Busman's Holiday: PA Sunshine: Videotaping Public Meetings

Thank goodness for Bob Mayo from WTAE TV and the Busman's blog. Yes. Thanks Bob for the notice and the care.

The Busman's Holiday: PA Sunshine: Videotaping Public Meetings A thank you to Mark Rauterkus for calling attention in this post to an attempt by the chair of the City Planning Commission to block his use of a video camera. It prompted me to do some checking online and in person.

Read the rest of the post at his blog.

Today was the day when the city planning commission was to meet again and release its rules for video taping their public meetings.

I went by the outside of the building at 200 Ross Street while they were in session, but, I could not attend. I was just speaking at another 1:30 pm public hearing in city council chambers on the new vacant property ordinance. And, a 2:30 I need to be picking up my child from school.

From people & vips

I'll call or visit the planning office tomorrow and might call again to the chairwoman too to find out what they propose.

So, for the moment, I'm without hard news.

However, last week when Mayor Ravenstahl, Mr. Ford, the Zoning Coordinator from City Planning and a handful of others from the administration were on the South Side I had some spirited discussions about this matter. The zoning coordinator felt no remorse and fully justified to instruct the public on what could and could not happen from one's seat at "their" meetings.

He felt that I should have seemingly asked permission before I took a few moments of video at the meeting when they were debating legislative matters.

"Hey pal," I said. "With 'rights' -- I don't need to ask you for permission."

He thought that there was a lot of case law to back him up. They had been reading up on this.

I told him it wasn't my intention to sue the city planning commission. But, that was the first blush reaction that came from the chairwoman when I first came to understand that the meeting came to a stop and signs were posted. The first day I shot the video and walked out the door. Then the planning commission folks at the front of the room got wind of my camera. But I had already departed.

After a back channel conversation or two, the chair came up with the idea of making this a topic for conversation among the staff and to work on an official policy. So fine.

The kicker of this incident came on the heels of another that involved my camera and a public meeting. I testified at the third public meeting hosted by PAT concerning the service cuts. TV cameras were all over the first two meetings on the first day, at the Hilton and in Oakland. I went into the Oakland meeting and got some film. But the tide turned. A PAT Police officer told me at the third meeting that I was not permitted to use my camera.

Here again, I was just sitting in my seat, mingling among the audience. I don't use a big tripod nor lights like Bob Mayo and TV crews.

I'm not okay with their actions. I'm calm and cool on the outside, but on the inside I'm hacked off. To make matters worse, I walked home from that meeting that PAT hosted with a former opponent and present D candidate for city council, Bruce Kraus. I told him what just happened with the PAT police officer, blah, blah, blah -- and he said it made sense to not be allowed to video tape a public meeting about a public agency. Golly.

Click clown and watch the video that opened the show.

I hadn't had this much fun nor emotion with a video camera since working on the PCTV 21 show, The Art of News.

Petitions: another punch from transit riders. Kocking Onorato

Tomorrow (Wed.) morning, March 7, at 8:30 AM, the Campaign to Stop the Bus Cuts would like you to join us to deliver the first 12,000 petitions to Dan Onorato at the County Courthouse Building on Grant Street. We're asking him to stop supporting Steve Bland and his draconian service cut proposal and start leading the march to Harrisburg for the funding that we need.

We're going to have a brief rally outside the courthouse before we go into Dan's office. If you come a little late and don't see us outside, go into the courthouse and ask one of the guards to direct you to Dan Onorato's office.

If you have petitions filled out, bring them with you. If you still have blank petitions, keep getting them signed. These 12,000 petitions are just the first of many.

If you need more information or have any questions, call us at 1-800-334-7888 or email us at mvuc@msn.com. Hope to see you tomorrow.

Working Together, We Can Make A Difference!

Paul Lodico
Campaign Coordinator

Salary Freezes -- well -- that's NOT cuts. Service is getting an AX. Counter: How about service freezes rather than cuts.

