Mark Sammartino, recent candidate for office of the Pgh Federation of Teachers, may have written in an email:

This got sent as an email and I think it is legit.

I cannot begin to express my appreciation to all of the PFT Members who have given me, and the entire TFC Slate, such incredible support over the past year. I am honored to have had the opportunity to meet and talk with so many of you. I have learned a lot about your thoughts and concerns with respect to the PFT’s role in supporting you and I will continue to share your opinions at Executive Board Meetings. Additionally, I want to congratulate Nina, Jason Bell, and the members of the CCEU Slate who won positions on the Executive Board.

I am obviously disappointed at the results of the election; however, I do respect the membership’s decision. I am dismayed at the paltry vote total. Approximately 50% of our members did not vote. I cannot fathom this. The source of my frustration isn’t that I believe that I may have won with better participation; rather, I am amazed at the apathy of our colleagues. For the PFT to provide strong representation for its members we must have full participation in our union. Both the CCEU Slate and the TFC Slate sent out several mailings informing our members about their options. The fact that 50% of us didn’t participate is inexcusable.

Throughout the campaign the TFC Slate has been talking about the importance of the membership’s opinion and solidarity. Now that the election is over we all need to do everything we can to unite our membership. This process must include seeking out the 50% of members who didn’t vote, find out the source of their apathy, and get them involved. Our profession continues to be under attack by a plethora of groups. For us to defend our rights, educate the public on the true aspects of our jobs, and protect our members, we must be united. This doesn’t mean that we will blindly follow where the Executive Board leads; it means we must participate fully in our Union and ensure that our elected leaders take us down a path that is dictated by the membership. I am very hopeful and optimistic that Nina will be responsive to the membership and lead us down a path that is dictated by the members.

Once again the TFC Slate and I would like to thank you for your support and encouragement. We ask that you not only continue your participation in our Union but that you increase it.

Sincerely,

Mark Sammartino

Stand up and cheer, except at your own kid's high school graduation

So sad. Gotta read this load of crap.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/05/12068135-sc-mom-busted-at-kids-graduation-i-cheered-for-my-baby-and-i-got-the-cuffs?lite

Now that's Drama! Pittsburgh High School kids got a taste of bigots in the Culture District

Link to a story in the school newspaper about the CLO treatment of a high school theater group at the awards night.

http://www.obamaeagle.org/top-stories/2012/06/05/obama-drama-voices-protest-over-gene-kelly-awards/

I'm proud that the school newspaper did such an article.

Tweet it!

Update:

A friend posted speculation that this will all be worked out and that the article will be taken down from the website. My reply is different. I said, "No way will the article be taken down from the school paper. That would be more of an outrage than the crap the kids experienced in the Cultural District that day.

Campus Crime poster

Presented By: Online Colleges Blog

Blast from the past: Neat idea wrote the P-G

Once upon a time, the Post-Gazette reported:

City campaign finance reform

Speaking of meetings and speeches, council's public hearing on member William Peduto's campaign finance reform legislation is set for 2 p.m. next Tuesday.

For those of you who can't wait for an earnest discussion of campaign donation caps and pre-campaign contribution limits, here's a neat idea former council candidate Mark Rauterkus dropped on Early Returns today:

Why not convince a bank to set up special political campaign accounts that anyone with an Internet browser can check in on whenever they want? The city could then compel all candidates for its offices to use such accounts for all of their campaign activity, making all contributions and expenses public instantly, rather than disclosing them only a few times a year in paper records filed on the sixth floor of the County Office Building.

Mr. Rauterkus said he presented the idea to a citizens committee on campaign finance that Mr. Peduto convened, and you can bet he'll be back at the public hearing.

This blog was written by Post-Gazette Staff Writers Rich Lord and Ed Blazina.

Idea is still valid.

Consider the saga that comes with John Edwards and his political mess with a lover and donations. If he had an OPEN PAC that everyone could witness as money flowed into and out of it, then he would not be in trouble today.

I don't know all the details of the case, but it seems to me there are two points in time when money can be diverted: Income to the candidate and expenses from the candidate. The money is either coming or going and one or two of those actions can lead to serious trouble.

