Council postpones vote on payments by nonprofits

A big part of the discussion about the nonprofit centered upon the UPMC owned facility on the South Side that is rented, in part to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pitt for its male-only football team.

This facility is what drove me to get involved in politics. The planning was goofy to me then, as a newbie in this realm. The promises that were made have been broken. It wasn't square from the get-go.

UPMC, a nonprofit, purchased the prime riverfront land from the URA (city owned Urban Redevelopment Authority). The land came at a bargain price. These 30 acres were sold, and deals were struck, so that the Steelers could have a place to practice. A practice field on the North Side was taken with the building of Heinz Field.

A PLIOT -- Payment In Lieu of Taxes -- was struck. Or, so the joke was told.

This happened years ago. Back then I was not okay with the sale of the land. I was not happy with the design of the dwarf football fields. I was not okay with the pledge of community access. I was not happy to see the loss of tax incomes by selling the land to a nonprofit owner. I objected. I spoke up. My protest, and that of some others as well, got the new owners, UPMC, to dump some additional money back into the community. I call that 'hush money.' The $6,000 grant offer from Jerry D was laughed at and the amount went up ten-fold from one meeting to the next. He is long gone from UPMC's administration. I'm still here. I'm still with a vivid memory of the broken promises too.

Now at the city council meeting, today, the deal got twisted again. The money that UPMC is paying for the land is still part of the sales agreement. Say what? That needs to be put on tape. But then again, the weirdness came from Sala Udin, a URA Board member and long-time 'yes man' to Mayor Murphy. Sala's time on council is ending shortly.

Sala's statements need to be researched. If nothing else, that deal needs to be unlocked and put in the open -- finally.

Council postpones vote on payments by nonprofits Mr. Shields called that 'circular logic' and said the obvious solution would be the release to council of all existing agreements with nonprofit organizations. 'What's the rush to this?' he said of the contract vote. 'The agreement before us is incomplete.'

One long-term solution to these nonprofit struggles should be the construction of a land-expansion-moratorium for the whole nonprofit community. We need to do a complete inventory of land. This needs to be cataloged by year in square foot. And, the trend has to be put in reverse.

Mayor Murphy was happy to give away land to nonprofits. Then he is quick to cry the blues because so much land is owned by the nonprofits.

I've been talking about the crisis of nonprofit land ownership for years -- and that was the reason I jumped into politics.

Now there are others who are finally starting to 'think again.'

Lifting the curtain on the PPS plans

Superintendent Mark Roosevelt is calling out an invite for parents to attend a Press Briefing at 2 pm on Wednesday afternoon, November 9, 2005. He will announce the Plan to Right-Size the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Go to Conference Room A, Pittsburgh Board to Education Building, 341 S. Bellefield Avenue, Oakland.

Get the outline of the educational enhancements and resource realignment for the 2006-2007 school year.

Pittsburgh City Council members jockey for presidency

Classic.

Pittsburgh City Council members jockey for presidency 'Council should not be a department of the new administration,' said Mr. Peduto. 'We need to have as much independence as the [fiscal overseers] if we're going to remain a relevant voice.'

Sorry. City Council has become less and less meaningful -- thanks to pushes from Peduto. Peduto wanted the overlords. Now Peduto wants to be with as much independence as the overlords. Peduto wants to be equal with the overloards.

The vote to remain relevant happened when the overlords were invited into this city. The last relevant vote council took was to give up its power and accept the oversight boards. The reason that the overlords were called to the city is because city council and the mayor miss-managed public funds. The overlords were called to Pittsburgh for good reason.

The overlords are goiong to need to see good reason to depart and it is the job of city council to prove that it is relevant again. That is my call. I'll be running for city council to prove that council is again a relevant voice -- and it is necessary for the city to thrive again.

I want to help push the oversight boards out of town by doing a great job with the budget and democracy. We need to fix ourselves. We need to heal the city -- in acts, deeds and determined leadership from all elements of the city's population and political systems.

Pgh School Shake-up Hits this week -- starting with crossing guards again

Our schools are in trouble. And, again, we find that the powers that be are dinking over crossing guards. Frustration mounts.

Doug Shields on City Council got to serve as a crossing guard for an hour recently. He lived to talk about it today at the council meeting.

