Mayor Ravenstahl's New Year's Eve Veto

Notes & quotes from my New Year's Day interviews

Council Finance Chair Peduto
Councilman Dowd
&
Mayoral Chief of Staff Zober

Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have read my tweet-by-tweet reports of The New Year's Eve Veto. (See here .) Mayor Ravenstahl's maneuver is sparking bitter divisions. His opponents call him "undemocratic"; his supporters are comparing the other side to "fascists". The bill would have forced developers getting big taxpayer subsidies for large projects to pay workers prevailing wage rates. The mayor's tactic killed a bill unanimously approved by council. Since mayoral critics were more readily available than the mayor's staff last night, I'll start this post with the Ravenstahl administration's side.


Mayor Ravensthal's Chief of Staff Yarone Zober chose to meet me New Year's Day at the East Liberty site under consideration for construction of a new Target store. Zober used the site as an illustration to critique the prevailing wage bill:

• "..Whether it puts at risk things like nine acres of development, 500 jobs that could be created here, a hundred-million dollars of investment, put that all at risk."

Zober said the mayor had tried to talk with council members, but that:

• "The bill was rushed through. So much so, that there's so much vague and ambiguous language in this bill."

The mayor's chief of staff says that Ravenstahl tried to talk to council members, but they were frightened by potential political retaliation if they opposed the bill. Zober emphasized that the mayor's veto came within the 10 days required by law:

• "Everyone should have been quite aware of where this bill was, and council could have scheduled a meeting if they'd wanted to."

• "If we want to talk about undemocratic, there was a meeting that was held by council yesterday without required notice, against a city ordinance."

• "We followed the rules, we followed the democratic principles and, frankly, council did not."

• "Look, this is no 'gotcha' game. This is about making sure great investments can happen in neighborhoods like this."

• "There are things we can do to make this bill better. Less vague, less ambiguous, and allow developers and investors the right to figure out what they're doing when they come and invest in Pittsburgh."

Councilman Bill Peduto met me in the Shadyside business district for our interview. He appeared as much sad as angry as he talked about Mayor Ravenstahl's New Year's Eve veto tactic, which stymied any council override:

• "You are denying the American democratic process in that situation. You are basically saying this is a totalitarian society."

• "That's not good political maneuvering, that's stripping away the democratic process and taking the public out of it."

• "Under the new council session, it will be debated, it will be passed."

Peduto argued that the mayor's ends don't justify the means he used, adding:

• "there are others who would say the means are the way of judging a person's character."

Councilman Peduto also criticized a colleague:

• "You had Councilman Dowd who announced as he was standing there (in council chamber) that 'I am not present' for this vote, so that he could stay aligned with the mayor."

• "I don't know what Councilman Dowd is doing and I don't know why he's doing it. I feel disappointed by Councilman Dowd, and other than Joe Lieberman, (he's) probably one of the greatest political disappointments I've had in my life."

• "He began to heckle the council president during the hearing itself, and then moved to another part of the council chamber and continued to shout from that part of the chamber as well. In 15 years of working in that building, one the lowest points if not the lowest point I can think of."

On Monday, 2010 City Council members are expected to choose between Peduto and Councilman Rev. Ricky Burgess in a vote for Council President. Peduto comments:

• "Are we going to have a council that is a rubber stamp for the mayor, or are we going to have an independent body that can make its own decisions?"

• "What I saw from the other side was complete confrontation -- a confrontation against the democratic process that we're sworn to uphold. I would consider it one of the lowest marks in my 15 years in city council."

On claims Mayor Ravenstahl's charges that the prevailing wage bill was vague, ambiguous, in need of more input, and has the potential to hurt Pittsburgh:

• "The mayor was silent on it for the seven weeks that it was before us. He never had an opinion, he never reached out to council."

• "He waited until the very last minute, when council didn't have the ability to fulfill it's democratic process and obligations, and then he made his position known. that's no way to govern, that's no way to lead."

