Kraus is a big disappointment

I didn't even write this:

Councilman Kraus is a big disappointment to me

Now that I have had ample time to grade Pittsburgh City Councilman Bruce Kraus' performance, the only thing that I can conclude is that he has been a big disappointment.

Let's huddle. My comments in plain. The letter-to-editor author in italic.

I worked on Mr. Kraus' campaign thinking he would do a better job than his predecessor Jeff Koch. Was I ever wrong!

To be sure, Jeff Koch was a good fit for a time when Bob O'Connor was going to redd up Pittsburgh. But, that era was so brief. Jeff was in deep trouble without Bob. And, the entire folly of City Hall would change. Same "direction" but different key and different tempo, for sure.

We now have the "great moralizer," "the guardian of community ethics," as a councilperson.

We need a guardian for the community -- in that we need a guardian of freedom, of liberty, of the purse strings. We need to guard our kids too, among a few other precious elements -- like the Constitution. But the guarding is not what he has in mind as to the values I have in mind. Let's elect one guardian of freedom on city council and I'll be much more "secure."

A "my way or the highway" approach to solving public issues.

They think that they have the 'right' now that they won to do what they wish. To the victor goes the spoils so they think.

An arrogance that comes about because only he has the ability to determine what's the right thing to do.

The right thing to do as a citizen and as a government are often much different. Bruce is not acting as an elected official should act. He is worried about a lost week in the fight on rubbish -- and costing us our due process. His behavior is the trash that we should put out for pick-up.

A "crusader" for the public good who assumes that the public good comes to him through some revelation from on high.

Church-going, God-fearing, anointed --- oh, never mind.

An elected official who presumably speaks for his entire constituency not just those who make the most noise.

An office holder, who is supposed to broker differences among all residents, not be a mouthpiece for a select few.

A man who has the time to prowl Carson Street at 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning in search of a sidewalk pizza peddler while crime explodes in other areas of his district.

Bruce's "time" isn't the "problem." His investment of energy is what it is. But, he is batting at the leaves on the tree of suffering. He isn't getting close to the roots of our problems.

An otherwise articulate individual on most issues who remained sphinx-like on when it came to transferring the police station from 18th Street to the Hilltop, afraid to offend anyone.

If you get my point, he isn't articulate. Mush mouthed might fit.

A councilman, who, on his own, decided to sue a major advertising company without getting approval from a majority of city council and then expected the city tax payer to foot his legal bills because he feels he is a majority of one.

And he didn't really understand why or how it all went down around him on that saga.

A public servant who will not take a step across Carson Street to meet with property owners or shop proprietors to get accommodations on the problems that plague Carson Street, while those same business people tip-toe over a property line to sell goods.

Speaking of footwork -- understand that people often vote with their feet. Same too with investments. When projects can't be finished -- except with a lot of red tape navigation and finger wagging -- then the city gets closer to being a ghost town.

Great cities all over the world have tables and chairs on sidewalks; a vibrancy that comes with living in an alive city instead of the sterile suburbs; vendors or street performers providing variety and entertainment so that we all can enjoy the excitement all successful cities deliver.

Some politicians pontificate, some produce. Some are do-gooders some are doers. In each case I prefer the latter.

Great cities are great because they are places where people are free to be themselves and respect is woven throughout. Politicians have to give it to get it. And, acts from government to squash rights, such as property rights, are not to be tolerated.

From texture - misc.

Reminder: Tonight is both trash night and recycling. Let's all take our trash out at the same time as a protest.

Pull out firearms and insert handguns

Tonya Payne, D, member of Pgh City Council, was upset that news leaked from city hall that she was somehow against the proposed lost firearms bill now being discussed and voted upon.

Who leaked the false news? She has her opinions and hunches.

Doug Shields was the one who explained for the push to change the law from 'firearms' to 'handguns.'

A public hearing is expected as is a post agenda.

Question from 5th grader to visiting guest in civic's class: "Mr. Kraus, can you please take away the guns."

The answer should be, "No." It wasn't, I dare say.

Bill Peduto's intent isn't to saber rattle. He wants an enforceable law.

