Progress Pittsburgh

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”

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?

One week from today is the third Tuesday in November. You know what that means- it’s time for another P2PAC happy hour event! Last Tuesday was an amazing day in our political history. Now, it’s time to take that positive energy and use it to make local change. Please join us as we step up our fundraising for 2009. This month we’re on the Northside at Max’s Allegheny Tavern for local beer, German food, good conversation, and the best bar popcorn in the world.

P2PAC is a political action committee that supports candidates whose districts touch the City of Pittsburgh and whose agendas are consistent with its mission: good government, sustainable development, and social equity. P2PAC endorses candidates who meet these criteria and provides resources to advance their leadership. We see leadership as the primary vehicle for positive change in service of our mission.

Who: YOU!
What: cocktails and conversation ($5 contribution requested)
Where: Max’s Allegheny Tavern (537 Suismon Street)
When: 11/18/08 @ 5:30 p.m.
Why: because Pittsburgh deserves better

We are ready to see change in local government and hope that you are too! Please join us!

Join the Progress Pittsburgh PAC for a happy hour (or two) tomorrow, Tuesday, October 21st in support of the Obama campaign. In October, P2 = Pittsburgh + Presidential. We will again be raising funds to support P2pac because all politics is local and we’re gearing up for important elections in 2009.

P2PAC is a political action committee that supports candidates whose districts touch the City of Pittsburgh and whose agendas are consistent with its mission: good government, sustainable development, and social equity. P2PAC endorses candidates who meet these criteria and provides resources to advance their leadership. We see leadership as the primary vehicle for positive change in service of our mission.

Who: YOU!
What: cocktails and conversation ($5 contribution requested)
Where: Olive or Twist (140 6th Street)
When: 10/21/08 @ 5:30* p.m.
Why: because Pittsburgh deserves better

This event on Facebook

We are ready to see change in local government and hope that you are too! Please join us for some beverages and conversation!

*Olive or Twist’s happy hour specials run until 6pm, so get there early!

Again, there’s a really interesting conversation about transit going on over at Nullspace: http://nullspace2.blogspot.com/2008/09/transit-tuesday-metrics-to-be-proud-of.html

Chris B. deconstructs some of the “facts” touted in a recent Forbes.com report and P-G article about Pittsburgh being in the top 5 commuter-friendly regions.

He points out that the figures that put us in the top 5 are ridership numbers from BEFORE LAST YEAR’S BUS CUTS.

Where once we were ranked pretty high in transit usage, the only question at the moment is how far we have fallen. Will have to wait for some more data for answer that for sure, but that was the cost we will pay for the route cuts last year.

Some highlights from the comments—

• Downtown business scribe, Ken Zapinski,  asserts that increasing ridership and serving populations who don’t have cars shouldn’t (necessarily) be  goals of public transit.

Underlying your premise is that more ridership is the appropriate goal for the Port Authority (or any transit agency.) All things being equal, the more passengers, the better. But all things are never equal.

Thanks for finally putting it out there Ken!

• Blogger Ed Heath wonders what the “public” part of public transit is supposed to mean.

• Chris argues that prioritizing the commuter market over the transit-is-their-primary-transportation population will lead to even more residential segregation in our region.  And he reminds us how segregated we already are:

http://www.briem.com/gis/AA_county.pdf

Please feel free to join the conversation here or there.  Just please, join the conversation!

An article in Saturday’s Post-Gazette is titled, “URA chief’s friends asked to help with legal bills.” Um, excuse me? Pat Ford, who has continued to receive his $117,875/year salary while on paid leave from his position as URA Executive Director because of an ethics investigation, is not a charity case. Heck, this guy could have been working a second job while still bringing in his taxpayer-funded, URA paycheck. In any case, he should have no trouble paying his bills.

However, if you feel sorry for Mr. Ford, who is known for making back-room deals over cigars and scotch, you can send your donation to 5188 Glenhurst Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15207.

(For the record, I’d rather pay Ford to stay home than have him in the office, undermining public process and selling the city’s soul to profit-minded developers.)