Appearing here in three parts:
notes and quotes from day-after-the-election interviews.
notes and quotes from day-after-the-election interviews.
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Showing posts with label DeSantis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DeSantis. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Part 2: DeSantis
Mark DeSantis:
On the margin of his 2-to-1 loss in Tuesday's election:
• "To get one-third of the vote in a city where it's 5-to-1 democratic is actually quite an accomplishment. Apparently we got one of the highest vote totals as a republican candidate since 1965. So these are accomplishments. We're disappointed. We wanted to win. This race from the beginning was about getting 51 percent."
His role from this point forward?
• "I need to think about that. I'm always going to be involved in public affairs. I love this city. I'm going to be deeply involved in the future of this community, and personally involved. As to whether or not that's political office, I don't know yet."
If he doesn't run again, what would be his advice for the next republican to run for mayor?
• "Start sooner."
• "...I would say, if you are a republican and you're going to run in the city, you can win. It's just going to take more than five months. It's going to take a year of effort."
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Why Don't You Just Tell Me Who You're Going to Vote For?
Over at 2 Political Junkies, Maria blogs about "Two Bizarre Phone Calls". The second call she describes:
"...was a recorded message that purported to be a poll. It went something like this:"
"We have a mayor's race. If you are going to vote for Ravenstahl press 1, DeSantis press 2, Olivia press 3, Scott press 4, if you want to keep your choice private press 5. There's also a controller's race. If you're for Lamb press 6, etc."
"OK, When the message began, I was excited. Maybe someone was conducting an independent poll!"
But then, she says:
"There was no pause to vote for mayor before controller and at the end it said to press zero to leave your email address if you wanted the results of the poll."
"At some point in listening to the message, I thought that it sounded a bit like Mark Rauterkus."
"I pressed 2 for DeSantis at the end of the message but that didn't allow me to also press 0."
"Was it you, Mark?"
Her story reminds me of this scene from Seinfeld--the one in which Kramer is plagued by wrong-number calls for Moviefone, and he tries to stand in for the automated recording.
In the comments section of Maria's post, the mystery of this phone poll is revealed.
Speaking of surveys, The Post-Gazette's Early Returns and The Burgh Report's Admiral Richard K. Turner recount how a mayor's race poll on KD Radio's website was hacked by a city goverment employee in order to favor Mayor Ravenstahl. The mayor's spokeswoman Alecia Sirk is quoted as confirming "it was a crazy tactic for supporting the mayor" that the city worker launched at home on his own time.
To paraphrase Yogi Berra, this just goes to show that online polls aren't worth the paper they're not printed on.
In pre-internet days, some Pittsburgh controller's office employees were suspected of repeatedly calling in to skew KQV's Phone Vote. That poll has also always been easy prey for those who "vote early and vote often".
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King vs DeSantis
Pittsburgh Firefighters Local 1 President Joe King has written a union "HotLine" letter attacking Republican mayoral candidate Mark DeSantis.
He says the letter is being distributed to firefighters union members, retirees, and firefighters widows. The letter constitutes an unofficial endorsement of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, though it doesn't use those words.
King writes that Mayor Ravenstahl would review the safety impact of any plan to close fire stations before taking action on the study. The union president's letter alleges that DeSantis would reopen the firefighters' contract and "implement the recommendations, without even reviewing the impact this new study/plan would have on safety"-- a claim the DeSantis campaign denies.
The campaign's spokeswoman responds that "Mr. Desantis said he is open to the possibility of closing fire stations", but that he also "said he would not compromise public safety". The campaign notes that DeSantis has not seen the details of the draft study prepared by a consultant to the oversight board, and cannot comment on its recommendations directly.
The Ravenstahl campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
The King letter states that Local 1 has "not officially endorsed a candidate" for mayor, and says "there are important issues we need to discuss with Mayor Ravenstahl". The union president writes, however, that "I do know this Mark DeSantis is not the person I welcome discussing or negotiating new contract terms".
