Patrick Dowd talks about tip of iceberg with garbage cans

Updated with video, inserted below:


Patrick Dowd came to my neighborhood today to talk about the cost of garbage cans, again. He put a price tag on the one at 11th and East Carson Street, $1,010.

The inflated price of garbage cans is but the tip of the iceberg, so he said. Jeepers. Why talk about the tip of the iceberg? I want a candidate that is going to address much more than the pimples of life.

More to come.

I asked a few questions too.

Dowd claims Pittsburgh wasted $20 million: "Councilman Patrick Dowd outlined what he called $20.2 million in 'wasteful spending' by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's administration today -- almost all of it associated with a water authority debt deal -- and repeated his call for changes in how the city spends money."

To me, the irony of it all is what is NOT able to be seen. Putting a price tag on a garbage can is a ploy and it is a dumb ploy. It doesn't resonate with anything as it isn't really a huge deal in the bigger picture of life.

I don't want to spend money on a business district period -- trash cans or otherwise. Does he want to replace the spending on trash cans spent for a business district and get cheaper cans? Let's not just re-arrange chairs on the deck of the Titanic.

The real waste is government is the wasted capacity.

We don't have programs in the parks because we have too many dogs that have taken over the parks -- and too much red tape to get things done with volunteers.

I told Patrick that the biggest waste in the South Side was the closed, indoor ice rink that sits in a park that is behind a padlocked gate. The park is closed for the most part. The rink has been closed for five years. There is only one indoor ice rink in the city and that is the Civic Arena -- a place that is slated for the wrecking ball. The Pens get a new arena -- but our kids don't have a place to play. So, people move out of the city. Families move out of the city.

And Patrick was in charge of the parks committee for the past two years. Nothing got done with parks on his watch. Nothing due to his watch.

Furthermore the school district is no great model for reduction of wasteful spending. In contracts alone, the taxpayers paid out big bucks for Dr. Lynn Spampinato. She vacated her office at the PPS and went to US Virgin Islands with plenty of additional paydays and a golden parachute.

The school district fired Dr. John Thompson six months before his contract was to expire. I had no problems with the district telling Dr. Thompson his time with the district was finished, at the end of his contract. But, it made no sense in a prudent financial sense to release him of his contract before his work was finished. I hate to see folks getting paid for not working.

Government waste = Lynn Spampinato.

How much did she cost PPS?



Update on April 2:
Strings attached! Photograher asks, shouldn't Bruce Kraus write an ordinance about this?

Worse than being a Pitt fan is...

The only thing worse than being a Pitt fan tonight is being a Pitt fan and living in Philly.

Come on home. We'll leave a light on for you.

Lewis, Clark and Dog from Pittsburgh, Seaman

The Phillips Elem School Think-a-thon team goes into its competition today at Brashear High School.

Meanwhile, I'm going with the Chatham University women water polo players to Erie for three matches.

Updated w photo.

Pittsburgh approves first round of surveillance cameras

Pittsburgh approves first round of surveillance cameras: "Ending a 21-month selection process, the city of Pittsburgh today announced it has picked Maryland-based Avrio Group to deploy a network of public safety surveillance cameras, starting along riverfronts and extending into high-crime areas.

If they are going to point cameras into high crime areas, then there will be a lot along Grant Street, inside the buildings and among the Authorities too.

I want to point the cameras at the public officials before they are pointed at the citizens.

Great Re-Cap of the win over the X-Men

Pitt Blather — The Rantings Continue Permalink » Survive and Advance Talk about rewriting a legacy in half-a-minute.

As great as Levance Fields has been for Pitt, the senior was hardly anything special for 39 minutes. He had 9 points, 6 assists and 3 turnovers. He probably should have had more turnovers. He shot 3-9 at that point. Only 2-5 on free throws. He just had not come up with much in the most important game of his career. It looked like he would go down small and his team would join yet another Pitt squad that couldn’t break that barrier of winning a third game in the NCAA Tournament.

Then. Then. Then it all changed. Drilling a 3 with under a minute. Deep. Hand in the face. A “NO.NONONONONONONO! YES!!!!!” moment. After that coming up with a steal when Blair poked it lose and racing like he never raced before to the other end with a lay-in. Wow.