Marty Griffin of KDKA Radio is getting hard to listen too.

Management gets HUGE money. Then it gets frozen. That's not a WIN. That is a HUGE SALARY that can't go away.

An important step in getting rid of expenses would be Cuts. James C. Roddey thinks Dan Onorato is doing the right thing now. He is an Onorato booster. Onorato makes the Republicans happy. They are all twisted.

PAT is going to ove out of the expensive, downtown rented space in the next DECADE. I'd have them packing now.

The huge salary payments for management are going to continue. Meanwhile, 400 others are getting fired. For the riders, bus routes are going to go away.

Asking what Roddey would do to fix PAT is a joke.

These "big cuts" are worth 10-percent of the deficit. They have $50-million to go. But, these folks just protected themselves.

The pension plan that started when Roddey was in office was when Dan Onorato was Allegheny County CONTROLLER. The Controller should have spoken up then.

Station Square bar fight

From texture - misc.

Pittsburgh Steeler, cornerback, Deshea Townsend, is facing an assault charge. He's accused of being in a bar fight at Station Square early Friday morning. However, some are saying he only was a witness. Seems his buddie was swinging fists. Deshea might have NOT hit anyone.

There are a lot of problems in the neighborhoods when it comes to police actions, bar patrons and keeping the peace. Often, the innocent wonder about "enforcment." This story, because it includes a Steeler, might become a new benchmark to watch.

What's going on?

How come some get charged and others don't?

What went down?

Can the neighborhoods get the same type of 'protection' that is dished out at Station Square?

I don't know the answers. But, the incident might open up a big can of worms. And, this chatter and understanding is welcomed on some fronts.

NY Times has Ben Howland in headlines

Ben Howland Is on the Verge - New York Times

Fathers are key to child's development, experts say - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Blast from the past, about parenting.

Fathers are key to child's development, experts say - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Fathers are key to child's development, experts say

I think I left a comment to a fellow blog and dad today. But it didn't seem to make it onto his blog's comments. It is in my comments feed, reposted here:

The Burgh Report: 3604643758256850988

Rauterkus (Mark Rauterkus): Screw the election. Parent.

My word of advice that can fit in a blog comment is:

A baby's wants and needs are one in the same.

Send me an email with your mailing address -- and I'll send you a two CD audio program about Dads and Parenting from a friend, Hogan Hilling. He presented to the Lamaze group's national convention a while back here in Pgh.

Another pointer / extra, called Braving the storm, (PDF).

More details on School Board Members

Did you notice that in the city council district 9 race, Randall Taylor got zero votes.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Local News - Early Returns City Council District 9
Rachel Cooper 41
Leah Kirkland 24
Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle 21
Rev. Ricky Burgess 11
Gerald Brown 1
Randall Taylor 0

I've said that School Board Members should NOT be eligible for the ballot in other races while on the board and for five years following their board tenure. I guess someone heard that wish.

Patrick Dowd didn't do so well either.

Nor did Theresa Colaizzi.

All in all, I think that the school board behavior isn't much better than it was in the past. It is still rocky, to say the least.

The vote total for Stephanie Tecza was 74 and Heather Arnet got 27. That's a landslide. But even more was the 66 to 17 score that crushed a sitting school board member, Dan Romaniello. Way to go Sherry Hazuda, whoever you may be.

Let's go to the movies and see Pride!

Print this coupon. Bring it to the cinema. Get in to see the movie on this one day, Sunday, for only $5.

More news to come.

Peduto on the Pens move

Heard Bill Peduto on KDKA Radio about the possible move of the Pens. He talked to Honz, just after the news broke.

Bill said that he stood by IOC all the way. So, he is a trusted figure to the Pens. He would be glad to enter the negotiations.

Then Bill talked that his Plan C is still a valid offer.

