Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said today that "normal procedures were followed" when the city received a June complaint about rampant sexual activity at Club Pittsburgh, a Strip District establishment where Youngstown native Cleophus Pettway, 31, died on Sunday.

The Post-Gazette reported yesterday that the club was threatened with closure by the city Bureau of Building Inspection in August, because its sale of sexual paraphernalia, screening of pornographic movies, renting of rooms including a "fetish room," and go-go dancing were not allowed under its Certificate of Occupancy without approvals from the Planning Commission and City Council.

But its owners, political fundraisers Peter Karlovich and Steven Herforth, appealed to city officials. They ended up meeting with Chief of Staff Yarone Zober, City Solicitor George Specter and Assistant Solicitor Lawrence H. Baumiller. In September, the city withdrew the threat of closure, writing a letter memorializing the "promise that we will discuss the uses of 1139 Penn Avenue in earnest" to ensure they comply with city code. No such discussions occurred.

Bureau of Building Inspection Chief Sergei Matveiev said that after a June 30 complaint about club activities, an inspector conducted a July 7 inspection of the outside of the building. No inspector entered the building, either then, or after city lawyers reached an agreement with the club to cease activity that wasn't consistent with its Certificate of Occupancy, which allows for "a health and fitness center."

He said it wasn't abnormal to take on faith a pledge to stop unpermitted activities.

In an Aug. 29 e-mail, Mr. Baumiller wrote to other city officials that the city will "have to find a way to verify that the adult uses actually cease" and recommending "an undercover assignment." No such assignment occurred, officials said today.

Mr. Ravenstahl vigorously argued that the owners, who donated $2,000 to his 2007 campaign and held a fundraiser for him at their Mt. Washington home, didn't get unusual consideration when Mr. Zober, the city's number two official, became directly involved in their case.

"Nothing was done for those individuals that wouldn't be done for someone who sent a random letter to our office," said Mr. Ravenstahl. He called reports suggesting that his campaign contributors get special treatment "unfortunate ... Every contributor that has ever given money to me has not been given preferential treatment."

Council President Doug Shields, who also received campaign funding help from Club Pittsburgh's owners and was approached for help with the zoning problem, said it was not necessarily wrong for Mr. Zober to get involved with a building inspection issue. "It would be inappropriate to involve yourself and then take action to stop the process," he said, asking for evidence that nothing like that occurred.

He said the proper course of action for the Law Department would have been to tell the club's owners: "Get in compliance [with city code], go before a judge, and if you're in compliance it will be fine. No special favors."

Councilwoman Tonya Payne, who represents the Strip District, said she knew of the club, but never heard any complaint about it. "They operated very low under the radar. The community they serve basically stayed under the radar."

She called Mr. Karlovich and Mr. Herforth "good community activists ... They're not normally people who ask for favors. They're the ones doing favors."