part 2 -- still rolling downhill

Too many people (back to district 3 and the hilltop communities) are stuck in their homes because of the public policies of elected politicians who can only know enough to merely spoon feed ice-cream and sheet cake to seniors at community centers. The depth and scope for serious progress for Pittsburgh is found in more advanced concepts.

Making a slew of bills about absentee landlords that the police are not even going to know about, yet alone enforce, is NOT going to fix the struggles of those on the hillside communities. Enforcement isn't going to fix the over-arching problems. If we hired 20 new building inspectors, we'd only fix a few of the pimples of life for ourselves.

People are afraid to invest in their house. That is a great statement. It came from Bruce Krause last night. He can frame and issue but can't do anything else except pull tires from a hillside. So, what are the others going to do about it? They'll offer to hold hands, morning, noon and night, from start of the meeting to the end of the meeting. Then they'll pick up the shovel and dig some more. They'll work hard.

I'm different in that I want to "Lay The Shovel Down." They need to stop digging in the same hold of depression and debt. They are doing the wrong things. They want to do more of the wrong things. They are missing the big points -- the obvious -- the real fixes.

In my talk last night, I mentioned, in passing, "assessment buffering." Someone from State Senator Wayne Fontana's office was in the audience. I ran in the past against him for State Senate and gave him an earful on significant issues such as PROPERTY TAX REFORM.

Let's talk about the deed transfer tax. Let's nuke that! My brochure mentions "taxing land."

Let's talk about public housing and the number of Section 8 units per neighborhood -- but even after we get a handle on how many are in certain areas of the city, we've still not done a darn thing about the fix. You can't tear them all down because the city is broke.

People won't invest in their homes because of public policy and recent actions on Grant Street that reward people for letting the property fall into the realm of blight and punish those who fix up their homes.

People are stuck in their homes and won't consider a fix-up because Gene Ricciardi and Mayor Tom Murphy raised the deed-transfer tax. They've been going the wrong way. And, those acts are "clueless" when it comes to what is really the best behavior.

If people (from hillside to South Side, throughout District 3 and the rest of the region) want a better neighborhood and life for themselves and their kids, they should tell city council, the school board, and county council -- NO MORE TIFs. End of story.

David Matter and the Urban Development Authority -- if you can't build a building without a TIF, then don't build it.

Then, call me, I'll get you a sign for your front window. I'll get you a button for your coat or hat. Then -- elect me.

As the ninth person on city council, I won't be able to put an end to all TIFs. I've been calling for an end to all TIFs for years. However, we'll send a message. And, I won't, like Bill Peduto, play a game of 30-questions with developers and authorities.

Bill Peduto is going to think about how to vote for the TIF after he gets the answers to the 30 questions he put on the table. The TIF already got preliminary approval from the council. Sigh.

We have to take back our city by going after the real solutions. We have to have the perspectives to see what's really going on.

The big deals items are not going to be talked about by the others on the campaign trail. I'm going to talk about what really matters and people understand this.

Now to run to the swim pool.......