Nothing about this game was pretty. I do not understand what is wrong with Pitt in the first half. Whether it is playing too tentative because they don’t know how the game will be officiated. Whether it is overconfidence. Whether it is tightness. Obviously, Coach Dixon has been reaching them at halftime.

Still, it was ugly. Credit also has to go to Xavier for playing that hard and tough against Pitt. They also do well in this type of game and clearly it was their game as well.

Ultimately Pitt did enough. Pitt was tough enough. Physically and mentally. Never gave up. Never stopped.

Now this Pitt team gets to keep playing.

My reply:

Pitt wins if it can do three things. Really, only one, but I'll cover all the bases.

First, Pitt needs to take care of the ball. At times the team can't even make an in-bound pass.

Second, Pitt needs to get the rebounds. Tip it, swipe it, swat it -- whatever -- except have the ball hit you when your standing off the court.

Third, Pitt needs to score more points. I'll take #3 any time over 1 & 2. As long as Pitt scores more points, any way, any how, -- I'll be happy. Older of course, but happy and grey.

THESE BASTARDS: Culture under siege

THESE BASTARDS: Culture under siege Et tu, boy mayor? Must you treat us like lowly Morgantown dwellers? I'll bet this solves everything. No more fires. Nothing else in Oakland is flammable.

An era is ending. No more sitting on the porch discussing literature getting shit faced and skipping class. Now people will have to steal lawn furniture or milk crates and sit on those. They will have to defend and protect these new sitting implements from theft. This flies in the face of the whole dirty porch couch concept: that no one in their right mind would ever try to steal one.

City's lack of glitz now a selling point for conventions

Re-branding?

City's lack of glitz now a selling point for conventions VisitPittsburgh is now marketing the city as a glamorless destination for the post-luxury age.

I've been saying and wishing others would promote that Pittsburgh is a great place to be frugal -- and for living as a family. The combination of the two are slam dunks for most and better than what they've ever come up with.

Getting the casino means some new business. But, it also means others won't come. The net effect is marginal at best.

So, only VisitPittsburgh would begin to bill the city as less than glamorless a few months before the casino opens. Go figure. The timing is wrong again.

When one does organize an event, it is a draw to have a city that can function yet not distract those who attend. This means that the conference attendees go to the trade show, attend the lectures, have time to socialize among themselves in the profession. That's an ideal world for event organizers. Especially if the family of those attending can hook a trip too and have sideline activities -- like Kennywood, Sandcastle, Warhol, Science Center, and so forth.

One Dollar DVD Project Is No Longer... a one man operation.

Better than NetFlicks, sorta.

...no longer a one-man operation, that is.

Two assistants help get the orders out, now. I suppose it is a good thing the project is too much for me alone.

The DVDs are still a dollar each when purchased in bulk (over $100). Otherwise, they are now two dollars each.

http://www.onedollardvdproject.com/DVD-new/Order.html

Do not blame inflation, I am no longer able to do it all, at my age. Some will be bummed, sorry.

Smaller orders will be more costly. If regular, repeat buyers will order less often and buy more per order, little will change for them. Besides, why give the Post Office all the shipping charges, anyway?

Please, buy a box full ever so often and help this project continue to grow.

Also, a new Recurring Subscription Project is available. Receive monthly deliveries of the most popular or newest DVDs; four DVDs a month for only $9.95 or, nine a month for only $19.95. You will receive more than one copy so, pass the extras along to friends and neighbors after viewing.

Again, thank you all who work the front lines of the info war. Please, just consider me part of your support team.

Ron

http://www.onedollardvdproject.com

Pittsburgh Crosswalk Injuries Hit Five Year High - Target 11 News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh

I care about pedestrian Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Crosswalk Injuries Hit Five Year High - Target 11 News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh: "'The problem with that area is it's a straightaway and people are leaving town and there just aren't enough traffic signals there to slow the traffic down,' said Hal Waldman, Price's attorney.

But, traffic lights are not the tool for slowing down traffic. Same too for STOP signs. Traffic lights are for taking turns. STOP signs are for stopping.

Slow down traffic with speed limits and enforcement.

Pittsburgh would be wise to build dozens, if not dozens of dozens pedestrian bridges and walkways -- away, above, below and apart from the traffic on the street.

Pitt prepares for possible NCAA riots - College Basketball - Rivals.com

Yes.

