CAN ANYONE STOP O'CONNOR? (more from Jon's PSF)

A number of points need to be challenged in Delano's story about the Mayor's race. Pittsburgh's Dems pick their mayor candidate for the Dem's nominee in May -- they don't get to embrace the next mayor until after the November 2005 general election.

Hop is an aid to O'Connor. Conventional wisdom from my perspective goes the othr way from what Delano reports. The concept is to divide and win. O'Connor would rather have a crowd in the field of challengers rather than a single opponent.

The flood of entries into the Dem's mayor race is a sign of discontent. When people are upset they'll be motivated to run themselves.

As for Lamb and Peduto, both have troubles. Lamb is in the wrong race. Lamb should have run for PA Senate. He'd make a better candidate than Fontana. Even Lamb as an Indie would do better than Fontana.

Michael Lamb has exactly one week to get his act together and pass the nomination papers so he can enter the PA Senate race as an Independent. To enter the race, the candidate needs nearly 900 signatures. He'd need to shoot for 1,000 or more to play it on the safe side. Given 20 volunteers, each would need to get 50 signatures. Lamb would be able to do the job in about two days. One rule of thumb is says 15 per hour makes a decent work outcome.

I'd welcome Michael Lamb into the PA Senate race, now. Lamb should have been putting his energy into this race months ago. The knock on the Lamb vision would make a hurdle. But Lamb could bypass the late entry with some interesting re-tooling and alliances as an Independent.

Lamb's been asked by others with more sway to switch out of the Mayor's race and go for the open PA Senate race. But I'm the only one in the PA Senate race who is doing the asking in public. Furthermore, I'm in the race where he should be.

Perhaps Lamb's unwillingness to switch to the PA Senate race is due to his brazen hope that he'll be able to win the Mayor's race? The Trib's numbers need to be replayed in a few other polls and formats to give more weight to the realm of possibility for Lamb in the Dem's Mayor's Race outcome.

Delano wrote:

With just eight weeks to go before Pittsburgh Democrats embrace their next mayor, nothing seems to be stopping the impression that former county council president Bob O'Connor has momentum in his race against county prothonotary Michael Lamb and city councilman Bill Peduto. The problem, of course, is that nobody really knows much more than a Tribune Review poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling & Research in early March. That poll gave O'Connor 51 percent, 14 percent for Lamb, 12 percent for Peduto, and 23 percent undecided.

Is the race for mayor of Pittsburgh over? Maybe . . . unless Lamb or Peduto does something soon that really shakes up the race. Last week Lamb tried by taking on O'Connor directly, alleging that the former city council president was partially responsible for the city's fiscal crisis. During a recent debate, Lamb said to O'Connor, “You say you have a ‘vibrant and far reaching’ new plan to put Pittsburgh on the right track, but in the past we have seen the Mayor and the members of City Council make decisions that have brought us to the brink of bankruptcy. While you were President of City Council, city budgets increased by $48 million. Why should the people of Pittsburgh believe that as mayor you will do anything to put the city back on the right track, when all we have heard from you is a proposal for an expensive new streetcar system from Downtown Pittsburgh to Oakland?”

If Lamb really wants city Democrats to hold O'Connor responsible for the city's mess, he will have to get that message up on television and/or out in direct mail pretty darn quick. Time is running out for Lamb and Peduto, not because eight weeks is too short a time to make a difference, but because there is no sense among the general public that O'Connor (who has been running for this post for eight years) is unfit for this office. This race has always been Bob O'Connor's to lose, but so far his opponents have not given city residents any compelling reasons why O'Connor should not be mayor.

By the way, the race for mayor now has an African American candidate: Louis "Hop" Kendrick. Kendrick tells me that he may be black, but he is not the black candidate. He is running to refute notions that Pittsburgh is the "most racist city in America" and that "Pittsburgh's blacks are the most docile blacks" in the country. He says both portrayals are false, and his candidacy will prove it. Kendrick, who has a weekly column in the New Pittsburgh Courier and works for Allegheny County as a consultant to the minority disadvantaged business program, says he will spend no money in this race.

African Americans make up just over a fifth of the Democratic voting electorate in the city of Pittsburgh and, if united, can have an important impact. Conventional wisdom is that Kendrick hurts O'Connor because O'Connor has had some support in the African American community over the years. Still, no one thinks a candidate who spends nothing can make much of an inroad.

Unless and until his opponents go on the attack on television and radio in a convincing and effective manner, Bob O'Connor will be the next mayor of Pittsburgh.