This was an issue last year and the year before. It is still a big issue in the budget for 2006. The oversight board wants to have a meeting with the city and schools to shift the cost of the crossing guards onto the backs of the school budget. And, city council members want to get the city, county and school leaders to meet to talk about the crossing guards too.

Wrong.

The city has had a duty to pay for crossing guards. Mayor Murphy messed up, as usual. Now, you got to go back and fix up his mess.

School crossing guards should be paid for by the city. Those who are in charge of doing the budget, city council, should fix the problem that lingers.

The crossing guards work the streets that go before city, charter, private and cathlolic schools. The streets are for drivers, walkers, bikers, bus riders and our kids. This is the realm of POLICE and public safety.

I want my school budget to pay for reading coaches, math teachers and algebra tutors. Our school system needs to teach kids -- not make sure that neighborhoods are safe. The city council and mayor need to make sure the neighborhoods are safe.

The oversight board wants to take money away from the schools to pay for crossing guards. Meanwhile, the school performance is so bad -- we run the risk of the entire school district being taken over by the state. There is a bad idea in the middle of becoming real. Rob the school district, over and over again, then take it over for failing to meet state standards. Pay more later when the state takes over all the schools of the district.

These guys are trying to kill the schools, and in turn the city. And, the city council members are letting this happen.

ELECTION DAY event: KISS YOUR LEVERS GOODBYE PARTY!

Come pull a lever on one of our wonderful walking lever machines and get a Hersey's kiss as we KISS OUR LEVERS IN ALLEGHENY COUNTY "GOODBYE".

TOMORROW, Election Day, 11/8/2005

TIMEs: 11 AM to 1PM and 3 PM to 6 PM

LOCATION: Outside the Polling Station on the sidewalk (And maybe across the street at the bus stop) Forbes Avenue side of the Jewish Community Center (JCC) at 5738 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217

This will be the last time Pittsburghers vote on the venerable lever machines after decades of service. What will replace them? We hope it will be a voting machine with a voter-verified paper audit trail (V-VPAT) with a routine audit.

Our county will be purchasing new machines in the next months. HB2000/SB977 provide electronic voting machines with V-VPATs and routine audits in our elections in PA. We will be handing out educational literature on how HB2000 will safeguard our elections in PA.

Thanks for helping to safeguard the integrity of our elections in Pennsylvania.

Cheers, Richard King

PS - Don't miss the special county council hearing on our county voting machine purchases, November 17th. Call for more details!

Richard King, Ph.D. (412) 400-3773, kinggaines@comcast.net,
www.PA-VerifiedVoting.org,
www.verifiedvoting.org

Links for Pennsylvania HB2000/SB977:
Voter Verified Paper Records with Routine Audits
www.PA-VerifiedVoting.org (locate&email your legislators)
www.VotePA.us (Listserve for voting reform activists)
democracyforberks.com/countmyvote (List of co-sponsors)
http://www.coalitionforvotingintegrity.org/
http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=VTUSA&hotissue=2

Abercrombie & Fitch to pull line of T-shirts

Abercrombie & Fitch to pull line of T-shirts Saturday, November 05, 2005
By Monica Haynes and Moustafa Ayad, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Retail giant Abercrombie & Fitch, bowing to increasing national pressure started by a local girls group, has agreed to stop selling several controversial T-shirts.

Splendid singing, music and message -- with a recent victory!

The hardest element of this posting is trying to figure out who should get top billing. All were excellent.

Emma Blackman-Mathis join with Emma's Revolution to bask in the glory of the recent victory.
Pgh's Emma and DC-based Emma's Revolution hooked up in Friendship. Check out the t-shirts. (Click image for larger view.)

Girlcott co-organizer, Emma, (16-year old from Pittsburgh) back from major network appearances, and triumph with A&F's decision to yank the t-shirt line. (keep reading)

Musical power.

In May 2002, the song, (my favorite) "Swimming to the Other Side" was featured on NPR's All Things Considered. In the interview, Pete Seeger said, "The powers that be can control the media (but) it's hard to stop a good song . . . Pat's songs will be sung well into the 22nd century." The tremendous and unprecedented response by NPR listeners made Emma's Revolution CD, "Hands," the #1 seller on Amazon.com for three days following.