Edwards must have taken money that wasn't document and reported. Did he get money as a personal loan? Then that money would be hidden from the PAC. But, those who give the money would know it wasn't posted in his OPEN PAC. They'd see it was cashed and posted to some other account, not his OPEN PAC, where all can see the deposits and payments. The other time when sins can occur with the money is when it is spent. As he spent money on expenses that were not ethical, in an OPEN PAC, all could see it and then raise red flags.

"Candidate Edwards, what about yesterdays payment to your mistress? Was she really worth that amount?"

PSU predictions N@

Do the victims expand (be it at a much smaller measure) to include the 55 men on the football team today, and the 20 woman volleyball squad in 2014 if $20-M evaporates at PSU because of an abrupt removal of people due to a wicked backlash?

It is an honest question.

An airplane pilot can be pulled out of the drivers seat because a co pilot some years ago became an accused rapist. But there is a full plane of different people still in flight. Auto pilot can't land that jumbo jet with confidence. We have time, space and relationship problems and these matters need to be measured in real time.

My guess is Jo Pa is in the press box on Saturday in Nebraska and is not on the sidelines or even in the stadium the final two regular season games. He will get to talk to the team a few more times. He will get to game prep with film and such. All the assistants will be gone after the regular season. A bowl game might be declined. Who in the world hires the next staff is for another day.

Statement to the PPS School board from A.W.

Annette S. Werner PURE Reform

I'm here to talk about the proposed sale of the Schenley building.

The Schenley athletic addition - pool and gym- are asbestos free.

Again, the pool and gym added to Schenley in 1987 do not have asbestos plaster.

That is important information, because pools and gyms are of course very expensive. The district said the cost of just a new gym for Miller is $8M- and that would be a K-8 gym. The Schenley addition, which cost over $9M, would cost $18M in today's dollars.

It is bad enough to sell an $18M plus asset for 2M. Soon, however, we will be talking about money the district will need to spend to purchase what it just sold. The athletic facilities at U Prep are not suitable for a high school and not comparable to those enjoyed by other high school students in the district. Eventually it will become necessary to remedy the situation by adding new sports facilities, at great expense.

With the current state of the budget it will be difficult to roll in a wasteful expense unnoticed. There will be consequences in terms of higher taxes, more crowded classrooms, or both, and then repercussions in terms of enrollment and decisions people make about whether to live and locate businesses in the city. There are plenty of examples of urban school districts that ignored these considerations and have never recovered. Pittsburgh is not immune to these problems.

Now is the time to look ahead and prevent these unpleasant consequences. Put a padlock on the classroom portion of the Schenley building and preserve the very valuable sports facilities for PPS students. Maintenance costs of retaining the building can most likely be offset by fees for making the building available to other schools and organizations.

Looking beyond just this one building, insist on a realistic calculation of renovation costs when schools are closed or consolidated, and open those calculations to public scrutiny. Consider also the loss of options for the future when schools and plans don't turn out as expected. At some point we are going to have to take a good honest look at how the experiments of the last 6 years have turned out and one way or another, changes will need to be made; the only question is how much it will cost us.

Third letter on this blog about the sell off of PPS school assets

October 20, 2011

Dear General Wagner,

I am writing you today as a citizen, and former Pittsburgh Public Schools Board Member, to express my great concern about the sale of a public asset. I am writing about the proposed sale of the former Florence Reizenstein Middle School to the development company Walnut Capital. I believe that this sale would constitute an irresponsible stewardship of public assets by the Pittsburgh School Board and Administration. And that it should be stopped for the following reasons:

1)      According to Allegheny County Assessment Office the Building and Land is worth $22,920,500.00

2)      Sole Bidder bid $5,700,000.00

3)      Bidder announced plans for $119,000,000.00

4)      Bidder has history of seeking tax exemptions, thereby reducing or eliminating tax revenues to City, State, and School District.

5)      There was only ONE Bidder

6)      Bidding process was "fast-tracked". A shorter bidding process from other buildings for sale.

7)      Property is within an area (East Liberty) that has seen great economic investment in the last 10 years(A Target store opened 3 months ago)

8)      Board did not properly (only locally) advertise this property for sale.

9)      Bidder developed property across the street from school.

10)   Property not appraised by a least 3 appraisers.

11)   School building only 30 years old.

12)   School building is used for many community activities.

13)   Building is modern facility with large gymnasium, pool, and air conditioning.

