Grandstanding at the table and in the halls of Grant Street

Grandstanding rant.

I went to City Council and spoke for three minutes in the public comment period of today's meeting. My comments are posted in an opinion web page.

Enjoy. React as you see fit.

Resign Already

Public statement Delivered to City Council

Resign Already by Mark Rauterkus

October 6, 2004

Opening:

My name is Mark Rauterkus. My family and I reside at 108 South 12th Street, Pittsburgh's South Side. My home on the internet is at Rauterkus.com.

Grandstanding has reached a new level in Pittsburgh's City Hall. Perhaps it is natural to see grandstanding skyrocket as the public treasury ticks to deeper depths.

Grandstanding at the table:

Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle wants the body to take a road trip to Harrisburg. Councilman Jim Motznik wants the commuter tax for leverage. Council president Gene Ricciardi wants the same commuter tax but for different reasons. Councilman Alan Hertzberg wants patience. Councilman Len Bodack is in a hurry to tweak and tinker. Councilman Bill Peduto is thirsty to drink from the cup of the whole package. Councilman Doug Shields wans a blueprint. Councilmen Sala Udin and Luke Ravenstahl, read the blog. I only get three minutes. Grandstanding in the chamber: Earl morns his wife and punishes County Councilman Rich Fitzgerald. Yavonne morns her son. Kim is literally in the dark. I'm here to say that the Market House Children's Athletic Assn. has its fund raising orders due today. Pirogies are $6.00 a dozen. Haluska is $3.50 a quart. Union workers come and say the city hasn't yet cut to the bone. Perhaps the biggest point in a long time came from Dr. Frances Barnes. She was discriminated against while on city's the anti-discrimination commission. Grandstanding in the halls: Bill Urbanic and Scott Kunka are in council's budget office and are working like crazy. The City Cable Department must be getting ready to run infomercials to save their department. The mayor's complaint department is fed up with my email that complain about the phony budget. The impending lay-offs are real to them and their families. The city clerk's office must be blue for sending memos from council to the administration and oversight boards. And yesterday, the Mayor ran to an appeals court to block a question from appearing on the November ballot. Salutes went to Elsie Hillman and Dr. Bill Truehart for the Save Our Summer campaign. The PR extravaganza came at Heinz Field. Council's visitors did obtain new wall decorations, a framed ring-buoy. That token of of gratitude was fitting for their one time band-aid philanthropy. We had a lot of dips in the pool last summer. Questions about the long-term are wet and out-of-bounds here, sadly. I wonder if Citiparks obtained that pair of benefactor gifts, the ring-toss floaties, off of one of the boats that floated down river in the flood? The point: We are floating everywhere and anywhere. Things in this city are are going every which way, yet nothing is happening, other than placeholders with 35% realestate tax increases. Things are disjointed. People are disengaged. There are many disconnects. Solution The next thing that needs to happen is simple, yet this suggested solution takes courage. My advice is for the nine member of council to pick ten important people. Tom Flaherty, our city's controller should join in this exercise too. Then each democrat drafts an open letter to each person on their list. We'd have ten elected city democrats each sending ten letters. Ten by ten makes 100 influential statements. Each of those letters needs to make a case as to why the mayor is failing in his duty as the executive for this city. The Mayor needs to resign. Use the open letters to explain why. Tell all. Open your reasons and justifications for all to see. Admit in public how bad Pittsburgh's situation has become and why. Each in council can act with independence but the voters need to see resignation requests.Councilmembers know that Mayor Murphy can't move his agenda forward. The Mayor can't even come to meetings. His is not the executive leadership for Pittsburgh now. Mayor Murphy's departure begins to heal Pittsburgh's woes. Who among City Council is going to address resignation issues? When? Serious talk among fellow democrats takes courage as resignation demands might wash over others as well. Ain't going to happen! Doubts of a mayor resignation misses the present point. City council's gut-check and leadership is in asking for the resignation and making a measured and open illustratation. The request is key. This is the next Pittsburgh log-jam to unlock. The disheartening fact is that all the elected Democrats in Pittsburgh are not trying to nudge the Mayor into the private sector. Is council content with a phony budget for the third consecutive year? The sideshow of August 2003, orchestrated by the administration with 700+ pink slips, is about to be repeated. Help is going to come to those who try to help themselves. We can't begin to heal Pittsburgh with Tom Murphy in the mayor's office. The people elsewhere don't want to throw their good money and sincere efforts into a bad situation. We have to clean house. We have to light the stumbles of Tom Murphy. Erie, Johnstown, Harrisburg, and Allentown don't hear the obvious call. This call isn't "help." Others want to hear, "Heave Ho!" Others want to see the ripples from the splash. Give Pittsburgh a week, a day or two for each of your successive resignation revelations. Make this occur before the November budget address and December's bounced checks. After members of council each stand on one's own courage and conviction for the greater benefit of Pittsburgh on this pressing issue, duty can pass back others. We'll then see the support that the citizens are capable of providing. It might be that Mayor Murphy's parking spot on the corner of Grant Street becomes plugged: garbage truck, fire engine, police car, park-mower, graffiti removal truck, bikes, strollers on the weekends, kayaks and perhaps even public art advertising in the form of a dinosaur or pillory. Think again I'd hate to stay-the-course and persist with the it-ain't-going-to-happen attitude. "Think again." We have hope for a resignation because in two months, the city runs out of money. Just cause exists for resignations as Tom Murphy delivered his third consecutive budget that is goofy, phony, and absurd, at best.

