Bethany Hallam
@bethanyhallam
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Formerly Incarcerated. Recovery. Abolitionist. Juris Doctor. Allegheny County (PA) Councilmember, At-Large. Yinzer. Buccos Fan. Jagoff. 💛🖤 #MakeProgressHappen
Joined February 2011
🧵: I have always been upfront about my past, & I am proud of my recovery. Recovery looks different for everyone, & I am disappointed that my opponent has focused her campaign on attacking mine.
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Desperate times call for desperate measures! So your favorite elected officials got naked so that you remember to make sure that your mail-in ballot is NOT submitted without its secrecy envelope!! #nonakedballots #dressyourballot
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I started this decade as an opioid addict who never saw the possibility of a light at the end of the tunnel. Thursday, I will be sworn in as the young person ever elected county-wide in Allegheny County. Life is wild and the grassroots is unmatched ✊🏽.
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BAFFLING NEWS: local elected official wants community members to stop dying preventable deaths, advocates for proven solution.
Today on KDKA of this video, Bethany Hallam said “who are these people hurting?” and also advocated safe places for them to do drugs, potentially have NARCAN standing by and be safe doing drugs. This is a county councilperson saying this. I’m baffled.
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After a nearly decade-long suspension, I am now a licensed driver. The ID card on the left was from 2 days prior to my incarceration. I was actively using heroin & living in the backseat of a car. The license & photo on the right is from yesterday, almost 4 years into my recovery
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@riyakatariax @anais_pgh For Pittsburgh folks:
If you are arrested in Pittsburgh for protesting today, email lisa@lisamiddleman.com for pro bono representation.
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My dad’s reaction when telling him I got accepted to law school today was giving me the biggest, best hug I’ve ever had in my life 😭 Even during my darkest times, he ALWAYS believed in me and told me there were brighter times ahead… I love you always Daddy 🥰 This one’s for YOU
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This was definitely my fault and definitely not decades of consistently overfunding policing and incarceration instead of crucial infrastructure in our region
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After getting dismissed at the last BoE meeting I went ahead and applied for this grant on my own 👸🏽 I just found out WE WON and Allegheny County will be receiving over $2million to fund our fall election from Center for Tech & Civic Life! Better elections @ NO cost to taxpayers!
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The next time someone asks me what it’s like to be a young woman in politics, I’m just going to show them this screenshot the campaign e-mail received today 🙄
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Today WE celebrate 4 years of recovery 🎉 4 years ago I was lost and broken, and didn’t see a way out. Recovery has made possible all of the things I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams. The fight continues! “There’s pain that uses you, and there’s pain that you use.” 💪🏽.
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At this Tuesday’s meeting of Allegheny County Council, Councilperson @LivFor13 and I will be introducing an ordinance banning the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bang grenades in Allegheny County. The legislation language is posted in this thread.
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Okay, this is scary as hell. I’ve been out to a few restaurants since Allegheny County entered the “green phase” and thought wearing my mask and following social distancing guidelines was enough to keep myself and those around me safe. This stops today, and I suggest you stop too
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@colin_dunlap You are correct in that I will always be on the side of the people and never on the side of the violent state. The people are not the ones looking for violence - they are overwhelmingly peaceful and asking for peace - the police seem to refuse to let peace happen.
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In honor of 412 Day, I decided to share with you all that in 2009 I thought getting the Pittsburgh area code tattooed in my lip was a fantastic idea.
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Remember when we were told this shit wouldn’t be used on “peaceful protestors”???????? They lied. And they always lie. Tear gas is banned in warfare but used in our streets.
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As a Pittsburgher and representative for 1.2 million people in the city and its surrounding municipalities, I know for a fact that this is another lie. I ran and won on sustainable, long term job growth because we support a vision that doesn't sell out our health and future.
By rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, President Biden indicates he’s more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh. This agreement will do little to affect the climate and will harm the livelihoods of Americans.
