A few weeks ago I went to a city council candidate debate held at the Homewood branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. The wonderful event was hosted by a black media organization.
More than 10 people entered the race. This event gave a clear understanding of the candidates who wanted to be the city council member for district 9.
Three frames are posted below. First is the opening statements of those who took the stage. The opening statements were uploaded to both Rauterkus.blip.tv and YouTube.com/rauterkus. Part 1 covers questions 1, 2 and 3. Part 2 covers questions 4 and beyond.
YouTube is rejecting the files because of length. So, all have been put at Rauterkus.blip.tv.
Another candidate, David Adams, was at the event. However he is NOT a Democrat. He is expected to join the race for the general election. More on that effort shortly.
Comments welcome.
Inside baseball comments from Mark Rauterkus:
The incumbent, Twanda Carlisle, did not show up. The event organizers had expected her to attend. I scolded her at the next city council meeting for skipping the event. Debate participation is an important component of a functional system of democracy, in my humble opinion.
Randall Taylor, a member of the Pgh Public School Board, is in the race but he came at the very end. He might have given one answer and closing statements. His late arrival was what it was.
Rachael Cooper, 22, a graduate from Howard University, would go on to win the D party endorsement. But, she didn't get her financial disclosure forms filed by the deadline and the judge would toss her off the ballot. She has a strong voice and was impressive to watch.
Rev. Ricky Burgess has plenty of community experiences. He made a few home runs within his statements including one about "land." That snip of video would be part of a highlights film, if I ever had the time to prepare that. Burgess is the front runner going into the primary election because he was the victor of the second D-party endorsement vote.
Ora Lee Carroll is super strong on family. She also put out a rather strong call to the others for cooperation. She was looking for loyalty and seemed a bit bent out of shape that there were so many on the stage. She knows that it will take a bit of teamwork to unseat the existing councilperson.
Eric -- or is it Erik -- may have pulled out of the race and is offering help to another candidate.
Everyone on the stage did a good job. Stepping up is a hard task. I'm not going to fuss about what was said to a great degree. First, lets just celebrate the will of the participants to mount a campaign against a sitting member of city council.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Thanks for posting this. It was my first time seeing all of the candidates in a forum like this.
I have to say, Rachel Cooper was impressive. She brought alot of energy to her answers, and, probably would have brought alot of energy to that office. Too bad she was stricken from the ballot.
It semeed that all of the candidates have a commitment to the community through their individual experiences.
Of the remaining candidates in the race, Rev. Burgess came across the best. Eric Smith didnt seem quite ready for prime time. I couldnt help but to get the feeling that Mrs. Carroll wouldnt bring the fresh ideas and new energy that the district needs.
I think Leah Kirkland needs a bit more polishing, but she has a good future ahead of her.
I expected Mrs. Ginyard to come across better, because she has the political experience from the last time she ran against Mrs. Carlisle. However, at times, it seemed she was like a deer in the headlights.
This will be an interesting race.
Thank for your honest opnions of the candidates. I have to agree with you concerning Ms. Ginyard, however I do know that she had been recovering from an illness during the early part of the campaign. Maybe her performance reflected it. I still think that she will make an excellent council representative based on her political experience.
Post a Comment