Pitt prepares for possible NCAA riots - College Basketball - Rivals.com: "Dave Jedlicka, president of the Oakland Zoo and a member of the Celebration Task Force, said he thought any student linked to destructive activity should be immediately expelled.

Ask the Obama Administration to address the obesity epidemic

Ask the Obama Administration to address the obesity epidemic by using some of the $650 million set aside for prevention and wellness in the economic stimulus package to strengthen the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO). CDC is the nation's lead prevention agency, yet DNPAO is funded at less than one half of one percent of CDC's budget.

Please go to the “contact us” section of recovery.gov. Insert a request for CDC obesity funding, such as the model comment below, and add a supporting fact of your own or one from the list of options below:

Please ensure that the prevention and wellness fund from the stimulus package includes a strong investment in obesity prevention by providing $90 million for the CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity.


To support that request use one of the following or your own supporting fact:

* At the current funding, $42 million, CDC is able to support only 23 states. The remaining states receive no funds from CDC to address a condition that affects two-thirds of American adults, contributes to 112,000 deaths annually, and costs the nation $123 billion in treatment costs.

* Over the last ten years, the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity has begun to build a strong science base, effective programs, and national infrastructure to promote healthy eating and physical activity. The Administration should build on that initial investment rather than reinventing the wheel.

* With high rates of obesity in adults and children, the Administration can’t afford to not have a strong national obesity prevention program in place. Without sufficient investment in prevention, obesity rates are going to continue to wreak havoc on the nation’s health and health care costs.

* Funding CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity at $90 million would allow it to support obesity prevention programs in every state.

* Even though all state applications were approved for funding, 13 states lost their obesity funding last year due to inadequate resources.

Campaign finance-plank-Dowd - Fix PA

Nice response. Now lets go and split hairs.

Campaign finance-plank-Dowd - Fix PA 1) I will introduce comprehensive, common sense campaign finance legislation that is tied to federal contribution limits within the first 100 days;

2) I will end the practice of awarding no-bid contracts to campaign contributors;

3) I will ensure that every contract over $25,000 will be competitively bid;

4) As an incumbent Mayor, I will not solicit campaign contributions from any firm that does business with the City of Pittsburgh or its Authorities;

5) I will make all finance reports electronically available to the public on the state and county filing dates;

6) I will ensure the creation of and integrate searchable electronic databases of all city contracts and all campaign contributions of all city elected officials.

7) I will publish my public schedule on the city's website so that any Pittsburgher can see who I am meeting with.

#7. Why not have your private and public schedule on the web?

Why not have the schedule on the web now?

Why not have the schedule on a personal site and not the city's site?

Why not have the main meeting room set up with UStream or some other video conference set up so that what is said is broadcasted and archived so others can see or hear exactly what happened?

#6. Why not do a database of your spending and incomes now?

Why not support the TRANSPARENT PAC ACCOUNT concept with private banks as a way to make a solution that is without any extra costs and overhead on city resources?

Why not meet with me to learn about and craft such a solution with a call to local bankers for a new type of account for local PAC accounts?

Why not ask all the other candidates you know in the city and county to migrate their bank accounts to these new TRANSPARENT PAC ACCOUNTS so that a critical mass rewards to early adopters and a new chapter in transparency is started in earnest?

#5. Why not make finance transaction data available as it occurs, not as the reporting periods dictate? Do reporting in real time, not with big lags.

#3. Why not insure that every contract greater than $5,000 be awarded after a competitive bid? Why the $25,000 ceiling?

Cal swimmers embrace unusual training methods

Cal swimmers embrace unusual training methods: "'At Rutgers I didn't think I would go any farther in swimming,' she said. 'I was just about ready to leave the sport. I wasn't where I wanted to be. I was frustrated with the whole thing - coaching, practices, meets, everything. Back East, it's very old school: Just pound out a lot of yardage. The coaching style is very removed. They tell the swimmers exactly what to do without a lot of positive feedback.'"

Program's goal is to knock down barriers, expose black youth to swimming : Local News : Memphis Commercial Appeal

Program's goal is to knock down barriers, expose black youth to swimming : Local News : Memphis Commercial Appeal: "Program's goal is to knock down barriers, expose black youth to swimming

By Wendi C. Thomas (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Thursday, March 19, 2009

Last summer city pools opened to tragedy: two teens drowned on the first day the pools were open in June.

