward to helping improve the day-to-day quality of life in our great neighborhood.

    There are now two openings for Board positions. Please contact info@southsideslopes.org if you are interested in joining the Board or a committee. You must have attended 2 meetings or events in the last year to be eligible to join the Board of Directors.

  • Slopes March Annual Meeting Agenda

    Topic: SSSNA Annual Meeting
    Time: March 8, 2022 06:30 PM Eastern Time

    The Zoom link is being sent over our e-blast. If you did not receive it, please email info@southsideslopes.org

    Agenda Overview

    1. PWSA
      1. Stormwater Program and South Side Park Update
      2. Q/A (5-10 min.)
    2. Rep. Jessica Benham; PA House of Representatives 36th District
      1. State Updates
      2. Q/A (5-10 min.)
    3. Councilman Bruce Kraus; City of Pittsburgh, 3rd District
      1. District Updates
      2. Q/A (5-10 min.)
    4. Kitty Vagley; Friends of South Side Park
      1. Park Updates and Volunteer Opportunities
      2. Q/A (5-10 min.)
    5. Introduction of Proposed Bylaw Change
    6. Board Member Elections
      1. Retiring Board Members
      2. New Board Nominee Introduction(s)
      3. Vote
    7. Committee Updates
      1. South Side Park
      2. StepTrek
      3. Beautification
      4. Outreach
      5. Zoning
      6. Governance
    8. Open Floor / Questions / Additional Announcements
    9. Adjourn

  • SSSNA Statement on Quarry Field Vandalism

    The South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association (SSSNA) stands in solidarity with Pittsburgh’s Black and brown communities in saying unequivocally that Black Lives Matter and that we will not tolerate the vile hate speech and acts of racism on display in the vandalism of Quarry Field. 

    Quarry Field, in the heart of South Side Park, is the home of the South Side Bears, a youth football and cheerleading community organization that supports the development of young majority Black and brown children in the South Side Slopes and surrounding neighborhoods through sports. The Bears are the last remaining youth sports team in the Hilltop Neighborhoods. We are exploring ways for us to meaningfully engage and support the Bears as a SSSNA community – and we also urge you to consider donating to the South Side Bears by reaching out directly to its president, Kevin Alton @ www.facebook.com/Southsidebears.

    We also acknowledge that we must move beyond words of support into action – and cannot do that without addressing our own biases and inequities.   

    As an all-volunteer neighborhood association in the predominately white South Side Slopes, we must address head on the privilege of our organization and our neighbors and reflect on how we contribute to the continued segregation of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods. From a review of our mission and the activities and priorities we undertake – to the makeup of our board and membership – we will strive to eradicate the vestiges of racism, misogyny, ableism, transphobia, and xenophobia within our organization. We will work to become a model of what it means for neighborhood associations to live our values and contribute to a vision of Pittsburgh that is truly most livable for all. 

    As President of the Association, I don’t have all the answers of how we’re going to move forward. As a 41-year-old white man, I know that I have not yet done all the work I need to do to fully understand how I benefit from, and contribute to, white supremacy and systemic racism. I commit to holding myself accountable and ask that you help hold me accountable as the leader of this vibrant and evolving organization. 

    A big part of that will come from listening and learning. In the city of bridges, I’m committed to building new ones and look to you to help inform how we can better align our work with the needs of the community. 

    Please join us in this process so together we can identify and undertake tangible actions that move us and the South Side Slopes forward – now and in the future. 

    Sincerely,

    Blake M. McLaren

    President

    South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association