Neither Lamb nor Peduto will go on any attack of O'Connor. They can't because they are both too young. An attack could be effective -- or it could backfire. Lamb and Peduto are playing it safe and are expected to linger around the race to build their resumes and get practice in the race. For either Lamb or Pedutor to offend O'Connor and his pals before O'Connor steps into the mayor's race is sure to hurt in the years to come after O'Connor becomes Mayor, should that come to pass.

The yawn will sustain itself.

Furthermore, Hop got into the race to knock out two others who have more vocal expressions -- Mark Brentley and Harry Liller. Brentley toyed with a dual run, for city council and mayor. He let loose on a rant before city council as Dr. John Thompson got an award as he finished his tenure at Pgh Public School's superintendent. Meanwhile, Liller didn't get onto the ballot as pages of petition signatures evaporated in a Homewood church with Hop's arrival into the race.

Hop is a buffer with a government job and a pledge to spend $0. Hop makes a perfect wet blanket on the sparks of others.

I miss Leroy Hodge.

Jon Delano gives up some recycled electrons at the end of this PSF rant

Jon Delano, a KDKA TV business and politics reporter, and frequent moderator at debates, did give a mention in his recent PSF email blast. Thanks Jon.

DIVEN V. FONTANA NOW A REAL BATTLE:

With Republicans already spending money on TV ads (admittedly, only on cable so far) for their state Senate candidate, Democrat-turned-Republican Rep. Michael Diven, and the Democrats suffering a contentious nomination process that gave all signs of disarray, the odds seemed to favor a Republican upset for that Democratic state senate seat vacated by now auditor general Jack Wagner.

But that was a week ago.

Last Friday, the Dems tried to turn things around with a unity fest that brought together some of Allegheny County's heavyweights to embrace Wayne Fontana, the Democratic nominee and former county councilman. Chief among them was long-time Diven supporter Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll. Knoll says she tried to keep Diven from switching parties, but when he ignored her she made it clear that she was backing Fontana all the way to the state capitol. She wasn't alone, as both Wagner and the man who once ran against him for state senator years ago, Dan Onorato, teamed up on Friday to proclaim Fontana the man.

For his part, Fontana made it clear that Diven's switcheroo was an issue, demonstrating lack of conviction on core Democratic issues. He accused the Republicans of "trickery" by running TV ads that "hide" the fact that Diven is now a Republican. And he says that social security is an issue in this campaign because Diven, by choosing to embrace the Republican Party and Rick Santorum, has embraced GOP values.

More impressive than the newfound come-on-strong attitude of Fontana and the unity of his fellow Dems is the team that the Senate Dems are putting together to keep the Wagner seat in the Democratic column. Marty Marks, a local operative who ran Onorato's field operation in 2003 and ran Joe Hoeffel's campaign in this region last fall, is now Fontana's campaign manager. Also on board are Ken Snyder and Tom Hickey, two well-known eastern PA operatives who bring strong media and strategy expertise to the operation. Those two were in town putting together TV commercials last Friday that should hit the air in a week. That won't be the end of the Harrisburg Dem support for Fontana. Rumor has it that once the special state Senate race in the Allentown area is concluded on April 5, Paul Gage, the field director for state Rep. Jennifer Mann who is running in that race for Senate, will also be heading west to help F! ontana.

All in all, what once seemed like a very likely G.O.P. win for Diven has suddenly turned into a race. Why? Because the Harrisburg Dems are sinking real money into the race and local Dems appear determined to teach Diven a lesson about party-switching. In case folks in the 42nd senatorial district don't like either Fontana or Diven, there is a third party candidate, Libertarian Mark Rauterkus.

Mt. Lebanon Shooting Shouldn't Cause Frenzy

There was a shooting in one of the region's most affluent neighborhoods on Sunday. By initial reports, there may have been a disagreement between people who knew each other. They raced to Virginia Manor in Mt. Lebanon, where one guy reportedly shot at the other.

No one was injured. But aside from that, the Mt. Lebanon story is eerily similar to the one that occurred in Carrick in the same week.

Virginia Manor contains million-dollar homes. I delivered UPS there one winter season. The folks there are nice, just have thicker wallets and portfolios than those of us in Carrick.

For Sale signs should not increase in Mt. Lebanon. Nud-knicks with no real schedules shouldn't parade to their school board member's house, demanding someone do something about things out of his/her control.