Not this year, said Susan Helms, director of injury prevention and Safe Kids Mid-South at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center."

Big Job Fair -- the day after a posting closed

The city held a big job fair. Great. The city had an open job posting that closed the day before the job fair. Go figure. Not great.

PAC this to Zero-Land. The loophole is the PACs

From hot-pot-w-students

Start here, at Bob's blog: http://thebusmansholiday.blogspot.com/2009/03/peduto-campaign-finance-reform-by.html

My reply:

The loophole is PACs.

A union's PAC can give 2.5 times as much as an individual. But, a union PAC often has a city, county, regional and national PAC. And, it can have Grey PAC, Gay PAC, At-Home PAC, Retired PAC, Women's PAC, and so on. Anyone can make a PAC. PAC can then funnel money to candidates.

A rule follower could give $1-M to various PACs and they can all end up giving money to the same candidate for the same campaign.

When the rights of a mob, group or clan exceed that of the individual, red flags should fly.

1 hour and 20 minutes on the Kraus bill for sidewalk cafes

Bill Peduto is going to use his gavel. Finally. He is a bit hacked off today at city council for the spending of 1 hour and 20 minutes on a bill that had no amendments.

Too much talk. Too little action.

From NZ-whales

Mr. Kraus wants to thank everyone for all their help. That's called doing their jobs. Grandstanding stinks.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kraus is always late to meetings. When I'm talking today -- he gets up from the table. When other members of the public are talking, Mr. Kraus is in the audience schmoozing.

Fixing it isn't everyone's duty. But to flag it is a great help.

My suggestion at another blog about fixing wiki pages when errors are noticed.

Life must be hard to know it all yet not have the technical / language skills to fix any of our bogus shared understandings.



Tip to Chris: At wikipedia.org, (and even FixPA.wikia.com) when you see something that is at odds with the truth, click the blue button at the top of the page called, "discussion." It is at the tab just to the right of the link labeled 'article.'

Then click again on the button, also at the top, called "new section." Sometimes a "+" sign is there. Then insert with the wiki language of plain old text in English to what you feel should be changes / adjusted / altered / inserted. Just go freehand.

Often two fields are presented, a title, like in a blog post. And a body field for longer chunks of text.

No need for any HTML nor WIKI mark-up. Just type like a blog comment.

Then after you are done, sign your nugget of insight by hitting the ~ (tide character) four times. That is way to the top left of the keyboard, often a CAP. It looks like this, ~~~~ .

That trick, ~~~~ puts your name and time stamp onto the posting.

Then leave the edits to others. Go about your merry way to other pages or whatever.

When busy, drop of comment onto the discussion page and move on. Hopefully others will get to the matter in due time.

I did this the other day at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Richard_Caliguiri

Perhaps some day the Caliguri page will get fixed to everyone's satisfaction.

(full thread)

The Pittsburgh Comet & Campaign Finance Reform

The Pittsburgh Comet: "If the ship leaks, we can look to where it's leaking.

My second comment at another blog goes like this:

If pay to play is the problem, then fix pay to play. You don't fix pay to play with campaign finance reform.

As you said, "If the ship leaks, we can look to where it's leaking." EXACTLY.

If you have a leak on the roof of your house, don't put in cement floors. Fix the roof.

The pay part should be okay, within reason. Don't make it criminal to give a donation to a candidate. We want people to be invested in self-government and the American process -- generally. However, we don't want special favors to be delivered to anyone. We don't want certain players to get the ball and our money all the time at the exclusion of others. Government isn't about making the rich richer despite effective operations.

The play part of pay to play is where the taxpayers get screwed. The play part is fixed with the elimination of all no bid contracts.

If you want to do business with government, we need to have a competitive bid process to insure that we buy the most and best for the money -- open to all.

Gaming the system is solved when the contracts and purchasing elements are with sealed bids and competition.

Campaign finance reform is another matter. It needs attention too. But, trying to make Campaign Finance Reform a wonder drug, magic bullet, and fix-it-all-solution, is sure to bog everything down and fail.

BTW, this was one of the failures of Peduto 2004 thinking. We're past that now, I dare say.

You don't fix one problem with an approach that isn't about the problem: Campaign Finance Reform

This is what victory looks like!

When Bill Peduto championed campaign finance reform in 2004, I was there saying, "Think again."

