Progress Pittsburgh

via enginehouse25.com

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 – 6-8pm
Engine House No 25 in Lawrenceville

includes food and homemade wine, and lets you explore Pittsburgh’s one-of-a-kind Roberto Clemente Museum.

RSVP online – http://www.acklinforpittsburgh.com/events

Posted via web from progress pittsburgh’s posterous

Well since the race for PGH 2009 is creeping along – the only headlines there are – Luke Ravenstahl skips meetings to go to training camp – and Dok Harris seems to be getting alot of blog coverage – we thought we would take a moment to see how people are feeling about the 2010 Governor’s race.  The PG’s early returns links to a Patriot News article which  mentions who is in the race or thinking of getting into the race

Hoeffel is exploring a Democratic primary bid against Auditor General Jack Wagner, the only declared candidate; Allegheny County Exec Dan Onorato; Philadelphia businessman Tom Knox and Scranton Mayor Christopher Doherty.

The Seenter has heard conflicting thoughts about Dan Onorato – some people love him and think he has been great for Allegheny County.  Others in the region can’t stand him and are fed up.  What do you think about of Dan Onorato for Governor of PA?

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Please feel free to leave a comment about who you would like to see as the next Governor of PA.

Join us for Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania’s next Cocktails for a Cause at the Shadow Lounge on Friday, August 28th, from 6 pm – 8 pm!

Suggested Donation: $5

Featuring guest dj’s, sex ed bingo, drink specials, prizes and chinese auction items…and don’t forget all the like-minded, progressive, pro-choice individuals.

Stop in and try the evening’s special cocktail; the Vulvatini!

A portion of bar sales will benefit Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania.

Cocktails for a Cause is a quarterly fund-raising event for Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania. We hold happy hours and more at participating local bars and restaurants that are committed to the mission of PPWP.

RSVP on Facebook

This Saturday’s Jam on Walnut is turning into a showdown of Pittsburgh politics.  On one side of Walnut St.  Mayor Luke Ravenstahl will be hosting a pre-Jam on Walnut Event at Shady Grove.  On the other side of Walnut Street Mayoral Candidate Dok Harris will be hosting an event at the William Penn Tavern.

The Details

Pre-Jam on Walnut Party with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl – Facebook Invite Here (at posting time 150 Yes RSVP  including – Ravenstahl campaign manager Paul McKrell, Jim Ferlo staffer Mikhail Pappas, Yarone Zober, Jeff Dzamko,  and The Pittsburgh Hoagie – Matt Hogue)

6-8pm, Shady Grove

Come to Shady Grove on August 22nd from 6 pm – 8 pm for a PreJam party for young professionals and meet Mayor Ravenstahl!

There will be FREE beer and Drink Specials from 6 – 8.

Cornhole boards will be set-up so bring a friend and challenge Mayor Ravenstahl to a game!

Update: We got karaoke!

Pre-Jam on Walnut Party tomorrow night! – Facebook Invite Here (at posting time – 1 yes RSVP – it looks like this has just been added to Facebook)

6-8pm William Penn Tavern

$1 Miller Lights with Franco Harris! Come down to the William Penn Tavern before the Jam on Walnut to show your support for Franco Dok Harris and his vision of the City of Yes!

Which side of Walnut street will you be on tomorrow night.

I was wondering if any of the coverage of Dok Harris’s campaign kick off would pick up on this last week. (Post-Gazette coverage – Franco Dok Harris kicks off mayoral bid, July 28, 2009.)  But this post on Schloss in the burgh – Please explain this to me – reminded me that no one has mentioned the significance of Vento’s Pizza yet.  It has been so long that I almost forgot about it – and there isn’t much out there on the web – the Vento’t story occurred before every news item was posted to the web. But thanks to the website Castle Coalition (whose tag line is Citizens Fighting Eminent Domain Abuse)- we found this article from their 2003 report.

Home Depot Decides to Include Local Pittsburgh Pizzeria in its Plans Rather than Try to Have it Condemned

In 1998, Home Depot announced plans to build an $8 million, 131,000 square foot store and garden center on the former site of an old Sears store in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh. However, a number of local small businesses would have to be displaced in order to accommodate the Home Depot and adjacent parking lot. These businesses included a bar, a dry cleaner, a nail salon, and Vento’s Pizza, a popular pizzeria that had been in the area for over 50 years.1 The Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Agency (PURA) hoped to avoid using eminent domain for the project, and promised to find suitable, nearby locations for the displaced businesses. The relocation effort was a success, except in the case of Vento’s Pizza. Vento’s objected to PURA’s plan to relocate the pizzeria from its prominent location on Highland Avenue to a less traveled side street. A bitter local controversy followed, pitting proponents of the redevelopment against a fiercely loyal pizza constituency.