Councilman Patrick Dowd wasn't available for an on camera interview. Dowd explained that New Year's Day is his wedding anniversary and that last night's meeting took him away from his family.

Here are some notes from our phone conversations. Most of this was not recorded, so I don't have a full transcript.

Dowd compared Mayor Ravenstahl's New Year's Eve veto maneuver to a chess game, saying:

• "Tactically, he beat us."

and adding:

• "Shame on us for not anticipating" it.

• Dowd faults his fellow council members for what he describes as a "total ignoring of the rules" by meeting and attempting a veto override. The city code require 24 hours public notice before a council meeting, or a six vote majority to waive that rule.

• I noted that Dowd had been part of the 9-to-0 unanimous vote for the prevailing wage bill, and asked why he himself didn't provide the 6th vote to waive the 24-hour notice requirement. Dowd answered there are "ways to deal with this, and it's not by bending the rules".

• Dowd dismissed the attempted veto override as a "goofy maneuver" and said he presumed the prevailing wage bill would simply be reintroduced for 2010.

• The councilman recalled that during debate of the legislation others on council "outmaneuvered" his attempts to amend the bill. Councilman Dowd calls it :

• "poetic justice they were outmaneuvered" by Mayor Ravenstahl.

• Dowd quotes:

• "..you can't bend the rules. And that's what fascists do -- and in the 30s, particularly. And that's what my colleagues were trying to do last night."

• "Two wrongs don't make a right".

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Dowd Responds on Ravenstahl: No Apologies Necessary

[Mayor Ravenstahl's overwhelming primary win would have made Patrick Dowd's campaign old news -- but the mayor says he's looking for an apology from Dowd. I blogged about the mayor's remarks here. He said "I think Patrick crossed the line in this campaign. I asked for -- a couple of times -- an apology, he didn't want to offer it. Hopefully, in the very near future he will so that we can continue to work together, ideally, to move the city forward."]

Here are some Q&A highights and notes from my interview with Councilman Patrick Dowd. In it, Dowd responds to the mayor's post-election claims about his conduct and describes his attempts to reach out to Ravenstahl on election night.

Q: Did the mayor ask you for an apology?

A: "I don't think I've even had the opportunity to talk to the mayor. I haven't heard any requests for an apology; maybe he's made them in public. I've not heard them and he's not made them directly to me."

Q: Do you owe the mayor an apology?

A: "I'm really pleased with the campaign that we ran. We ran, I think, an issues-based campaign... despite being outspent almost ten-to-one -- probably close to ten-to-one when everything's calculated up."

Q: Do you have anything to apologize for?

A: "I think we ran an issues based campaign, so I don't. It's a public event, it's not something where you take it personally. These are not personal attacks, they're public attacks, they have to do with policy matters. We talked a lot about campaign contributions and the way those contributions contributed to contracts and the letting and giving of contracts in certain ways."

Q: Did you depict the Ravenstahl administration as engaging in pay-to-play politics?

A: "Yeah, absolutely. And I think the record will show that there's a relationship between campaign contributions and contracts. But that's not a personal matter. that's a policy matter."

Q: Did you allege that the mayor was personally corrupt in any way?

A: "Well, to the extent that his administration engaged in unethical or inappropriate pay-to-play politics, then yes, absolutely, as an administration. I think to see this as a personal attack is, I think, to belittle what it really is. We're talking about policy issues and how decisions are made here in the City of Pittsburgh."

Q: Did you cross the line in any way?

A: "No, I think we talked about the important issues. Campaigns are about holding people accountable: a candidate as a challenger , a candidate as an incumbent. It's about holding people accountable, and I don't think we crossed the line."

Dowd told me that he offered Mayor Ravenstahl a sincere congratulations on election night.

Q: Did you call him to concede?

A: "Oh, yeah, absolutely."

Q: You spoke with him?

A:" No, no. He's not returned my call."