City council is again running out with an attempt with 'over-reaching legislation.'

At least this time, they are holding the proposed bill for community wide discussions. See you then.

More Pittsburgh council members sponsor stolen-gun bill Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Pittsburgh,PA,USA The sponsors are Council President Doug Shields and members William Peduto, Bruce Kraus, Darlene Harris, Jim Motznik, Tonya Payne and Dan Deasy. ...

Pittsburgh Council invites public scrutiny of firearm legislation Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Pittsburgh,PA,USA But Councilman Bill Peduto said that's not the idea. "It's not my intent to just saber rattle. It's my intent to have an enforceable law. ...

Missing cat stirs post-no-bills debate. New champions of US Constitution have 4 legs!

Conventional wisdom says that a dog is man's best friend. Only in Pittsburgh can the four-legged pets be best friends to the US Constitution.

From china - sculpture

Thanks to Bruce Kraus, this is what our city is doing and worrying about.

Missing cat stirs post-no-bills debate: "When John Stocke's cat, Mulva, got away two weeks ago, he put up lost pet signs, hoping the city of Pittsburgh government had decided how to handle fliers for finding Fluffy or Fido.

He soon learned otherwise when, a few days later, a Department of Public Works employee started ripping them down.

'They take 3 percent of my income and spend it obstructing my efforts to find a lost pet?' he fumed. (The city's earned income tax is shared with the school district.) He said he then called the department, and was told he could keep the signs up for just three days.

Furthermore, the start of the weekly city council meetings, Bruce Kraus is keen on putting the cats and dogs of animal shelter at the front of the agenda, before the business of the city and before the citizens have a chance to speak.

Getting the signs torn down is bad -- but wait for the bill to arrive. There can be fines too.

From PPS Safety

I don't want some city employee to be the one who determines the reasonable numbers and durations for signs. If the sign is about fluffy -- okay. If it is about freedom -- then watch out.

So, the public officials are to tolerate some statements, despite the city code's overall ban on posting fliers on public surfaces, but take others to jail. That's a typical Councilman Bruce Kraus' effort.

Lost cat! From china - sculpture

Life is always about an exemption from the bans when the bans are everywhere. Rather than make these exceptions to undo the loss of freedom, it would be refreshing to just propose freedom in the first place. Use what is already in place, at the least.

"There was some miscommunication with these posters," said Mr. Costa of Mr. Stocke's signs.

He said his employees are supposed to remove most fliers. "We do allow lost pet fliers only when they're at intersections," he said. There are two other unwritten rules: "[Do] not blanket the area and don't exceed two-week postings."

Now it is written -- at least in the newspaper and this blog. Unwritten rules from government officials are not healthy.

"A written policy is in the works," he said.

How many exemptions are there?

That could be tricky. In July, Mr. Kraus included a line in a piece of advertising legislation saying that the city's post-no-bills rule "does not prevent the posting of fliers regarding lost pets."

"We had to take it out," he said, because he concluded that the exception would favor one message over others, and could be deemed unconstitutional.

Darn constitution gets in the way of another pea-headed action by some over-reaching legislative do-gooder.

Now we've got constutional champions named "Mochi."

The issue came to the fore when the Shadyside owners of Mochi, a Shiba Inu, were threatened with a fine for posting lost pet signs. The city withdrew the threat, the signs went back up, but the dog was not found.

Mr. Stocke said his friendly, black, white and brown long-haired Mulva has been spotted by someone put on alert by the fliers, but hasn't yet been caught.


Tell Bruce Kraus to put the animal shelter public service announcements at the end of the meetings or at another time.

Reminder, Tonight is trash night

From Mark Rauterkus & Running Mates ponder current events

To my "friends" on the South Side, here is a little clean and green reminder. Tonight is trash night. Put your trash onto the curb for Thursday's early morning pick up.

Life Hint: your landlord may or may not have told you this information about trash collection in the city you now reside. So, figure it out yourself.

Life Hint 2: You don't need to, but it might help matters, if you always took the time to make your bed every morning. You never know when an over-reaching member of council may start to craft legislation about that.

