Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto's request for details on any lobbyists who may be involved with the city's proposed parking lease is premature, the law department said Friday.

In a July 19 letter, Mr. Peduto reminded solicitor Daniel Regan of a year-old city law requiring prospective bidders on certain contracts to disclose financial arrangements with lobbyists, brokers or other "commissioned representatives."

Mr. Peduto asked for a "written update on the procedures that are in place to make sure City Council receives all information required under the law," and he asked for any disclosures already made by the seven entities pre-qualified to bid on the parking lease.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl wants to lease the city's parking garages and meters for 50 years and use some of the proceeds -- at least $200 million -- to bolster a troubled pension fund. Mr. Ravenstahl has said about 18,000 parking spaces citywide would be involved in the leasing.

Mr. Peduto said he was keenly interested in lobbyist activity because of the deal's would-be impact on the city and its potential to yield multimillion-dollar commissions for lobbyists. He said he believed that the pre-qualified bidders, all firms or partnerships based in other states or counties, had engaged local lobbyists or other agents familiar with city officials.

On Friday, Mr. Regan sent Mr. Peduto a letter saying the disclosure law doesn't require that lobbyist information on any contract, parking or otherwise, be provided directly to council. He suggested that Mr. Peduto seek the information from the city controller's office or the department handling a given contract.

It's too early for any disclosures on the proposed parking deal, anyway, Mr. Regan said, noting that the law requires that disclosures be made when bidders answer a city request for proposals. He said the city has not yet issued the request for the parking lease.

With some officials concerned that administrators might find a way to exempt the parking bidders, Mr. Regan said a "plain reading" of the law indicated that the disclosures should be made when the firms answer the request for proposals.

Mr. Peduto contends the disclosures should have been made months ago when the city went through a process for qualifying bidders. Nine entities responded to the request for qualifications, and the mayor's advisers declared seven eligible to pursue the lease.

"It's unfortunate we don't know to this point because a lot of the contract has already been written," with input from the pre-qualified bidders, Mr. Peduto said.

Mr. Regan said the city law requires disclosure only with an RFP, not the bidder qualification process. "There is a distinction," he said.

After receiving bidders' proposals in August, Mr. Ravenstahl plans to select a winner and have council vote on an agreement by Sept 15. He said that timeline would enable the city to close on the deal and pump money into the pension fund by year's end.

Mr. Ravenstahl has prided himself on a transparent approach to the deal, including a "public procurement process" and the June 30 release of a draft lease proposal. He said other cities that have leased public assets were not so open.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.