Downtown housing in need of boost, but how?

City Councilmembers say, "Pick our cherries."

It is bad economic policy, and bad progressive policy, to discount to our most valued assets so the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

City Councilman Bill Peduto has never seen a tax break that was big enough. Bill Peduto wants to take our most valued assets and diminish that tax burden so as to put a heavy tax on the neighborhoods. Bill Peduto is okay with policies that make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

Downtown housing in need of boost, but how?A debate on how to spur the emerging Downtown housing market is set to start today in Pittsburgh City Council.

On one side is Councilman William Peduto, who wants to replace the project-by-project tax breaks with a blanket abatement for most new construction. He's won some backing from Downtown advocates and developers.

Of course Peduto has won agreement with the downtown developers. They are the rich. They are the ones who pay into campaign fundraisers and go to $1,000 a plate events at The Rivers Club.

They drive the Pgh Downtown Partnerships so that they can get wi-fi on the sidewalk cafe meanwhile the kids in the neighborhoods who could USE wi-fi for homework, at home, can't.

They want to pick our cherries. They want to put in wi-fi coverage only in downtown hot spots. They want to ignore the neighborhoods. They want to give bigger tax breaks to the super rich. They want to subsidize the areas that don't need tax breaks. They want to put new tax breaks on places when the old tax breaks expire.

Instead, you need to tax the land. That's the policy of our great history that has given us affordable housing and downtown density. That's the policy that would make for a new revival in the city, the county and the region -- with Pittsburgh being a home to new development and new economic prosperity -- for everyone.

Equity matters. So, you don't allow a downtown deals to take root. You insist upon everyone being equal. You insist that wi-fi goes everywhere, or not at all.

You don't widen the digital divide as Peduto is trying to do.

You don't sit there at the table with a grin and say, 'community has been at the table' yet community is getting the shaft. Being at the table is one thing. Getting served is another. And getting the bill is yet another. They'll put the citizens at the table, not serve them, and have them pay because we've been at the table.

They get to pick the cherries -- they get the sweetheart deal -- they get to live off of foundation money -- they get to make tax breaks, again, for downtown deals that didn't work the last time -- and WE, the taxpayers and neighborhood workers get to pay the deal.

Here is the table.....

See that foot in the upper left part of the photo. That's how people vote, with their feet. Have a seat at this table. Pick up the bill, taxpayers. Service not required nor expected.

Suggested fixes: I'm not in favor of subsidized housing for rich people downtown with subsidized parking for their rich cars.

I'm not in favor of new planning groups to gather at the table set by city hall but leave out citizens, schools, taxpayers and people like me who represent the opposition. They can hatch up spledid plans -- but they need to be part of the city.

I'm not in favor of doing downtown plans when the city can't get flood control in other sections of the city, such as Hays. City needs to do the hard work that needs to be done to fix things that need to be fixed -- first.

I'm not in favor of doing TIF deals -- ever. So, let's agree to not do any TIF deals first and then let's do our best to figure out how we can set the TIF ceiling to ZERO. These new efforts from Petudo are needed now and are being put forth because the city is at its TIF limit. The tool box is spent and new tools and new city spending is needed by big spending.