Pat Humphries and Sandy Opatow, (neither named Emma -- but both want to dance at the revolution) were in the process of moving to the Washington DC area from New York City on September 11, 2001. Since then, they have been performing at concerts, teach-ins and rallies. At one event as Gulf War II began, the singers/songwriters lead 10,000 people in an outdoor concert in NYC in the singing of their song "Peace, Salaam, Shalom." That inspiring event, less than a month after September 11th, was requested and repeated at an all-night peace vigil in NYC on the first 9-11 anniversary.

"Democracy Now!" with Amy Goodman plays a number of their songs. Rhythms Magazine called the "Hands" CD a "powerful and energetic album. . . one of the best of 2001." Sheet music in PDF format of the peace song is online.

Anne Feeney stages another great event.

Back to the t-shirt story:

On November 2, 2005, the news was about free PR for A&F and the girls. Since then, the A&F changed its tune. The t-shirts are gone.

Newsday.com: Student 'girlcott' protests Abercrombie t-shirts

With a few words on their T-shirts, Abercrombie & Fitch lets young women send a message: 'Who needs a brain when you have these?'

A group of female high school students have a message for A&F: Stop degrading us.

The Allegheny County (Pa.) Girls have started a boycott -- or girlcott, as they're calling it -- of the retailer. The campaign, conceived three weeks ago during the group's monthly meeting, went national on NBC's "Today" show. (Emma was on all the major networks: CNN, Fox, etc.)

"We're telling [girls] to think about the fact that they're being degraded," Emma Blackman-Mathis, the 16-year-old co-chair of the group. "We're all going to come together in this one effort to fight this message that we're getting from pop culture."

Abercrombie has been a lightning rod for criticism:

In 2003, a catalog containing photos of topless women and bare-bottomed men provoked so much outrage that the company pulled the publication.

Last year, after the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team failed to win a gold medal, the company sold T-shirts with the phrase "L is for loser" next to a picture of a gymnast on the rings. Those shirts were pulled from the racks after USA Gymastics called for a boycott.

While Abercrombie backed down in those cases, it show no signs of doing so this time. (Ha! A&F did back down this time. The young women from Allegheny County won.)

"Our clothing appeals to a wide variety of customers. These particular T-shirts have been very popular among adult women to whom they are marketed," a company spokesman said in a statement.

News of the girlcott hadn't reached Tawana Clark, 20, who was applying for a job at the Abercrombie & Fitch store in Water Tower Place on Tuesday. But she doesn't think the protest will work.

"I think it's only older people that have a problem with it," she said. "Teenagers don't have a problem with it." (Ha, ha, ha!)

Clark sees the shirts as funny, not offensive. "It's not to be taken seriously," she said. (Say what?)

The aim of the girlcott is to convince people that the T-shirts are offensive, but young people don't care if they are, according to David Krafft, senior vice president of Chicago-based Graziano, Krafft and Zale Advertising.

"You figure they're appealing to a younger audience demographic and (young people) are going to want go for brands that are more cutting edge, or viewed as more cutting edge," Krafft said. "So it's just going to be a benefit anyway to Abercrombie & Fitch."

The attention from this boycott is likely to help Abercrombie's image, and its audience will be attracted to the controversy, said Steve Bassill, president of Libertyville-based QDI strategies, a marketing consulting firm. (WRONG!)

"That's been their whole strategy, isn't it, to be radical?" Bassill asked. "I think that's what we've seen for quite a while from them."

Krafft says the "Today" show appearance was tantamount to free advertising.

According to Chicago-based media company Starcom USA, a 30-second commercial on "Today" costs approximately $58,000.

The girlcott girls were on for several minutes. The girlcott almost is "playing into their hands," Bassill said.

Heather Arnett, adviser for the girls' group, said it doesn't matter if Abercrombie gets free advertising. They're already a giant as far as she's concerned. What matters is empowering young women, she said, who in turn serve as examples to other young women.
"A week ago, Katie Couric knew who Abercrombie & Fitch was, but she didn't know who Emma Blackman-Mathis was," Arnett said. "A bunch of teenage girls are being interviewed by national media about what they think. And that is the news."