What happened? Councilman Dowd says he'd previously proposed that he be given the mayor's cell phone number for an election night call -- but that the Ravenstahl's campaign did not provide it. Dowd says that on election night his campaign manager called Ravenstahl's campaign manager:

"We were told at that time that he wasn't available. They didn't know where he was."

The councilman says his campaign manager waited, then placed a second call to the mayor's campaign manager -- again with no results. Dowd says they eventually tried reaching the mayor's chief of staff, Yarone Zober, because they presumed he would know where the mayor was. Dowd says that Zober did not answer their first call.

Dowd says Zober did pick up their second call.

"He was obviously at the Hofbrauhaus. You could hear the music; it sounded like you were in Bavaria. He said he didn't know where the mayor was, and I said 'could you have him give me a call'. He said he would see."

The councilman says that Mayor Ravenstahl never returned his calls.

Councilman Dowd says he will "reach out again to congratulate" Mayor Ravenstahl and "to try to work with him to make sure that we can help move this city forward in providing the collective leadership that it needs".

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Ravenstahl Salute to Robinson, Slight to Dowd... Coattails...Teenage Wasteland

A conspicuous omission begged the question to Mayor Ravenstahl in his post victory speech interviews. Here's a link to video of my Q&A with Mayor Ravenstal during Channel 4 Action News election coverage. It comes about 2 1/2 minutes in:


Q: "You saluted Carmen Robinson, one of your competitors -- didn't mention Patrick Dowd. There's bad blood there?"

A: "My mom always told me 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all', so that's what I chose to do tonight. I think Patrick crossed the line in this campaign. I asked for -- a couple of times -- an apology, he didn't want to offer it. Hopefully, in the very near future he will so that we can continue to work together, ideally, to move the city forward."

You can see the full victory speech here at The Pittsburgh Channel.


During his remarks, Mayor Ravenstahl said:

"..finally, I want to give a special note of thanks to Carmen Robinson tonight. She did a fine job in this campaign. I give her a tremendous amount of credit for entering into this mayor's race. I thought she ran a tremendous campaign. She talked about the issues, she talked about what was important to her. Let's give Carmen Robinson a big round of applause this evening."

He closed on this note:

"I can't tell you how excited I am to begin that work, as early as tomorrow morning. To roll up our sleeves and rebuild this city, just like those that were before us did. We just celebrated our 250th anniversary last year. This is a great, great city. This is a city that's on the brink, as I said, of our third renaissance. And I can't tell you how excited I am to be the Democratic nominee for the office of the mayor for a full four year term. I can't wait to work on those eleven points in our eleven point plan. I can't wait to take this suit coat off and roll up my sleeves like each and every one of your do in the city of Pittsburgh every day when you go to work. Because that's what it's all about. This city has been built by the people of this city. This city will continue to thrive as a result of the people in this town..."

Ravenstahl proved not to have political coattails to carry his two key allies in Pittsburgh City Council races. Natalia Rudiak beat the candidate the mayor backed -- Anthony Coghill -- as well as party committee-endorsed Patrick Reilly in District 4. Rudiak is now the Democratic nominee to replace the mayor's friend and mentor Councilman Jim Motznik, who beat Michael Diven in a primary race for district judge. Another Ravenstahl ally on council -- Tonya Payne -- was upset by challenger Daniel Lavelle. At council's Wednesday meetings next year, Motzik and Payne will be missing from the opposite end of the table for face-offs with Bill Peduto and with Doug Shields, whose council presidency appears more secure.

One footnote. I'm not a musician, but I have an ear for melodies. One lingering question kept coming to me during the drive home last night. Whose idea was it for the band to play The Who's "Teenage Wasteland" as mayor entered for his victory speech? The passage they used comes about forty seconds in to this clip.

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(AUDIO) -- Ravenstahl: "I did a pretty good job of not answering it, didn't I?"