This little pizza shop has a big political history – here are some of the other articles from the Post-Gazette that reference Vento’s pizza. I think that the issue between Home Depot and Vento’s even made the cover of the Wall Street Journal but I have not been able to find the article online.  This pizza shop has been a significant stage for politics of development in Pittsburgh.

Local leaders say mayor’s energy will help him, July 10, 2006

Every Saturday morning after buying a Starbucks coffee in his Squirrel Hill neighborhood, Mr. O’Connor drives to East Liberty to shoot the breeze at Vento’s Pizza on Highland Avenue and run his car through a car wash. He often leads walking tours in the area.

Chief executive candidate Onorato not known for backing off quietly, October 19, 2003

One of his best-known blowups came at the end of his tenure in a council debate over city aid to Vento’s Pizza near the old Sears in East Liberty, which had to be moved to make way for a new Home Depot.

Gene Ricciardi mentioned speaking to owner Al Vento about the matter in Italian, and Sala Udin, smarting from council’s recent approval of a development plan in the Hill District that he didn’t like, said city residents “shouldn’t have to speak Italian” to get aid.

Letters to the Editor, No Thanks to Murphy, April 11, 2001

I take exception to Steve Leeper’s comments regarding my business (”Ad Watch: O’Connor’s TV Ads Are First to Air,” April 6). Mr. Leeper claims Mayor Tom Murphy saved my business and without the new Home Depot in East Liberty, I would have been “done.” Nothing could be further from the truth. While I appreciate Home Depot’s willingness to accommodate me after City Council President Bob O’Connor brought us together, my business was thriving before it came along.

Ad Watch: O’Connor’s TV ads are first to air, April 6, 2001

O’Connor is rotating two ads, one that offers a list of promises on issues. The second emphasizes O’Connor’s theme of neighborhood commitment by portraying the challenger as savior of Vento’s Pizza, an East Liberty landmark dislocated by development of a Home Depot store on Highland Avenue.

As if you weren’t having enough fun with the Race for PGH 2009 – Netroots Nation is bringing all kinds of candidates from all over the country here to Pittsburgh.

Here are the details about James Perry and the event in Pittsburgh, August 14, 2009, 5:30-7:30 at the Firehouse in the Strip District. (RSVP on Facebook)

We have all watched the post-Katrina recovery of New Orleans from afar, and some of us have been personally involved. Whatever your relationship to this place, you have a unique opportunity to meet an inspiring, hard-working, brilliant and NOLA born and bred change-agent who is running for Mayor – James Perry. Let’s welcome James to town by showing him that Pittsburghers care about the future of New Orleans on Friday, August 14th.

The Perry campaign will welcome contributions large and small.

He will be joined at the fundraiser by Melissa Harris-Lacewell, an associate professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University,who co-authored a piece in The Nation magazine with James this Spring. Harris-Lacewell is a regular contributor to The Nation and also TheGrio.com, as well as a frequent commentator for MSNBC and CNN.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090330/harris-lacewell_perry/

About James Perry:

James Perry is currently the Executive Director of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center and a candidate for Mayor of New Orleans. Mr. Perry has worked tirelessly to ensure equal housing opportunities for all citizens of New Orleans. Recently, he won a lawsuit against St. Bernard Parish for trying to implement racist housing policies and has testified six times before Congress on behalf of the citizens of the Gulf Coast. He is a member of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the National Fair Housing Alliance, the Historic District Landmarks Commission, and the Louisiana Housing Alliance.

For more information, visit: http://jamesperry2010.com/

Related reading

• New Orleans Mayoral Candidate Makes Chicago Stop (chicagoist.com)

Today’s post-agenda on Community Benefit Agreements held in Pittsburgh’s City Council Chambers had some in the audience all a-twitter.  Here’s what happened:

Today, City Council held a post-agenda to give residents the opportunity to speak about the issue of Community Benefit Agreements in the City and other recent events.

The Acklin campaign posted a video of Kevin Acklin’s remarks:

Kevin Acklin: CBA Remarks Before City Council from Acklin for Pittsburgh on Vimeo.

Well it looks like things have been pretty quiet in the Race for PGH.

Rumor has it that Dok Harris was out an about at Pridefest and the Artsfestival.

Ravenstahl’s campaign managager has tweeted that he is bored and that he is only working 2 days a week.

Acklin is hosting a happy hour fundraiser this Thursday at the Firehouse Lounge – $20 gets you in the door and 2 drinks.

And in the world of Facebook Fan Pages:

• Kevin Acklin – 534 Group Members
• Dok Harris – 628 Supporters
• Luke Ravenstahl – 438 Supporters

All 3 Candidates are scheduled to appear in both of these debates.