Is it not enough to just watch the debates, wear a button, post a sign?

Two points on national politics. As a candidate for Mayor, I'd love to have vice-presidential running mates. Hence, the name of the blog, even. The Mayor doesn't get a VP, sadly, -- until now.

A good VP would be a great watchdog and attack instigator. Meanwhile, the top of the ticket candidate could just ponder, preach and organize around the solutions and elements of democracy.

Next, it seems as if it isn't enough t just be a smart voter. There is too much to do. The burden is heavy. But, we need less to do the lifting for the personalities and more for the process, IMHO.

Fight the Spin -- Spread the Truth! --- so goes the call. (edited message)

The debate tonight presents a tremendous opportunity for the campaign to attract undecided voters, but people's perceptions are shaped as much by their conversations around the water cooler as by the debates themselves.

After last week's debate, the Kerry campaign spin machine managed to mask their candidate's flip-flops on the war in Iraq, imposition of a "global test" for protecting America, and repeated denigration of our troops and allies.

If we plan to win the election, we must fight back against their spin and make sure our friends and neighbors get the truth.

We need your help tonight!

www.GeorgeWBush.com/DebateFacts

Immediately after the debate, visit online polls, chat rooms, and discussion boards and make your voice heard. The major news networks will all have internet polls after the debate. Make sure you vote in polls.

P.S. If we plan to win the election, we must fight back against their spin and make sure our friends and neighbors get the truth after tonight's debate.

Un-Democratic Charm fits Dems and a mostly Dem organization

PG: Stevens' strong-arm tactics anger some NAACP members: "as chapter president he has the prerogative 'to do what he damn well pleased.'"

Another example that show that we need to practice democracy more frequently.
You don't have to look far in this town to find many abuses of the spirit of free elections. This is what I mean by "feudal Pittsburgh." A queen decides what pools to open and what pools to close. This prince, Tom Stevens, gets to sustain his role as he is annointed.
Perhaps the best challenge from the floor comes with a new friend, NOTA. Ask for "None Of The Above" be put onto the ballots at every election.

City Takes Firefighter Referendum To Appeals Court

ThePittsburghChannel.com - News: "city of Pittsburgh heads into state appeals court Tuesday afternoon, hoping to knock a fire safety referendum off the ballot for next month's election."

Tom Murphy is burning more money and more bridges to democracy today. Let's hire a few more lawyers. Put them on retainers. Count on their votes next year too.