 

I believe that this property should remain a school. There is currently one proposed charter school for East End of Pittsburgh with of others likely. I believe the property's continued use as a school is highly possible and, most likely in the future, necessary.

 

Furthermore, the Reizenstein building is a valuable asset to the East End of Pittsburgh community. This building, because of its central location and access to public transportation is a natural meeting place. Its gymnasium and pool are used by many groups and organizations. It even housed the Pittsburgh Public Schools"Summer Dreamers" education program for hundreds of students.

The taxpayers of the city have invested tens of millions of dollars in this building and property. They should have every right to expect the property to be put to the best use for students and, if this property is to be sold, to receive the maximum amount possible. This sale should be halted for the purpose of determining if this has occurred.

Looking back over the years, I also believe the handling of this property to be a prima facie case(s) of, not only wasting precious tax dollars, but of NO fiscal planning by the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

I placed before the Pittsburgh School Board in April 2008 a resolution to cancel the planned move of students from the closed Schenley High School to the Reizenstein Building. $10 million dollars was slated to be spent to make the facility more appropriate for High Schools students. However, the Board knew at that time the move would be temporary because Business Affairs Director stated "that to make building permanent home for High School students would cost $40 million in upgrades". I asked Board to move those students to an existing High School. The Pittsburgh School Board voted my resolution down. In May of this year, the Pittsburgh School Board voted to send Reizenstein students to that very same existing High School. Yet, it does not end there.

The East End of Pittsburgh is an area that is experiencing great commercial and residential development (Coincidentally, the bidders for Reizenstein are proposing a $119 million dollar residential development). The communities of Garfield, East Liberty, and Highland Park are all doing significant building of new homes. Even the struggling communities of Larimer and Homewood have plans and funding   and are beginning long overdue community re- development. We are already seeing many new families moving into the East End of Pittsburgh, and I believe many, many more will follow. What if the School District of Pittsburgh finds, in a few short years, that there is a need to build a new school for the new families? A new school will cost at minimum $40 million dollars. The East End also has many schools that are over 90 years old. How long will it be before it becomes cost prohibitive to maintain and upgrade these buildings? How long will it be before these buildings are obsolete?  The Reizenstein property would provide a large parcel of flat land in an attractive location. If a new building is ever constructed the existing sports facilities might well be incorporated at significant savings. The lack of planning may cost the taxpayers of the city and state tens of millions of dollars.

 

I am writing to ask your office to intervene and investigate the sale of this building. I believe that tens of millions of public dollars are at stake. Yet, most importantly we are facing the loss of a building that has helped to enrich the educational experience of thousands of students. I believe that a building with excellent amenities make for a well-rounded education.  Pittsburgh has long believed that well maintained facilities are important to a child's education. We have long believed in the importance of pools for our children to learn to swim and large gyms and fields for them to play and grow strong. This current Pittsburgh School Board has forgotten this. My hope is that you will us here in Pittsburgh to remind them.

 

Sincerely,

 

Randall Taylor

Former Pittsburgh School Board Director, District #1

(412) 867-8170

Google did a great job at migration from Google Video to YouTube, on the second attempt

Way to go Google. Well done. It took two attempts, but the final migration from the Google Video asset (closing) to YouTube was fantastic.

I've moved 17 videos from past years to YouTube.

Back in the day, YouTube videos had to be 10-minutes in length or less. Now I can upload longer videos there.

There was a simple button that was put onto the Google Video dashboard and bang, the videos jumped to YouTube.

Thanks!

Be sure to visit: http://YouTube.com/rauterkus.

Speakers debate future of Civic Arena

I got my photo in the paper, standing in the background of this shot.

Speakers debate future of Civic Arena: "Nearly 50 people had their say over the future of the Civic Arena today, but in the end no clear consensus emerged as to whether the silver-domed landmark should stay or go."

Churn, baby, churn. That's all they offer.

Progress is 1 + 1 = 2.

Non progress is +1 - 1 = same.

Where is the promised "practice ice" that the Penguins want? Hey, let's use the Civic Arena as a practice ice.

