Author Archive

Over at Slag Heap, Chris Potter wrote a piece about Tonya Payne’s quixotic write-in campaign and the resulting challenge to her status as chair of the City Democratic Committee.  (Readers may recall that voters in city council district 6 chose to replace her with P2PAC-endorsed candidate Daniel Lavelle.) In the Spring, Tonya Payne (illegally) used...
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I just saw a tweet from Kevin Acklin that I found so hard to believe that I immediately went to the Post-Gazette to verify.  It’s not about corruption in the mayor’s office.*
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An investigation by KDKA turned up information suggesting that Dok Harris may be ineligible to be mayor.  The home rule charter lays out the requirements for taking office as mayor: The mayor shall have been a resident of the City for at least three years immediately preceding election Harris held a press conference today, where he...
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  desperation The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope. A state of despair, or utter hopeless; abandonment of hope; extreme recklessness; reckless fury. “Reckless fury” is the only way that to describe the campaign of Tony Ceoffe in the increasingly heated race against p2pac endorsed candidate Susan Banahasky in the past week or so.
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In an email today and on his blog at BillPeduto.com – City Councilman Bill Peduto is encouraging Pittsburghers to call/email their city council members to support his reform package.  This package will end “pay-to-play” politics in our city through several different reforms to our current system.  If passed on Wednesday, this package will: Cap contributions by...
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Bill Peduto sent out a press release today announcing the launch of his campaign for re-election to Pittsburgh’s City Council. He promised that in his third term he will focus on government that is “clean, lean, and green.” He listed campaign finance reform, a five-year economic recovery plan, and building a greener post-industrial economy...
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Image by UtopianLibrary via Flickr Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s idea to lease the city’s parking garages (more here) has generated quite a bit of buzz in Pittsburgh and beyond.  The article from the PG was also picked up by Harvard’s Kennedy School here and on the blogs Milwaukee Talkie and Planetizen. This idea has also been covered...
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Image by Getty Images via DaylifeI was just reading the latest email from Michael Moore about bailing out the big three automakers – I like that he offers an alternative to the bailout, I don’t know if it is the right alternative but it is helpful to see some alternative ideas discussed (I am...
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I have been thinking about who is running a good campaign. I don’t know much about the drink tax issue but I do know that the people who oppose it are running a great campaign. Regardless of who you support for mayor, I give some credit to the DeSantis team for turning...
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I think this press release is kind of strange. I don’t think I have ever heard the oversight board refered to as “experts.” And shouldn’t the mayor be the expert on the city’s budget. Also strange – the font in this press release is different in different paragraphs. I have copied it...
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Bruce Kraus has invited all young Democrats (either with a capital or lowercase y) to attend a fundraiser for his campaign for City Council for a reduced contribution of $25. Click below for details.
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Bill Peduto’s Reform Pittsburgh Now has added a new video to the site. Justine rides the bus with Port Authority CEO Steve Bland and sits down with Jim Hassinger, President and CEO of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.
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According to an article in the  Pittsburgh City Paper he is running against Ricky Burgess as  an independent in the 9th Council District. Does anyone know anything about him?
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1. Did anyone attend or hear anything about the Allegheny County Democratic Golf Outing? 2. Do you think anyone in Pittsburgh cares that Luke appeared before the ethics board?  I care, but I am not sure if other people in Pittsburgh care? 3. Is Mark DeSantis still running for mayor?  Has anyone heard anything from his...
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We had heard a few rumors about this, but the article in the PG this am leads one to believe it is more than a rumor.  The PG reports the Mike Doyle has hired Corey O’Connor to join his staff.  And that 2 of Doyle’s staff members have joined the Mayor’s office.  The interesting...
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