King's letter also says DeSantis "was directly affiliated with Rick Santorum". The DeSantis campaign says that suggestion is "patently false". The spokeswoman acknowledges DeSantis made a $400 contribution to the former U.S. senator's campaign in 2000 and a $250 contribution in 2006. She says that DeSantis has also made contributions to Republican U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, and to local Democrats Doug Shields and Valerie McDonald Roberts, and that DeSantis hosted a fundraising reception for Democrat Michael Lamb.
By the way, there's a spirited debate over the significance of campaign contributions under way at Bram Reichbaum's blog, The Pittsburgh Comet.
(Click the image of the letter below to enlarge it.)
Monday, October 22, 2007
UPDATE: Your Reactions To The Mayoral Debate?
(UPDATE: Miss what everyone's talking about? Now you can watch the entire Ravenstahl-DeSantis debate online. Click here for the video on The Pittsburgh Channel.)
First, a thank you. In my last post, I'd asked for your suggestions about what issues you'd like to hear the candidates address in tonight's mayoral debate on WTAE-TV. The question--and resulting responses--about which I've gotten the most feedback was submitted by The Burgher, of The Burgh Report blog.
It was his/her suggestion that I ask Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Mark DeSantis about the most difficult moment they've faced in their lives outside of politics. Observers of the debate told me they felt The Burgher's question did draw the candidates into a spending a moment apart from their prepared talking points. So, thanks and credit to The Burgher for that.
Thanks also to others who e-mailed suggestions; I tried to weave them in with the issues I wanted to cover during my turns at questioning. We never get to fit in everything we prepare. I do think there was some interesting give-and-take between the candidates.
I'm curious to hear your take on the debate.
Feel free to post comments addressing the issues and the candidates' remarks.
I'm told the most dramatic moment of the evening was when Marie Osmond fainted... but that was on "Dancing With The Stars", ten minutes after the debate ended.
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Saturday, October 20, 2007
Mayoral Debate: Your Ideas?
Incumbent Luke Ravenstahl and challenger Mark DeSantis will face off in a live, one hour mayoral debate Monday night at 7:00 on WTAE-TV Channel 4.
Video of the Commitment 2007 event will be streamed live on ThePittsburghChannel.com.
WTAE-TV Anchor Sally Wiggin will act as the moderator. I'll be one of the panelists asking questions, along with Channel 4 Action News reporter Sheldon Ingram and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter Jeremy Boren.
I'm interested in hearing what issues you'd like the candidates to address during the debate. You can e-mail your ideas to me at bobmayo4 at gmail.com, rather than posting them here as comments.
By the way, at the risk of wading hip-deep into controversy, I prefer "MAYoral" over "maYORal". Merriam-Webster Online has audio links pronouncing it both ways.
You can also read a discussion of this burning issue here. While that author offers some interesting history on the topic, I don't endorse the partisan tone of his critique.
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Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Mayor Before Ethics Board: Notes & Quotes
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl came before Pittsburgh's Ethics Hearing Board to answer its questions about two corporations paying his way at a charity golf outing.
Board members do not accuse the mayor of breaking the law. They wanted a public dialog with Ravenstahl about the implications of UPMC and the Pittsburgh Penguins picking up the $9,000 tab for his playing at the Lemieux Celebrity Invitational.
The price for a threesome playing two days in the Lemieux charity golf event was $27,000. The Penguins--who struck an arena deal with Mayor Ravenstahl and other government officials--paid the mayor's way for one day. UPMC--which has business and regulatory dealings with the city--hosted him for the other.
Board members questioned whether the public might perceive an appearance of impropriety, even though the city's ethics law clearly provides an exemption for accepting admission to charity events. Ravenstahl says that exemption applies here.
Republican candidate for mayor Mark DeSantis issued a statement charging that Ravenstahl "continues to cling to the letter of the law in an effort to defy its spirit".
Video of my Channel 4 Action news report is on the Pittsburgh Channel website.
Here are some notable quotes from Mayor Ravenstahl's appearance before Pittsburgh's Ethics Hearing Board and from interviews afterward.