Blackman-Mathis admits that, at first glance, the T-shirts are a little funny.

But the more she looked at them, the less amusing they were. She's still stunned to have appeared on national TV and is hopeful the message will reach young girls.

"Worst-case scenario, I just want girls to at least think about everything that they buy," Blackman-Mathis said. "Think about the message that it conveys to themselves and other people when they wear it."

Her best-case scenario?

"They would stand up and say something for themselves and for girls."

Fantastic prime-time political TV -- West Wing's debate

Tonights TV show, West Wing, delivered a wonderful bit of drama. Plus, I think the presentation by the fictional characters made a top-shelf contrast between two points of view.

It was so good, I don't even miss the lack of a WQED debate on the mayor's race. Talk about contrasts.

Bob O'Connor now has a fresh excuse for not going onto any TV debate stage. Bob would look like hell next to the prime time actors in West Wing.

The Pitt News covers O'Connor's promises -- before they are broken

Among other things, we read:

The Pitt News - O'Connor promises revitalization

O’Connor never went to college.

But, O'Connor worked in a restaurant in the Cathedral of Learning. (Roy Rodgers)

O’Connor got involved in Greek Week, a big thing.

O'Connor got involved with the hospitals. (Assume he sold fries to them too.)

O'Connor grew up not knowing anything about politics.

O'Connor wants to retain more of the city’s large collegiate population. O'Connor says, "Job opportunities are certainly here." (Yeah, right.)

O'Connor thinks the key is to create the atmosphere [college students] feel comfortable in and can enjoy. (More enjoyable fast food?)

O'Connor thinks Oakland should be able to hold graduates to Pittsburgh. (Everyone wants to settle down and raise a faimly in Oakland, right?)

A major theme of O’Connor’s is expanding transportation. Bob didn't learn his first lesson from his spring campaign in 2005. Bob's first step then dealt with the creation of a streetcar from Oakland to Downtown. His plan went over like a lead baloon. Bob back-peddaled around those streetcar statements throughout the spring. Now O'Connor falls back into the same rut.

O’Connor believes another key is attractive neighborhoods for young people and old people who don't live here.

O'Connor thinks young people want to live in Squirrel Hill because of Barnes & Noble.

O'Connor does not think Downtown Pittsburgh is linked with Oakland.

O'Connor thinks job centers, Downtown and Oakland, need to be linked. Bob does not understand that a hospital employee does not need to go down to Grant Street often. These centers are centers unto themselves. The link that really needs to occur is between residents and work places. People live at home and go to work. People at one job don't need to travel to other jobs site centers as a normal course of travel.

O'Connor thinks Pittsburgh is growing everywhere except Downtown.

O’Connor thinks Downtown housing would jumpstart revitalization. Frankly, I think it is silly to subsidize housing for rich people. And, the shift to move Downtown into a housing center subtracts from Downtown's strength as a job center.

“The only thing that will change Downtown is having people live here. That’s what changed Squirrel Hill, all the shops and cafes,” he said. “Same thing can be done with Downtown and Oakland, they could do a lot better.”

Humm. O'Connor forgets to mention that loss of the local shops in Squirrel Hill because of the Waterfront in Homestead. Lots of small businesses went out of business because of the subsidized outdoor mall in Homestead. And, given O'Connor's thinking, why is Homestead not booming with housing because of all the shops and stores there?

O’Connor wants to work with companies that are already in Pittsburgh to help them expand and grow. But, that didn't happen with Homestead's Waterfront and existing businesses in Squirrel Hill while Bob was on City Council.

O'Connor thinks there have been plenty of debates. In the primary we had around 80 or 90. O'Connor can't count. But more over, O'Connor must think that freshmen who do lots of homework can stand up to their next professor in the next semester and say, "I've done plenty of homework -- last semester." Even a second grader knows that first-grade homework doesn't count in the next, present round.

Comprehensive article on Pgh Mayor Race from State College

AP Wire Former city councilman, attorney vie to be Pittsburgh mayor The run-up to next week's mayoral election had all the makings of a hot contest: a struggling city whose finances are in tatters, a three-term mayor choosing not to run again, and a former City Council president going head-to-head with a political newcomer.

