Progress Pittsburgh

The Allegheny County Democratic Committee is raising the fee for candidates for State Legislature to file for the ACDC endorsement (PG article). Apparently, the fees were too low, allowing for widespread competition (i.e. democracy). Perhaps this is a delayed reaction to the Clean Sweep movement of 2006 or perhaps its just good, old-fashioned old boys’ network scheming.

As citizens consider whether to be offended or indifferent to this development, they might consider the following information in their cost-benefit analysis.

Here are some ideas or what $3,000 could buy you in a State House race instead of filing for the endorsement:

* all the yard signs, buttons, ans t-shirts you would need for the entire campaign
* 3 part-time field staff for the final month
* phones and paid poll workers for election day
* printing and postage for a nice direct mail piece to supervoters
* rent for campaign office for at least 3 months
* production and decent run on a radio ad
* color walk lit for most of campaign
* paid voter identification calls to your district

So, even if you were to WIN the ACDC endorsement, does your $3,000 get you close to the value of any of those things?

Governor Ed Rendell has set a Special Election for the May 18th Primary Election Day to fill the unexpired term of the late Democratic Congressman John Murtha of Johnstown…Republicans and Democratic Party officials each will nominate a candidate for the May ballot to fill out the term…in addition to the election for the rest of Murtha’s term, voters will be asked to select Democratic and Republican candidates for the November election to a full term for the Congressional seat…if the Party leaders are good at their jobs, they will figure out a way to pick a candidate to fill the seat ’til January – a man or woman who stands a good chance of winning the Party Primaries on the same day…this is going to be very interesting…

Mary Beth Buchanan – former U. S. Attorney for Pennsylvania’s Western District – has filed papers to run as a Republican against incumbent Democratic CongressmanJason Altmire…she has yet to make a formal announcement…three others – Bob Klein, Keith Rothfus and John Vinsick – already have announced intentions to seek the Republican nomination…

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty holds a news conference this morning to announcehe is dropping out of the Democratic Primary for Governor and instead seek the Party nomination to succeed the retiring State Senate Floor Leader Bob Mellow…the Democratic contest for the gubernatorial nomination continues forward without formal Party endorsement…State Auditor General Jack Wagner won a majority of the endorsement votes but fell short of the required two-thirds of the votes for endorsement…more and more the race is looking like a struggle between Wagner and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato…

Harrisburg Online is a publication of Greenlee Partners, LLC. (It tends to be conservative-leaning but provides good information.)

Thirty-seven years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that women have a constitutional right to privacy that includes a legal right to terminate a pregnancy for any reason during her first trimester and in order to protect her health after that.  With a U.S. Supreme Court today where George W. Bush filled the seats of Sandra Day O’Connor and William Rehnquist with  John Roberts and Samuel Alito, the ability of Roe v. Wade to withstand being overturned has never been so much in danger.  If this decision were overturned, abortion-rights would be in the hands of each state.  Pennsylvania is a neither a state that has passed a trigger law that would outlaw abortion if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, nor have we passed a law to ensure that women’s rights are protected.

It is with that background on Roe v. Wade’s anniversary that the Hoeffel Campaign sent out a release announcing that Kate Michelman is endorsing Joe for governor and will head his Women for Hoeffel committee.  Michelman is the former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

The full text of Michelman’s endorsement letter is below the fold.

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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 a fake political committee, “Sensible Constituents of District 6,” to distribute some negative materials.  This Fall, she was at it again.  See below for a flyer that she passed out (again, illegally using another fake political committee — “Neighbors Against Dirty Politics”).

She also had the flyers below–which accuse City Councilmember Bill Peduto of racism–distributed in his district.

The Neighbors Against Dirty Politics also sent around the following email:

From: neighbors against dirty politics 2
Date: Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 11:01 PM
Subject: IS TRUMP FINANCING LAVELLE?

IS TRUMP FINANCING LAVELLE?

Is Trump financing Robert Daniel Lavelle’s campaign in District 6? No, not really,  but I am confused where Lavelle received his money to add “extra” bonuses to his campaign workers.  I know if I truly believe in a candidate I do not have to be paid!  Why would he have to pay 130 workers $100.00 each?  Why would he have to pay workers breakfast, lunch, and dinner?  Who paid for his Rent A Cars? Who paid for his color brochures?  Who paid for his postage?  Who paid for his color postcards? Who paid for his t-shirts? Who paid for his parties? Why did he not put these expenses on his campaign report? Why did he drop his first name and change his campaign name now to Daniel instead of Robert.  Wasn’t his father, Robert,  fired from The Dwelling House Bank and under FBI investigation?