Bill requires landlords to tell tenants about trash collection

Fruitless looks like this:

Bill requires landlords to tell tenants about trash collection Bill requires landlords to tell tenants about trash collection

Sigh.

You can't legislate good behaviors.

As government pushes with legislation -- then people depart. The trash won't go away. Rather, the value in the neighborhood departs.

Mr. Kraus is doing a knee jerk reaction to complaints rather than fixing the problem. Bruce is a great clean-up guy. Mean and green and clean he is. Too bad he doesn't work for Public Works. That's where is talents reside.

Fruitless example 2:

Council today gave final approval to legislation giving the city until Dec. 1 to put in place a system by which landlords can register their units, and then until April 1 for owners of an estimated 62,000 rental units to register and pay. The city missed an earlier set of deadlines to implement a licensing and registration ordinance passed by council in December.

At this time, the city is not ready to receive landlord registrations.

The South Side isn't ready to live under the rule of Martha Stewart either.

Two more lives end by gun violence in city - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Two more lives end by gun violence in city - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Kraus said he is 'sick' over the shootings and said it will take a commitment from churches, community groups, police and government officials to turn around Pittsburgh's 'major problem with gun violence.'

Sick is as sick does.
Lifeguards can't help others if they themselves are sick.
If he is sick, I hope he gets over it quickly. Get well soon Bruce. Seems to me we need more than 'sick.'

Bruce Kraus = Ineffective. Such a failure.

To be sure, the fight isn't over -- yet. But, for now, the 6-0 decision is clearly on the side that is against years of work. All the work is fruitless. Worthless leadership, perhaps.

Panel approves South Side restaurant - Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewPanel approves South Side restaurant

By Jeremy Boren, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Pittsburgh's Planning Commission served a setback Tuesday to South Side residents who have fought to prevent more liquor-serving restaurants and bars from opening in the neighborhood.

"This is a rush to judgment," said Nicholas Kefal, 71, of the South Side. "(The commission) could undercut years of work by the community."

In a 6-0 vote, commission members recommended that the owners of Baba D's, a Mediterranean restaurant in Oakland, be permitted to open with a liquor license in the 2100 block of East Carson Street across from the Carson Towers apartment building. The decision requires City Council's approval.

Councilman Bruce Kraus, who represents the South Side, told the commission the corner already has five liquor-serving establishments and that many of his constituents do not believe a sixth should be allowed.

He read aloud several letters from neighbors opposed to the restaurant owner's request to sidestep an ordinance City Council approved in July 2007 that sought to limit the number of liquor-serving establishments in neighborhoods already packed with them.

The South Side has more than 90 bars and restaurants that serve liquor.

Dourid Aboud, whose family owns the business, said it will be a family-run restaurant, not a rowdy bar. He agreed to stop serving food and liquor at 11 p.m. daily and not to expand seating in the bar area beyond 13.

Some South Side residents at the meeting questioned who would enforce the rules, particularly if the restaurant and its license are eventually sold.

Before the vote, commission member E. Paul Dick cautioned against making an exception for a restaurant "the first time this issue comes up." He abstained from the vote.

In other news, UPMC is shaking in its boots with fears that Bruce Kraus is going to come down and demand that the UPMP South Side Hospital remain open.

Kraus on radio: Pat Ford owes us an explaination

Bruce Kraus of Pgh's City Council was just interviewed on KDKA radio by Marty Griffin about the Pat Ford matter.

Bruce said, "Pat Ford owes us an explanation." "Those (letter of more than a week ago by Mr. Ford about corruption) are very serious allegations."

Others in city hall won't give an interview to Marty for the show. Mayor Ravenstahl took the day off. Doug Shields nor Jim Motznik won't do it either. Michael Lamb, city controller is talking.

The pay off and gag order are bad news. Of course.

But, watch what happens next.

Kraus is deflecting the blame onto Pat Ford.

City controller, Michael Lamb, don't sign the check. Don't pay Pat Ford. Will Michael Lamb stand up and watch our money? Or, will he give it away?

Bob Casey didn't need to make the pay off to the illegal pay raise to the state reps. But he did.

