Political middlemen who help companies get government contracts while steering contributions to officials' campaigns are the targets of legislation Pittsburgh Councilman William Peduto plans to introduce tomorrow.

He wants to shine a light on "a system that feeds off of the pay-to-play politics, and I call it the merchants of democracy -- people who turn vendors into contributors and contributors into vendors," he said Friday. Mr. Peduto has a news conference scheduled for today to announce details of his proposal.

He would not name the dozen major players and scores of minor ones who, he said, "go about silently in the darkness of city hall and do their business for their own personal gain" by guiding contracts one way and contributions the other. But his legislation would, he said, let voters see who has influenced city contracting, and limit consultants' power to finance campaigns.

Campaign contributions and government contracts are publicly disclosed, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has, since December, detailed the intersection of contractors and contributors.

Mr. Peduto said the missing piece is disclosure of the consultants who get pieces of some contracts, and gain influence by raising money for campaigns. "It's the 21st century political machine, and it's holding Pittsburgh back," he said, by perverting both contracting and electioneering.

One of his bills would require that any business seeking a city contract disclose the consultants helping them to pursue the deal. If a firm getting a contract didn't reveal its consultants, a losing firm could sue to nix the award.

That proposed ordinance also would demand that all lobbyists working city government register with the city controller, much as those seeking to influence state government must file with the Department of State.

Another bill Mr. Peduto intends to introduce would bar no-bid contracts above $30,000, except in emergencies, eliminating exceptions in the city code for services like lawyering, finance and engineering.

Those services have long been exempted from bidding because quality is often more important than price. Mr. Peduto said the city can limit bidding to capable firms, then award the contract to the lowest qualified bidder.

"To set up artificial criteria doesn't really serve the purpose," countered city Finance Director Scott Kunka, who disclosed Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's new professional contracting rules Friday. "Even in the most reputable, largest law firms in the city, you find varying capabilities" and the city should have the flexibility to choose from among them based on their strengths, he said.

Mr. Peduto's proposals, unlike Mr. Ravenstahl's, wouldn't extend to city-related authorities.

Mr. Peduto also is pushing amendments to Mr. Ravenstahl's proposed campaign donation limits.

In Mr. Peduto's proposal, council candidates could take $1,000 contributions from an individual, and $2,000 from a political action committee, per election -- primary or general. Candidates for controller and mayor could take double those amounts.

Contributions now are unlimited, and Mr. Ravenstahl has proposed that individual donations be limited to $4,600 per four-year cycle, and PAC contributions to $10,000.

Mr. Peduto said all of his measures could come up for tentative votes April 29.