Visitors from Iraq visit Pittsburgh

A state department tour put two visitors into city council chambers. Hear their statements.

index

Female's statement
Doctor's statement

Click to see the Quicktime movies

Black Box Voting: Ballot - Tampering in the 21st Century

Black Box Voting site: "detail a 'long history of concealing problems' and a willingness to ignore potentially serious problems 'largely for the sake of corporate profit'. "

Has a book in PDF files.

Ninth floor visit to cable tv department

I went to the 9th floor of the city-county building and asked those in the cable tv breau for their help in working to keep them alive. The new oversight plans call for the elimination of the department. One of the worse things would be the holding of city council meetings without telivision coverage. We need more light and awareness on the matters of our public life, not less.

My name and contact info went to the union leader in that department. I doubt I'll hear anything of merit from them.

It makes sense to fund the department, and have new income streams from them via the County Council and the Pgh Public School board.

There is no way the money for PCTV 21, cable access, should be diverted to Grant Street. A letter was read into the record that suggested such a solution.

Another bites the dust

Carnegie Library Director Herb Elish is leaving! PG on Elish's departure. This is good news. Can he take the merry-go-round with him as he goes?

Rally without the political signs

A call to gather hit the inbox.

Friends,

This coming Sunday, October 3 (can you believe that it is October already?) we will be meetingat 11:30 AM in a show of support for the men and women in the military.

The rally will be held at Fort Duquesne in Point State Park -- Pittsburgh's oldest military facility. The temperatures are expected to be in the 70s with the possibility of some rain, so dress appropriately. However bad it might be, it will still be quite a bit more comfortable than conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is little or no chance at all of sandstorms, bombings, or firefights.

This rally is for the men and women serving this country. Not the politicians and not the government. This is for our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our husbands and wives, our neighbors and friends who are risking their lives for our security, our safety, and our well being.

Since that horrible day three years ago, there have been no more attacks here on our soil. One reason is that many of the would be bombers and attackers are engaged in a struggle against our troops in Iraq. They have made themselves the target so that we wouldn't be. We are able to go about our lives in relative security because of their service and their sacrifice. Come say thank you to these brave men and women.

Please forward this to everyone in your local email list and ask that they send it on to everyone in their's. I hope to see you all there.

Go here for full details:

www.nikkiusa.com/FreedomRallyII-Pittsburgh

Remember -- THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL RALLY. BRING YOUR FLAG, BUT PLEASE LEAVE THE CAMPAIGN SIGNS AT HOME.

Oversight board postpones on Pittsburgh budget

AP: "A state panel overseeing Pittsburgh's financial recovery has delayed a vote on the city's $433 million budget proposal, which includes a 34 percent property tax increase that the mayor, city council and the state oversight board do not intend to implement.

The Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority delayed a meeting set for Wednesday until Oct. 18 to study the proposed 2005 budget, said David O'Laughlin, an oversight board member.

Given the phony budget, these folks choose to not hold a meeting to talk about it in open. Perhaps the typical, backroom, closed-door deal-making isn't done. Perhaps this is why people are so skeptical. Perhaps this is why people choose to vote with their feet and leave the city and region.

Officials want 911 sit-down

They want a 'sit down?' No, not a sit-down strike. No, not a sit-in. Reasoned, trusted, public-service people can and do want measured progress. They want to sit down and get to the basics of planning for a better future. Many people out there care.

Officials want 911 sit-down - PittsburghLIVE.com

'We're ready to hand the keys over to you, once we have a sit-down about these issues,' Shaler Manager Tim Rogers told Onorato. 'We're ready to do it by the end of this year.' "

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh folks do a brush off. Dan O does a push away. Still, he acknowledged, the county is not yet ready to take on the extra duties."

We've got people who can't walk and chew gum at the same time. We need to think again. We can't linger and not have the plans put on paper.

Pittsburgh City Council earlier this year approved merging the city and county dispatch centers after more than a decade of wrangling. Mayor Tom Murphy hailed the shift as a way to improve the area's emergency response capabilities while saving the city almost $1 million a year in payroll and benefits.

The merger's delay, still not complete, made for a decade of failures that rest with the Mayor, Tom Murphy. Sure, council had to approve the deal. But, Tom Murphy had to deliver it. This too ten years. Only the promise of oversight boards doing the dirty work did anything happen. Tom Murphy had his hand forced with oversight boards. He would still be doing nothing if it was up to him. And, he'll claim the one move, that took a decade to complete, makes him a champion of mergers.

