Author: insider

At the beginning of July we posted a poll asking if you thought Ravenstahl would debate Desantis.  Here are the results… 78% of ProgressPittsburgh.org readers don’t think Luke will debate.

Will Luke Ravenstahl Debate Mark Desantis?

Total Votes = 48

• No, Luke is too busy moving Pittsburgh forward to talk about how to move Pittsburgh forward (78%/38 votes)
• Yes, of course, Luke understands the importance of public discussion in moving Pittsburgh forward. (22%/ 11 votes)

Well, that is a title I never thought I would ever write. Do I think the mayor of Pittsburgh should have a spokesperson? No. Do I think Luke should have kept his spokesperson? Yes.

After reading yet another report where Luke can’t seem to get his story straight I find myself asking why Luke would have dumped his skilled spokesperson.

If you have been on vacation, here is what is going on:

• Luke skipped the hearing on promoting the police officers.
• Luke would not say where he was when he skipped the meeting.
• From Trib: No one from the Mayor’s Office attended. Saladna said Ravenstahl was “in other meetings” outside City Hall.
• Luke tells KDKA he was in Harrisburg during the hearings (via The Burgh Report)
• Luke claimed that mayors don’t attend hearings.

In a written statement Wednesday, Ravenstahl defended his decision to go on the golf outing, saying it was a charity fundraiser for cancer and neonatal research.

The statement said the mayor is a target of unfair criticism which “smacks of crass politics and yellow journalism and disappoints me greatly.”

Mayors normally don’t attend council hearings, but the issues are still of critical importance to him, he said.

“I didn’t feel that my presence there would have been advantageous to the cause. It could have potentially become a political situation, which I didn’t want it to be,” Ravenstahl said on June 29.

• Pittsburgh Media did some investigative reporting (finally) – Luke was at the Mario Lemieux celebrity golf tournament.
• More media investigation reveals…

WTAE Channel 4 Action News reporter Bob Mayo dug through the archives and found that Ravenstahl attacked former mayor Tom Murphy for missing a council session in 2004.

“These are troubling times for the city of Pittsburgh, and for the mayor of the city or somebody to represent his administration not to come to the table on such serious issues is regrettable, shameful,” Ravenstahl said in 2004.

So, the story continues and Luke’s “confusion” over his schedule and time spent celebrity hunting doesn’t look so good for Pittsburgh. So since the city leader can’t seem to keep his story straight, I guess I wish he had the sense to keep his spokesperson who could at least help him tell a better story.

I thought it was very interesting that last week Luke offered to debate his opponent in the upcoming election. This is the same guy that avoided all debates in the primary.
From the Trib:

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl challenged his Republican opponent Mark DeSantis to at least two debates in the run-up to the November general election.

In a letter to DeSantis that Ravenstahl’s campaign released Wednesday, the mayor wrote that “it is important to participate in debate forums so that the voters have an opportunity to learn more about the candidates for mayor and our respective positions on the issues.”

In the same article…

Danika Wukich, Ravenstahl’s campaign spokeswoman, said she hasn’t received a reply from DeSantis. The letter was sent June 20.

She said Ravenstahl’s main focus is to “provide good government” to the people of Pittsburgh as mayor, but that he would make time to debate.

Could it be that Luke has matured enough and realizes that public discussion over the future of the city might be a good thing for Pittsburgh. Sounds too good to be true. Well it probably is. Yesterday the Trib reports that Luke is so busy running the city (and traveling to NYC and chasing Tiger Woods)that he may not be able to schedule these debates.

Although Ravenstahl agreed in principle to two debates, he wrote, “I have made a firm commitment to dedicate myself in total to my responsibilities as mayor. It is my first and foremost responsibility, and its scheduling requirements are enormous.”

Some Grant Street observers believe those sentences lay the groundwork for Ravenstahl backing out of one or both of the debates to which he has committed.

I guess time will tell if Luke will actually debate.

What do you think?

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All are invited, welcome and should attend the City Council Hearing on the promotion of 3 police officers that have had run-ins with the law over domestic issues.
City Council Hearing
Thursday, June 28 1:30pm

(Image from 2PoliticalJunkies)

What Happened:
Last week Police Chief Nate Harper promoted 3 officers that have had documented run-ins with the law. (PG article here)

Ravenstahl’s Response – “not going to talk about it”
(via 2PoliticalJunkies, TheConversation, Trib)

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who approved the promotions, could not be reached for comment. His spokeswoman, Joanna Doven, said the mayor would not discuss the promotions or their effects on women.

“He’s not going to talk about that,” Doven said.

Pittsburghers are not that clueless:
Some women spoke up and Doug Shields help to set up a hearing.