Things will be back to normal today in Virginia Manor. There's no need to cause a frenzy in one of our nicest neighborhoods. And Virginia Manor, too.

Lipstick on a pig, the promotional video

Why spend $250,000 for a promotional video to attract vacationers to Pittsburgh? It is like a Pittsburgher seeing a promotional video about St. Louis or Minneapolis and saying - "Gee maybe rather than going to the beach this year I'll go to Minneapolis." Not gonna happen.

People travel to Pittsburgh for two reasons - job or family related. That's it.

Create jobs, expand the tax base, get more people to move here. That's the only sensible way to increase visitors.

Do not forget the dopey slogan fiasco a year or so ago. A new PR campaign only puts lipstick on a pig.

We have our strengths here - good medical treatment, universities, but they are non-profits. We need profitable enterprises.

Source: Our campaign's, new Dormont volunteer.

City's lame duck mayor and county heads urge consolidating -- Dan and Tom are wrong on rights.

It wasn't fair of me to insert the word "dead" before the "head" in the headline. Dan O is our county executive and he's alive. Sadly, our mayor's status puts him as one still in office but with room temperature and lame duck status. It's rotten to see Murphy still at the helm. He's done so much to destroy the city that we can't give him the juice to sustain the death march.

City, county heads urge consolidating Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy said yesterday they plan to ask the state Legislature for the right to put the issue of a city-county merger before voters.

'The mayor and I have been meeting and working on this for months, and we're building a strategy to bring to Harrisburg,' Onorato said at a luncheon sponsored by the League of Women Voters. 'We have to convince the Legislature to give us the right to vote on this.'

The legislature does NOT need to give us the right to vote. Dan and Tom can both put matters before either the city or the county without running to Harrisburg. And, both can be instrumental to put a question onto the ballot without getting local legislative bodies to sign off on the question as well.

Presently the executive (either Tom or Dan) can write a ballot question and submit that to the legislative branch (either city council or county council). The respective council can put the question onto the ballot. Done.

Go to Harrisburg and beg for your own crumbs.

If either Dan or Tom were serious about consolidation, more would have been done last year or the past dozen years before that.

If Dan or Tom want to make a significan merger plan in the near future, they'd do what I suggested to them in May, 2004, with the position paper on PARKS consolidation. That called for a new Pittsburgh Park District. That is the NEXT best place to make a "merger." The parks effort would get the support of the ICA, the Act 47 coordinators, the public, the county officials, the city officials and state officials too.

Most of all, the park's plan would capture the spirit of the citizens in new ways, generate new life in the ranks of volunteers and be a springboard for other creative change endeavors. That's why Dan does NOT want to make it happen. It is a power thing.

Opposition would not be strong if they did what I requested. http://DSL.CLOH.Org/v1

As for Tom's lack of capacity for change -- let's just say he's just being Tom Murphy. He's the grand teacher of how to NOT play well with others.

Serious shame on the Downtown Pittsburgh Partnerships for the closed-minded invite and closed meetings

Debates launch mayoral contest Les Ludwig, was not invited.

No suprise noted as these are the same people that can't follow the charter to their own corporation. Les was not only not invited, but he was denied entry.

Weinroth had an opportunity to score serious points on the ethical front. He didn't.

Say it isn't so, Joe!

Peduto already failed to meet my standards. Peduto called for the others to sign a clean election statement. To bad he couldn't call for the others to share the debate microphone.

We knew Bob O'Connor was going to balk at inclusion. He did a dozen debates in 2001 with Tom, one-on-one. That's why Bob isn't mayor today. His selfishness got in the way.

Meanwhile Michael Lamb, an expert in the County Charter and reform leader, wouldn't join in the call for the resignation of a candidate on County Council, as called for the county charter itself.

The League of Women Voters and the 'clean' task force should rip into the organizations in town. Go beyond the candidates in the report card, please.

Props to the PG for the mention of the failures as part of the real story.

This yawner of a race, as others are calling it, needs only include all the candidates. Then issues and attention will perk to life quickly, I dare predict. Likewise, Pittsburgh as a region would come back to life as well after all are included and the web of life is respected.

To soar, we'll need to extend a wing to the left, another to the right and include some tailfeathers. Otherwise, we'll dwell in dispair for another decade.

Mister Rogers house assessment is NOT online yet

Can you find the county's assessment of this house?