Tom Murphy was in the way. And, other city based officials are in the way. When the folks in the county want to sit down -- we should have leaders who sit down and talk.

Talk is cheap. Do it. That is all we got. We have nothing to give away. We might as well sit down and talk about cooperation in these times. These guys, the old guard of city's do-little elected place holders, are too used to in-action. They don't even talk.

Back and forth with Charles McCollester

I am NOT going back and forth with Mr. McCollester. He is doing the heavy lifting and pitching ideas to the PG and Jim Roddey -- in public. Here is some of the recent rumblings that arrived in my inbox.

Friends:

On Labor Day the Post-Gazette printed my Op-Ed entitled "Assault on City Workers" (attached). Jim Roddey followed with a very nasty and personal attack (see P-G, Sept. 13). As of this moment the Post-Gazette has decided not to print my "Reply to a Rebuttal"(attached and following), but I'd like your help in distributing it to those who might be interested.

Thanks,
Charlie McCollester

Response to a Rebuttal

Issues raised by Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority board member Jim Roddey

Leaving aside the gratuitous personal attacks, I'd like to respond to the points raised in Mr. Roddey's rebuttal article:

As anyone who has read my articles in the Post-Gazette over the last several years on Pittsburgh's financial crisis knows, I have been extremely critical of Mayor Murphy's development priorities, fiscal management in relation to Tax Increment Financing, and the brutal across-the-board closing of pools, recreation and senior centers.

That was phase one of the squeeze; phase two is upon us. The problem with Mr. Roddey's characterization of future recommendations from the ICA calling for a fairer sharing of the tax burden is twofold: First, they are in the future and therefore somewhat ill-defined and second, they must pass through a Republican controlled legislature. That is not to excuse Democratic complicity with the present situation. In a previous article I criticized Democratic legislators for failing to come to the aid of a city that has been very loyal to the party over the past seventy years.

As far as participation in the process goes, I interviewed a half dozen city unions about their experience with the Act 47 Recovery Team for the article. Their experiences ranged from little or no contact to a one-sided pushing of an agenda of privatization and cuts without serious bargaining or listening to either a critique of their assumptions or a presentation of union generated alternatives.

The city mechanics are a case in point. I personally attended the very first meeting of the ICA and my impression was that the entire process would have been much more under wraps if there were not a very vocal group of activists as well as the media demanding transparency.

The elimination of Pittsburgh City Cable certainly doesn't indicate any great concern for public access to the deliberations and concerns of the city's elected representatives.

As far as cuts either executed or proposed for police and firefighters, it's hard to see how public safety has not been materially affected. The whole thrust of the Firefighters referendum is to assert performance standards over mechanistic cost reduction. They want a guarantee that residents will be effectively served in any reorganization. Talking with firefighters in our local station, they were acutely concerned about an imposed plan that would undermine
their ability to serve the neighborhoods.

As to Mr. Roddey?s assertion that he never called for the elimination of City Council, the Tribune-Review on March 31, 2004 reported that the state oversight board is looking at dissolving Pittsburgh's government -- including eliminating the mayor's office and City Council -- as a way to solve the city's financial woes.

The May 15 edition of the Post-Gazette pinpointed Mr. Roddey's leading role: A March 31 draft of the oversight board?s recommendation, authored by board member and former Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey, urged the Legislature to dissolve the mayor's office and City Council and replace them with a part-time council and a city manager.

While I have urged City Council to get more backbone in their resistance to repeated violations of democratic legitimacy, I deeply respect their position as the elected representatives closest to the people, neighborhoods and workers of the city during this time of crisis.

As to my students receiving a very biased view of how communities prosper, I must respond that I have spent 25 years arguing that the preservation and modernization of our region's manufacturing base was critical to the region's economic health. The turning away from an understanding of how wealth is created and the importance of productive labor by people who grow, build and make things by much of our political and economic leadership has been one cause of our region's collapse.

I once admired Mr. Roddey for his early championing of MAGLEV, but lost a lot of respect for him when he declared the project dead in the course of his last campaign for county executive - apparently to gain a few not-in-my-backyard suburban votes. I continue to believe that the innovative work being done at the MAGLEV facility in McKeesport remains the best hope for a renewal of manufacturing in our region.