Bill mentioned Tom Murphy. Like Murphy or not, Tom Murphy was the guy to get the job done. Murphy built the two stadiums and convention center. Murphy didn't let the ohters in office do the heavy lifting. He means to present Luke as one who is in the back seat to Dan Onorato and Ed Rendell.

The worst thing that Bill said had to do with the Civic Arena being empty. He said that there won't be any developmet up on the Hill now if the Pens depart. Asked if he, Peduto, would pull out all stops to save the team, Bill said you have to. (Yes.)

The Pens play 40 dates at the Civic Arena.

I think that the whole thing is a mess. But, I don't think that there will be no development on the hill if the Pens leave. Don Barden's plan calls for a lot of development on the hill. So, Peduto is just out of touch on this one. Did he forget? Is he talking in the moment and out of despiration?

I think that the hill district can flourish after the Pens leave. The Pens should get off of the hill -- but land in another part of Allegheny County -- such as the airport.

Bye, bye birdie -- Pens seeming to flee.

Humm....

From Pens Village

No deal yet.

I've got ideas that ... oh well, ...

Penguins declare impasse in arena talks Penguins declare impasse in arena talks
Will pursue other offers aggressively, letter says

Draft Resolution Regarding Dr. Ron Paul and his Exploratory Committee for President in 2008

From fellow Libertarian Running Mate, Mark C.

WHEREAS the growth of government continues unabated with big-government bureaucrats and politicians of both major parties in complete control;

WHEREAS accelerating rates of uncontrolled, constitutionally-unauthorized, government spending and the inflationary monetary policies of the Federal Reserve have put our country at grave economic risk;

WHEREAS growing restrictions on personal and economic freedom, along with intrusive federal mandates into state and local affairs, continue without pause;

WHEREAS global deployment of the U.S. military has entangled our country with foreign governments and with foreign leaders that Americans wouldn't want living in their own
neighborhoods; therefore, be it

RESOLVED that the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania enthusiastically supports efforts by Dr. Ron Paul to thrust libertarian viewpoints into national debate during the 2008
election season by way of his possible presidential candidacy; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED that the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania encourages everyone to demand a national debate of these viewpoints and not to accept restriction by establishment politicians and silence by a complicit media.

You do the math. Count me out when it comes to robbing from our kids.

Do the math.

From family - travels

The official national debt figure, now approaching $9 trillion, reflects only what the federal government owes in current debts on money already borrowed. It does not reflect what the federal government has promised to pay millions of Americans in entitlement benefits down the road. Those future obligations put our real debt figure at roughly fifty trillion dollars - a staggering sum that is about as large as the total household net worth of the entire United States. Your share of this fifty trillion amounts to about $175,000.

The Coming Entitlement Meltdown also gives props to David Walker, scroll down.

Opportunity China 2007: Breakfast Seminar - PittsburghLIVE.com

This would be fun to crash.

Opportunity China 2007: Breakfast Seminar - PittsburghLIVE.com

What does Dan Onorato know about CHINA?

From clean-sweep

If you want to attend, on my behalf, let me know.

From texture - misc.

Quiz: What does this photo show?

City Council President wants Temporary Slots Parlor. Okay -- do it in the Convention Center

Doug Shields, D, president of Pgh City Council and candidate for Allegheny County Controller's post (against Michael Lamb, D, and Tony Pakora, D, and Joe Weinroth, R) said that the budget for the City of Pittsburgh is going to have a $10-million hole.

This $10-million amount is what Doug Shields and his fellow big-spenders on City Council counted upon as income from the slots parlor.

In the radio interview, Doug Shields called it a "casino" but it is really just a slots parlor.

From Convention Ce...

The winning slots parlor outfit was granted a license by a state gambling board. However, two challenges to the granting of the license have been made. So, the green light for the building of the slots parlor for the river's edge on the North Side, next to the Carnegie Science Center, has been delayed.

The city's budget expected money in 2007 from this gambling operation. City council sets the budget and has done so in the past with phantom incomes. Gambling incomes were a part of Mayor Tom Murphy's budget in 2006. Money won't come to 2008, at the soonest.