AP: Miniature houseThe Carnegie Science Center's Miniature Railroad & Village debuts a tiny recreation of Mister Rogers' house from the popular television show 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.' The cardigan-clad Fred Rogers, who died in Feb. 2003 after battling stomach cancer, would have been 77 on Sunday.

The brown and white home, made with beeswax carved to look like stone, sits near a red trolley that whizzes by. On the porch, a miniature Rogers, wearing a red sweater and navy blue sneakers, sits with two children on a wooden porch swing gently rocking back and forth.

In other news, the USX Tower is going up for sale. Deed transfer taxes on these buildings are going to net some serious cash. But, sadly, the buildings are selling because the land value tax is gone.

Is that right Dan and Harold?

Did Pittsburgh toss out the baby with the bathwater with its "unified tax" that Bob O'Connor hailed as a solution four years ago? Now the buildings downtown are selling like hotcakes.

SUNSHINE Week: It’s going to to take all of us to clear the air

Ads Developed by University of Florida, with good basketball team props.

Recently, newspaper reporters discovered that the Environmental Protection Agency had "quietly allowed oil refineries nationwide to miss court-mandated deadlines to reduce air emissions, exposing thousands of people to dangerous pollutants."

Airing issues like this is important to all of us. Citizens in a democracy have a fundamental right to know what their government is doing—or not doing.

Freedom of information assures that we have access to government records. Then we can take steps to prevent government from keeping us in the dark on pollution. We’ll all breathe easier.

It's Time.

Let the Sunshine in.

Ohio U's Bobcats got to 60 to 60 with Florida after picking being down by 20 points.

The Florida Gators won. But the Bobcats came scratching back.

Speaking of animal sports performers, Dan Perkey, Carlington's Wildcat, was in the finals in the PIAA Meet, in the 100 Breast. Dan has his heart on going to Notre Dame in the fall.

Mike Ley, a Fox Chapel Fox, went 21.32 in the 50 free to make finals too!

Way to go men.

In other steroid news: Greek sprinters cleared in Olympic drug scandal

All is not as it seems at first blush. These Greek athletic heros were in a world-class mess as the Olympics rolled into their backyard. The media and its buzz with officials can really do a number on the individuals.

SI.com - More Sports - Greek sprinters cleared in Olympic drug scandal - Friday March 18, 2005 12:54PM 'The decision is very good, but someone has to pay,' Tzekos said after Friday's ruling. 'They say I was informed about the test and the athletes were not -- I can live with that.'

Kenteris, who won the 200-meter gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and Thanou, who took silver in the 100, were national heroes in Greece and showered with honors until the scandal broke.

Both runners have declared their innocence, claiming they had not been properly notified about the Athens test.

Kenteris and Thanou also allegedly evaded tests in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Chicago over an 18-month period before the Olympics.

Kenteris' British-based lawyer, Gregory Ioannidis, said the sprinter was 'delighted' by the verdict.

'The decision means Mr. Kenteris has been exonerated of highly damaging and unfounded charges which have been extremely harmful for his career,' he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in PA, some in the state house would like to make it illegal for those 17 and under to even have tobacco. To hold it could be criminal. To buy it is not legal. Fine. But the move to raise the range of offenses to possession is sure to raise more toubles.

These are drug war struggles.

Walko's move to increase red tape in knee-jerk reaction

Capitol Notes, 3/18/05: "Rep. Don Walko, D-North Side, this week introduced House Bill 992, which would regulate bounty hunting in Pennsylvania. In a press release, Walko said he drafted the legislation in response to the fatal shooting of an unarmed fugitive, Michael P. Robinson, by a bounty hunter at a North Side home in December.

These bad guys are running around our neighborhoods and State Rep Don Walko wants to regulate the good guys who are trying to catch the bad guys. This is a wrongheaded response, IMNSHO.

Pittsburgh could be a mecca for fugitives. No thanks. Pittsburgh is already a hot spot nationally for meth labs, grafitti vandals and over taxed operations.

I would rather make it easier for bounty hunters to come here help us keep our streets and neighborhoods safe. Today's headline is about the police getting little help in finding the shooting suspects in the afterschool murder. Perhaps State Rep Walko does not see the connection?

Prior post from Jan 2005

PG's Capitol Notes and DeWeese's 31-member group on schools

Capitol Notes, 3/18/05STRANGE BEDFELLOWS. Who knew that a liberal Democrat like Rep. H. William DeWeese of Greene County had something in common with a conservative Republican like President Bush?

But the issue of improving public schools in Pennsylvania has brought them together.