We cannot shop, gamble or entertain our way to sustainable prosperity. Investment in production and wealth creation is essential for the long-range survival of both our region and the nation. We also cannot strip our urban areas of essential services and amenities and expect them to prosper. The workers and residents of the City of Pittsburgh are ill served by the present undemocratic and unfair process. Mr. Roddey needs to take responsibility for his positions and not try to deflect legitimate criticism by personal attacks.

Boosterism and looking up to see the curb

The email today from the Allegheny Conference, a bumbling group that causes harm to the region, had an interesting quote:

"Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and
give up. They happen to break you down and build you up, so you can be all you were intended to be." (Charles Jones)

Is that the new slogan for the region? No, it's just a simple quote in an email. However, I wonder if that is that how they explain the circle in East Liberty or any of a number of other flops here?

We can't give politicians free passes. Nor should we give the free pass to various organizations that have been the cause of big fumbles.

Audio of Jim Carmine

Index of Jim's clips

In 2000 and 2001, I ran for Mayor, City of Pittsburgh. In that effort, I came to meet James Carmine, Ph.D., a loyal opponent. I lost the GOP primary to Carmine and then worked as his 'webmaster' for the general election. Without saying too much about those times here, let me re-introduce some audio snips from that period. I recorded these clips.

Let me know if they play for you. Leave comments below.

Crashing the Parties, 10 pm Wed. QED

WQED, a public tv station that has been the subject of some criticism, is slated to air an interesting PBS primetime special Crashing The Parties 2004 from 10 to 11 pm this Wednesday.

The program challenges the conventional notion that third parties are "spoilers" with no constructive role in the process. It is to showcase the candidates and their political platforms.

Who wants to host a documentary screening house party?

This special gives voters a behind-the-scenes look at third party campaigns and conventions in the 2004 presidential race, showcasing the serious political alternatives to the Democrats and Republicans. The one-hour program focuses on four major third party/independent bids:

Libertarian Party (Michael Badnarik),

Green Party (David Cobb),

Constitution Party (Michael Peroutka).

Ralph Nader, and in addition,

other candidates' bids for their party's nomination are featured, such as Libertarians Gary Nolan and Aaron Russo.

My advance hunch is that the coverage of others who are NOT on the ballot is just to discredit the entire show. Why cover the others? Edit!

In most markets, "Crashing" debuts the evening before the first Bush-Kerry debate - showing PBS viewers the candidates who were shut out of the presidential debates. In a few cities such as Boston, the third party documentary is the lead-in program for the Bush-Kerry showdown on Sept. 30.

WASHINGTON POST LIVE WEBCHAT ON 3rd PARTIES & INDEPENDENTS!

On Wednesday, Sept. 29, at 1 p.m., PBS filmmakers Peter Koziell and Darren Garnick will be participating in a live Web chat about the making of "Crashing The Parties 2004" sponsored by The Washington Post. Join in the conversation during your lunchbreak! For more information, visit: www.washingtonpost.com and scroll to the bottom of the page for the "Live On-Line" links. Questions can be submitted earlier that day.

SEND "CRASHING" FEEDBACK TO PBS!

If you find the themes, scenes or commentary from "Crashing The Parties 2004" to be compelling, please consider sharing your thoughts with both your local PBS station and the PBS national network. The stations are always eager to hear from "viewers like you."

Sandy Heberer
PBS Programming
1320 Braddock Place
Alexandria, VA 22314

And, contact QED directly.

The filmakers also appreciate feedback, crashingpbs@awardprod.com

Parenting woes or infrastructure issues

Its fixed! A new sewer cover and sidewalk has arrived. The city did its job, and cut down the three trees. The building owner did the sidewalk with cement contractors on Sept. 25. The saga started in early August. Not many drunks fell into the open hole.


Conventional wisdom says "bad parenting." However, I'm wondering if it is bad city infrastructure? Our children are falling between the cracks here. And, it takes little effort to get the right type of street treatments to prevent these types of accidents.

Notice that the storm gutter's slots are not the full length, but they do go in the direction of traffic. Bike riders have trouble with street coverings that have larger spaces as wheels get caught, flipping the rider. Inline skaters are sure to have issues. Many street treatments in Pittsburgh are bad for all sorts of reason.

Pittsburgh makes continual, classic mistakes and frustrates up the opportunities care for our kids. Pittsburgh makes parenting much more of a chore.