Penguins, real penguins, are great parents. They treat their offspring with great care and loads of attention. Pittsburgh should be known as a great place to parent. And the Civic Arena, as a new civic center, can be a proud parenting place. We can go there to celebrate high school graduations. We can go there to watch high school scholastic sports, from basketball to ice hockey. We can go there with our kids and see "The Wiggles" -- so that there is a low-overhead venue, unlike the Peterson Event Center where the tickets are $77 each. I'm not that into The Wiggles at $77 per ticket.

Tractor pulls, monster truck events, circus acts, dirt-bike shows, and staging areas for G-20 whatnot can happen at the Civic Arena -- where we don't need to worry much about the leather seats and there is no demand for luxery box seating.

There are plenty of different uses for the 3 acres that presently occupy the civic arena footprint that are beyond what David Moorhouse can imagine.

The SEA board is like the hired real estate broker that the property owners employ to supervise the assets. The owner is the people, the public. The asset is much like an apartment in that a tennant can't move out of the rented space and tell the owner that the former space rented and occupied by the old tennant must be torn down. That's crazy. That's what Moorehouse thinks should be done. If the real estate broker, something that Wayne Fontana knows about, does not do a good job, -- then the owners are going to fire them. Senator Fontana knows a pinch about being a landlord as he hung out in office were business was done in the past. Perhaps he can make history by being such a poor stewart so as to give the ex-tennant the deed to the property after moving out.

The Penguins are done with the Civic Arena. They've moved on. Fine. But we have not said it is time to destroy the arena, the Penguins said it. We want to keep the Civic Arena. We want to put the asset to good use in the future. We want to take our kids and their kids there.

The Penguins don't want the Civic Arena around because it detracts from the value of the Consol Energy Park -- as they think a victory comes from subtraction. That's more crazy thought.

The Civic Arena can be a practice ice for the Pens.

The Civic Arena can be a place for over-flow crowds as the Pens hold community celebrations that expand beyond the walls of the Concol Energy Center.

The Civic Arena can be a place to go to watch Pens AWAY GAMES.

The Civic Arena can be a place to go to high school graduations, and other less important but still necessary community events. The Pens can collect money from parking, meals and entertainment for the patrons not directly associated with season tickets.

There are many hockey nights in Pittsburgh, but every night isn't a hockey night. And, some of those nights, days, mornings and even while hockey nights are in progress can be civic times at other places.

3 wounded in Homewood when shooting erupts near football game

Ugh.

3 wounded in Homewood when shooting erupts near football game: "Hundreds of people were gathered around Stargell Field when the shooting occurred, watching a football game between teenagers from Homewood and the Hill District. Game organizers stressed that the shooting had nothing to do with the game, and said no players were hurt.
'This is a positive place for people to come,' said Monté Robinson, president of Homewood Community Sports. Mr. Robinson said hundreds of people gather to watch the weekend games.
'What it is, this little league is so popular in the neighborhood that everyone comes out,' he said. 'We do well for the most part, considering the balance of stuff going on in the neighborhood.
'It was an unfortunate incident. It was isolated,' he said."

Ranting at PureReform's blog and a slew of questions from A+ Schools

The signal to noise ratio isn't what is hoped for nor is it what is needed in terms of the discussions and fight for the best solutions for Pittsburgh Public Schools.

http://purereform.blogspot.com/2010/07/schools-questions-plans-for.html

Folks, ... here we go again, around and around. There is a lot of suffering going on. And, sadly, I feel that most of these discussions are just batting at the leaves on the tree of the suffering.

Tuesday night's (community meeting) featured talk of 'power.' Folks from Homewood attended and it was lead by Randall Taylor and Dr. Barnett.

Golly. The power isn't with the people, of course. But, before power is taken and earned -- we've got to have some conversations that get to the roots of the problems. Certain issues matter. Ranting wildly has fleeting value in terms of fixing system-wide problems.

How. Why. Those make harder questions. That discussion takes discipline to occur. Yep, we also need to be speaking of lack of discipline in the schools' classrooms and hallways. But this lack of discipline needs attention as we meet in community and online too.

The personality and "who" of Mr. Roosevelt is what it is. To dwell and have the conversation stuck on him is to choose weakness. It was even said to me by a few that they like the idea of 'single gender' but they are against it because it is of Mark Roosevelt's administration. Say what? Go figure.

We got to dance on the problems and stomp them out of the plans.

We know a single-gender public school approach is blowing into town through Westinghouse.

