Progress Pittsburgh

Last week as we left Loew’s and a sneak preview of Funny People, once again we found ourselves appreciating just how awful the design of the Waterfront is.  It’s as if the bad mall martians flew in from outer space, landing on one of the most key-critical, history rich and defining sites of Pittsburgh’s past, wiping it out – and in it’s place, leaving a bubble of bland, consumerism in an enclosure with little to no accessibility to the town from which is was annexed, not to mention, with little to no economic benefit as well.

And yet, I continued to wonder, as my husband was winding his way through this design-flaw filled space, how have we managed to do it again?  The Steelers have invited the very same developers, the same poor designers, to do their “magic” on a piece of public land central to our city’s north side.  Talking bad about the Steelers is kind of like insulting your mama in this town, but let me just point out that the Steelers are a privately owned commercial enterprise.  Why would a sports team have so much power and leverage in decision-making about public land?  After all, they are not elected, are they?  And why would this publicly owned land be sold for a song to a commercial enterprise with little to no public oversight or accountability?  Especially without any clearly defined benefits to people living in the surrounding communities the development will affect.  Aha!  you say what about about the over site boards, the Planning Commission and the Sports Authority– aren’t they publicly accountable?

Well, let’s just see:  The mayor appoints individuals to the Planning Commission, the Sports Authority, the Water and Sewage board, Port Authority oversight, and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, not to mention the the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Historic Review Commission and the Shade Tree Commission. Millions, if not Billions, of dollars are in the hands of these individuals — not to mention the long term political and economic implications of their decision making.  Their appointments are supposed to be given rigorous scrutiny by City Council, and yet in the last July 2009 go-round, the Council gave the mayor 5-4 support without any hearings or review of his appointments.

At a May 2009 Planning Commissionmeeting, 170 people showed up, in the middle of a work day, to give testimony regarding the negative impact proposed development will have to their neighborhoods in Pittsburgh’s north side.  We are talking about the afore mentioned, Steelers proposed development designed by Continental Development of Columbus Ohio, the authors of the Waterfront.  Do you think the voices of 170 people made a bit of difference to the unelected, appointed members of the Planning Commission?  And do you think they made a difference to the mayor?  (who was essentially appointed and never has had to work his way through the rigors of an election campaign cycle, that is, be responsive to voters)  In the words of John Belushi, “noooooooooooooo”

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by what we are capable of tolerating, myself included. But there is some part of me that has to beg the question to my fellow participants in democracy, “Why are we putting up with this condition as a city and as a region?” We won’t tolerate pushing aside the democratic process of public accountability in our national government.  We proved that as a nation in our last election cycle.  But somehow, when this top-down, Executive dominant way of doing things that we associate readily with Bush-Cheney is at our own back door, we easily hold our collective nose and look the other way.   Just why, oh why, are we putting up with this condition?

So while the battle for heath care is being waged on a National Level it is interesting that some things have also been brought to light here in Pittsburgh about development and jobs. Here is a quick summary…

Last Week

It has been an interesting frew weeks in Pittsburgh.  Last week Northside United staged a protest to demand better jobs for the North Side outside of one of the buildings managed by Continental Real Estate on the North Shore – click here to read the previous blog post about last week.

Friday at the City County Building

• Morning – Over 100 protesters arrived on the 5th floor of the city county building to talk to Mayor Ravenstahl about jobs
  • From WPXI - The protesters said they want the mayor to address the problem that many of the new developments, subsidized by taxpayer money, have created low-wage jobs, keeping Pittsburgh families in poverty.
• Doors to the Mayors office were chained-  A city worker chained and padlocked the door to the mayors office from the inside – the mayor WAS NOT inside the office
  • From PGH City Paper - A half-dozen city police officers showed up, insisting on clearing a path to the door — even when the door itself was padlocked. (The lock was eventually removed.)
• Protesters Leave City hall, promise to return at 2pm
• 2pm Protesters return to City Hall, No Luke RAvenstahl
• City Councilman Doug Shields invites protesters into city council chambers
  • From PGH Comet - Reportedly at some point Council President Doug Shields swung open the doors to City Council chambers with the announcement, “Your government is ready to listen.” Thereafter began an impromptu unofficial hearing participated in by Shields, Bruce Kraus, Darlene Harris, and Bill Peduto chief of staff Daniel Gillman, in addition to representatives of the coalition.
  • Video is available here
• Yarone Zober makes a statement on behalf of the mayor
  • PGH Comet has 2 youTube clips of Yarone Zober’s statements
• Mayoral Candidate Dok Harris Releases a Statement