Commuter taxation with some representation

PG Forum: "
Allow a modest, well defined commuter tax of limited rate in return for political representation and a requirement that the city commit itself to financial transparency:"

I have much more to say about the plan within this editorial. There should be more "representation" matters put within our city's structure. However, the options within this article are way off the mark. I've got better ones to consider.

Finally, I'm all in favor or a commitment to financial transparency. Being open matters greatly.

Magic wand

Trib: "Still doesn't get it: Pittsburgh, for all practical purposes, is insolvent. Yet, Mayor Tom Murphy's proposed 2005 budget includes spending increases of nearly $20 million. An analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy shows the 2005 budget will grow by 5 percent. The city continues to have 'a very serious spending problem,' the institute notes. And it adds that Hizzhoner and City Council apparently are 'hoping for a magic wand to painlessly solve the city's financial problems.' Earth to city leaders -- there isn't one. "

But magic wands exist

For starters, Mayor Murphy and his Administration has always leveraged the magic wand. He has been good at pulling the rabbit out of the hat. His one-time tricks are that of ledgend. Murphy sold the water authority. Murphy cash-advanced the RAD tax. He has done all sorts of tricks that work once and make us poorer forever.

The next trick Mayor Murphy is going to deploy comes to the vanishing of the ancient tax structure. Our tax structure changed in a radical way in the year 2000.

Sadly, Mayor Murphy gets to do his tricks and present the phony budget and he gets away with it. The media provides cover for Mayor Murphy.

Another wild-card up Murphy's sleeve is a 'free pass.' Mayor Murphy will be asking voters for a free pass in his re-election, in 2005. The mayor will plead his case and the media will eat it up. The TV stations will sell the Administration's Power Point presentations, promoting his neighborhood meetings. And, as the content in the presentations are false and half-truths -- none will be there to ask hard questions.

In the last go-around, Murphy took credit for big investments into the parks, yet glossed over the fact that he closed the swim pools and rec centers. Last summer was a year for "free passes" at the swimming pools, due to SOS efforts. The real question is about the expiration date.

Trib editors, the magic wand and its next trick isn't the sticking point we all crave to fix. We need a hook to yank Murphy off the stage. Then, we need to insert new ideas and new players. The city's financial problems can be fixed when we have serious alternatives put into the limelight.

Oct 15, 2004

Keep the 15th of October open for The Deek Champions of politics extravaganza at the Regent
Square Theatre. You can pick up your "Grope the Vote 04" button there.

Not since working with the PCTV 21 show, The Art of News, have I seen such solid attempts a humor with a purpose. Wonderful, fun, and funny. My kids called them, "the funny guys." For a taste, see the AON opening, trailer., QuickTime movie, 1.1 megs.

False Ads: There Oughtta Be A Law! Or -- Maybe Not

False Ads: There Oughtta Be A Law! Or -- Maybe Not. - FactCheck.org: "candidates have a legal right to lie to voters just about as much as they want."

The good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.

Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; the decision, to the releasing of a trigger.
From The Art of War

A few friends asked me if I was running for Mayor, City of Pittsburgh. I expect to do so, but, I'm not really running yet. I don't have an open PAC (Political Action Committee) nor am I raising money as a candidate. However, if you'd like to talk about what is yet to unfold in Pittsburgh's landscape in 2005, let me know. We'll meet or chat on the phone.

Outsource jobs to Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Business Times: "If we use our local expertise in health care, law, accounting, engineering, advertising and other professional services to collectively search outside the region for businesses, we can create genuine growth opportunities. In reality, our region has real cost advantages that -- combined with our technical sophistication -- make Pittsburgh very attractive.

I'd agree that Pittsburgh rocks in terms of health care and engineering. The others present a stretch. They sure don't count as genunie growth opportunities.

In advertising, we might be a good consultant for branding blunders. In law, we might present genunine growth in how to bring suit and prohibit valid voter petitions from making it onto the ballot. The other professional services make cutting-edge statements, more often than not, into old-school ways and a legacy build with bricks of discrimination.

Pittsburgh has a corner on the market on many fields, but sadly these fields are the wrongheaded ones that others who know better don't care to emulate.

