Progress Pittsburgh

Race for PGH is the tag we have been using here on the Progress Pittsburgh blog to refer to local races.  With Doug Shields out of the race it was looking like we wouldn’t have much of a race for the mayor of PGH.  City Councilman Patrick Dowd has just announced that he will  run for mayor in the may primary.

From the Post-Gazette

“I am going to announce that I am running for mayor some time this week,” he said. “I believe that the city needs leadership and vision, and we’ll be talking about what we mean by that later this week.”

and from the Tribune Review

Dowd, 40, of Highland Park, said Pittsburgh needs greater “leadership,” but he wasn’t willing to talk specifics.

He would not pinpoint when or where he plans to make an official announcement about his decision to challenge Ravenstahl, 29, of Summer Hill. Ravenstahl has been mayor since September 2006

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?

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.

• City Council, Law Department spar over board appointments – Pittsburgh Council President Doug Shields declared a "constitutional crisis" in the city today, as council and the Law Department spar over Home Rule Charter rules governing board appointments. Council decided to hold an as-yet-unscheduled special meeting to try to untangle what has become a contentious issue inside of city government.
• Son-in-law details his state-paid work on Fumo’s mansion – more details of your tax dollars at work
• New @ Everybody Vote » What is Video The Vote? – help document election day with the Video the Vote project

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

• Quiet Desperation – Have we heard the last from Pat Ford? – Views – Potter’s Field – Pittsburgh City Paper – Pittsburgh – The latest episode of the Grant Street Follies, you may have heard, is that the Urban Redevelopment Authority is paying executive director Pat Ford $93,000 to stop working for it. That's a lot of money to pay someone for not working, even in city government. So there's widespread suspicion that Ford — who wrote a fiery resignation letter alleging a "culture of deception and corruption" in the city — got the money because he knew too much. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's administration, critics speculate, was trying to buy Ford's silence.
• $101,000 settlement not ‘hush money,’ Ravenstahl says – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – More on PatFordGate – is it possible that Luke's office is being investigated and he doesn't know it. Many people seem to think Luke is being investigated – kind of wierd that he keeps denying it.

  "I'll answer it today, and I'll conclude my answering it today," Ravenstahl said. "The answer is no, I haven't been questioned, nobody has been questioned, and I think it's unfair and unrealistic for you all to continue to ask that question over and over and over again without any facts, without anything but a suggestion by my political adversaries."

• WIKIREUSE – a wiki about big box building reuse – WIKI-REUSE: SO COMMUNITIES CAN TELL THEIR LOCAL STORIES ABOUT BIG BOX REUSE. TO POST, EMAIL YOUR FINDINGS TO WIKI@BIGBOXREUSE.COM.
• Volunteers | Ayanna Lee – Ayanna Lee is looking for volunteers to help door-knock.

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

• Null Space: watching the bus drive by – "More politics involved this time for sure, but one of my answers is that the Port Authority's upper Management and fellow travelers have spent a lot more time and effort on PR this time around. Think about that some."
• Diondega 412: Bram & The Trib weigh in on Ford-Gate. – Are these voices a militant minority of Luke-Haters? Or does this reflect a bigger problem for the Mayor as the 2009 primary nears. STAY TUNED.
• Arizona governor stumps here for Obama – Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano — in town today campaigning for the Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama — received an earful today from Obama supporters worried the campaign isn't pushing back hard enough against attacks by Sen. John McCain.
• Fewer driving that long, lonesome Mon-Fayette Expressway – Barry Stout – "I'm as totally committed today as I was in 1970, when the Mon-Fayette Expressway wasn't a cubic yard of concrete," he said. "Soon we'll have 57 miles. This is a road we're building for the future, for our grandchildren, so they won't have to leave southwestern Pennsylvania to work and live."

  Sigh – how can we get these officials to see that the future of Western PA is not going to be determined by more super highway – if you want to think future think mass transit please!

• Shields calls for probe of URA deals, irks mayor – "Mr. Ravenstahl responded in a statement that Mr. Shields "has forgotten that he was sent to council to do the people's business, not to promote a political agenda focused on hurting me and aggrandizing himself."

  Dear Luke – it isn't all about you. It is the people's business to maybe question why you are spending lots of taxes payer money for settlements with people that you are supposed to be working with to move Pittsburgh forward. Thank You

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

• Another Jet/Golf Scandle? – from one of the comments at the Burgh Report
• Pa. ranked 38th most bike-friendly state – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – The Washington-based League of American Bicyclists has been designating individual communities as bike-friendly since 2003, but this is the first time they have ranked the 50 states based on such criteria as legislation, policies and programs, infrastructure, education, planning and enforcement.

  While Pennsylvania was praised for its "exemplary route network," the League faulted its lack of a safe-passing distance law and a complete streets policy.

  "About a dozen states have safe-passing distance laws stating that cars must maintain a certain distance to pass a cyclist," said Elizabeth Preston, director of communications for the League. "The other is a statewide policy saying that when roads or facilities are built, all users are considered. Not just motorists, but pedestrians, people in wheelchairs and bicyclists."

• Doug Shields Asks U.S. Attorney and the state Attorney General to investigate city development affairs – calls Fords Settlement Hush Money – Pittsburgh Council President Doug Shields formally asked the U.S. Attorney and the state Attorney General to investigate city development affairs today, in the wake of yesterday's settlement between the Urban Redevelopment Authority and its former executive director, Pat Ford.

  "The time for wringing of hands is over," Mr. Shields said. "It's time for action. … Where there's smoke, there's fire."

  The URA board voted yesterday to pay Mr. Ford through June, though his $117,875-a-year contract runs only through December, in return for an agreement that he won't sue or disparage the agency or city government. The deal amounts to $93,000, plus the value of health benefits through June.

  Mr. Shields called that "hush money. … We have a board, the URA board, led by the mayor, at the mayor's direction, at [URA board Chair Yarone] Zober's direction, entering into an agreement that buys his silence."

• New Organizing Institute – Pittsburgh Training at the Union Project Sept. 19, 2008 – If you attend 1 training this fall – this should be it. Free for college students and recent graduates.
  The New Organizing Institute is excited to announce a one-day "Organizers Summit" training on online organizing and political technology on September 19 in Pittsburgh, PA! This training will help nonprofit staff build on a core set of skills that are fundamental in a new, more technology-focused world — including organizing, communications, field, and evaluation — for both civic engagement and electoral work.
• League of Young Voters speaks to the Allegheny County Council – Terry Griffin, the League's Western PA Field Coordinator, joins with our neighbors to urge the County Council to audit our voting machines so accuracy is assured.

An article in yesterday’s Tribune-Review states that Raventahl expects a challenge from City Council President Doug Shields in the 2009 mayor’s race. When Shields denied the claim, Ravenstahl seems to use that denial as a way to discredit the councilman. Additionally, another potential motivation for the mayor’s announcement is the hope of a crowded field. Ravenstahl knows that more than one opponent will likely assure his victory.