The City needs to develop a comprehensive policy to ensure that development that is publicly funded or subsidized in any way provides good, family-sustaining jobs.  It is imperative that the community has a seat at the table to guarantee that development benefits the city residents and neighborhoods; not just the developers, politicians, and their supporters.

From day one of my candidacy I have expressed my life long views that workers deserve fair wages and fair treatment. In my administration it will be a priority to guarantee good jobs in all publicly-funded developments. We will work with community leaders to protect the needs of our neighborhoods and to improve Pittsburgh’s economy by protecting the middle class.

• 2 Political Junkies has a summary of media coverage of today’s events

Some questions

• Where was Luke Ravenstahl today? If President Obama can take the time to talk to the white house press corps about the Cambridge, MA police, then why isn’t Luke Ravenstahl available to talk to Pittsburgh citizens
• Have any of the members of Continental Real Estate contributed to Luke Ravenstahl’s campaign?
  • Walnut Capital – one of Ravenstahl’s biggest campaing contributors
    • From the Trib - Ravenstahl’s biggest donors run Shadyside development company Walnut Capital. President Todd Reidbord and manager partner Gregg Perelman donated $10,000 each. Reidbord is a member of the city Planning Commission.
  • Walnut Capital has received public funding for Bakery Square Project
    • From PGH Comet - Walnut Capital already qualified for public Tax Increment Financing for its Bakery Square project without even the usual strings attached in regards to labor agreements. It is a fact that Walnut Capital is the City of Pittsburgh’s number one campaign contributor, and that one of its two owners, Todd Reidbord, sets development policy as a senior member of the City Planning Commission.
• Is all of this developer driven development, supported by public money really good for Pittsburgh?  Is there another model that might work better to move Pittsburgh forward.  Is it possible that continued retail, office and hotel development isn’t really what is needed.
  • From the Post-Gazette in Feb 2009 - The gloomy retail climate prompted one expert, Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director of SRG Insights, to predict 2,000 to 3,000 shopping malls and shopping centers nationwide could go belly-up this year
    • Even in the city – there is vacant retail space in every business district from the new South Side Works, to Walnut Street, to the East Side development to Downtown – yet we continue to develop more retail spaces – who is going to rent these spaces and open up shop?

Well it is a busy day in Pittsburgh politics.  Here is a press release from the Dowd Campaign…

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dowd calls for sweeping reform: ‘cut waste to fund cops, youth programs, and jobs.’

Touts record on School Board increasing accountability and raising test scores.

Councilman Patrick Dowd today addressed his record as a reformer, and called for broad changes in order to fund a variety of city services that will improve the quality of life for Pittsburghers.

“In this economy, we can’t afford to have any waste and mismanagement. We need a new approach that saves tax dollars and focuses on our priorities, like public safety, youth programs, and economic development,” said Dowd.

“I’m proud of my record of reform on the School Board and the Council.  That’s why I’m running for Mayor – to put our money where it’s needed, professionalization of city services, growing the job base of the city, reducing violence and improving the quality of life for all.”

More »

Over at p2pac, the Progress Pittsburgh Political Action Committee has announced their endorsement of four candidates for the 2009 Primary cycle.