Luke Gets Bad Press and Starts Talking:
From the PG:

Ravenstahl said today that the promotions last week of three police officers with domestic issues were “unacceptable” and that the procedures for approving upgrades in rank are “obsolete and unacceptable.”

2PoliticalJunkies has a summary of the blog & medial response to Luke’s change of position here.

What Can You Do:
Attend the hearing to remind our mayor that this type of leadership is not ok.

I was reminded by this post on Pittsburgh Metroblog and a number of emails about the Propel Pittbsurgh commission. Every one is asking – what happened to it? There are definitely some people who are interested in serving on the commission. Some really support the Propel Pittsburgh Commission,Others aren’t so sure this commission is the solution. What do you think?

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Is Luke Promoting or Embarrassing Pittsburgh?

There is a great contrast in the news today about Luke’s role in promoting Pittsburgh during the US Open.
From the Post-GAzette’s Early Returns blog is this post “Mayor pulls out his public relations driver” which talks about how Luke has the challenge of getting other college students to stay here in Pittsburgh after college and how he will be promoting Pittsburgh on the Golf Channel this week.

Then we have this story from KDKA’s John Delano (also covered by Agenta Ska and The Burgh Report)
“Sources: Ravenstahl Crashed Tiger Woods Event” where we learn that Luke crashed a private party to meet Tiger Woods.

Sources say Ravenstahl was stopped by Oakmont’s security guards who told him the golf outing was a private event for American Express and its customers. But he talked his way into the club. Once inside, Ravenstahl was recognized and invited to dine with members of the club’s board of directors where, once again, he was told the event with Tiger Woods was private and not open to him.

But after lunch, sources say Ravenstahl got his hands on an American Express golf shirt, slipped the shirt on like he was part of the Am-Ex event and strolled onto the golf course looking for Woods.

Once again, security recognized him but did not kick him off the course telling him, however, not to approach the golf star or take any pictures with him. Angering club officials, Ravenstahl did so anyways and walked away with his coveted picture.

There were rumors that this Tiger incident is why Luke let Dick Skinjar go. But the press didn’t seem to pick up on the story until now.

There is more to the story…

As for the Mayor, his office says it was his life-long dream to meet Tiger Woods and he did and he should be credited for that.

So it is bad enough that there is a rumor about the Mayor crashing a party, but to have the Mayor’s office give a reply like that, is most definitely embarrassing. Agent Ska calls it Tacky and The Burgh Report calls it classless. Go Pittsburgh!

There are some rumblings around the city about the Mayor’s race. Yes friends, there is a mayor’s race this fall. Incumbent Luke Ravenstahl has a republican challenger – Mark DeSantis.

Here is DeSantis’s bio from the Heinz School Web Page (the picture is from the Formation3 website)

CEO – ANGLE Technology Consulting and Management – US

Mark DeSantis is the Chief Executive Officer of ANGLE Technology Consulting and Management – US. ANGLE Technology is a consulting firm that specializes in providing management, strategic planning and business development assistance to emerging, technology-based companies. Mark’s clients include a number of US and non-US based public and private companies. He has personally spearheaded business development, M&A and strategic planning efforts for a wide variety of companies and non-profit organizations.

Mark founded or co-founded several companies and currently serves as a Director or Adviser to a number of tech-based emerging and established companies in the US, Canada and the EU. Prior to joining Angle Technology Group, Mark was President of Formation3, LLC, a firm the specialized in providing strategic assistant to firms engaged or seeking engagement with the public sector. Prior to that, Mark was a Visiting Scientist at the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and a strategic consultant to the Carnegie Mellon Research Institute.

Prior to moving to Pittsburgh, mark was previously the Director of Government Relations for Texas Instruments, Inc. in Washington DC. He served in a number of policy positions in the Federal government including serving as a Senior Policy Analyst in both The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Commerce in the first Bush Administration. He was also on the staff of the late U.S. Senator John Heinz and before that he was a management consultant with Booz, Allen and Hamilton.

Mark is a frequent lecturer on the topics of business management, strategy, economic development and public policy, and published a variety of articles on management, economic development and entrepreneurship. He is an Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and Lecturer at the Katz School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh and The Tuck School at Dartmouth. Mark holds a BA and MBA from the University of Dayton, an MS in Technology Management from The American University and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Economics from George Mason University.

Mark is very active in the Pittsburgh community, having served or presently serving on a number of non-profit boards. He also founded several non-profit organizations and advocacy groups whose mission is to improve the performance of local government and promote economic development in western Pennsylvania.

Post-Gazette article authored by DeSantis in the business section from January, 2 2005 – Puts &: Calls: Mark DeSantis / Politics of reality is path to needed changes

What do you think? Does he have a chance against Luke? Will you vote for DeSantis?

