PITTSBURGH — The organizer of one of the largest and longest-running Juneteenth festivals in the country is taking Mayor Ed Gainey and the city of Pittsburgh to court.
William B. Marshall claims the mayor retaliated against him by pulling his funding and delaying his permits.
Marshall and Mayor Gainey have been feuding for a couple of years now.
Today, that feud culminated with legal action in federal court.
“I announce the filing of a federal civil rights lawsuit against Mr. Gainey in his capacity as mayor of this city,” said attorney Joel Sanson from his downtown law office with Marshall as his side.
The lawsuit accuses the mayor and city of attempting to take over Marshall’s Juneteenth celebration by pulling his $125,000 funding last year, and awarding the contract for a city festival to Bounce Marketing, which is run by Fantasy Zellars, a friend of the Mayor’s wife.
“Mr. Gainey turned his back on his constituents and the people that elected him by trying to take over the Juneteenth celebration from B. Marshall to give it to his wife’s friend, a woman who had no experience putting on a festival like this,” said Sansone.
Zellars had run events for the city and the Mayor before.
Sansone contends that Gainey was upset because Marshall had publicly criticized him for threatening to pull the police out of the festival.
The mayor denied that.
The mayor has also said he never attempted to take over Marshall’s celebration, and he said the city even held its Juneteenth celebration on a different weekend.
At a news conference last year announcing the city’s celebration, the mayor defended the move to put the festival out for bid.
“We felt that at the end of the day, we need to be more transparent,” said Gainey, who indicated that Bounce Marketing was awarded the contract during a competitive bidding process.
He said there was no favoritism.
The lawsuit also accuses the mayor and the city of retaliation and slander.
Sansone said this lawsuit isn’t about money, even though he said that Marshall lost some sponsors because of the ongoing dispute with the mayor.
Sansone said he hopes this legal action will send a clear message to all elected officials.
“We will not stand for you interfering with our rights as citizens to put forth our cultural festivals, and the things we find important to us and we’re not going to let you use your personal desire for personal gain to stand in the way of that,” said Sansone.
The lawsuit also accused the mayor and city of retaliating by delaying permits for Marshall’s festival this year.
As 11 Investigates reported, Marshall had to go to court just a week before his celebration to force the city to issue permits.
All of Marshall’s Juneteenth festivals have gone on as planned, despite the ongoing issues between him and the city.
Earle reached out to the city for comment and they provided this response:
“The City of Pittsburgh is committed to ensuring fairness, transparency, and inclusivity in all aspects of our event permitting processes. We wish to address concerns raised by Mr. William “B” Marshall regarding permits for the Juneteenth Celebration and the Soul Food Festival. The City firmly denies that Mr. Marshall’s civil rights have been violated. All event organizers are held to the same standards, which are established to promote public safety, accountability, and smooth operations. Mr. Marshall has encountered challenges with the execution of his events due to problems of his own making, not due to bias or unfair treatment. Despite this, the City has made efforts to support and accommodate his events wherever possible. We remain committed to working with all community partners who engage in good faith and adhere to established guidelines that ensure equitable treatment for all."
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
