Pigs Fly! and other unexpected news

Matt H has been called quite a few names from many around the burghosphere (including by me!)  Mostly, they centered around his role as the lone apologist for the mayor on the interwebs.  That’s why his endorsement slate is probably going to catch quite a few people by surprise:

Mayor, City of Pittsburgh: Kevin Acklin

There are going to be people coming out of the woodwork to say that this doesn’t matter, nobody listens to Matt, etc.  That would be missing the point as to the significance of this endorsement.  If people like Matt H are not voting for Luke this year, then his impenetrability might just be broken in neighborhoods that have been left behind–and have traditionally been the mayor’s strongholds.  Neighborhoods like Elliott, Carrick, Hazelwood, Beechview, Homewood, Sheraden, or Overbrook.

Chris Briem will have to tell me how the math works out, but in a low-turnout race, with three candidates, and no polling, what happens to Luke’s level of support?  If much of the anybody-but-Luke crowd, the almost-anybody-but-Luke crowd, and the registered Republicans vote for Acklin along with a sizable portion of the Democrats uber alles [for the sake of this post, let's call that the Matt H vote], then could the election be closer than conventional wisdom would have us believe?

Back to the endorsement, Matt has this to say about his reasons for supporting Acklin:

This is a vote that I wrestled with for some time but lately the smoke has cleared and I am voting with my mind and for my community. I truly believe that Acklin is the best candidate for our city neighborhoods. Acklin reminds me of our late great Mayor Bob O’Connor in his community first approach to government.

He has a lot more to say about his disillusionment with this administration.  He even includes a copy of a lengthy email that he sent to Luke, expressing his disappointment with the direction of the administration:

Luke,

I am writing tonight in frustration.

“This is not going to be good,” you can hear them thinking.

For far too long we residents of District 2 have gotten the short end of the stick on EVERYTHING. We don’t receive our fair share of services and we don’t have any plan for our community.

This seems to be a theme that pops up over and over again around the city, as does the complaint below.

We also don’t see you at a meet the candidates night when you were invited. You left 50 residents of District 2 wondering where you were, including myself. You are losing control here in District 2. We don’t see you enough or hear from you enough.

And he closes with this kicker:

For far too long I have stood by you praising you and your staff. I am at a breaking point. I can’t defend something when it is painfully obvious. District 2 is falling apart and I don’t see a plan to stop the walls from falling in.

If you haven’t visited the Pittsburgh Hoagie for a while, this entire post is worth a read.  If it turns out that someone hacked Matt H’s blogspot account, then I’ll take everything above back, but it seems to me like he is completely sincere in his concern about the administration, his praise for Kevin Acklin, and his love of community.