Peduto knew of the gang of 75 who were the pay to play mavericks. They ruled this town and took from its treasury, as needed, via their no-bid contracts. They come in all flavors from law firms to bond underwriters to URA designer weenies.

Peduto's aim, in part, was to fix this 'pay to play mentality.' So, he wanted to limit the size of campaign donations. The pay to play problems shrink as the size of the pay-offs are able to decrease -- generally. But, the root of the problem is the awarding of city contracts to friends.

In the case of Twanda Carlisle, she gave city money and city contracts for doing nothing, to family and friends. Those folks didn't give big campaign donations. They were paid, but they didn't even need to play the game with advance payments.

My point in recent years has been to the problem of letting city contracts to those who are hand picked. End all no bid contracts and the pay to play realm gets shattered.

This is what's on the table now. This is a major reform move. This is what I've been talking about and it is coming to pass.

Can anyone tell me any reason why we need any no-bid contracts in city government?

Next, gifts. Sure. We can start a gift abatement policy. But, that has to come from the individuals and it would be nice to have an Ethics Hearing Board too. Rev. Ricky Burgess is ranting about gifts and that's just fine.

The problem comes from enforcement.

What if I give you a ride home after a meeting? What if I let you use a cell phone to call home because of some special circumstances? These are much like NCAA Recruiting and Eligibility Rules. Have you ever seen or read the NCAA Manuals? Thick like phone books. Fairness. A college athlete can't get a new suit to go to a banquet to get an award. That's a deal breaker that will change the team's record from the last year.

A college athlete can't use the coach's phone to call home -- even if mom is home sick. Bang. Eligibility violations.

The mirco management of elimination of all gifts can get really unhealthy.

The thing to do is offer and reward the culture of gift elimination. But, don't legislate morals, as that's next to impossible to do.

We need to hire and elect wise and honest individuals.

The kicker gets to enforcement, in the final chapters of these discussions. Time to talk, again, about the 'scarlet letter provisions.'

If a person wants to buy property from the city, and that person owes taxes to the city on any property, the deal is off. The city won't sell property to tax cheats. The people who owe back taxes are blacklisted and can't purchase additional properties from the city. That's fine with me and a great law and policy.

I'd like to see the same thinking apply to these matters of campaign finance reform enforcement.

So, if a company has an employee that donates more money than allowed to a candidate, as established by these pending bills -- then what. I say that that company has to get a better grip on its employees, or owners, or board members. And, that company as a cheat on the campaign finance reform measures would be ineligible for any business dealings with the city. That company would be blacklisted and not be eligible for any contract with the city -- other than paying taxes, of course.

For example, consider the case of building a bridge or digging a tunnel under a river for the expansion of light rail. Some city contracts are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Buying a council member or five, or a mayor or field of mayors, is worth tens of millions of dollars. And, if the penalty is a $10,000 fine -- yet the contracts are worth half-a-billion, then guess what.

Those who wanted the Mon Valley Toll Road gave Bob O'Connor and Tom Murphy both -- lots of money. They wanted to send the road through Hazelwood and into the Mon Valley -- out to Thomas Jefferson and such. This toll road would be valuable to those land speculators. And, it was worth hundreds of thousands. Those deals flowed in 2000 and 2001. Both O'Connor and Murphy spend $1-M in the 2001 primary election. Much of that money came from Mon Valley Advocates.

Same too happened with gambling.

Wayne Fontana and Michael Diven both had money from the D and R parties in Harrisburg that amounted to $1M each for a state senate seat. Years of gambling money, from horse track, slots, casinos, resorts and such flowed to Harrisburg and they were flush for their candidates.

Some deals, like casinos, stadiums, convention centers, sports teams, mass transit, airports, mining rights, dams, etc., are big ticket deals. Fortunes are made on the backs of public money.

We need to say that those who are guilty of breaking our rules are not eligible for any government dealings. That goes for the givers who give too much. And, that goes for the takers who take too much. Both are guilty. Those who are guilty can do so in their private lives on their private time with their private funds -- and should be excluded from any transactions from the public treasury. This would include pay checks.

And, the scarlet letter would last as long as those who are in office stay in office. The expiration of the black-listing should exceed the duration of the term of public employment in any capacity.

Now, let's swing the conversation of campaign finance reform to the enforcement aspects.