WASHINGTON -- There's trouble for a proposal that would ban G-20 protesters from wearing masks if police think they plan to break the law.

Pittsburgh City Council voted 6-to-2 against Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's proposal.

Amendments could save the bill before next week's final vote.

Both Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato were in Washington, D.C. Wednesday for a media briefing.

Ravenstahl touted his city's readiness to host the upcoming G-20 economic summit -- and was interrupted by protesters who accused him of being too slow to issue demonstration permits.

Ravenstahl said the city has granted the eight permit requests so far and is considering more. He said city officials want to ensure that demonstrators' First Amendment rights are respected during the meetings, scheduled for Sept. 24-25.

"If not all, the majority of those permits will be granted," Ravenstahl said.

Wednesday's protesters, however, said they were not aware of any approved permits.

"We don't think that the city has done enough to proactively encourage safe and effective protest," said Morgan Goodwin, 25, of the online activist group Avaaz.org. "Free speech is free speech, but it doesn't mean a thing if nobody hears you."

Ravenstahl said the city is in the process of training police officers to deal with additional security needs posed by the conference. He said the city will supply 900 to 1,000 officers, with another 1,000 coming from the state police. The city plans to bring in up to 2,000 more outside forces.

The cost of this public safety effort will be roughly $18 million, with $16 million coming from the Justice Department and the state of Pennsylvania.

Ravenstahl said Pittsburgh's economic revival makes it an excellent choice to host world leaders representing 85 percent of the world's economy.

"Pittsburgh suffered one of the deepest setbacks by any American region in the second half of the 20th century, but we've made it back," he said. "G-20 gives us a unique opportunity, perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, of reintroducing the world to the new Pittsburgh."

The G-20 includes 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, Britain and the United States. The European Union, represented by its rotating presidency and the European Central Bank, is the 20th member.

More G-20 news and information...

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