Pittsburgh mayor vetoes campaign finance limit bill - Pittsburgh Business Times:

The expected veto by Luke Ravenstahl o campaign finance reform arrived. I asked via a note to the mayor for him to to sit with me and consider some counter-proposals to come along with his veto. I didn't want him to veto it. And, even if he signed the bill, he could have offered further, different suggestions for election reform.

The mayor has nothing to say, except offer four letters?

Pittsburgh mayor vetoes campaign finance limit bill - Pittsburgh Business Times:: A bill that would have limited political contributions to candidates for public office in Pittsburgh was vetoed Monday by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

Pittsburgh City Council last week voted 5-4 to limit candidates for a city office to a $2,000 donation from an individual and $5,000 from a group, corporation or union.

But Ravenstahl rejected the bill, which Councilman Bill Peduto, the measure's primary sponsor, said was disappointing.

'This is just emblematic of a backward thinking, old-school political town, and it's embarrassing, frankly, that Pittsburgh can't enact progressive legislation like almost every other city and state in this country,' he said.

'(Ravenstahl) said this isn't real reform. (Then) why was it supported by Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, Democracy Rising, and other reform-minded organizations?

'This has been in process for five months, and the mayor never spoke a word until he vetoed it,' Peduto said.

A spokeswoman for Ravenstahl did not immediately return a call for comment.

Update:

The Trib says that the veto came with a four page memo. I would love to see it. I'll post it here as soon as I get a copy.

Ravenstahl vetoes campaign finance limits - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "'The ordinance before me is fraught with problems,' Ravenstahl, whose recent mayoral campaign benefited from unregulated contributions, wrote in a four-page veto message to council members. 'It provides an unfair competitive advantage for the wealthy and will have a chilling effect on the labor movement.'"