KDKA –  Saturday, May 2, 7 to 8 PM
PCNC -  Monday, May 4, 7 to 8 PM

Mayoral Candidates Forum

Hosted by: PUMP, Urban League Young Professionals of Pittsburgh (ULYP-Pittsburgh), Leadership Pittsburgh Inc., Young Republicans of Allegheny County, Carnegie Mellon’s Student Governmen Association and Pittsburgh City Paper 

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
6:30 – 8:00pm
Carnegie Mellon University - McConomy Auditorium located in the University Center.  
FREE parking is available after 5:00pm in the East Campus Garage
CLICK HERE to view the Campus Map 

RSVP HERE – event is free and open to the public

Mayoral Forum on Facebook

*All Mayoral Candidates who have filed nominating petitions to appear on the May 19th 2009 Primary Election ballot have been invited to participate* 

Mayoral Candidates who have confirmed their participation:
Carmen Robinson and Patrick Dowd 

Moderator: Vince Sims, WPXI Television 

Join us for a Mayoral Candidates Forum that focuses on issues of importance to young people in our region. Young people are a critical voting block in Pittsburgh. This forum will provide an opportunity to engage the Mayoral candidates in a substantive conversation about issues that affect the attraction and retention of young people in the region and focus on topics such as: urban development, public education, public safety, municipal consolidation, cleaning and greening our city and fiscal issues. 

I have the theme song – where in the world is Carmen Sandiego – but more like Where in Pittsburgh is Luke Ravenstahl – but The Radical Middle has used the Where Waldo reference – that works too. 

Looks like Mayor Ravenstahl has made some time in his schedule for a 3rd debate – he still won’t release his schedule to the public – check out this audio clip from Bob Mayo – where Mayor Luke Ravenstahl laughs at not responding to the question about his schedule.  

So to update the last post on where’s Luke – here are some more recent sightings of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and some upcoming events where he is scheduled to be…

• Friday, April 17 – Mayor Luke Ravenstahl scheduled to sweep Homewood via @wpxi.
• Saturday, April 18 - Candidates Forum at Schenley High School – Mayor Luke Ravenstahl arrived 1:45 late.  During the forum the mayor was spotted having lunch at a Subway.  
  • According to Twitter at 12:10 pm – Luke was at his 5th event of the day and then heading to do some door knocking
• Wednesday, April 22 
  • 11am-1pm – Earth Day Rally in Market Square
  • According to the Beaver Times – Mayor Luke Ravenstahl will take a tour of the Consol Energy Center this afternoon.
• Thursday, April 29
  • 6pm – PUMP/City Paper Mayor Forum – Mayor Luke Ravensthal has NOT confirmed that he will attend.
• Thursday, April 30
  • 11:30 am – Hofbrau House – Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to address South Side Chamber Monthly Luncheon $15/person via @southsidepgh
• May 1
  • 11 am – Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to host ribbon cutting for Zone 3 Police Station

Here is the text of Patrick Dowd’s speech to the University of Pittsburgh Law School students this morning. ———————————————

Excellence in Government

April 16, 2009

I recently knocked on the door of a city resident who said to me “Pittsburgh demands excellence from our sports leaders, we should demand the same of our elected city leaders.” Her point was that we need a mayor who is committed to excellence in public service. It isn’t glamorous and it doesn’t get you in a parade, but excellence in management is absolutely vital to the well-being of our citizens.

Ethics and Transparency

The current Mayor of Pittsburgh has a record of cronyism and mismanagement that tells us he is not committed to excellence in public service. What we see is a lack of transparency in processes especially for permitting and awarding contracts. The examples of questionable ethics undermine the confidence of citizens that the government is serving the interests of the broader good.

When it comes the lack of transparency and the unethical behavior of this administration, don’t take it from me. Listen to the words of the Post-Gazette. “In case after case, the Post-Gazette has detailed the intertwined records of public contract approvals by political officials and campaign contributions to them from individuals at the firms that got the work. To no one’s surprise, the elected officials said the donations have nothing to do with the contracts.”

More »

If you are at Duke University in North Carolina on Monday, March 16 you can meet Pittsburgh’s mayor for lunch. 

The Life & Times of America’s Youngest Big City Mayor – A Connect2Politics Lunch with Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl

When: Monday, March 16, 2009 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Where: Sanford Institute 03More Info
Description: Luke Ravenstahl was officially elected Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh at the age of 27, making him the youngest mayor of any major U.S. city. Ravenstahl’s ascent to the top of Pittsburgh government began less than three years earlier, when he became the youngest member ever elected to Pittsburgh City Council. Billed by CBS News as “Pittsburgh’s Great Young Hope,” Ravenstahl is credited with implementing a public safety action plan to make Pittsburgh one of the cleanest and safest cities in the country, as well as returning the city to financial stability.

Sponsor: Hart Leadership Program
Contact Information: Gastwirth, David 613-7322