The Post Gazette’s article stated

the following about the bank;

“it suffered a severe blow to its stability late last year when federal auditors discovered that about $3 million had been drained out of its capital account and the bank..  Pittsburgh police and FBI agents are investigating the case.”

“Former Dwelling House president and CEO Robert M. Lavelle, who was fired in November by order of the OTS, also was fined $5,000 last week for his role in the gross negligence that ultimately brought down the bank.”

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09227/991047-28.stm

Where is this money? Robert “Daniel” now flip flops his name so people will not put two and two together. Call him Daniel now, not Robert .Does he think we are stupid?  Is this where the money comes from for his campaign?   The apple does not fall far from the tree.  I would “write in” TonyaPayne, her workers do not have to be paid to campaign for her!

She does not change her name to hide. Our group Neighbors Against Dirty Politics are starting an official “write in” campaign for Tonya Payne!  When you go to the polls just go to the “write in”section and write her name in the spot.

ON NOVEMBER 3, 2009

ELECTION DAY

“Write In”
Tonya Payne
Don’t Write Her Off!

District 6 City Councilwoman

“Let justice remain in your district!”

“Keep her REAL name in your decisions.”

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
NEIGHBORS AGAINST DIRTY POLITICS

Finally, if you still have any question about who the “Neighbors Against Dirty Politics” actually are, there’s a facebook group called “URGENT!! WRITE IN Tonya Payne for City Council District 6″.  The administrator and creator of the page?  Tonya Payne.

Of course, this election is history.  So why does it matter?  Two reasons:

1. To date, Jim Burn, chair of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, is turning a blind eye to the City Chair staging a campaign against the duly nominated Democratic nominee for office.
2. It’s really not clear what Tonya Payne was hoping to gain from these hijinks, but she is rumored to be preparing for a run against Jake Wheatley for State Representative next year.  Even her most staunch supporters must be turned off by her embarrassing behavior.

Trash Talk

One complaint that we hear from time to time is that poor neighborhoods often get the leftover trashcans from other neighborhoods.  One example taken earlier in the year (Kevin Acklin used this particular example in the second mayoral debate, back in October): a trashcan behind the Homewood-Brushton YMCA labeled “Bloomfield”.

Here’s a photo taken today:

Problem solved?  Glad to see that the mayor is still getting it done.

I had a request to produce a map that’s similar to the last post, but to look at how Ravenstahl’s vote % changed from the primary election to the general election.

This first map (a reproduction from the last post) shows how Ravenstahl performed in this election versus how he performed in the 2007 general election.  In this map, basically,

• The bluer the district, the worse Ravenstahl did against Harris & Acklin than against DeSantis
• The redder the district, the better Ravenstahl did against Harris & Acklin than against DeSantis

• The bluer the district, the worse Ravenstahl did against Harris & Acklin than against Dowd & Robinson
• The redder the district, the better Ravenstahl did against Harris & Acklin than against Dowd & Robinson

There’s been a little back and forth over whether the mayoral results show that Ravenstahl has weakened.  The argument that Luke 55% showing was something to be embarrassed by was made in the MSM by Jon Delano and Rich Lord.  Ravenstahl supporters point to Luke winning every city ward, as evidence of broad-based support.

Potter says that it doesn’t matter how much Luke won by, because it won’t force him to govern any differently.  I agree with Potter, in that I doubt that Luke will take heed for his rapid deterioration in support.  The administration will likely govern with just as much bravado as they always have.

I disagree that the results are completely irrelevant, however, because Luke has relied on his strong electoral support (in the past) to lend his capitol to other candidates.  We have already seen in this year’s primary that Ravenstahl has no coattails.  These results may be good news for Bruce Kraus and Patrick Dowd, who are both likely to see well-funded challengers whose best argument for election will be their close relationship with the mayor.  This may also give some political cover to Theresa Smith and Darlene Harris to act with more independence.

What is remarkable is the near-uniformity across the city where Luke’s support has decreased.  In the map below, I’ve shown the change in Luke’s win % from 2007 to 2009.  The more intense the blue, the greater the decrease; the more intense the red, the greater the increase.

With three days to go, these are the reports that we have been hearing from the mayoral campaigns:

Dok Harris:

• Robocall from Franco
• Rally in Homewood
• Trick-or-treating in Squirrel Hill

Here is an update from the Pittsburgh Film Office about the PA Film Tax Credit Program – looks like this survived the budget process.  This was included in a recent email from the Pittsburgh Women in Film and Media.

Dear Supporters of the Film Industry in SWPA:

Thank you for all of your hard work and support of the Pennsylvania Film Tax Credit program.