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🎶 shoutout to my haters - sorry that you couldn’t phase me 🎶. Thank you to everyone who came out to vote to send me back to County Council for 4 more years!!! 🥳. And for those who voted against me (or didn’t vote at all!), don’t worry - I’ll keep on fighting for you too ✊
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Allegheny County Paid Sick Leave passes County Council with a 2/3 VETO-PROOF MAJORITY!!!!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳.
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Did you know that NONE of the jobs held by incarcerated folks at the Allegheny County Jail pay even a penny?! 👇🏽.
Friendly reminder on labor day: the US is forcing prisoners to work for free, or suffer punishment. This is called slavery
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Allegheny County Council just unanimously voted to ban hairstyle discrimination!!!!!!!!!.
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Pro tip: lawn seats at Heinz Field are free for every concert 🤩
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A reminder to everyone worried that we don’t have final results in PA yet, that it was the Republicans in the PA legislature that blocked us from precanvassing prior to 7am on Election Day 🙃 h/t @RyanDeto.
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Today we celebrate 7 years 🤯. 7 years of ups and downs. 7 years of really good days and really bad days. 7 years of wondering every day how in the world I made it here. 7 years of working to give back to my community all that it’s given me. 7 years of recovery 💜 #WeDoRecover
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As of today in Allegheny County there have been 3,103 cases (+233), 401 hospitalizations (+4), and 187 lives lost due to COVID-19 💔 If this doesn’t scare you into WEARING YOUR GODDAMNED MASK EVERYWHERE YOU GO, you’re selfish af. Period.
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Allegheny County Council just voted unanimously to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday for county employees!!!!.
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Bernie was in town to campaign for @SummerForPA but made sure to meet with a group of union organizers with @pghsbuxunited @SEIU @ueunion before he went on stage. He didn’t come in with a speech - he LISTENED & learned. That’s a leader, and I’m so proud to have seen him in action.
As a worker, you deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. What does that mean? It means being able to have a life outside of your job. It means decent wages. It means health care that you can actually afford to use. That's what Starbucks workers' struggle is all about.
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If you received the wrong ballot in Allegheny County - I’ve got news for you! Nearly 29,000 voters did, and the issue has been identified and resolved. ALL voters who got the wrong ballot (whether they knew it or not) will be sent a new ballot package w/ explanation by Friday!.
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@MartyGriffinKD “It’s clearly antisemetic” - can you please point to what about this referendum language you believe to be “clearly antisemetic”?.
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WE ARE VOTING TO BAN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT (all of Allegheny County) AND NO-KNOCK WARRANTS (City of Pittsburgh) ON MAY 18TH!!!! Retweet and remind all of your friends of these important questions on your ballot - regardless of party affiliation!.
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Oh also, one of my best friends won her election for Ross Township Commissioner tonight by ONE SINGLE VOTE so I again don’t ever want to hear that your vote doesn’t count!!!! Let’s talk about why your vote DOES count every time!.
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Hot girls work the polls together for @SummerForPA !! @Innamo 😍. 47 minutes until the polls close! If you’re in line at 8pm, STAY IN LINE AND VOTE!
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Today WE celebrate 5 years of recovery 🥳. I decided it was appropriate to give "getting high" a whole new meaning today - from 13,500 feet in the sky 🪂. #WeDoRecover
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“To anybody from a 2-year-old to a 100-year-old, ‘green’ means go,” Ms. Hallam said “We went to green and everybody went wild.”. “The world is not green,” she said, “until we have a cure or a vaccine.”.
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Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board unanimously approves $50 to be put on the commissary accounts of every person in the ACJ!!!!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽.
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We don’t talk to scabs, and we don’t let them eavesdrop either 🤷♀️.
A Post Gazette reporter was trying to pick up the sound from interviews @bethanyhallam was giving to other reporters because she won’t speak to them due to the strike. She booted him. @ThePUPNews SUPPORT
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Sending love and solidarity to all the students, faculty, and friends at the PITT encampment 🇵🇸 And thank you to @CornelWest for showing up to support!!. If you’re able, head down to Schenley Plaza on Friday!!