Our legal profession's reputation for expertise in intellectual property is nice, but the world is turning to open source software. The GPL (General Public License) and CC (Creative Commons) have their roots in Boston at Harvard/MIT and the Bay Area at Standford. That is where the action is going. CMU is in the game too, but this game isn't a downtown corporate strength.

How can we be a source for international business when you can't get there from here? Pittsburgh is know more for its lack of international residents.

Yet, the average hourly fee paid by a business for an associate lawyer in the Pittsburgh region is $169. Compare that to $231 on the West Coast, $232 in New York, $302 in Washington or even $194 nationwide and you begin to see the picture.

The logic presented in this article, from $169 to $194 nationally, is frail. For starters, much of law is local. What knucklehead in Kansas City is going to outsource a zoning issue to a firm in Pittsburgh to save a few bucks? Beyond the local scope of the law is the local networks that play so loudly in law's practice. And, cheap legal advice is a headscratcher. Don't cut corners on the patent application, representation to the FDA or finance deals.

... the professional services community continues to use a somewhat inefficient economic model in which individual firms market themselves separately -- and often end up as competitors for national business. Perhaps a better solution would be a collaborative approach in which professional services companies would market the region's advantages while making national calls. It's a novel approach, but it just might bring in more new business.

Sigh. Competition provides the real roots for efficient economic models. The article has it all wrong. Let's drive for more competitors and competition, not less.

Summary: We need a free market mindset to flourish again. We need to push each other and have brushes with greatness. We don't need a cooperative, easy, lame, boosterism approach where everyone goes to the same beat in lockstep. We had one airline, and we needed more competition. We have one political party, and we crave more options.

The examples are endless. We had dozens and dozens of glass companies. We had many mines. We had many operators on the rivers. We had lots of steel, iron and finishing outlets. We can move goods on many rail lines. Give us an authority and a monoploy and watch us die on the vine and lag some more.

College costs and loans

This weekend the new grad students at the Univ. of Pittsburgh who are seeking their Au.D. (professional doctorate) got their "white coats." Many friends and family came to town to celebrate. All were impressed on many different levels.

Bowyer points out the trend with finances today

College Tuition InsightsSince George W. Bush took office, student loan rates have plummeted from 8.19 percent to 3.37 percent, an amazing 59 percent drop."

Pittsburgh Foundation scholarship opportuities are under utilized. Available funds have not been accessed as fully by Pittsburgh Public Schools' students as the foundation would like. Applications have gone directly to the schools' Guidance Office for several years without much success. I can probably count on one hand the number of applications we've received from a City school over the years, wrote Deborah Turner, Scholarship Coordinator, The Pittsburgh Foundation.

How's your heart rate

Pittsburgh's emergency response times are a hot topic. Where are our AEDs?

LIFESAVING RESOURCES INC.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and conducted by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and the American Heart Association (AHA) found that deploying automated public access defibrillators (AEDs) in public places and training citizens to use them can double the chances of surviving sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) for the general population. Each year about 450,000 Americans die as a result of SCA, making it the nation's leading cause of death.

Currently 95% of SCA victims die before reaching the hospital due to the length of time it takes for emergency personnel to arrive on the scene. In fact, a person's chance of survival is reduced by 10% for every minute spent waiting for a life-saving defibrillation shock.

The nationwide public access defibrillation or "PAD" study showed nearly double the survival rates for victims who were administered CPR and shocked by an AED as compared to those who only received CPR. During the two-year study, 124 cardiac arrests occurred in public facilities where an AED was available and 31% of those persons survived, versus 17% of the 86 arrests that occurred in venues where only conventional responses - CPR and a call to 911 - were available.

About 20,000 volunteers took part in the study of which half were taught to use AEDs and perform CPR and the balance to perform CPR only. Approximately 1,500 automated defibrillators were placed in over 990 public facilities such as office buildings, factories, airports, shopping and community centers, and sports and entertainment venues in 24 cities nationwide.

The AHA also told a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel in July it supports the removal of the prescription requirement for AEDs.