This would never have happened if the law office was terminated.

Michael Lamb, controller, could choke the release of these funds if he was with courage and enough creativity.

For instance, if Mr. Zober wants to pay off Pat Ford, then Mr. Lamb could take the money out of Mr. Zober's pay checks.

Restaurant owners face ban on food sales -- city councilor trying to enforce it

Part 1 about Kraus and his relationship with local investors / business people was in the Pgh City Paper, still out for 2 more days.

Food Fight - South Side restaurant owners say a ban on outside food sales -- and the city councilor trying to enforce it -- are bad for business - News - News - Pittsburgh City Paper - Pittsburgh: "'Why enforce it now?' Obaid asks.

Some say the answer is easy: Councilor Bruce Kraus.

'He's making life miserable for us,' says Mary Tolomeo, a bartender at City Grill, located next door to Obaid's market.

Tolomeo says that in recent weeks, Kraus has warned her that City Grill will be cited if she doesn't move her pizza stand off the sidewalk and inside the restaurant. She says he's even taken pictures of her and other vendors selling on the street.

'It's harassment,' Tolomeo says."

Notice the trend: Bigger government, over-reaching, anti-marketplace, enemy creation, fear establishment, sustained uncertainty, doubtful laws.

Other elements might be part of the trend too.

What do you think?

South Siders urge review panel to reject cafe owner's plan for patio

Part 2:

South Siders urge review panel to reject cafe owner's plan for patio: "City Councilman Bruce Kraus, who represents District 3 and spoke at the meeting, said he did not advocate a position but asked for a resolution that didn't involve the courts.

'I feel a judiciary responsibility to the city to not let it come to litigation,' he said.

Neighborhood residents who serve as the city's historic review monitors spoke against the patio last week. They had opposed the demolition two years ago.

Architect Bob Russ, who serves on the local committee, had defended the neo-Dutch colonial facade of the demolished building as unique and worthy amid an architectural collection that is largely Victorian."

Bruce Kraus won't take a stand other than to wish upon a star and hope that the decision does not come from a person wearing a robe.

Again, what do you think?

Both articles are worthy of a full read. Follow the links.

Ad firm tries anew to light up billboard - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Ad firm tries anew to light up billboard - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review City Councilmen Doug Shields and Bruce Kraus protested the zoning variances, as did Claire Meehan, a resident of The Pennsylvanian, a nearby apartment building. Meehan gave the board a petition with 80 signatures from neighbors who she said oppose the billboard.

'It's a landmark building, and this is the antithesis of what landmark preservation is all about,' Meehan said.

The Grant Street Transportation Center will serve as a parking garage and transit hub with access to a Greyhound bus station and attached Amtrak train station. A dedication for the building is set for Sept. 29, said David Onorato, executive director of the Parking Authority.

A zoning board decision on Lamar's application likely will take at least 12 weeks.

If the variances are denied, Lamar will lose its $1.3 million investment in building the curved board, said Stan Geier, vice president and general manager of Lamar Advertising in Pittsburgh.

Lamar took a gamble of $1.3. That loss is due to Lamar's poor behaviors.

I would love to have the text of the 'objections.'

As Pittsburgh becomes more of a high-risk place for investment, Less and no investment will arrive. Red tape and corruption kill other places.

Give me a "U" -- You are ...

Councilman collecting letters to save UPMC South Side

District 3 Councilman Bruce A. Kraus is continuing to collect letters of support to keep UPMC South Side from closing and being merged into the Uptown campus of UPMC Mercy.
The councilman is collecting the letters which he intends to deliver to UPMC officials at a meeting in the coming weeks. Mr. Kraus said he was pleased with the support and the number of letters he has already received from residents and businesses in the UPMC South Side service area.
Letters of support for having the hospital remain in South Side should be mailed to: Councilman Bruce A. Kraus, 414 Grant St., Room 510, Pittsburgh, Pa 15219, as soon as possible.
UPMC announced plans to close UPMC South Side and transfer in-patient and out-patient services it provides over a period of three to five years. In addition, the Emergency Room will be converted to an urgent care center operating on a reduced schedule
For more information, contact Councilman Kraus office at 412-255-2130.