DeWeese, the state House minority leader, this week introduced legislation to create something called the 'Commonwealth Commission on the Provision of Public Education.'

If approved by the Legislature, it would be a 31-member group that would, by Oct. 31, 2006, 'make recommendations on the current system for the delivery of public education and related services to children in pre-school through and including bachelor degree level instruction.'

'What we want to do is make education better,' DeWeese said. 'This is something to which we can all be agreeable.'

DeWeese said Bush has taken the lead in the matter by creating the federal No Child Left Behind law, which sets standards for schools, students and teachers to meet over the next 10 years.

'It has impacted nearly every aspect of public education throughout the United States,' DeWeese said. He is hoping this new panel will 'take a holistic look at the entire public education system' in the light of the new federal requirements.

The way to make education better, in the eyes of the one's who are in power, is to make a new commission.
The approach of making a new panel, such as the A+ Schools or the Mayor's Commission on Public Education, is no insurance for better schools. That approach is a joke, as are the two organizations mentioned.
Another harmful, failed approach that didn't help our schools but only caused harm was championed by Michael Diven and a couple of others who were elected to city office. Michael formed a PAC (Political Action Committee) with Gene R and Jim M to sway school board election results. A bull in a china shop could have done less harm.
The Pgh Public School Board soon spun into a national embarrassment.
We can all agree that public schools are in need of some serious help. President Bush, state lawmakers and I know that schools are not in great shape.

The best way to handle these issues is to electe people who care greatly about these matters and not allow the elected leaders to pass the responsibility and in turn the blame to some other authority or hatched 31 board as mentioned in the story from DeWeese.

I'm against the creation of more red tape. Let's not create more frustrations without accountability.

Grant to preserve photojournalist's trove of images

Grant to preserve photojournalist's trove of images: "Every Monday for the past 21u20442 years, Lippincott has worked with archivist Kerin Shellenbarger to catalog roughly 8,000 Harris images.

How long?
Is this some librarian joke with a Dewey Decimal reference? April Fools comes early?
I'd love to see the Harris collection online. I'd love to have it happen in our lifetime.
If the collection was put into the public domain, it would be done 100-times faster.

Carrick Shooting Shouldn't Cause Frenzy

As a resident and community activist in the city neighborhood of Carrick, I was disappointed to hear of the fatal shooting of a student outside of the high school, but not overly surprised.

I grew up in a rural community and went to an elementary/middle/high school campus that looks remarkably like the Columbine high school where several kids went on a killing spree years ago. Residents of that previously sleepy town didn't run to their nearest urban area, afraid of gun-toting teens. Likewise, Carrick residents shouldn't run for the hills after this tragedy.

Parents need to be responsible for their kids' activities, before, during and after school. Immediately upon hearing of the shooting, I predicted that the actors knew their victims, it was probably drug-or-pseudo gang related, and that there would be plenty of fear to go around.

News reports indicate that the act was caught on video. They already have suspects. I truly expect arrests within a week.

Within the next few days a city leader, or prospective city leader, MUST unveil a plan to help parents--single parents, married parents--everyone who has children in Pittsburgh. Counseling, after-school activities, motivational speakers, family experts, etc. At foundation or private expense. A challenge to the "downtown community" to help any parent who needs it.

Carrick has the city's largest baseball league. Just last week, we signed up our son for another season of shagging flies and hitting sharp grounders up the middle. Carrick's baseball community does its part. It's a guarantee that none of the actors involved in today's shooting were a part of Carrick's baseball community.

Parents should allow their students to go back to Carrick High School. Maybe not tomorrow if they are particularly concerned. But without question, people in the community shouldn't fold up their tents and go into a tizzy.

Hertzberg steps out to allow for special election on May 17

Alan Hertzberg is setting aside personal compensation and is quickly resigning from his city council seat to allow for the special election to occur on May 17.

The special election would have cost the city an extra $60,000 if it was held on another date.

Alan did the right thing and did so for the good of the city.

Last year I pushed and pulled at Harrisburg to hold the special election for the 42nd State Senate to be held on May 17. That move saved $250,000. The proper date was selected so we'll not only save more money, but engage more voters in the selection of the public officials.

Alan's move turn up the heat a bit for the city council race. The Republican candidate needs to get into gear.

Anyone want to run for the office under a LIBERTARIAN banner, please contact me. Tonight the Libertarians are meeting at 7 pm at Ritters Diner in Oakland/Shadyside area.