Seniors and children, yet alone drunks and little ducklings could get lost, hurt and perhaps wealthy by visiting our streets in Pittsburgh.

See the comment to learn more of a road study by the city. Sadly, these roads get attention every four years. An election is due next spring, so the Grant Street gang is making a list and will check it twice this fall so as to get the most votes.

$38 million in grants from Fast Eddie

City Life, a show of the Pgh Cable Television Breau, getting its plug pulled, perhaps, is due for a hand-slap if not a good freeze out.

On a show, Gov Rendell said, "Not one person, not one business, not one organization, has run up the white flag and said that they've had it with Pittsburgh."

He means to point out that those that are here are not giving up. In a way, he is good to say that there are lots of people who still care. Some of us are "fighters" and we'll be in the good fight for the long haul.

However, our Gov is just flat out wrong. Many have quit on Pittsburgh. Many have left. Many more are leaving in the future.

More people departed Pittsburgh since Tom Murphy has been mayor than voted for him to continue being our mayor in 2001.

The outward migration is massive. Those people are voting with their feet. Those people want to be more free. Those people have been frustrated with the city.

Today I talked to a guy working on a new sidewalk next door. He won't live not only in the city -- hell no -- but not even in the county. He'd rather live in Armstrong County. He gave up. He waved the white flag. He isn't going to post on this blog. He isn't going to write a letter to the Governor. He is going to go about his work and life -- and make it elsewhere as much as possible.

The other kick in the teeth from the city cable television department is the fact that these boosterism shows run on our cable. This isn't about public service -- but it is about being elected again and pushing PR.

Erik's homework with photos of landforms

I've set up my sons with their own blogs. See gRauterkus or eRauterkus for Grant and Erik. In due time, home pages. For now, I'll just pepper this space with some of their works.

Homework: Make a dictionary of various landforms. So, with my wife's help, my photos and uploads, Erik made a booklet that shows the various landforms, all from our travels in the past months.

See the presentation of 11 slides on the web with html pages:
http://65.254.51.42/~player/content/academics/erik/landforms/web/img0.html

Same presentation in a single PDF file (189 k):
http://65.254.51.42/~player/content/academics/erik/landforms/dictionary.pdf

What is a "Paladin?"

Pitt played the Furman Paladins at Heinz Field. After smacking Pitt around the field for three quarters, it is safe to assume this Division I-AA school won't be a guest again. Great game! Pitt did win in overtime.

Library -- still searching for TRFN and Wirless

PG: Main library articleAnne Candreva, director of information technology at the Carnegie Library, unveils the marquee near the library's entrance, ...

Animated messages are fine, but I'm still looking for TRFN and Wireless

The Oakland branch should be wireless. The Beehive, a South Side coffee shop, is now with free wireless. So, the library spend a hefty sum to modernize -- and we get signs that blink.

The real potential isn't in the bricks and mortar. Sure, some people don't leave the first floor. But many more don't even make it to the doors. The services of the Three Rivers Free Net made for great outreach. Those services are missed. Those services stopped just as the planning for the new expresso bar began.

If you are lost, there is nothing like Google or Ask Jeeves.

A Zillion .... excuses

By next year, Candreva said, the library may be wireless, but that is a major task because the building is chock full of steel, necessitating the placement of 'just a zillion' hidden antennas.

We don't need every inch of the library to be wireless. How about five antennas. Put one right on top of the pastry display.

Can't wait to go to the quiet reading room that features no computers. Perhaps a page was taken from the Parks Conservancy. Let's advance with a Highland Park rebuild a fountain and entry way that was just like it was in 1900. Same too with the library. Get rid of those nasty computers here. Too much noise.

No doubt that the library re-make was a lot of work and effort from all involved. However, here we go again with a "massive" remake instead of an evolution. Do something every year or two. In terms of overall facilities, little or nothing has been done since a few wheelchair ramps were installed -- other than the start-up of the internet and the killing of a wildly popular and necessary TRFN.

When the first planning meeting was held on the South Side to talk about its library face lift someone asked, "What about the books. Are we getting new books?" Sadly, this whole exercise is about bricks and mortar -- and there won't be an impact with the books. Without new parking, without new books -- some dare to ask, "why?"