It looks like the mainstream media is just beginning to recognize that this election may be a signal of change to come in Pittsburgh — but so far nobody has me completely convinced….

The Trib notes that the Dem Committee fared ill this cycle,

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_508120.html

but chalks it up to people who are tired of business as usual and the Democratic Party. I don’t see this election, necessarily, as solely an anti-party vote. In fact, low voter turnout should benefit the party — supervoters tend to be older, long-term Pittsburgh residents who are accustomed to business as usual, and are used to it working for them.

The Post-Gazette gets closer, with observers pontificating on what might have caused all the change…. (more…)

Since Election day is just hours away I thought it would be interesting to see who our readers will select in the Mayors race. Will you just go with Luke? Are you planning on writing in Peduto? What about the city paper’s The Pierogie? If you choose other feel free to leave a comment and let us know who.

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If you choose other – feel

This is an update to two previous posts: Koch-ing Up a Storm and Opinion Askew.

The machine is working and there’s proof. Yesterday the Post-Gazette reported that Jason Phillips was fired from his position on Deborah Todd’s judicial campaign for notifying the press about the illegal phone call he received from Jeff Koch’s Council office with regard to his campaign.

Boy, does this make Jim Burn look like a liar. The “new” Democratic Party sans machine is a sham. To quote the P-G article:

Today he received a phone call from the campaign, he said, and was fired. He said he was told that Democratic Committee ward chairs were upset about his actions.

I’m sure those Ward Chairs were upset but not because Mr. Phillips did something unethical or otherwise improper. His actions clearly threatened an agenda that the local Democratic Party is willing push no matter how corrupt.

To that point, a friend of Progress Pittsburgh reports that City Redd-Up crews were still violating city policy on Friday by wearing their Jeff Koch tee shirts:

Today, at 10:15 am, I was standing out in front of my building on Ross Street. A Public Works truck pulled up to the red light. I noticed the fluorescent Jeff Koch t-shirts. When I began to approach the truck, to inquire as to what they were doing, the driver smiled at me and said, “yah, still wearing them!” and then they pulled away.

Finally, to put the nail in the “New” Democratic Party’s coffin, a recent mailing from Jim Burn to committeepeople states:

Please remember that the Party Endorsement is binding on all Committee Members.

…regardless of qualifications, intelligence or integrity.

An opinion piece in today’s Post-Gazette touts the “new” Democratic Party in Allegheny County. However, this piece is written by the most biased of parties, the Party Chairman himself, Jim Burn. Granted Burn put himself forth as a reform candidate when he ran for County Chair, at least when he met with several young committee people last spring, but dismantling the unacknowledged machine was not part of his agenda. Burn clearly stated that he would perpetuate the endorsement process and maintain, if not strengthen, rules punishing committee people for supporting unendorsed candidates. If the endorsement is not the gears of the machine, then what is? (more…)

Pittsburgh City Councilman Jeff Koch has seen a lot of attention this week and none of it is good. On Tuesday, City staff on the “Redd-Up” crew were caught wearing tee shirts supporting Koch (see this article in the P-G, and this one). Then, on Wednesday, the Post-Gazette reported that Koch’s staff made a campaign-related phone call on City time and that his campaign took contributions from corporations. All three incidents include illegal activity. The P-G revisited the issues today in another article.

As if all of the press covering these illegal acts was not enough damage to the Koch campaign, The South Pittsburgh Reporter added fuel to the fire on Tuesday by releasing an endorsement of Koch’s challenger, South Side businessman Bruce Kraus. The SPR argues that Koch has not served the district well since he won a special election for the seat last year. Not only is Koch the face of criminal activity, but he’s a bad councilman. That’s not a resume to be proud of.

Meanwhile, Kraus has also been endorsed by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, The League of Young Voters, The Steel City Stonewall Democrats, and The Sierra Club just to name a few.

To quote Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, “Choose wisely.”

In a story that should surprise noone, City workers have been documented using taxpayer resources to campaign for an incumbant Council person.

The story was first reported by Maria at 2PJ here and by Agent Ska here. It’s also being covered by the Trib and the P-G.

According to the Post-Gazette, Kevin Quigley–Redd-Up manager and 27th Ward Committeeman who no doubt is completely shocked, shocked that City Workers are using taxpayer time to campaign for ACDC endorsed candidates–came to the scene to administer strict discipline: “They were chewed out.” (Unanswered question: Chewed out for breaking the law or for getting caught?)

One of the workers was Ray Sansone, treasurer for Jeff Koch’s campaign committee.

Today is turning out to be a pretty bad media day for Koch, as the South Pittsburgh Reporter endorsed challenger Bruce Kraus in a scathing editorial and Early Returns reporting that Kraus raised nearly twice as much campaign cash over the past four months than Koch.