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Not gonna lie - this one feels REALLY good. Thank you to everyone who showed up in favor of this bill to #protectourparks ! So many folks have been fighting this fight for YEARS, & I’m so glad we were able to bring it across the finish line for you all tonight!.
NEW: Allegheny County Council has overridden a veto on bill to ban new fracking leases on county-owned parkland. The ban is approved, and council overrode county exec Rich Fitzgerald's veto by a 12-3 vote. The first time Fitzgerald's veto has been overturned. @TribLIVE tk.
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@colin_dunlap ***public commenters*** spent 5 hours talking about the war. As is their legal right, whether it is an issue Council is debating or not. Also, the folks in this video are the same folks I distribute food and supplies to every week - would love to have you join sometime!.
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Can’t help but point out the “ballot mistakes” referenced here were not the fault of our “Democrat Governor” or ANY Democrats, but instead were due to the avid, public Trump supporters who own & run mailing company Midwest Direct. They have admitted full responsibility.
Pennsylvania Ballot “mistakes” made, in my opinion, on purpose by the Democrat Governor, puts Republicans, in particular @SeanParnellUSA, at great risk. Corrupt politics in Pennsylvania must be investigated immediately. By the way, Philadelphia is out of control. @TheJusticeDept.
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Important reminder for Allegheny County folks freaking out about results reported so far: there are ~175,000 mail ballots that have yet to be scanned & recorded, & THOUSANDS of provisional ballots that won’t be counted for days. There are NO results until EVERY VOTE IS COUNTED!.
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@colin_dunlap Colin if you would just @ me when you have a question you wouldn’t have to be so lost all the time!!! It’s an @Xpogo shirt (hence their logo) and I presented a proclamation to them in Market Square before the jail table last night. Hope that helps your confusion!.
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@colin_dunlap Yeah man I realized I didn’t know shit about what happened and shouldn’t say anything unless I do so I deleted it. You should try it sometime.
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When discussing the pending County Council legislation for a Police Review Board, there’s a whole lot of “bUt HoW wOuLd wE pAy fOr It” - I’d love to see how much was spent for the all of the tear gas, rubber bullets, and riot gear used by officers in Pittsburgh this weekend. .
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I’m looking at you Pennsylvania.
There’re people sitting in prison for selling weed in states profiting off the sale of weed and that’s just never going to sit right with me.
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Screaming this from the rooftops everyday, but especially today 🗣️.
Never be ashamed of anything you lived through or survived. Carry your scars as a badge of honor and make sure people don’t have to go through what you did which forced you to make the decisions that you had to. Be better anyway.
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I second this motion.
I’d rather paramedics get the vaccine than any politician.
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If you are interested in running against this guy - who also, less than a year ago, publicly mocked my recovery in a press conference that I was kicked out of - please, slide into my DMs.
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Out here at my poll 7am-8pm for @SummerForPA!!.We deserve someone who will fight for all of us in every room she goes in; who will stand up for what’s right even while she’s under attack; who will help inspire and build future generations of leaders. That someone is Summer Lee ✅
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Everyone’s talkin about Primanti’s, so here’s my story: a few years ago I won free Primanti’s for a year. It was a yinzer’s DREAM! I was determined to eat it as much as possible in that year (you know, to “get my money’s worth”), and now I get sick just thinking about it.
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Disclaimer: A long day of reminding folks to be sure to VOTE on May 18th may result in a #masktan
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@MartyGriffinKD In what way was he threatened? The video you posted earlier seems very non-threatening so I’m wondering if I missed something? Also, why in the world is he riding his bike through the encampment? It’s… on grass? Does he typically ride his bike through the grass?.
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A man is dead. After sitting in the ACJ since January - unconvicted. Suffering in a jail that is notoriously understaffed & locked down on weekends. Waiting (as SO many others do) for a bed at a treatment facility. Jails don’t help people - they kill people. This isn’t justice 💔
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The criminal legal system is not built upon justice. Marcellus Williams, an innocent man, was murdered by the state tonight. This is not justice. Abolish the death penalty. Rest in Peace 💔.
