A planned West End strip club had city of Pittsburgh government debating who told what to whom, and when, today.

At issue was court-granted approval for Marquise Investments to operate an adult entertainment venue next door to the Onala Club for recovering addicts. The November approval by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Joseph James came a year after the city planning commission rejected the club's application, but city council did not hold its usual hearing and vote, despite the judge's order to do so.

West Pittsburgh residents protested on the City-County Building steps Monday, demanding an explanation for the botched process that preceded the judge's final ruling. Today, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's administration issued a timeline of events showing that, in late 2008, the planning department failed to tell council to conduct its hearing, starting a cascade of problems that came to involve then-Council President Doug Shields.

On Jan. 19, 2009, Marquise filed a court action demanding approval, according to the timeline. On March 9, Judge James told the city to have council hold a hearing.

On March 12, according to the timeline, then-city Solicitor George Specter asked the city clerk's office to hold a hearing, but was told that council first needs triggering documentation from the planning department. So on March 13, the Law Department told planning to send the documentation.

Mr. Shields said he has no record of planning sending over the forms that start the hearing process.

According to the timeline, what followed was "numerous conversations" between Mr. Specter and Mr. Shields in which the solicitor urged the councilman to schedule the hearing.

"That's a flat-out lie," said Mr. Shields, when presented with the timeline. "Nobody on city council got a call." Mr. Shields noted that those conversations don't appear on an earlier timeline, dated July 29, which Assistant City Solicitor Lawrence Baumiller prepared for him.

Mr. Specter was not immediately available for comment.

The timeline then read that Mr. Specter contacted the city clerk's office on June 12 to ask whether the planning department had sent over the legislation.

Mr. Shields said he was not contacted until weeks later, didn't get the planning documents until late July, and therefore council didn't get the legislation until Aug. 3, right before its August recess. Council scheduled an Oct. 6 hearing, but weeks before that, Judge James scheduled an Oct. 5 deadline for briefs that rendered council moot.

Mr. Shields blamed the Law Department, saying it experienced an "utter failure" to communicate with its client, the council.

Marquise wants to convert a former office building into a strip club.

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