Click to play

Q: "Mayor, the question I asked last night about --"

Mayor Ravenstahl: "Yeah, I did a pretty good job of not answering it, didn't I?" (Laughter)

That exchange between Mayor Ravenstahl and me Tuesday afternoon followed these unanswered e-mails I sent to both his campaign manager Paul McKrell and his government press secretary Joanna Doven:

From: Bob Mayo
Subject: Mayor's Daily Schedule
Date: April 21, 2009 9:28:41 AM EDT

This e-mail is to followup on my question during last night's debate.
Will the mayor make his daily schedule through election day public? If he will, how soon will that happen and how frequently will it be updated?

Thanks.


Bob Mayo
Reporter
WTAE-TV

You can hear the rest of the exchange by clicking on the image above.

The mayor shifted attention from his daily schedule when he revealed he did two things: announced that he is now agreeing to restore a third televised debate with his opponents, and launched an attack on KDKA-TV for its handling of its postponement of the station's debate. The above audio clip includes those remarks, as well as his criticisms of his opponents and the rest of the news media on the topic.

Some key quotes from Mayor Ravenstahl, who says he learned of KDKA's cancellation from the Dowd campaign and then the PG website:

• "As far as I'm concerned, that was extremely unprofessional. It was an attempt to distort my position on debates and I was frustrated by that. Never have I not wanted to debate. I enjoyed last night's event."

• "While I was extremely unhappy with the way KDKA handled it, I guess I was more unhappy with my opponents and the media's distortion of my willingness to participate in debates. I have, I will, I want to, and so we will appear. I had discussions with KDKA, it looks like next Thursday will be an appropriate time for the debate. I don't think it's been finalized yet, but I did make room on my schedule next Thursday for that."

I crossed paths with Councilman Patrick Dowd minutes after the mayor's news conference. His reaction to Mayor Ravenstahl's decision:

• "I'm glad that he's caved in to the pressure here. I mean it's obvious that the public deserves to see candidates before them to answer questions. "

• "I think that obviously the mayor could spare the time and and he didn't want to do it. And so I'm glad to see that he's caved in to the pressure. There's been a lot of pressure, I know, and I'm glad he's caved."

Carmen Robinson responds via e-mail:

• "I am encouraged by his response and of course I will rearrange my schedule but again it is always on his terms. Since it is more important for the people of Pittsburgh to see more debates, I am more than willing to comply to his terms."

KDKA-TV acting news director Anne Linaberger told WTAE her station postponed its April 15 debate because of the deaths of three city police officers on April 4th. The newly arranged debate will be recorded on April 30th and broadcast on May 2nd.


(A closing note in answer to TRM: I did try to press Mayor Ravenstahl again during the debate to answer the question. As Dowd and Robinson were starting to respond, I spoke out, asking again "...releasing your schedule...?" I'm not sure if my microphone was turned down or if the shift to the other candidates drowned me out -- I was on the opposite side of the studio. As the candidates were speaking on camera, Andrew turned toward me and whispered "follow-up?" At that point, the debate was now running long: Jill and Sheldon's final questions were being cut; the candidate answers to my final question were being limited to 30 seconds. Closing statements were about to begin so that the broadcast would end on time. Given those constraints, I chose instead to take up the question again in the morning.)

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1st Mayor's Race Debate -- Your Ideas & Questions?

Next Monday night from 7 to 8 PM, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Councilman Patrick Dowd, and attorney Carmen Robinson meet in their first debate. I'll be on the panel of reporters asking questions of the three candidates in Pittsburgh's Democratic primary for mayor.

I want to hear what issues you think the candidates should address. You can e-mail me directly at bobmayo4 at gmail.com. I know many readers and bloggers here in the Burghosphere -- Pittsburgh's blogosphere -- follow Pittsburgh politics and government with a passion. Now's your chance to help shape the debate -- tell me what topics we should take on. You can even send along links or background, if you'd like.


WTAE-TV's also inviting viewers to submit your own questions via video or e-mail.


For a taste of what's ahead, here's a link to our Ravenstahl-DeSantis mayoral debate from the fall of 2007.

