Re-Formatted Auto Auction Runs Smoothly

The City of Pittsburgh today held its first car auction since adding safeguards to prevent tampering and rigging of the bidding. In December, a city controller’s employee was charged with conspiring to buy cars at the auction for a cheap price and re-selling them for profit. The employee has since been fired. City Controller Michael Lamb says these new safeguards include posting auctioned vehicles and their sale prices online and rotating auditors who oversee the auctions. He says the preventative measures do not make the auctions take any longer than before. This morning’s auction sold 24 vehicles netting the city about $18,000.