You are "sick" might be a pun that other bloggers might stoop to deliver to sum up a campaign to save a local hospital. "Heartbroken" might be another.

I'll stick to a classic -- "full of folly."

To tell UPMC that it can't close its South Side Hospital, and put it in a letter, is but a waste of ink and a way to waste valued time.

The real question is what will become of UPMC's facility.

The next real question is what should become of that facility. Can vision be injected into the discussion so that the future can more easily be crafted to make better opportunities?

It is time to think again and not be so full of folly.

Furthermore, this news is bitter. I want to see the hospital stay on the South Side. However, I saw the arrival of the closing.

UPMC made a big play to get and keep alive Mercy Hospital on the bluff. So, we've got hospitals in Oakland and on The Bluff. We've got close access to hospitals -- more so than McDonalds and Eat'n Park. Go figure.

The time to work hard to save and fortify UPMC South Side was in 1999 when I was raising concerns in political circles. That was when the plans of UPMC's South Side football practice facility were put upon the local landscape. That medical / sporting facility was built on valuable river-front land sold to the nonprofit at greatly reduced costs by the public authority, the URA.

The Steelers needed a practice facility and UPMC played the game to get them one, pulling the wool over the eyes of local politicians without the vision to make better suggestions. The land deal was facilitated by a public agency.

The better solution, back then, one that I advoctated for, was to put the football practice and sports medicine facility directly next to the UPMC South Side Hospital. Dr. Freddie Fu does surgery. That is his area of specilization. A close hospital association would have many benefits -- including the long-term sustainability of the hospital complex within the neighborhood.

Furthermore, the public land right behind and next to the UPMC Hospital is closed. They have had a pad-lock on the parking lot and closed indoor ice rink for years.

A dark hole is right in the middle of the South Side. And, next, the hole is going to spread to the UPMC Hospital facility. Whereas this should be a thriving sports medicine complex with recreational and local hospital services.

Bruce Kraus is working on sound polution stuff

Bruce said the other night at the public meeting that he was not only trying to crack down on litter that fits under the windshield wipers and telephone poles -- but he is going to attempt to tackle 'sound pollution.'

Motorcycles. Trucks. Music from autos.

Watch out.

Well, I have one bit of advice. Send me the draft legislation before you go to far with the ordinance proposal. There is someone that lives in city council district 3 that is a worldwide expert in all things about hearing, noise, and hearing health.

You don't need to give the email to me -- nor post it in the message of this blog -- but that would help. You could just post it to the Director of Audiology at UPMC's Eye and Ear Hospital.

Suit yourself.

Hilltop residents looking for help

Hilltop residents looking for help'Continuing gun violence is why my Hilltop is falling apart,' Kraus said in a recent interview. 'The No. 1 key to turning a neighborhood around is safety. It takes political will to allocate the money.'

Well, to begin, for the record, Post Gazette info on the main character of this story is off. The woman they refer to is an insurance case manager at Children's Hospital which is a bit different from being an audiologist!

As for the statement by Mr. Kraus, it is typical.

A lack of safety will turn a neighborhood to the worse.

However, a blanket of safety will NOT turn a neighborhood to a thriving, dynamic place. Being safe and feeling safe will help, of course. But, safety is not the key to prosperity.

Living under an authoritarian state can be very safe. Having police at every corner can be safe. But, there is more. Much, much more. And, by more, I do not mean more wire taps, more drug busts, more DUI check points, more remote cameras, more grocery stores even.

Furthermore, there is not a clear connection between 'political will' and 'allocation of money.'

Bruce Kraus if brimming with political will to allocate money. He'll give to his political pals. He'll take from his political foes. He'll nag about politics and cry for more political will. He is a politician, two-faced and without logic -- as the politicians around here have been trained to behave.

I don't scorn political will. Just those who discount it on one hand and expect it on the other.