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Ravenstahl Response: Dubs Dowd "Desperate"

Here's the response from the Ravenstahl campaign and the mayor to the Dowd accusation of "pay-to-play" politics, covered in the previous post.

"Ravenstahl for Mayor Press Release: Desperate Dowd"

Statement from Mayor Ravenstahl:

"Pittsburgh needs leadership, not a desperate politician willing to do or say anything to get elected. That's why and how he's run for four political offices in the last 8 years with no accomplishments to show for it. While he's talking and done nothing, I have submitted campaign finance reform pending before Council and I am reforming Pittsburgh's decades old procurement practices. Politics as usual from Dowd. Try again, Pat."

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Sent from my mobile device

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Dowd Accuses Ravenstahl of Pay-to-Play Politics

I'm covering a court story today, but keeping tabs on the mayor's race.

Below is the latest news release from the Dowd campaign -- a reaction to the PG's story over the weekend that examined political contributions and no-bid government contracts. I've e-mailed the manager of the Ravenstahl campaign, asking for any statement from the mayor or his team in response to the Dowd news release listed below:

Quoting the Dowd release......

"Wake-Up Call: Dowd Speaks out Against Pay-to-Play Politics"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
James Fogarty
Dowd For Mayor

"After handing out coffee this morning to workers downtown urging them to "Wake up and smell the coffee on pay-to-play politics," Patrick Dowd made the following statement:"

"I am here today because the bells, the whistles, the alarms are going off. We have to wake up and smell the coffee: this mayor's administration is for sale and the citizens of Pittsburgh are being hurt."

"Yesterday, the Post Gazette gave us another blow-by-blow account of how this Mayor has made it lucrative for his contributors to do business with the city. If you connect the dots the story is very simple. The mayor has a million dollar campaign "war chest" because he is willing to give no-bid contacts and sweet deals to campaign contributors. This administration is for sale."

"This sort of governance hurts us all. Think of the businesses. They look at the city and say, "No way. I don't want to do business with them. No way. I don't want to locate in a city that operates like
that." When city government is for sale, businesses leave."

"The real losers here are the taxpayers. No-bid contracts cost the taxpayers ever time. When the mayor doesn't bid out a trash can contract, the taxpayers spent $1,000 a trash can when they could have paid far less. When the mayor doesn't bid out a ventilation system, the taxpayers pay almost a $1 million when they could have paid far less. When the mayor doesn't bid out a bond deal politically connected folks made $19 million in fees and the ratepayers of the Water Authority are put at huge risk."

"These are tough economic times and we cannot afford this type of behavior. No-bid contracts serve the politicians and cost the people."

"The mayor will say that the timing of the contributions is a "coincidence." Who is he kidding? Look at the city government. Look at the URA. Look at the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority. Then look at his million-dollar campaign "war chest." Connect the dots. This is no coincidence. Luke's administration is for sale."

"We have to wake up, smell the coffee and realize that the incompetence or worse of this administration is costing the taxpayers every day."

"We can't wait. We can't afford this. We have got to change how we do things in the city if we want to attract good business with good jobs. We have to change the way we do business in the city if we want to keep taxpayers here. We need leadership now."

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Sent from my mobile device

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Twittering for Mayor

Here's a snapshot of the Twitter accounts of the three candidates for mayor in Pittsburgh's Democratic primary.


First Tweets:

Attorney Carmen Robinson: 1:24 PM Dec 16th, 2008 from web

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl: 7:03 PM Mar 4th from web

Councilman Patrick Dowd: 7:55 PM Mar 5th from web

Most Personal Tweets:

Dowd:
"We just read "Yertle the Turtle" for the umteenth time. It's great story every time and you gotta love that plain little turtle named Mack"
about 21 hours ago from TwitterBerry


Robinson:
Trying to send my wonderful hard working husband on vacation by himself for a needful rest. But he won't hear of it. Suggestions? I can't go.
about 23 hours ago from web


Ravenstahl:
None

Number of people each candidate is following on Twitter:

Robinson 291

Dowd 54

Ravenstahl 6

Number of Twitter users following each candidate:

Robinson 147

Dowd 54

Ravenstahl 48

Number of updates posted by each candidate:

Dowd 22

Robinson 21

Ravenstahl 10

Ravenstahl's ten tweets to date are primarily invitations to events, campaign contacts, and links:

• "Join us at the St Patrick's Day Parade..."