E-Democracy Workshop with Peter Shane - now at OSU and CMU (prior)

E-Democracy Workshop The Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies (CILPS), along with the Department of Journalism and Communication, the Department of City and Regional Planning, and the Ohio Supercomputer Center, invite you to join us November 17-18 for a hands-on workshop to introduce government personnel and other interested citizens to the emerging world of web applications to foster citizen input into public policy making.

Others think otherwise on No for Newman

My recent email blast generated some welcomed feedback, as expected. Some good and some bad -- but all of it welcomed. The most interesting exchange, so far, came from Rob Keenan III, (C. Robert) who is with email as crkeenan -at- dmcpc -dot- com.

Dear Mark,

I don't believe we have met, although I have been entertained by your libertarian e-mails for awhile now. Allow me to introduce myself.

I'm a lawyer who's been practicing for over 26 years. In addition to the usual legal practice, I have also represented law-abiding gun owners against the gun grabbers. I also represented pro-lifers (successfully) in 1994 when powerful special interests attempted to purge them from the primary election ballot. Before I was a lawyer, I was a county chairman for Ronald Reagan in 1976.

My conservative credentials run wide and deep. So I was more than a little concerned about the distortions and conclusions in your e-mail regarding the retention election this November 8 for a friend of freedom in Pennsylvania, Justice Sandra Schultz Newman.

Distortions? You allude to the current Pennsylvania Supreme Court having ruled on the July midnight surprise (the pay raise and the unvouchered expenses). They have not.

Then you made sweeping recommendations about the retention election next week. Please let me address the question of Justice Newman's record. Perhaps you will see why we need to retain her.

Justice Newman was one of two Justices last year to hold that "no registry" in the Uniform Firearms Act means just that - "no registry". She rejected the Big Government stretches of the Governor's office and the mainstream media.

In 2001, Justice Newman voted in favor of free speech and against prior restraints on political ads, an area of intense concern for pro-gun, pro-life, and conservative activists. I know - I helped litigate that case.

But that's not the point. The point is what was discovered more than twenty years ago when a clueless "New York Times" reporter was covering a Senate race in Idaho. At a rally, speaker after speaker tipped the hat to "the three boxes of our liberty." Finally, the reporter asked someone in the crowd, "What are these three boxes I keep hearing about?"

The man looked at the reporter with surprise and said, "The ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box."

So I'll vote "Yes" to retain Justice Sandra Schultz Newman on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. When liberty's in the dock, she's one of the judges I'd want hearing the case.

Sincerely,
Rob Keenan

---

I wrote to the sender with thanks for the feedback and asked, "Can I publish this on my blog? Do you want your name used? Do you want your email used? Do you want to have me scrub it to take out the personal stuff?

His reply:

Sure.
It's OK to use my name & e-mail. Thanks for asking. And thanks for keeping liberty issues before us here in Western Pennsylvania.
Yours,
Rob

The race in August 2006

Talk about an early bird getting the worm.... Here is your advance warning. But, I'm only going to sign up in July.

Pittsburgh Triathlon & Adventure RaceNinth Annual Pittsburgh Triathlon & Adventure Race, Sunday, August 6, 2006, Olympic Distance Triathlon and Sprint Distance Adventure Race at the North Shore Riverfront

Analysis: Political landscape is changed -- like the book, The Tipping Point

I was very sad when O'Toole took a bit of a vacation for some time off while I was running for the PA Senate in the special election in the spring of 2005. O'Toole is a good reporter. He is now joined by J.P., another top reporter at the P-G. I hope one of the two get to cover the race we're gearing for in the months to come.

Analysis: Political landscape is changed By James O'Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Valid points:

... the tactical keys were the newer media that emerged...

... With the Internet blogs and talk radio, no matter what happened you had people paying attention, ...

... The biggest losers were single issue candidates who wanted to run against incumbents based solely on this issue.... Right. Just a footnote, I'm not a "single issue candidate." I've got a platform that spans 100+ pages. My knock is I've got more than a handful of topics where I can put forth significant, simple solutions.