We are thrilled to announce that because of the great support for this valuable program, the Film Tax Credit Act of 2007 will continue! The Governor and the Pennsylvania Legislature can see the economic benefits and jobs the film production industry produces for the Commonwealth. That said, in this very difficult budget year, the cap has been set at $42 million. Next year the cap will increase to $60 million, continuing the tremendous expansion of the film industry in Pennsylvania! More »

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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1. “After three years as mayor, he has yet to articulate a vision for the future.”
2. “He does not have a reputation for working with the state legislative delegation.”
3. “He needs to put some distance between himself and the party machine, to generate independent thinking for Pittsburgh’s growth and progress.”
4. “ethical lapses after taking office upon the death of Bob O’Connor”
5. “his service as mayor remains a work in progress”
6. “It is incumbent on the mayor to assemble more top talent on the city’s behalf”

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 admitted (1) he only registered to vote in Pittsburgh this year, (2) he has never voted in the City of Pittsburgh, and (3) he had an apartment in the City of Pittsburgh, while voting in Sewickley.

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The short answer to that question is – Nothing.  The PGH Lesbian Correspondent added another post about the yet to be announced Pittsburgh LGBT advisory committee.  She has blogged about this occasionally over the past year so we thought it would be interesting to see just how long this LGBT Advisory Committee has be discussed.  Here are a handful of posts from The Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents about the LGBT Advisory Committee/Panel that span the past year:

• 6/22/2009 – Luke Ravenstahl’s LGBT Advisory Committee. On Friday, April 24, the Mayor’s Deputy Chief of Staff Kristen Baginski told us that they were in touch with potential members and would announce when that process was complete. That was almost two months ago. You can email her to ask how many more months (it has been 7 since it was announced) will be needed to form the committee that will advise the Mayor on LGBT issues. You could mention the significant issues outlined above as proof that we really can’t afford to wait too much longer
• 5/22/2009 – What happened to plans for a LGBT liaison in the Mayor’s office? Or the LGBT advisory committee?
• 4/3/2009 – Kristen Baginski and Joanna Doven won’t return my calls or respond to my email messages about the LGBT Advisory Council.
• 2/26/2009 – email from Joanna Doven “There is nothing new to report re the LGBT advisory panel. We’re getting ready to choose the panel – once that happens we will have the inaugural meeting. Charles Morrison, the head of the City’s Human Relations Commission will be monitoring the process to make sure the panel is representative of the community.”
• 12/11/2008 – “the Mayor of Pittsburgh, Luke Ravenstahl, is launching a LGBT Advisory Council to provide an open line of communication between his office and Pittsburgh’s LGBT community. The planning meeting held on December 10 was chaired by Deputy Chief of Staff Kristen Baginski and the Mayor’s personal liaison to the LGBT community, Gary Van Horn, a local businessman and President of the Delta Foundation. 25 people were in attendance, along with two members of the media. The room was fairly even between men and women, but almost entirely Caucasian and middle to upper middle class. It was a pretty elite group and that didn’t surprise me for a 5 PM meeting held downtown. “
• 11/29/2008 – Pittsburgh is a great example — our gay community is as diverse as any other Pittsburgh group, except for the younger crowds. The next big opportunity to get this right is the Mayor’s soon to be appointed LGBT Advisory Committtee. Let’s hope his team finds a way to create a dynamically diverse group of folks who do not have deep pocket ties to his office.
• 6/19/2008 – “his promise to appoint a LGBT liaison and an LGBT advisory committee remain unfulfilled.”

Propel Pittsburgh?

All of this made us wonder what ever happened to the Propel Pittsburgh Commission.  Here is a description of the commission from the City of Pittsburgh Website

Function:
The 35-member Propel Pittsburgh Commission is dedicated to meeting the concerns and needs of the City of Pittsburgh’s young adults and young professionals. Composed entirely of members aged 20-34, and chaired by the Mayor himself, the objective of the Commission is to encourage greater participation in government, identify or create programmatic or policy opportunities in issues affecting young adults and young professionals in Pittsburgh, and to inform various elected and appointed officials representing young people about issues specific to them. The Propel Pittsburgh Commission will help to give the young adults and young professionals of Pittsburgh a major role in moving the City of Pittsburgh forward.

Also from the City’s website – the commission is to meet every other month – as of today the website says the next meeting is May 21, 2008.

Blog Mentions of Propel Pittsburgh

• 7/10/2009 – Get Involved!
• 11/25/2008 – The Angry Drunk Bureaucrat
• 10/26/2008 – The Pittsburgh Comet
• 9/15/2007 – The Pittsburgh Hoagie - Matt H is a member of the Propel Pittsburgh commission – it doesn’t look like he has posted any other blog updates on their meetings.
• Alik who was a member of the commission but no longer lives in Pittsburgh also posted some updates on the Propel Meetings that were held in 2007 at Pittsburgh.Metblogs.com – the last post on this was 8/17/2008.