Even these A+ questions, nice as they are, amount to more spinning in circles.

In my not so humble opinion, we -- (whole community of caring stewards for strong public schools) -- MUST put our leverage to play in meaningful spots so as to have a tactical impact upon the outcomes.

I sense that there is way too much of the reactionary bumbling around from citizens.

Precision would serve us better.

Here is a question: Why do we need feeder patterns for high school students? Can we get rid of feeder patterns for high school students come January 2011? With the end of feeder patterns for high school students, what are the ways that OVER SUBSCRIBED SCHOOLS are going to determine who gets admission.

Presently, for what it is worth, the only schools in PPS where there is a demand for spots is at CAPA (grades 6-12, Creative and Performing Arts School now located Downtown) -- and Sci Tech. With Sci-Tech, they have a lottery. It is harder to get into the grades of 6, 7 and 8 at Sci-Tech as they have smaller classes in those years. And, some in the early years are getting asked to leave. So, there are more spaces in Sci-Tech, by design, at the grade 9 and above stages.

So, if an extra 300 people want to attend Allderdice, as is the big fear from elsewhere, but I expect it to be a non-issue, then how does the district handle that problem? Is it POLITICAL CLOUT for string pullers to get kids into Allderdice?

I think Allderdice, if it gets way more popular, could design a few admission requirements in the weeks and months to come that are fair and public. Then we can discuss those.

For example, if a student in 8th grade wants to go to Allderdice in 9th grade, that student will need to make an application and not have missed 20 days of school in the 8th grade. If demand is greater, perhaps more than 10 days away from school in 8th grade will be a kiss of death for admission to Allderdice as a 9th grader.

Perhaps students will need to have a letter, or two, of reference from a teacher or two from grades 6, 7 or 8 to get into Allderdice.

With CAPA, there is an audition process.

With the I.B. School, students need to have good grades and have a good grasp on a world language (either French, German, Spanish, or Japanese). Those that enter the I.B. program, in middle school years and in high school years, have to have some education/understanding of a language as all the students at that school have been with strong languages.

We might need to have an application process for other schools that can't expand to match the demand.

But more to the point, if Allderdice is way more popular of a choice for a school, then Allderdice can expect more from the students that attend there. If there is trouble from a student, and homework isn't getting done, fights, whatever -- then that student can be removed from a popular school and another admitted.

Most of all, if there is a demand for an extra set of seats at Allderdice, then the school should expand. Perhaps some 12th grade students would like the option of being on a later schedule -- or something. Not only can more students fit into the building, but the building could grow.

In other schools, if there is less of a demand, that school will shrink. So be it.

Let the people vote with their feet in their choice of schools at the high school level.

But, for now, people, let's find the few important issues that should be put front and center -- so that the board can manage the policy and do its job -- and the plans now on the table can make better sense in their eventual application.

---

Upate: Part 2

The aim is for good schools to get better. That is one goal. The good schools are not yet good enough. (Some have told me that NONE of the PPS schools are worth a darn, but I don't buy fully into that position.)

With a no feeder pattern HS policy, any kid who desires can get into a good school.

Now we might have a good school or two or three -- (CAPA, IB, +), BUT only CERTAIN KIDS can get into them. (via audition @CAPA, language @IB, lottery @ SciTech).

Excellence for all.

Not, good for some.

Then, without the feeder patterns, the not-so-good schools now will get worse in that they will empty of students who want to get an education at a place that fits them.

Lets say that NOBODY would choose to go to DROP OUT FACTORY #1 -- then it would close for a lack of students or else the PPS would work VERY HARD to re-do the school into an attractive model to retain and recruit students from the neighborhood as well as from throughout the city.

Remember, all the schools in the city are less than half of what they used to be. Ten thousand students are now absent from PPS -- forever -- with no end in sight.

So, people are really leaving the city already and have been.

The model of subtraction of students (as students vote with their feet) and closing more schools with new forced feeder patterns is keeping Pgh on the downward spiral. It is all about the management of decline.

PPS has been closing schools anyway. I say that some schools might need to close if they are doing a poor job and none choose to attend there.

Schenley's closure was a forced one as people wanted to go there. That is the wrong way to close a school. PPS can shift feeder patterns and do what it wants.

