Message to City Council on Sept. 26, 2007

Raw video of my message to Pittsburgh City Council, September 26, 2007. Talk begins under protest as there were only four in the room as the meeting began. As I was talking, a fifth member of council arrived. Five are needed to make a quorum.

Mentioned ethics, Jim Motznik, a DVD gift, education, schools and campaigns.

Quote: I've been filing a few ethics complaints. I'd hate to have reasons to file some more.

The Ethics Hearing Board has been having a hard time getting a quorum for their meetings. (Last months meeting did not happen as not enough members showed up. Many meetings were missed in the past because members of the Ethics Hearing Board were not showing up to do their duties.

In my talk, I call out to the members of the Ethics Hearing Board to show up for the October meeting as they have some work to do.

Message to the members of the Ethics Hearing Board -- "Come on down!"

Next meeting of the Ethics Hearing Board is posted on the second Friday of October, October 12. See the Google calendar.

I care a great deal about schools and lifelong learning. City Council and the City Controller could do a lot for education and citizen learning, as well as schools.

The decline of the city has a lot to do with the condition of our schools. As childrens get older, families often move out of the city as the oldest child hits 5th, 6th and 7th grades. Middle schools are "iffy" in the city. The high school are worse.

I was hopeful that the new high school reform agenda would talk about high schools. I've been disappointed, sadly.

We need to fix Pittsburgh by growing a new generation of competitive students. They need to be part of a region that has opportunities and prosperity. These kids are in our schools now. They are precious and the kids are the key to Pittsburgh's future.

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