The real issue I have is the connection of political will and money. This is what Kraus and the others on Grant Street fail to understand. There is no money left in the budget. They want to spend like this is Pittsburgh in the 1960s. They want to give away stuff to places where there is political will. They want to buy votes. They want to bribe folks into moving here. They want to spend our money and have that be understood as an investment into the community from the politicians.

The political will walking around money is gone. Tom Murphy and the ones that came before Bruce Kraus have spent it all.

All the hanging baskets of plants and lipstick on the business district with the right shades of paint can't fix this city again. They don't get it. That isn't safe for anyone of us.

City council members that watch this video will get a headaches

They have few if any answers to these questions.

Purpose and process are are foreign to what most do and understand on Grant Street.

Councilman wants to ban fliers placed on windshields

Councilman wants to ban fliers placed on windshieldsCouncilman wants to ban fliers placed on windshields

Ban on free speech due next from Councilman Kraus.

City to move police station from S. Side to Allentown

City to move police station from S. Side to Allentown When news of another St. Clair Village shooting reached Mayor Luke Ravenstahl yesterday, he was in a meeting about moving the South Side police station up to the Hilltop and decided, then and there, that it was time to pull a different kind of trigger.

More boots. That is the same kind of trigger.

So, South Side is without its High School. Without its Catholic Schools. Without its private elementary school, (Waldorf). Without its hospital shortly, as UPMC South Side is closing. Without its hockey rink. Without its Rookie Ball in the park. Without its South Side Summer Street Spectatuclar (horray). Without its rec coordinator at the South Side Market House. Without its indoor swim pool in the summer months. Without its Youth Hostel. (woops, that is in Allentown.) Without its debates for candidate elections. Without its parking. Without its EMS. Without its bridge lanes on Briminham to Oakland. Without its bridge, off and on, to Mt. Washington.

What else?

Frankly, I'm so excited that we have the lights on the Hot Metal Bridge.

These are quotes from Bruce Kraus:

"We have a revolving door in the commander's office," he said. "I am staffing 18 neighborhoods with 22 officers being my prime number at any given time."

Moving the station, he said, "was a unilateral decision made from an ivory tower by someone I'm not convinced knows the community."

Kraus is doing this?!?!?!?

Trib says the three should be out of here

Conflict! Conflict! Conflict!: Three members of Pittsburgh City Council will vote themselves out of office today. At least that's what should happen to Council President Doug Shields, Bill Peduto and Bruce Kraus if, as expected, they cast a final vote for the public to cover the nearly $11,000 cost of employing a lawyer without the full council's approval. It's a clear conflict of interest that, given they will derive a pecuniary benefit -- not having to pay a private bill -- might just be considered self-dealing. But no matter what it is, it's wrong. And Messrs. Shields, Peduto and Kraus have no business staying on City Council.

More than just the Trib is saying these three should depart. The first shot along those lines came from the city's attorney.

Shields wants to make everything right by bending time. That's his best solution. He must be a good buddie with Dan Onorato who fixes the folly of the property assessments by turning back the clock to a time before he took office.

Kraus is clueless and offers no solution -- just questions. He'll talk for five minutes after being told by the chair to be brief. He is along for the ride and his rookie mate took another option by not showing up for work.

Kraus thinks that this is important. This is the job of the council, so he says. The $10,000 bill has already taken hours for weeks. There is a great need to have members of council knowing how to behave and how to act as individuals and as a body -- but -- those lessons need to be understood and demonstrated before getting onto council. And, the capacity to move with clarity has to be present too. A city in crisis does not have the luxury of providing "on the job behavior lessons" for clueless members of city council.

Shields can go.

Kraus can go.

Peduto can go too. Peduto can also win back his seat in the special election.

They could go. But, I don't predict that they will -- unless some players choose to put their skin in the game. The law department will not. Mayor Ravenstahl will not do anything extra either. And, members of council won't buck up on each other in any real measure. The missing factor is the "push come to shove" jagoff who cares about the pledge of Feb 14 and the commitment of no conflicts of interest: real, perceived and imagined.

