New mayor gets his shoes dirty in visit to public works shed

We don't need a unified voice coming from city hall. I like a little harmony in my songs. Perhaps we should all be singing in the same key, and perhaps the same tempo might be nice too.

The lockstep boosterism is what got Pittsburgh into its huge mess.

New mayor gets his shoes dirty in visit to public works shed The meetings did not result in big decisions. They were an effort to build toward what council President Luke Ravenstahl called 'a unified voice coming from city hall.'

He and perhaps other council members will meet weekly with the new administration, he said. That's a change from years past, when council often complained that it was left out of decisions by Mayor Tom Murphy."

This unified voice that may come from city hall will lead to the same-old-same-old. The expected outcomes will be more meetings that do not result in big decisions.

My aim is to join City Council and offer a different voice. I am sure that there are others who are very capable of going to council and offering no voice or the same voice as to what we've already got.

However, it is wonderful to see the meeting with the mayor and councilmembers. There is no way I could have survived on that body, for even a week, if Tom Murphy was mayor.

If Gene Ricciardi had quit his role in City Council and Tom Murphy was still mayor, I would NOT be running for the council seat. I would never have wanted to be on council with Tom Murphy as mayor. Heck, I could not even be in the same PARTY as Tom Murphy as he was the leader of the city's Democrats. That was not for me to join and support.

Now that Bob O'Connor is in the Mayor's office, I feel that I can make excellent contributions for the future of our city. And, because it is Bob, I'm needed on the job in Council Chambers more than ever.