NEPA News - busted for living the high life on Ben Franklin's good name

Corruption. Caught. Outcome.

NEPA News: "Leaders such as Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and former Gov. Tom Ridge instructed McGeehan to 'shake trees' to bring new businesses to the region, McGeehan said, and he did that by traveling and hosting parties at which he could network.

Read about the fat cats in the comments or click the link above.

I have a no problem with fat cats in the private sector but they don't sit well in my view in the public sector.

I remember the Pittsburgh Ben Franklin center -- and how worthless they were as I approached them. I was there on a number of instances and was always left with a bad impression.

I had also been to the small business incubators in Evanston, Illinois with Northwestern Univ. too. The contrast was real. These pretentious characters are part of the continual decline of the Pittsburgh business climate.

Fontana resigned. Next phase begins.

Wayne Fontana, thanks for the five years of service. Thanks for tendering your resignation. Now let's start the discussion on how to best serve the citizens and taxpayers of the region.

The meeting in County Council was on the wild side. A new crisis is here. Headlines in the papers are sure to point out that the 1-2-3-4 plan is headed to court.

One eight-to-sevewn vote dodged a year-long delay. The final vote was with three on the minority side.

Everyone was in agreement, the system is broken. Some think it will take three years to fix it. I ask, why? What was happening the last three years?

My solution, "assessment buffering." More to come on that in the weeks to come.

Venture outdoord hits a bump in the road with insurance

Sad news from our outdoor friends on insurance is in the comment section.

When the Rec Centers and Swim Pools closed, I put a message to the firefighters union to ask them to come to the rescue in terms of insurance help. Coordination matters.

The Pittsburgh Park District would be another way to get solutions to insurance problems.

See the comments.

City of Pittsburgh needs GOP mayoral candidate, a PG statement

City of Pittsburgh needs GOP mayoral candidate The rest of you just have to work on your sales pitch. That argument I've heard so often on talk shows -- 'You people are idiots. Why don't you let us run that city we hate?'' -- will need polishing before November.

For the record, I love Pittsburgh.

The rest of the article is interesting.

Mr. Reform falters, so says the trib. But Lamb isn't dead yet. His rebirth could come in a new race. Mine, no less!

Pittsburgh Tuesday takes - PittsburghLIVE.comThe mayoral campaign of Allegheny County Prothonotary Michael Lamb continues to go nowhere fast. To wit, the Democrat's transportation 'plan' talks of pumping more money into the Port Authority instead of fixing the badly broken agency. Lamb also gushes over the proposed high-speed magnetic levitation train and the North Shore Connector. Both are boondoggles of the highest order. Some 'plan.' 'Mr. Reform' is dead.

We did get the deer in the headlight glaze to vanish when asking Lamb about the Mon Valley Toll Road. A few months ago he was without comment. He's on the campaign trails and has no comment on a vital issue. Well, at least he is moving and showing some progress there in the right direction.
But, by and large, the reform tag misses the mark. So, I agree with the Trib's editorial snip.

But, Lamb isn't dead yet. In the Mayor's race, Lamb might be. But, Lamb has a chance of getting a new gust of wind if he would only switch races. Lamb could still jump into the PA Senate race slated for May 17.

Fontana, D, has yet to resign from County Council. Fontana, the expert that he is, might be too valuable to county council in this new crisis in his field on his watch. Fontana might need to stay right where he is to fight off the court cases that are sure to arrive.

Michael Lamb could fill in for Fontana as the Democrat's entry into the race for PA Senate to fill Jack Wagner's old seat.

Next year, Fontana might be able to get a job within Lamb's office.

Michael Lamb's father is a former majority leader in the PA Senate. The younger Lamb, 42 now, should have entered this race months ago.

Lamb, however, to his credit, says he can't allow Bob O'Connor to become Pittsburgh's next mayor. He, too, cares a great deal about the future of our city and region. But the time is too short.

Lamb could pull out of the Mayor's race, get the endorsement of the Dems with a deal with Fontana, and run for Harrisburg. Lamb, and his supporters, could then influence the Mayor's race in the fall's general election. But that effort would take, T E A M W O R K.

Teamwork. Humm. The debate stage for the Mayor's Primary among Dems is sorta busy. Les, Bill, Hop and others are there to engage Bob. The frontrunner might get more than 50% of the vote. But, in 2001, Bob got 30K votes. Meanwhile in 2004 Kerry got 114K and Bush got 39K.

This year, the November election could be important.

Think again.