The Majestic Star Slots Parlor on the North Side considered but nixed the idea of building a temporary slots parlor, like in a circus tent. Temporary casinos are still operational in other parts of the country. The risk is that a real building with decent design standards won't ever be completed should a temporary site become operational. The goal isn't to put a new gem onto the river's edge that looks like the I.C. Light Amphitheater.

Now that the Convention Center is empty, it makes great sense to build the temporary slots parlor as well as the permanent slots parlor within the David M. Lawrence Convention Center.

From Convention Ce...

A series of poor thinking is revealing itself in many instances in Pittsburgh.

If I was in office, like Dan Onorato, Luke Ravenstahl, or even on City Council like Doug Shields or Bill Peduto, I'd be making a hard pitch to Don Barden to insist that he move the slots license, short term and long term, into the Convention Center. Sell the Convention Center to Don Barden.

Two big words hit the airwaves at KDKA Radio: "Eliminate Authorities"

Marty Griffin was talking with Allegheny County Councilman, Vince Gasteb, R, and the words and concepts of the elimination of authorities was spoken.

I've been barking about these steps for years. Elimination, liquidation and votes of retention for authority board members have been central themes to my platform and campaign statements.

Authorities are not accountable as they should be. They've got to go away. They've gone nuts and over stepped in a zillion ways.

Furthermore, those that made and sustained this mess with authorities are the ones who are least able to clean it up.

Spring Swimming: Lessons, Team, Lifeguarding and More

Join the fun --- become a Wildcat!

Wildcat Swimming at Carlynton Swim Club

Swim Club at Carlynton H.S. Pool

Registration for the competitive swim team for summer begins March 26, 2007, at 4:30 PM. Swimming is a healthy, fun-for-life, family sport and one that ALL team members are guaranteed to participate in at every meet. The only benchwarmers on our team are waiting to swim their next event! ALL age groups and swimming abilities are welcome. We have swimmers aged 5 to 18 ranging from beginners to state champions.

* We are a competitive swim club belonging to the Western Central Pennsylvania Swim League (WCPSL) and Allegheny Mountain Swimming (AMS - United States Swimming league).

* Spring/Summer Season runs March 26 thru July 27, 2007

* Special Summer price $30/family
* You can start practice anytime
* Practice is held at Carlynton High School pool

Competitive swimming questions - Coach Mike Schneiderlochner, 412-215-2766.

Registration questions/information - Carol Matt.

Swimming Lessons

Instruction: Red Cross Levels 1 – 2 – 3 & 4; 10 - 40 min. or 9 – 45 min. classes

Cost: $30 for 1st swimmer; $25 for each additional swimmer in the family

Registration is Thursday, March 22, 2007; 5 – 6:30 pm at Carlynton HS Pool

Session 3: Class Dates: March 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, April 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Times: 6:00 – 6:45 PM

Session 4: Class Dates: April 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, and 19
Times: 6:00 – 6:45 PM

Session 5: Class Dates: April 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, May 1, 2, 3, and 4
Times: 6:00 – 6:40 PM

Session 6: Class Dates: May 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
Times: 6:00 – 6:40 PM

Email registrations will be accepted AFTER the registration date and based on class availability. Send to amy@carlyntonswim.com.

Lifeguarding Classes

Register by calling Mike Schneiderlochner before May 11, 2007 at 412-215-2766 (cell) or via email at michael.schneiderlochner@comcast.net. Please request confirmation on email transmission.

Dates: May 14, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23, 2007
Times: 7-10 PM
Cost: Full class $185; recertification $95; CPR recertification $45
CPR May 19 – Recerts 9-11:30 AM & Full Class Noon-4 PM

Lifeguard recerts must attend on May 14th to determine dates for attendance. CPR training and recert will be May 19.