South Pittsburgh Reporter - Carnegie begins planning stages for South Side Library

Summary:

The overall theme for finding the solutions for Pittsburgh is much more about software and programming and much less about hardware and buildings. The process and the software outcomes are where we need to put our creativity, energy and investments. Think again. The "build-it and they will come" mentality isn't the desired pathway for me in our quest for vibrant community.

Mergers talk spreads to school districts

PG (cont): "Murphy lamented that the idea of merging some or all of the county's 43 school districts rarely comes up for discussion.

I've talked about mergers of school districts, plenty. Wilkinsburg, Sto Rox, and even Woodland Hills' history is on my radar.

However, the A+ Schools group, and the Mayor's Commission on Public Education -- group that Tom Murphy had a had in forming -- FUMBLE constantly. They are absent. They don't have open meetings. They don't publish minutes. They don't invite outside voices who have knocked repeatedly at their doors. They blacklist. They operate just as Tom Murphy does.

Furthermore, until 2000, schools were a topic that was without even a breath of Tom Murphy's concern. He avoided all interactions and comments about schools at every turn. The people at Pittsburgh Public Schools knew Tom Murphy and Tom Cox only when they would rush to them for a TIF (tax favor for some hair-brained corporate welfare scheme).

Then in 2000 and 2001, my campaign for Mayor and that of James Carmine, Ph.D., professor who teaches many teachers, talked long and hard about schools. That can of worms got plenty of shaking from us then and it was an area that was totally foreign to Tom Murphy and Grant Street.

We need to put schools and districts and mergers and re-organizations into the discussions. Bring it on. Start by insisting that A+ Schools (an on-going front organization) meet with me and begin to address my long-list of serious concerns.

Ex-Gov. Thornburgh assails 'dysfunctional' system

Ex-Gov. Thornburgh calls for mergers of towns: " tackle the region's problem of municipal-government fragmentation."

I assail dysfunctional leaders. The system isn't broken. The ones with the controls are dysfunctional.

Let's attack solution fragmentation from dysfunctional thought and leadership.

Thornburgh is giving a free pass to the elected leaders. Thornburgh is clueless as to what happens in Pittsburgh. If Thornburgh had the same view as city residents, he'd change his tune. That's my 'free pass' to him.

Dear ex-Gov: The ways of Pittsburgh and the characters involved here in these times are unlike the public servents in other parts of this great land. Selfishness, corruption and lack of cooperation is pervasive. You can't force these leaders to cooperate, This crew in Pittsburgh can't even agree among departments to hold meetings. We must first force them out of office. Then new people can begin to correct the situations. We must get our own house in order first. Then new deals of cooperation could be struck with a keen sense of democracy throughout. But, first things first. The worst of all outcomes would occur if we began to merge towns to enable the bumbling, bankrupt, and hopeless leaders with more power and influence.

The oversight board came to Pittsburgh, with another group (Act 47) no less, to take away power from the mayor and city council. Now if I read between the lines of your statements -- or perhaps the coverage of those statements -- one could ponder your intent to mean you'd like OVERSIGHT BOARDS and AUTHORITIES to come into power by merging towns. That possibility is Un-American and not to be tolerated.

City Cable TV bureau may be saved

Headline should be: TV bureau still slated for closing.

PittsburghLIVE.com: "County Council President Rich Fitzgerald said council has just begun looking into the feasibility of getting council meetings on the air....

County Councilman Vince Gastgeb, who also has been working on the broadcast project, believes the county is 'behind the times' because it does not broadcast its meetings. "

Jeepers guys, let's get with it. Here we go again as the leaders are not leading. They do too little too late. This rumor of a cut in the city cable bureau has been around since it was part of a mid-summer play by the mayor.

The one thing Pittsburgh does NOT need is more "done deal thinking" and "less light."

We need to watch these meetings and the actions of the elected with more awareness. Turn the lights on, more brightly. Meanwhile, some like to scury in the cover of darkness. Mayor Murphy does NOT want to be accountable and visible. Mayor Murphy does not want to be blasted for not meeting with City Council Members for months at a time. Mayor Murphy does not want to hear about the rats the size of lapdogs after he fired the rodent control crew.

Ripple from the blast about the new "PHONY" ink

As I reach out via email, (often called an email blast) a number of interesting ripples appear. See the comments.

Phony Budgets and Current Events - archived of my blast email, 412-public-remarks, to more than 8,000 contacts on Wed. Sept. 22, 2004.