kdka.com - Reviews Mixed For Ravenstahl's Year In Office Reviews Mixed For Ravenstahl's Year In Office (KDKA) PITTSBURGH He never expected to be mayor so soon, but from his first hours in office, Luke Ravenstahl was determined to demonstrate he was up to the job.Luke has stepped to the plate.
That must be the only highlight, other than time with stars and celebs.
Determination. Keep on plugging.
Humm...
Budget and safer streets are the only props even Luke can claim for himself.
If Luke is going to get rewarded for determination and keeping on keeping on -- then this is good news for me. There are few that 'plug along' as I do. I've been running for office since 2001. I've been calling for public hearing in city council chambers, fighting the growth of UPMC, since 1999.
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I was troubled when JD said Luke claims he accomplished a balanced budget and safer streets -- but these are political questions that the voters will decide in November.
Really? There are no metrics we can use to determine this? Even our final judgement might be some shade of gray, can't they get us started on coming to a fact-based conclusion?
Luke's budget will be this year's budget. And, that process is just about to begin.
Last year's budget was Bob's.
As to crime stats: This is one reason why I want to become controller. The stats stink. The delivery and communication of the stats to the citizens and greater community stinks too.
When looking at the stats, much does not get reported -- even domestic violence among police officers households. Right?
And, stats need to be put on benchmarks next to overall regional, state, and national trends.
When the economy is good -- crime can dip. This happened with Tom Murphy's era in one cycle. He took great credit for a dip in crime -- but there was a national dip. And, the city's average was just that -- average with the rest of the nation.
So, the metrics are scant. And, those in office today don't have the brains to unravel what is there, call for better research and reporting tools in the future, nor make the insight available in a digested-bite-sized evaluation to the greater community with communication skills.
And, furthermore, the Police have some neighborhood crime stats, for instance. But, they did NOT want to give those numbers out to citizens. But, they were okay with them going to business owners. This has unfolded with South Side's NAN (Neighborhood Awareness Network).
Many in power positions feel okay with closed and secret communications. I don't. I want open and honest talk, data, tools, and content. Even the Ethics Hearing Board sent a secret letter to Luke and he felt okay with that and didn't even open it up to public views -- until we pushed.
Crime data is much the same, sadly.
Elect a Libertarian with open-source thinking -- and things would change.
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