From their announcement:

P2PAC develops, supports, and helps to elect candidates who demonstrate vision, progressive values, and electability… 

These endorsements represent four races where a group of dedicated citizens can make a MAJOR impact on the race…

• Natalia Rudiak, City Council District 4, nataliarudiak.com 
  • Click Here to Donate to Friends of Natalia Rudiak
  • Click Here to Volunteer
• Robert Daniel Lavelle, City Council District 6, lavelleforcouncil.com
  • Click Here to Donate to Citizens for Daniel Lavelle
  • Click Here to Volunteer
• Susan Banahasky, Magisterial District Judge 5-3-10, susanformagistrate.com 
  • Click Here to Donate to Friends for Susan Banahasky
  • Click Here to Volunteer
• Hugh McGough, Court of Common Pleas, mcgough4judge.com 
  • Click Here to Donate to McGough for Judge
  • Click Here to Volunteer

In many ways, the race to represent district 4 on Pittsburgh’s City Council is largely shaping up to be a fight between Natalia Rudiak and Anthony Coghill.

A week ago, the community group Pretty Up Beechview announced their endorsement of Natalia Rudiak.

More »

Likely mayoral candidate and City Council President Doug Shields has publicly stated that he will not pursue the highest position in Pittsburgh. The City Paper, Post-Gazette, and Trib report this turn of events, quoting from his press release:

With the encouragement and support of many people, I have seriously considered running for Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh. At this time, the right choice for me, for this Council, and for the people of Pittsburgh is to continue to serve as Council President.

The question remains as to whether any other Democrat will enter the race to challenge incumbent Luke Ravenstahl who, despite extremely good polling during his last race in 2007, has been seen to frequently falter and lose popularity among his consistuents in the last year or so.

Who SHOULD run against Luke? Can anyone WIN?

While we wish we could provide some of the fancy graphs and research that Null Space provides, you will have to settle for our plain old chart to analyze this data. Last week we took a look at which candidates had groups on Facebook and the number of members in each group. Here is a look at the membership numbers a week later….

Looks like both Patrick Dowd and Luke Ravenstahl have increased their Facebook followings. Luke has lost a few student supporters.

Are there other candidates on Facebook that we are missing on this list? Do you think that Facebook has the potential to play a role in the Spring primary elections?

With the City Council District 2 Special Election just days away its time for another Progress Pittbsurgh poll.

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The race for City Council in Pittsburgh’s 4th district is the buzz today. 4 candidates have announced they are in the race. The PG reports the Tony Mosesso has entered the race. 2 Political Junkies and Matt H both reference Natalia Rudiak’s campaign kick-off this evening. Yesterday, The Huddler reported that Anthony Coghill has entered the race and gives some interesting background on who could win the democratic committee endorsement. Other than some brief mentions, there doesn’t seem to be much out there about Patrick Reilly in the blogs.

Here is what we know about the candidates.

• Natalia Rudiak, 29, from Carrick, runs her own consulting business, catering to nonprofits and community groups
• Tony Mosesso, 61, from Bon Air, works in the employee records department of the Carpenters Combined Funds, the administrative office for the Greater Pennsylvania Regional Council of Carpenters. He is also a Democratic Committee member and vice president of the Bon Air Civic Association.
• Patrick Reilly, 26, from Brookline, outreach coordinator for state Rep. Chelsa Wagner
• Anthony Coghill, 42, from Beechview, owns Coghill Roofing Co. and works part-time as a constituent liaison for state Sen. Wayne Fontana, a Beechview Democrat.

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 by some local bloggers:

• Cognitive Dissonance – Ed notes that this idea never took off in Harrisburg
• The Huddler – thinks this is a good ideas and that pensions in PA are out of control
• The Pittsburgh Comet – Is leasing the garages an idea that sounds too good to be true?
• Matt H – is worried about the parking prices going up
• Pittsburgh is a City – asks if parking rates make a difference, and if this plan makes sense during a recession.
• The Allegheny Institute – thinks that Ravenstahl is really thinking oursite the box with this idea.
• The Angry Drunk Bureaucrat – is not sure if this is a good idea or not and maybe having less expensive parking is a good thing.

Yesterday, Councilman Patrick Dowd addressed this issue – expressing concern that no one from City Council sits on the Parking Authority board. (PG article here).

What no one is mentioning…

Many of these articles about leasing the parking garages have quotes from Merril Stabile, who owns Alcoa Parking.

That’s doubtful, said parking magnate Merrill Stabile, owner of Alco Parking Corp., Pittsburgh’s largest private parking operator.

“No private entity that comes in to run these things is going to raise the rates to a point that it chokes out business,” he said.