• "Make phone calls from home, call 412-xxx-xxxx to find out how."

• "Pittsburgh ranked third greenest city: [link]."

Dowd's 22 tweets convey more of what the candidate is doing or thinking at the time:

• "Waiting for my colleagues. It would be good if we started on time."

• "When you go door knocking you meet the best people and hear powerful stories. This certainly held true today."

• "Going to Pgh Water & Sewer Authority Board mgt & will introduce a resolution calling for a plain English analysis of the 2008 Bond SWAP deal."

Robinson's 21 updates include interaction with other tweeters:

• "@ChachiSays I'm not typical.I became a lawyer by attending school durring the day and fighting crime at night.proof is in my past."

• "@LPT365 Thanks for your compliment. You a PGH. voter? Spread the word."

• "@mojustice we are still in negotiations. The first one will be in the middle of the month of April."

I welcome reader comments comparing the Twitter accounts of the three candidates. Any observations about who's following who? You're welcome to respond in comments here on the blog or on Twitter @bobmayo .

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[Revised] Updating Mayoral Campaign Websites

Updating the Update: Maria at 2 Political Junkies has more details on our topic of mayoral campaign websites, including:

• A link to Progress Pittsburgh, where "GrantStreetGossip" did some Twitter detective work and discovered that a North Carolina-based web designer was hired to create the new site for Mayor Ravenstahl campaign.

• A link to the web designer for the Robinson campaign's website.

When the Dowd campaign sent out a news release announcing its website, I did expect to see more content online there, though the site does promise more to come.

I'll close this update with one footnote: is the mayor's shoe untied in the photo on his website?


[We now rejoin our original blog post...]

Patrick Dowd's campaign sent out this update on its website, which initially was using Google's free Documents web-based software. The news release says, in part:

Dowd Campaign Launches Campaign Website, Hires Local Firm

"This week the Patrick Dowd mayoral campaign launched a website at www.dowdformayor.com. The campaign hired local start-up Bearded Studio to develop the site design and functionality."

" 'Our web design team epitomizes a story we'd like to see repeated over and over again in this city. Two young people with an idea and some entrepreneurial spirit start and grow a business right here in Pittsburgh,' Dowd said. 'Our campaign is thrilled to find and engage great local talent." "

"Bearded Studio is a web development and graphic design studio founded by Matt Griffin and Michael Hellein in November 2008. Matt and Michael worked with other local companies before getting together to launch their own firm."

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's campaign website has put up a fresh splash page promising its own relaunch soon. The photo there appears to be the hands-on-the-hips image that was used by the mayor in his special election race two years ago and on the City of Pittsburgh's official website.

www.lukeformayor.com

Carmen Robinson's website can lay claim to having the most content online the earliest in the 2009 mayoral race.

carmenformayor.com

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[Sent from my mobile device, and later reformatted.]

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Snoop Dogg, Mayor Luke, & the Power of Incumbency

How does any would-be mayoral challenger compete with this? The photo above immortalizes Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's ascendance into a still higher sphere of reflected celebrity glory. This shot of his honor flashing a sign with rap superstar Snoop Dogg is from Snoop's own Flickr stream -- snapped at Snoop Dogg's exclusive post-game Super Bowl victory party in Tampa. Super Steelers were there, partying too. (The photo also appears on Snoop Dogg's website.)



Many of the 350,000 Steelers fans who packed downtown for Tuesday's victory parade have their own photo documentation of the mayor nestling close to celebrity.

A search of fan photos on Flickr creates a virtual flipbook of Quarterback Big Ben and the mayor riding together -- camcorders in hand -- from Grant Street, down the Boulevard of the Allies, and onto the stage at Stanwix. Any parade photo of Roethlisberger is likely also a photo of Ravenstahl.