.... senior GOP Senate aide, acknowledged the raw nerves, but professed confidence that they would be soothed over time. Think again. The soothing may happen over time. But, time does not heal, just in itself. Pennsylvania needs to fix many of its policies. Our state needs to change in some fundamental ways as to how it operates and the cronies acts that have been tolerated. Then, the healing can begin and the people can rest. We need to put more faith into the consitution, into freedoms and into truthful reforms that allow all to make choices for themselves and have the educational opportunities to grow. Going back to the status quo isn't going to put people back into their slumber.

Home Page to a new candidate site

Good luck.

Home Page People power democracy. I am running for Congress because I believe I will better represent the people of Pittsburgh and the 14th District. No speech writers, no professional campaign people, no corporate PACs, just the people powering democracy.

Slots panel's wish list is vague

Slots panel's wish list is vague Mayor's task force gives casino hopefuls no specific demands

Of course. The appointed pannel has the 'authority mindset.' They have no mandate. They have no standing. They have been pulled to a dance with a date with a nice body and little else.

Interaction is not this administration's stength. Weakness rules. So too are the outcomes.

The fire, passion and conviction that resides in the citizens has been snuffed in the past. Most of it has departed this town as well. Those with real interests elsewhere are not willing to devote more time to hitting one's heads against a wall of do-nothingness that is now rooted in Grant Street.

There are three reasons why I won't get what I want out of this gambling saga. One of those reasons is the lack of "will." There isn't a political will for insuring that the best process and best outcome happens.

Do NOT subsidize housing for rich people -- anywhere. No TIFs either, give their saga.

PIIN should be on this. Progressives should be on this. Pittsburgh Laurels & Lances - PittsburghLIVE.com Lance: To PNC Financial Services Group. This very wealthy banking giant is looking for $48 million in public money to make its proposed $170 million Downtown office, retail and residential complex a reality. Normally, we'd call this an obscenity. Because it's a bank trying it, we'll call it what it is -- pornography. Taxpayers are not venture capitalists. Given the history of public subsidies and failures in the Golden Triangle, PNC should be ashamed of itself. As should the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority and Gov. Ed Rendell for entertaining this latest attempt at a public molestation.

Pittsburgh Laurels & Lances, The FIX flap with Mayor, but where was he 1, 2, and 3 years ago, yet alone 12?

To forgive and forget is fine, but I'm not yet able to let a top official off the hook, yet. Where was Murphy years ago as gambling-interests rolled into town and jacked up river-front property values? That land-speculation along with the city's heavy handed pipe-dreams with stadiums and Fifth & Forbes, plus undue taxes in parking (50%), etc., have squashed the hopes of a sensible marketpace.

The marketplace rebounds, but the marketplace has been beaten repeatedly.

Every system, institution and family in the city is much more frail today because of the lack of dynamic leadership and bad policies on Grant Street.

The "real fix" that has "been in" has been the "decay fix" of the marketplace from public officials who are so self absorbed that they believe they have the sway to fix markets.

The 'fix is in' line of Murphy's wasn't the whopper of that day. The Mayor said, "Evan is right." The past leader of the anti-gambling group, No Dice, knows of the ills to our society and culture and has spoken about about them for years. Now, Mayor Murphy agrees with Evan and gives him direct credit. Evan's reply was, "Where were you, (Mayor Murphy) five years ago?"

nd Pittsburgh Laurels & Lances - PittsburghLIVE.com It's about time: On Oct. 27, Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy claimed 'the fix' was in regarding the city's lone slots casino license. He offered no evidence; he blamed the media for not doing their job. On Wednesday, a full week later, Mr. Murphy, pummeled in the media and by the state Gaming Control Board, retracted his allegation. Which only affirms the recklessness of the mayor's behavior. January can't come soon enough.

Vietnam Study, Casting Doubts, Remains Secret - New York Times

Vietnam Study, Casting Doubts, Remains Secret - New York Times N.S.A. officers deliberately distorted critical intelligence to cover up their mistakes, ...

World Peace -- coming to a mogul near you soon.

Olympic flag, white for peace.
SI.com - 2006 Winter Olympics - UN proclaims Olympic truce for Turin Winter Games

The U.N. General Assembly adopted by acclamation on Thursday a resolution encouraging all nations to observe an Olympic truce during the 2006 Winter Games to be held in Turin, Italy, in February.