Recreational Swimming
Rec/Family Swims occurs now through the end of March.
Time: Tuesdays & Thursdays 7 – 8:00 pm
Cost: Adults $2; Children $1

Must see TV. The US top accountant on an education tour. Fiscal Wake Up Tour

The sky is falling. David Walker is providing an enormous public service.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2534935n

Watch this segment from 60 Minutes. Don't do anything else until you see this.

From people & vips

Fiscal cancer.

Catastrophic consequences.

This proves why we need to end the twin tunnel project under the Allegheny River for light rail extension.

Tsunami of spending that will swamp our ship of state.

Can't do anything else but pay money on the debt.

Eliminate all waste and fraud, entire Pentagon Budget -- and still have nothing left.

The real problem is health care costs.

Video even shows snip of some open water swimmers!

The proscription drug bill was the most damaging bill since the 1960s.

Most people in Washington knows. It is always easier not to do something. You get in trouble in politics when you make choices. We need to be tough on spending. And, they have no faith that there is a consensus on doing the right things.

The last 40 seconds of the segment are the best.

If you tell them the truth, give them the facts, if you explain this in not just numbers but do it in terms of values, they will empower their politicians.

Ds and Rs are on a course that doesn't add up.

The nation's top accountant. Put a cap on federal spending. The longer we wait, the more we risk.

MacYapper: FIGHT TO THE FINISH EDITION

MacYapper's now is not present. He posted on his blog:

MacYapper: FIGHT TO THE FINISH EDITION Now it's up to the actual city voters.

Not so fast. The city voters get their day with the arrival of November 6, 2007. Today is March 5.

Even when May 15 arrives, the city's voters are going to be on the sidelines. May 15 is ONLY for the registered, big-party voters. And then, the Luke and Bill choice is only for some of them.

The "done deal mentality" has killed this city and region. Falling into this trap does nobody any good.

When will the D-party endorsement conclude?

The endorsement process for the Dems might not be over for a while. The vote happened yesterday, but some of the players are now headed to court.


A silly sports slogan says, "It isn't over until the fat lady sings." When will we hear, 'Elvis has just left the building.' -- Or, 'We had em alllllll the way.'

On one hand, the more uncertainty and doubt within the local D party, the better. But on the other hand, I really want to restore confidence in our elected, democratic process. More legal challenges with more exposure of lies drives a bigger wedge between the people and the institutions that SHOULD be a source of faith and trust. Otherwise, people settle differences in other ways.

Pittsburgh is famous for the number of people that just vote with their feet.

This is another good instance to listen to the song -- Be Careful Punching Ballots If You Can't See the Hole -- by Amy Carol Webb. It has been on my CD.

Ravenstahl easily tops Peduto for party nod - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Pokora plans to challenge the results in court this week.

He said the committee's bylaws don't address the use of provisional ballots used by those who could not show proof they were eligible to participate yesterday. Pokora has said he would not run without the committee's endorsement, but he was unsure yesterday if he would stick to that pledge given the close vote.

City Councilman Doug Shields, who received the endorsement in his council race, placed a distant third in the controller's race.

In a separate challenge, Andrea Boykowycz, a Peduto supporter, has contested the voting eligibility of 20 committee members.

Committee Chairman Jim Burn said she challenged the members' voter registration and residency. Committee members must be registered Democrats living in Allegheny County.

Burn said the committee members will be given 30 days to prove their eligibility. The results could affect some of the close races."

Lamb's one vote margin -- Joe Weinroth to Controller's Race

Joe Weinroth, former GOP candidate for Mayor, 2005, may enter the City Controller's Race. We'll know Tuesday.

From texture - misc.

That could be a great move by Weinroth, in my humble opinion.

Next, Mike Lamb needs a web site or blog. There has been some smoke in the controller's race. It may continue. But it would be nice to see one of them enter the digital realm. Who is going to bring the race to the people?

I asked on another blog about Mike Dawida. He didn't go for the D endorsement. But is he still in the race?