Given this real world example of Westinghouse with its single gender classrooms, what if they built it and nobody showed up? FINE. To another degree, what about U-PREP. How many would be there if it was an OPTION among all the other schools throughout the city.

If PERRY HS gets its act together -- it could be the hot school for students as it was in the past. Kids all around the city wanted to go to Perry and cried for a week if they didn't get in back in late 80s, early 90s. If Perry flounders as a school, it will drain itself of its students / customers.

If CAPA HS is in such demand, why not expand it? Recently it absorbed more grades 6-7-8 with the closing of another high demand Rodgers. That was a move and not an expansion. If CAPA is working, -- it has the best scores - then DUPLICATE it. Replicate it. Repeat what works.

I would not have a problem turning Westinghouse into CAPA ver 2. More might go there, with a proven model, than would go to single gender classrooms.

We need the district to act in a way that is more about customer service. FEEDER PATTERNS prevent the consumer centric thought cycle from being a part of the PPS culture.

Feeder patterns allow the district to yank the students and families around at will, and on a whim because some are not going to move from the house they live in nor lie about residency.

Finally, if we give folks who buy a house in the area of a school, say, DROP OUT FACTORY #1, the option of sending their student to ANY SCHOOL in the city, then there is HOPE that the neighborhood would get new investment. City-wide benefit occur with the ending of the feeder patterns. DEPRESSED areas can't rebound in Pittsburgh while PPS forces kids into schools that are DROP OUT FACTORIES or are NOT a good fit for that student.

New investments into the city and our neighborhoods can come. But, new investment money demands guarantees of positive public fixtures. Investments will stay away from building upon a foundation of shifting sands. Those feeder patterns, and their shifts, are like shifting sands to investment money.

I predict an economic revival in the city-wide housing market with the removal of the PPS FEEDER PATTERN policy.

---

Wonderful Q from the thread at the other blog:

Where do the struggling students go when all the competive schools are filled up? Prison high, or we don't care anymore high?


Humm. We care.

We need to work hard to make sure that the 'competitive schools' are able to expand. Then they won't fill up.

Building capacity (bricks/mortar) isn't the real issue. PPS has buildings and plenty of room.

(Past rant) Expansion of 'competitive schools' was one reason I wanted CAPA to expand into the other floors of its downtown building -- but to NOT fill with grades 6, 7 and 8. A bigger CAPA as a downtown HS with expansion made more sense.

Then PPS would have needed to make TWO middle school replacements for RODGERS, such as at Knoxville (south) and another East school if not a fix-up of Rodgers.

EXPAND what works!

We should be talking about a CAPA-styled program moving into Westinghouse, given that CAPA is popular and it is working. How about a CAPA with sports, and even a CAPA where the kids get to switch their major if they want or a CAPA where the kids get a MINOR. Then CAPA Downtown can be specialized and CAPA east (at Westinghouse) can be more well rounded.

But, again, there should be no feeder patterns.

The IB School needs to be able to expand too, and with the move to Peabody, that might be better able to occur. But really, an expansion onto Reizenstein building with a second gym, auditorium and cafeteria would have been more ideal than uprooting and fitting into Peabody without windows, etc. The Reizenstein physical space is expandable. New classrooms could be added there are there is plenty of land.

I hear that the sizes per grade at the IB school (Pgh Obama) might have been pushed to 200 as a goal rather than 150 as a limit. ??

There are spaces at IB now -- but students need to want to work hard and have a background of languages before admission.

PPS must allow for expansion without dropping in quality.

A serious issue is "struggling students." Some are smart but don't conform in a specific school setting. They struggle with others. Some do struggle with learning and doing their work so as to advance.

One tactic is a willing transfer while still on good academic / behavior standing. Too often we shift expelled and suspended students from building to building -- AFTER they've blown up / melted down. If PPS didn't force them into a school setting with the feeder pattern enslavery, then they might opt elsewhere once they figure out that 'this place isn't right for me.'

Restarts to different schools while on good terms (and prior visits of consideration) should be encouraged as a way to prevent drop-outs and ejections.

As for PRISON High, we've already got one of those. Is it at capacity? I don't know.

Closed in the past PPS Connelley and closed PPS South Vo Tech were warm, family-like schools that gave support and kept kids in school and became places where kids gravitated too. Those options were places for some who might be called 'pluggers' to flourish. Gone from our landscape, sadly. That 'Gateway School' might be part of the answer too. ??