Photo on Right by Kris Radder
Photos Below by axsdeny@gmail.com
All (cc) Creative Commons

It's been an exciting run for the mayor, from his busy calendar in Tampa to a big splash in Sports Illustrated.



Is it any wonder, then, that Council President Doug Shields (photos with Pittsburgh's own Jeff Goldblum notwithstanding), decided that presiding in Council Chamber is his current calling, and not the Mayor's office?

At last word, Councilman Patrick Dowd was still considering a run for mayor. As I write this, he wasn't answering his cell phone or voice mail to provide an update.

You can click the play button below to hear a bit of what Dowd was saying 28 days ago about challenging Ravenstahl. Of course, a lot can change in 28 days.

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Ravenstahl Declares Shields Candidacy For Mayor...

... Council President Doug Shields says he did not authorize the mayor's message.


Mayor Ravensthal's revelation came in response to my unrelated question at this morning's news conference. I'd asked if he would seriously consider Shields' suggestion that city government itself apply for the slots casino license, should it be put up for new bids.

Ravenstahl: "It's tough for me to take anything Council President Shields takes seriously anymore. He just told members of my staff this week that he's running for mayor next year. So, I think you need to filter all of his comments through a political filter right now. So, I don't know that I have any comment on what Mr Shields had to say."

...And later I asked...

Q: "Is it your sense the mayor's race has already begun?"

Ravenstahl: "You tell me." (Laughs.)

Q: "Is that going to affect the ability to get things done...?"

Ravenstahl: "It certainly makes a lot of sense with some of the things that have been happening in city council. And it starts to shed a light on some of the voices coming from over there. But it's the reality of the situation. I've been a candidate for this office since the day i walked into. And of course we're on the verge of an election next year. "

"You know, when somebody makes comments to a member of my staff and a variety of other different people, I think that needs to be known. And you need to consider that some of the comments that are made may be made for political gain and benefit. And it starts to make sense on some of the things that have been said and done over the past six months."

Other reporters and I stopped Shields as he got off the elevator outside council chamber. I played the tape of Raventsahl's comments, then asked:

Q: "So, the mayor announced your candidacy. Are you running for mayor?"

Shields: " No. And I haven't discussed anything about the (race for) mayor with the mayor's staff at all. When people ask me that I just simply go: 'it's not something that I'm contemplating at this time, at all'.

"And I can't recall anybody that I've even - including my wife-- (been telling) saying I'm going to run for mayor."

"But be that as it may, I guess the mayor has some bad information."

Some on Grant Street speculate that it's Councilman Pat Dowd who may want to run for mayor... not next year, but four years after that. Those theorists suggest that it's actually Mayor Ravenstahl's supporters who are spreading the "Shields for Mayor" talk. They speculate that the rumors are intended to seed further friction on council between Dowd and Shields.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh reporters and bloggers continue to get occasional anonymous e-mail links promoting a "Draft Chelsa 2009" blog.

When I first received the link a few weeks ago, I checked by phone with State Representative Chelsa Wagner. She told me she was flattered by the blog, but that she did not know who was behind it. When I asked Wagner if she is a candidate for mayor next year, she answered that she's focused on the upcoming legislative races and that the talk is premature.

The blog was mentioned a couple of weeks back , three stories down in the Trib's "Whispers" column.

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"Your Move" E-Mails Chatter

There's a lively discussion of the "Your Move" E-mails over on the Burgh Report.


Here's what I posted there in answer to some readers' questions about the authenticity of the e-mails and the positions of various council members.


The e-mails were not obtained from anyone who hacked into the city's or the Penguins' servers; that is to say, they came from a participant in the electronic conversation. The mayor's chief of staff confirmed the authenticity of the e-mails when I reviewed their contents with him by phone. That said, confirming that the e-mails were authentic doesn't mean that any one or all of the authors' e-mails are gospel. The authors are speaking their understanding of the facts, the law and of other parties' positions. They be correct or incorrect in their understanding on any given point.