The FDA's Circulatory System Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee met to decide whether or not to lift the prescription requirement currently required for anyone wishing to obtain an AED.

Meanwhile, the State of New York has just passed a law requiring Health Clubs with memberships in excess of 500 members to have trained personnel and an AED available on the premises at all times.

Source, Gerald M. Dworkin, Aquatics Safety & Water Rescue,
LIFESAVING RESOURCES INC. Lifesaving.com

Wanted Executive Director, Campaign to Renew Pennsylvania

Idealist.org: "Executive Director
Campaign to Renew Pennsylvania

Who needs a job?

Tim Murphy (R) and Mark Bolles (D)

I'm digging for more insights on the platforms for Pittsburgh area candidates for US Congress. We are a city that is half of what we used to be. Our state and federal reps throughout the region can either deal with the city in some way(s) or ignore the situations. What is your take on what needs and should be done with the city -- if anything?

Next -- I'm digging for info on what you think about public transportation? In specific ways, what about the plan to put two tunnels under the Allegheny River to extend the light rail (T) in the city to the lower north side to serve the stadiums?

A bulk of that money comes from the feds. But, the local match isn't there and isn't a priority -- so says Dan O (County Exec).

Thanks for your insights.

Trunips on my mind

Please share what you can about turnips. A new turnip theme is under-development and your input and ideas are welcomed. More news to come.

We love getting links to Rauterkus.blogspot.com, please.

Happy First Birthday to 3 Rivers Fitness

Three Rivers Fitness turns one year old on October 4, 2004. Great facility and great reuse of an older building.

Parkwest center to host Bayer spinoff = corporate welfare

Parkwest center to host Bayer spinoff - PittsburghLIVE.com: "Dennis Yablonsky, secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development, and Dan Onorato, Allegheny County chief executive, are expected to announce a package of public financing to solidify Lanxess' employment base in the region.

Big win for the region, if you love corporate welfare

Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Yablonsky and PRA
Board Member and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato announced last week two separate projects that will enable Bayer Corp. to retain 1,750 employees statewide and LANXESS Corp. to create up to 435 jobs within three years. LANXESS is a new company formed when Bayer Group combined and spun off its chemical businesses and large segments of its polymer activities. LANXESS leadership also plans to relocate a portion of its staff in Akron, Ohio, to Pittsburgh.

Germany-based Bayer has operations in four commonwealth counties, including Allegheny, Washington, and Westmoreland. (The fourth is Lebanon County.) It plans to invest $100 million in its Pennsylvania facilities and keep its U.S. corporate headquarters in Allegheny County. Recognizing the importance Bayer plays in the region, DCED offered the company a $1.7 million financial package that includes a $1 million Opportunity Grant and $700,000 in job training assistance. Allegheny County has offered up to $200,000 in the form of a Community Development Block Grant.

The commonwealth also offered a $1.86 million financial package to LANXESS that includes an $872,000 Opportunity Grant, $554,000 in job training assistance, and $435, 000 in job creation tax credits. LANXESS, meanwhile, has pledged to invest approximately $10 million in Pennsylvania over the next three years.

Lanxess was courted by officials from both Ohio and South Carolina, therefore, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance is pleased to have served the region in assisting with the LANXESS location as well as the Bayer decision. These developments show a new momentum gathering in southwestern Pennsylvania. We wish the leadership in both companies the best of success in their endeavors.

How can a start-up move jobs from Akron?

Gradual closings planned for future PPS actions

Trib: Gradual closings planned at PPS "The next round of city school closings will involve a gradual phasing out of schools or closing a smaller number of them to avoid the problems that occurred..."

This headline is huge. It is the one major point I made last year and in past years as well. You can't yank the citizens, families, students and staffs around. When that happens, people leave.

When South Vo Tech was scheduled for closing, I ranted at great lengths to close the facility over time. I wanted the school to shirnk by 50% per year for the next three years. Allow the kids that are in the school to graduate and not need to move to another school.

In a way, some of the rants from the past do come into the realm of being. There is little reason why this didn't happen last year.