Promise, spend, don't deliver. Make excuse. Pledge more spending. (nuts)

kBruce Kraus offers up another great spending quote:

Computerized city road paving plan going slowly 'I'm not certain that we're putting enough money into doing this,' said Councilman Bruce Kraus. He said some comparable cities have invested $300,000 in systems designed to ensure that paving decisions are made objectively. 'I want everything to be above board, and determined by need, rather than anything else.'

This should be open source software. That's what I'd do.

The city should not be spending any money on closed software solutions. None.

Furthermore, they toss around the 'transparent' word frequently. Prove to the citizens that the spending on the system is not up to snuff. Where is the system? What 200 miles of roads are in there? Where's there in the first place.

Welcome to 2008.

By the way, if Bruce wants to spend some money -- how about if he just hires himself to be a traffic cop on the city side of the Birmingham Bridge, the broken, one-lane bridge. Then he can insure that the traffic on East Carson Street flows.

Registry, live blog

Doug Shields teamed up with Bruce Kraus to make a natural extension of a benefit for the management of benefits.

Doug has another amendment that he'll offer in the future about joint loan obligation, lease, deeds and so on as to the proofs necessary for the registry.

The grandfather provision is in the bill. That's funny. Everything kosher, so said Doug. There are less than 10 people who have been getting this benefit, offered from the city since 1998. The ones already getting benefits only need to make sure that the existing mutual commitment affidavit.

Breaking up is hard to do. The new changes make for fiscal responsibility.

Shields said that this does not open the door to gay marriage. The intent here is an orderly administration of benefits for the public and private employees.

There are 72 cities that offer a registry process. You must be a resident of the city to get into this registry. Red tape.

Cleveland Heights has names on a list and that is a right of self government. So, why would you want to make new lists and gather new names and keep them within governmental offices.

This registry does nothing with private employers. Nothing.

Companies in the city that offer benefits to domestic partners have employees that may or may not live in the city. Hence, to call this registry one-stop shopping, as Shields did, is a big over-reach in the real world. Non-city residents are NOT going to be a part of this registry.

The cost is $25 for those that register. There won't be an expense to the city above the fees collected.

They don't know if this is public record or not.

Under HIPPA -- give me a break. This is NOT medical information. This registry has nothing to do with medical information.

To register yourself in the registry, you're name has to be 'on the books.' That is a public statement, a public action, a public record, a public act.

Who knows the right to know act.

They say that this bill isn't going to cost the city any money. Meanwhile, the conversation in city council has already gone more than an hour. The lawyers are sitting at the table.

Dowd has to be honest. He is 100% supportive. But.... I would like to some day perhaps to see a way in which we can see this more than a list and confer rights. So Patrick wants to begin to think of ways to confer rights. Patrick wants to open a bigger can of worms. He is sad that the city isn't going far enough.

Once rights are confered, then he'll think that people will be required to register. But really, Professor Dowd, that isn't how rights are granted. You should not need to apply for rights. Rights are granted by law for everyone. I have a right to free speech -- without getting a stamp from the free speech registry before I stand on my soapbox or post to the blog.

Toyna says go no further unless we know if the names are going to be open records. Wedding licenses are public record.

Tonya wants to be able to accept applications from an online form, without the need of the people needing to come into the office.

Tonya wants to give benefits to mothers, aunts, and so on. The health care insurance companies do not offer benefits to those people under those relationships.

Folks -- the benefits and the registry are different. The best case is the pool pass example that I blogged about last week. If a couple with two kids want to get a $60 pool pass each year, they should be able to do so if they are on the registry. Otherwise, the pool passes would cost $30 extra per year.

The registry is a singular function -- except for pool passes within the city.

Bill Peduto wants to move the meeting along at 12:54. There is still a pre-agenda and a meeting with a new board member. No lunch again!

Bill Peduto said it seems very 1930s Germany for me! Then he realized about the type of world we live in. This is a first step. If we get to the first step. Pittsburgh can change. It is going to require an incredible amount of courage. Take progressive steps. Create the 8th largest city, merger, knowlege workers. That's all I have to say about this.

This bill means a lot to Mr. Kraus. Two staffers were invaluable tools.

Two women brought the idea to Doug Shields after getting him at a charity auction item.

All voted to approve it except Rev. Burgess.

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