When I interviewed Councilman Dowd on Wednesday, he told me that the first he heard about the banners was in a phone call from the mayor's chief of staff around eight Friday night, asking if he would support them. Dowd told me his response was to request more information--that he wasn't able to take a position either way without learning more. Dowd's quote didn't make it into the news that day because the focus was on trying to learn who was opposed, not who was neutral.

On that same Wednesday:
Councilman Kraus said that he had not taken a position on the banners and
Councilman Burgess said he was in support of finding a way to put them up.

Also on Wednesday:
Councilman Motznik said he supported putting up the banners, but insisted the mayor's office had never informed him of the proposal.
Councilman Deasy said he was in support of the banners.
I did not have the opportunity to ask Councilwomen Harris or Payne their positions.


In response to the comment by Anonymous 05/24/08 12:49 pm on the Burgh Report:
I never heard Mayor Ravenstahl say that "there was only one councilman who had issues".
On Wednesday said there were "a couple". On that same day, Councilmen Shields and Peduto said they were not opposed to putting the banners, and said they told the administration they would cooperate in supporting a way to do so legally.

On Thursday, the Mayor reaffirmed his claim that there were council members opposed to putting up the banners. He also said that he believed the public remarks by the council members on Wednesday showed that they were opposed. In that Thursday interview, for the first time I heard the mayor say that he wanted support from council to have been "unanimous". Also, for the first time he said that council would have had to repeal the moratorium on new billboards in Pittsburgh. A repeal of the moratorium was not discussed in the e-mails.

Moments later, other reporters and I sought responses from Shields and Peduto. They reaffirmed they hadn't opposed putting up the banners--and said they had recommended ways to do so in a meeting late Monday afternoon with members of the Ravenstahl administration.

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SLAPP?

Bill Peduto claims that the lawsuit Lamar Advertising filed against him and his fellow Councilmen Shields, Burgess, Kraus, and Dowd was a SLAPP. He seems to suggest the city law department opinion about their legal expenses has the sting of a SLAPP, too.

What's a SLAPP?

I didn't recall the term, but apparently SLAPPs have a long and contentious history.

SLAPP stands for "Strategic lawsuit against public participation".


Wikipedia defines it as:

"a form of litigation frequently filed by organizations or individuals to intimidate and silence critics or opponents by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense so that they abandon their criticism or opposition."

California passed a law to protect against SLAPPs. So have more than two dozen other states. That includes Pennsylvania, though our state's has been described as a "significantly weakened version passed into law in 2000." It was designed to deal only with environmental law cases, and reportedly was passed "after a coal baron sued an elderly constituent for filing a complaint with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection when her home suffered acid mine-water damage."

That's from this article in Philly area newspaper that quotes a critic complaining that a court ruling created "an unduly narrow interpretation that destroys any value or purpose of the statute."

It seems that SLAPPs are an international phenomenon. Here' s a YouTube video report by CUTV. Concordia University Television is Canada's oldest student-run television station. I'm linking to it here for some interesting background. As they say on the DVD extras, this is for entertainment purposes only, and does not necessarily reflect the views, etc.




Here are some PG articles in which the term "SLAPP" appears.

Developers sue Franklin Park, residents for losses
Suit cites neighbors' 'frivolous objections' to townhouse plan


The dash to SLAPP is chilling


Judge drops neighbors from townhouse lawsuit

Meanwhile, I ran into Lamar Advertising's attorney Sam Kamin as I was leaving the City County Building after Tuesday's council meeting. He told me he had just finished dictating the court filing to withdraw Lamar's lawsuit against the city council members, as agreed to in the arrangement signed before the zoning board.

A check of the county court's website shows that the lawsuit has now been "Discontinued without Prejudice".

What the significance there is (if any) of the lawsuit being discontinued "without prejudice" in this case, I do not know.

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