Carlisle, Quotes, and Notes

Pittsburgh Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle on her first City Council meeting since her arrest on kickback conspiracy charges:

"As an elected official, where else would I be? I'm representing council district 9 and the city of Pittsburgh. I was elected to this job. I'm going to do this job to the best of my ability, and keep moving forward. And I thank you all today. I'm not resigning. I'm moving forward, and keep on running. Thank you."



Council President Doug Shields on the councilwoman's return:

"As president of city council and as a citizen of this country, I'm well aware of the fact that everybody has the presumption of innocence, and that presumption is afforded to Ms. Carlisle as well. We're not going to lose our focus on our job here in city council, and I'm sure Ms. Carlisle is going to perform the duties of her office to serve her district. That's her job."



Mayor Luke Ravenstahl:

*On Carlisle's return:

"That's a decision for Councilwoman Carlisle to make, and ultimately for city council as the legislative branch in government. And I would rather let them handle their issues internally. The councilwoman obviously made her appearance today and feels that she's capable of doing the job. She has her right to appear in court and she's innocent until proven guilty, and therefore decided to continue on. and so i'll let council deal with that issue internally if they feel the need to."


*On the City Ethics Hearing Board:

"I think that we need to make sure that they get together. And in fact I believe our goal is to have a meeting this Friday. To bring the ethics board together, determine what their role is. To look at perhaps the Councilwoman Carlisle issue, as well as other issues that are important for the ethics board to consider. And really find ways for us to be more transparent in government, make recommendations to myself and my administration on ways we can show the public that we are respecting their tax dollars and spending them in a good way. So it's our hope that they will make recommendations to us towards that end as well. And meet as regularly as they need to, to ensure that we can build the trust in the public."

(Note: City Council will question the mayor's ethics board nominee at the beginning of its Wednesday meeting.)

*On Commander Catherine McNeilly's open letter, which appeared in today's Post-Gazette:

"I haven't seen it, nor do I intend to read it. As far as I'm concerned, that situation is over, and i'm ready to move on."

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