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Remember that ~29k of these can’t be counted until tomorrow due to a court order, but there are about 5K-6K that were not scannable and also not being counted today!.
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There are literally 10s of thousands of ballots not yet counted in Allegheny County alone! NO races should be called until we COUNT 👏🏽 EVERY 👏🏽 VOTE 👏🏽.
Friends, I am sharing an update with you as we continue to wait for the final results to come in. Allegheny and Washington Counties have tabulated votes cast in-person and most of the votes cast by mail. (1/3).
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Can we just. get rid of all cars downtown? Open streets for everyone!.
Proud of what my @PghDOMI team has been able to do to support small business through outdoor dining places!
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County Exec press release: “I’m going to veto your common sense bill to protect our parks, even though my arguments against it are invalid and not legally sound.”. Me:
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2021 municipal elections are where it’s at!!! Slide into my DMs and let me know how I can help 😊.
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We could have this here too!!.
New: Massachusetts is the 5th state to make prison phone calls free. Gov. Healey’s office informed advocates she signed the legislation today. This change also applies to jails and is arguably the most sweeping policy of its kind in the US.
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“Non-profit” 🙄.
UPMC CEO Jeffrey Romoff's salary rises to $8.96 million
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WE did it 🥹✊.
In case you’re wondering, @bethanyhallam just passed a budget on County Council that includes PAY FOR INCARCERATED WORKERS in the Allegheny County Jail 🎉🎉🎉. Celebrate her!!!
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Nothing ever gets me as excited about casting my vote on Election Day as filling in that bubble for @SummerForPA does 🤩. Polls are open until 8pm!!! See yinz after for the victory celebrations 🥳
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👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽.
Just heard that #NakedBallots in Allegheny County went from 1 out of every 20 cast in the primary to 1 out of every 300! I'd like to think @bethanyhallam, @LivFor13, and I might have helped with that.
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I am not ashamed of my history with opioid addiction & I will not perpetuate further stigma around substance use disorder. All over Allegheny County there are people whose lives are impacted by addiction and incarceration and they deserve representation.
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Since you asked:
And that’s the entire point. Ms. Hallam spends a disproportionate amount of time and effort on the very small percentage of the population in this county who are incarcerated and the much larger law-abiding population feel as if she doesn’t at all care about them.
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Update: they unbanned me after an “evidence-based appeals process” 🤷♀️.But what about everyone else who received a lifetime ban for similarly ridiculous reasons? I’ve responded asking for clarification of their banning policy, & the remedying of all erroneous bans. To be continued.
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Officiated my very first wedding today at the emergency shelter ahead of their big move - celebrating love amidst a tragedy 💙. Congratulations to David & Jeremy! 🏳️🌈
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Today is our 2 year anniversary! We’re supposed to be in Tampa today watching our @Pirates start the season off big but COVID-19 had other plans. So instead we’re playing catch in the street, talking about how lucky we are to have each other and looking forward to PNC Park 🤞🏽💛🖤
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I’m telling you all now, THIS is something lots of folks are considering right now. And it’s going to result in LOTS of provisional ballots (not good), so PLEASE, if this sounds like you, take your ENTIRE ballot package to the poll with you to vote in-person (NOT provisionally).
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It’s official - we’re on the ballot!. We filed 2150 signatures from voters all across Allegheny County who believe in our people-powered movement to make our region a place where everyone can thrive 🤩. Learn what we’re fighting for & sign up to volunteer
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So many wins it won’t fit in the Twitter word count:
Allegheny County Council passes amended budget with significant increase in community college funding, and other changes
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For everyone asking about the question on your ballot re: County Council pay (thank you for asking!) - I’m voting NO and you should too. It would change council’s pay from a per meeting stipend (don’t come, Don’t get paid), to a guaranteed salary (get full pay regardless).
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Can anyone from @PADems explain why a law firm that specializes in “union avoidance” (as per their own website) is sponsoring this event Anyone?????
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