Anyone who knows local politics knows that Mr. Stabile is a frequent donor to local politicians.  In 2007 he gave $10,000 to Ravenstahl’s campaign (PG  article here.  See this PG article which notes that Stabile benefits from parking tax cuts.

Merrill Stabile, whose Alco Parking manages some city garages and benefits from parking tax cuts.

So this is a win win for Ravenstahl, Luke gets to claim he is addressing the pension issue while working on a project that might likely benefit one of his campaign contributors.  Even if Stabile isn’t the one who leases the garages – he would probably prefer to compete with another business than a public authority who is willing to not put profit first.

Would leasing the parking garages put David Onorato out of a job?

More »

Tonya Payne has a challenger in the May 2009 Primary. Daniel Lavelle is having a campaign kick off event this Saturday.

Schenley Heights Community Development Center
3171 Ewart Drive (corner of Ewart & Iowa Streets),  Pittsburgh, PA 15219 US

Saturday, January 24, 1:00PM to 3:00PM

Citizens For Daniel Lavelle cordially invite you to join us at Robert Daniel Lavelle’s City Council Campign Kickoff Reception.

Co-Hosted By:

• Mr. Robert & Mrs. Adah Lavelle
• Mr. Ernest & Dr. Emma Darby Dr. Greg & Mrs. Thelma Morris
• Mr. Franklin Reed,  (Democratic Chairman, 5th Ward)
• Mr. Khari Mosley,(Democratic Chairman, 22nd Ward)

Light Refreshments will be provided
Please RSVP to info@lavelleforcouncil.com

Some other blog posts about council races in 2009:

• Matt H posted a summary of who attended the Theresa Smith fundraiser last night
• Lady Elaine at the Burgh Chair looks at who is running for Jim Motznik’s seat

Here are some blog posts, article and links that you may have missed.

• www.carmenformayor.com is now live – Luke's competition is now online.
• City councilman’s stolen car recovered – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – Pittsburgh police on Sunday recovered the stolen vehicle of Pittsburgh City Councilman Doug Shields of Squirrel Hill.

  The vehicle, which was reported stolen from a Home Depot parking lot in East Liberty at about 6:30 p.m. Friday, was found unoccupied yesterday afternoon in Lincoln-Lemington, Sgt. Steve Vinansky said. An officer on patrol spotted the stolen vehicle.

• Dems choose Westwood woman for council race – Theresa Smith of Westwood is the Democratic Party's official candidate in the Feb. 3 special election in Pittsburgh City Council District 2.

Here are some blog posts, article and links that you may have missed.

• Steel-City Stonewall Democrats | Facebook – The Steel City Stonewall Democrats are now on Facebook.
• League of Women Voters Indiana County Candidate Workshop – Sat. Jan 31, 2009 – learn about running for office
• Westwood woman announces candidacy for City Council seat – Theresa Smith of Westwood announced her candidacy for Pittsburgh City Council yesterday, seeking the seat vacated Monday by Dan Deasy, who won election to the state House.

Here are some blog posts, article and links that you may have missed.

• City Council passes law on reporting stolen guns – Pittsburgh City Council gave final approval today to a requirement that gun owners report the loss or theft of a firearm within 24 hours of becoming aware that it is missing.

  The vote was 6-1 after a lengthy debate in which Councilman Ricky Burgess, the lone no vote, argued that the measure runs counter to state law that generally bars local firearms laws. "An inconvenient law may be an inconvenient truth, but a law nevertheless," he said.

• Dan Deasy leaves Pittsburgh City Council – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – Shields said a special election to replace Deasy on the nine-member council must be scheduled within 120 days. At least five candidates have said they plan to run in the special election, which will likely happen in March.
• McIlvaine Smith takes aim at legislative cost-of-living adjustment – State Rep. Barb McIlvaine Smith, D-Chester, is taking aim at legislative cost-of-living adjustments by crafting legislation that would repeal Act 51 of 1995, ending automatic COLAs for the legislature, as well as for judges and executive branches officials, including the auditor general, attorney general, state treasurer, PUC commissioners, and heads of boards and commissions.