Anyone But Murphy

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Added Feature - 11/11/2004

Best mayoral candidate: Anyone But Murphy
A conversation with Nick Kratsus of Bethel Park, a 25-year-old University of Pittsburgh student, founder of the Yinzer Party and possible candidate for mayor.

Writer: MARIA NICOLE SMITH

What’s with your shirt?

Well, it says "Murphy Sucks." It’s a shirt I actually picked up Downtown when I was coming home from a Pirates game. We’re thinking about possibly printing them up -- our own version for the Yinzer Party. In fact, our slogan may be "Murphy Sucks." Our current slogans are "Stop Mayor Murphy’s Weapons of Mass Taxation" and "The Regime Now." They might be changing.

Why are you interested in running for mayor?

I thought the stadium situation was a crock! Everybody voted against funding them and then the mayor going and inserting that 1-percent sales tax. … I watched as he tried to develop Fifth and Forbes avenues. One can look at the Lazarus -- that was a total mess-up. Lord & Taylor is leaving. Obviously Mayor Murphy is an idiot when it comes to finances.

There’s not even a commercial movie theater Downtown.

There’s nothing. There’s no grocery store. Soon there will be no buses leaving in the evenings and on the holidays and Sundays. What the hell is that? We’re supposed to be building up the city of Pittsburgh, not building it down. We can not only fix the problems Downtown but also fix problems throughout the city.

What are your plans for the city?

You need to have fiscal responsibility with the budget. You need to lower taxes. You’re not going to be able to tax yourself [to] prosperity like the mayor’s doing. You have to raise public awareness. You’ve gotta fix the school system. You’ve gotta work with the county. I honestly believe the city and the county need to be merged.

The formation of the Yinzer Party got you some media attention.

Ah, yes. I almost got interviewed with Mike Pintek on KDKA. I was also approached by WYEP. I wrote an op-ed in The Pitt News about how I believed I could help the city. I pledged that if enough people want me to run for mayor, then I will run for mayor. It’s better than what we have now.

Who are some of your supporters?

Right now, I have a total of eight e-mails [from supporters]. I also have people who said they would support me if I asked them to. My mom said she’d help me out. It’s a grassroots effort.

In all seriousness, are you running for mayor?

I have no plans to honestly do it, but if 10,000 people sign a petition and want me to do it, I’ll do it.

To Jack Shea -- the mix from Les Ludwig

Jack Shea, President of the Allgheny County Council of Labor, is to be commended, with the others, in their attempts to convince City Council to vote against Act 47. They held a meeting yesterday at the Teamsters 249 Union Hall.

We have spoken out against the Act 47 along with the ICA.

Whatever efforts were decided upon, house to house, face to face campaign, hopefully these efforts will have the desired effect to convince City Council to vote against Act 47 and ICA by more than a single vote majority as a message to Harrisburg.

But what then?

How is bankruptcy to be avoided with the dangers that are part and parcel of this course of action in terms of unions and city destruction?

Jack, there is a potential answer that is more than a stop gap grant or as council members said, "We were repeatedly asked in Harrisberg, 'What's the number of dollars to avoid bankruptcy for Pgh?'"

This is not a reasoned approach but rather a Dutch Boy Solution resulting from the pressure of the moment.

Jack, it's your power to call upon leadership in every county of our state to ask -- or may demand -- those union leaders support because if not drectly then indirectly they will be threatened by what happens here in Pittsburgh. These county union leaders should call and email State Represenatives, State Senators and the Governor to pass the Insurance Tax increase to at least 4% for the benefit of Class 1 and 2 Cities. (The tax is presently 2%.)

This tax increase puts Pittsburgh in the black before the cuts and would allow a cooling off period to the next session of the legislature. Can we deffuse the heat. Learn from the suggested cuts and move a funded Pittsburgh and Phila forward to a successful recovery.

The legislation, in our view, should call for long-term commitments of help, but only until these communities can pay their way again.

Also, the legislation should stipulate those specific economic conditions that would allow the help to start and stop automatically so that the current pressure for a solution does not reoccur.

Jack, please, if you agree, copy to all the union leadership in the state.

More details at the Wiki, Platform.For-Pgh.org.