Getting Communities to Buy into Your Project | Turning Ideas into Action

Golden Rules for an online community:

Getting Communities to Buy into Your Project | Turning Ideas into Action: "On the rules of participation, a couple of examples come to mind. The Gemidiriya project in Sri Lanka has the Golden Rules for Village Organizations and Village Companies. These are:

we must contribute to our development
we must have confidence in ourselves and practice self-help
we are accountable to the village for all our actions
good governance is key to success
let us develop our village step-by-step
cost effectiveness pays
be open and transparent in our dealings
uphold the principles of equity and inclusion
act timely and ensure quality
seek help when required

The Golden Rules were developed with communities through participatory workshops so they resonate with communities. When you visit the project area, you can see the Golden Rules everywhere; they are respected."

Shout it out Tim!

I absolutely support Tim Tebow's right to state his political beliefs loudly and proudly. We should soundly reject the concept that jocks should just "shut up and play."

More from David Z.

Bob Traupman, RIP

Dad, sports fan, friend of kids, caring, businessman, barber.

This is shocking news.

Bob was a new neighbor to the South Side, in a sense. He opened a business on East Carson. He was the one who generally cuts my hair.



The last time I went into the shop he told me a story of walking to a dog owner, stricking up a conversation and then he made it clear that the shit from his animal needed to be pulled off the ground, without question. His kid plays here and for some time, (weeks / years), his habits haven't been appreciated.

He was direct. No nonsense.

Bob is going to be missed, greatly.

Sounds as if he had a massive heart attack. The day before his hands and feet had some swelling. He didn't feel as if he needed to go to see a doctor.

PG obit:

Robert J. Traupman Sr.

TRAUPMAN ROBERT J., SR.
Loving husband, father, son, brother and Barber, unexpectedly on Monday, September 14, 2009. Beloved husband of Julia (Geiger) Traupman; loving father of Gemma C. and Robert J. Traupman, Jr.; son of Ronald D. Traupman, Sr. and Roberta "Bert" (Huber) (Charles) Rodger; brother of Ronald D. (Shelly) Traupman, Jr.; survived also by nieces, nephews and cousins. Friends may call Thursday 2-4 and 6-8pm at O'BRIEN'S, 3724 California at Cooper Aves., N.S. Funeral Service in St. Michael and All Angels Evangelical Lutheran Church Friday, 11am.
www.obriensfh.com

Published in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from September 16 to September 17, 2009. Guestbook.

The video above was from March 2009 when Patrick Dowd was putting price tags on garbage cans.

I am so mad at my city right now, I'll only post this. Do listen. Blast from the past.

In 2001 I ran for Mayor, City of Pittsburgh, in a contested GOP Primary. KDKA TV did a profile on me and my loyal opponent, Professor James Carmine. Here is the audio in an mp3 file for history's sake.

http://blip.tv/file/443401/

Click To Play

The key to understanding my mood is the swimming part. This is the start of summer. The city's ways have not changed. But, the murders have. The outward migration continues.

I seek some cooperation and permission to coach city kids.

Cold Weather Alert

  Drip those sinks!

Running Mate is with a new baby!

Way to go Dave Powell, Chair of the Libertarian Party of Allegheny County. Dave and his wife have a new member to the family.

Anderson Maxwell Powell born 12:30PM 12-16-2008. He's happy at 8 lbs 12 oz, and 21 3/4inches long.

Bravo!

Perhaps in a few years, this Powell child will be a classmate with a peer named Ravenstahl.

My baby is now 11. Happy Birthday Grant.

See another slide show at Grant's blog -- at gRauterkus.blogspot.com.

Wal-Mart worker dies after shoppers knock him down - Yahoo! News

Stay safe out there.

From Mark Rauterkus & Running Mates ponder current events

Wal-Mart worker dies after shoppers knock him down - Yahoo! News: "A worker died after being trampled by a throng of unruly shoppers when a suburban Wal-Mart opened for the holiday sales rush Friday, authorities said.

At least three other people were injured.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., in Bentonville, Ark., would not confirm the reports of a stampede but said a 'medical emergency' had caused the company to close the store, which is in Valley Stream on Long Island."