Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Notes on Mayoral Candidate Carmen Robinson


Channel 4 Action News Reporter Sheldon Ingram has interviewed Carmen Robinson about her candidacy for Mayor of Pittsburgh. Here's a link to his story.

Blogger Matt H has more biographical information, including early campaign material and details of Robinson's lawsuit years ago against the city. It's on The Pittsburgh Hoagie.


During a Q&A with reporters today, Mayor Ravenstahl said that he "has no knowledge" of Carmen Robinson and no comment on her candidacy. He says he'll focus on doing his job and "the things he can control".

Mayor Ravenstahl: "We're focused on what it is we need to focus on and we'll continue to do so. We'll tell our story regardless of who it is we'll tell our story against."

Bob Mayo: "Will there be a debate between you...?

Mayor Ravenstahl: "I'm sure you guys will make your requests. We'll take a look at it. It's early... "

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the plug.


I think Luke is smart in not commenting on her candidacy at this point. It's still early in the game.

Bob Mayo said...

It was more of a roundup than a plug. Your blog post about Carmen Robinson was different from your usual content.
Was it by any chance supplied by someone going oppo research?

Anonymous said...

All done in house by me.

I got the letter from her and starting looking around about some information and stumbled across that stuff. It was fairly easy.

The court opinion is fairly long.

Anonymous said...

Mayo -
Your conjecture that Matt might have gotten the lawsuit material from a Robinson enemy is rather absurd and a tad paranoid, don't you think? At the very least, it's disrespectful to Matt. Being the seasoned investigative reporter that you hold yourself out to be, you likely know all about the Prothy's (formerly) website. In just a couple of clicks you're on to every Tom, Dick and Harry's dirty divorce dealings and other publicly available "secrets". Give it a whirl some time!

Bob Mayo said...

Anonymous,

No disrespect was intended to Matt and clearly, from his answer above, he didn't take there to be any.

I didn't engage in "absurd" conjecture; I noted that it wasn't his usual content, so I simply asked him a question about it. Both reporters and bloggers do occasionally get material that's pitched to them by opposing political camps. Those offering such material and those who are the subject of the information may sometimes feel paranoid, but the reporters and the bloggers they're pitching to don't.

Perhaps you're confusing me with someone else -- I don't "hold myself out to be" anything. I don't think I need any remedial tips from you on web searching, though. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Anon but I didn't take any disrespect from it. I like Bob and think he is a great reporter.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
EdHeath said...

This is an interesting development. I have no knowledge of this woman, and certainly no knowledge of what sorts of policies she might advocate. At this point, I personally believe Pittsburgh is going to have to get into detailed discussions with the State about another five year Act 47 plan to address our financial situation in total. I don't think the current Mayor will be up to that task, and Ms Robinson is a total unknown. She may already have a sophisticated knowledge of the City's finances and political situation, but that is probably not the way to bet. If she doesn't, I hope a) she realizes it and b) she is spending Christmas huddling with Pitt's Dean Larry Davis. She could, conceivably, get the Obama vote; the City's African American population along with the University district. That might be a majority. But she needs to earn it, to convince both constituencies she has something to offer besides just not being Ravenstahl (as attractive as that is in itself).