Friday, March 04, 2005

Email blast: [412] Resignation Requested and Required - (making waves and awake)

Email blast shows archived message. It is reposted as the first comment.

1 comment:

Mark Rauterkus said...

[412] Resignation Requested and Required - (making waves and a wake)

News Release:

From: Mark Rauterkus, Mark at Rauterkus.com, 412 298 3432
Candidate for PA Senate (42nd district)

Elect.Rauterkus.com
108 South 12th Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203

March 4, 2005

Mark Rauterkus, a Libertarian candidate for Pennsylvania Senate, has called for the immediate resignation of an opponent, Wayne Fontana, Democrat, a member on the Allegheny County Council. Days ago, Rauterkus willingly congratulated Fontana for his weekend victory in the Democratic party nomination. Fontana joins Rauterkus and Michael Diven, R, on the ballot in the special election slated for May 17, 2005. However, the message has changed to outrage in recent days as an
expected resignation from County Council has not transpired from Fontana despite the explicit mentions within the County Charter.

"Wayne Fontana needs to resign his seat on county council immediately," says Rauterkus.

Allegheny County's Charter states clearly that members of the County Council must resign as soon as they become a candidate for another office.

Rauterkus is networking with phone calls, emails and his blog mentions that request the resignation quickly for a number of reasons for the good of Allegheny County residents.

-- Tell the power-hungry official, Wayne Fontana, that his time on council is finished. Tell him and others in his party that the resignation is expected now.

-- Remind the media of this governmental issue and help to insist that want-a-be State Senators should have a keen respect for the law.

-- Tell others who reside in that county council district that good citizen candidates are needed for the special election to fill Fontana's seat.

The special election process can begin as soon as Fontana resigns. The longer Fontana squats on the power and holds onto the seat, then a
rightful replacement is delayed. Rather than getting a newly elected member of County Council in May, 2005, a hand-picked replacement might sit until January, 2006.

This provision of the charter is disliked by many on County Council. Council members tried to change it twice in the past. At the ballot box, a majority Allegheny County voters made known their desire to
uphold this rule, and for good reason.

Everyone knows that Fontana has been campaigning for this Senate seat for months. He can't do his important job on County Council, such as
handling the assessment mess, while he is occupied with other tasks. Furthermore, the process of being out in the community among the issues with the other candidates gets discounted too while Fontana
sits on council.

Rauterkus said, "Fontana is in no-man's land -- between a future campaign and place in history. I expected him to push the ethical
limits and resign Monday, Feb 28. I was shocked that he resumed his role on council at Tuesday's meeting, March 1. Every minute of additional delay goes without an excuse and serves to break the trust
with the people throughout the county." Rauterkus said, "People don't appreciate politicians who act on self-interests and make power-grabs
without accountability."

412-298-3432 = cell

Ta.

Mark Rauterkus Mark at Rauterkus.com
http://Rauterkus.blogspot.com
http://Rauterkus.com http://Platform.For-Pgh.org


PS: In other news, on the heels of our new chat room success, we're
calling for weekly, open web chats every Sunday at 10 pm at
http://Rauterkus.com/rauterkuschat/ . Perhaps you can log in on
Sunday.

PS2: I'm going to be the speaker at "Drinking Liberally" around 7 pm
on Tuesday, March 8. This weekly event is open to anyone, no charge,
at Finnigan's Wake on the North Side, very near to PNC Park. Perhaps
by Tuesday we'll rename this pub FONTANA's WAKE.

PS3: If you'd like to RESIGN from getting my emails, that's
understood. I can send you an invite to a Gmail.com account and then
you can read mails to a personal account and not at work. Or, you can
opt out by asking. Thanks for your understanding. I'm in a race for
public office against one guy who has already said he expects to spend
$1-million on this race and another who is breaking the county charter
trying to hold onto power. I would love to keep you posted and send you some recycled electrons as needed.