Ethics board chair, Sister Patrice Hughes:
• "...these facts might appear on some level to compromise the impartiality of decisions you might make on contracts or other matters."
• "...would the public think that you might be beholden in some direct or indirect way to those who invite you to such an expensive and exclusive event?"
Mayor Ravenstahl:
• "I am proud to have been a participant, and i gladly accepted upmc's invitation. The only thing of value i received was knowing that i played a small part in seeing the work of the foundation will continue."
• "In fact it wasn't a gift. The $9,000 that you reference was given to the Lemieux foundation. In no way did I directly benefit from that."
• "While i recognize the need for close scrutiny of public official, we must allow them to part of the community in which they serve."
Ethics board member, Rabbi Daniel Schiff:
• "...UPMC provided you with the benefit of being at this rather exclusive event, is that an appropriate way to understand it?"
• Schiff: "...a larger benefit monetarily might be of concern." Mayor Ravenstahl: "I would only argue I-- it would be different if I'm receiving the monetary value of the event. This was not a gift to me. I received nothing from UPMC."
Hughes, after the meeting:
• "I think that we pretty much agree that the charitable exemption applied."
Ravenstahl, afterwards:
• "I thought it was a tremendous opportunity for me to restore the faith in the residents of the City of Pittsburgh. That nothing wrong was done there. That my attendance was appropriate."
• "There's no quid pro quo in my administration, and there never will be. So, I will continue to attend these charity events. I will continue to participate. I think it's the mayor's responsibility and duty..."
• "I interact with people who do business in the City of Pittsburgh on a daily basis. That's not going to change. That's healty. But I do want to stress that there's no quid pro quo. There was not with UPMC and there will not be with any organization in the city."
Republican mayoral candidate Mark DeSantis on the mayor's appearance before the ethics board:
• "It's a sad state of affairs that it has to happen at all, number one. But let's hope that the mayor acknowledges the fact that he made a mistake and it was bad judgement. It just reflects bad judgement on the part of the mayor."
•"It's not just understanding the spirit, the letter of the law. It's understanding the spirit of the law, and avoiding even the appearance of impropriety."
• "He took a gratuity for attending a charity event. I have nothing wrong with the mayor or anyone else, any public official attending a charity event. Just don't take your gratuity."
• "You should not accept gratuities from those organizations as mayor, period. No gratuity whatsoever, from any organization that's doing business or seeking to do business with the city."
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Mayor Golfs During Hearing
Mayor Ravenstahl and his administration had refused to reveal where he was during the city council hearing dealing with the controversial police promotions--a hearing that some women's leaders had urged him to attend. Now that the answer to the question of his whereabouts has come to light, the mayor is facing some criticisms.
The Mario Lemieux Foundation now confirms that Mayor Ravenstahl was playing golf at the private Mario Lemieux Celebrity Invitational at Laurel Valley Golf Club.
Last week the mayor would not explain why he did not accept the invitation to hear 150 women speaking out against the promotion of three police officers with alleged histories of domestic abuse. On June 29, 2007 I asked "just for the record, where were you at the time the hearing was going on?". The Mayor answered "where I was and what I was doing is no reflection on why I wasn't at the hearing".
Jeanne Clark, the activist who gathered petitions for the meeting, told me "think about the person that we elected to that office, Mayor O'Connor. I cannot imagine Bob O'Connor blowing off the women in this city in order to go play golf".
Mayor Ravenstahl responds in a written statement that the golf outing is a charity fundraiser for cancer and neonatal research.He says says what he describes as unfair criticism "smacks of crass politics and yellow journalism and disappoints me greatly".
In the June 29th interview, the mayor told me. "I didn't feel that my presence there would have been advantageous to the cause. It could have potentially become a political situation, which I didn't want it to be".
Ravenstahl says mayors normally don't attend council hearings, and that the issues are of critical importance to him.
Clark answers that "actions speak louder than words: the mayor keeps telling the women of this city that he understands about domestic violence, he's going to have zero tolerance, he couldn't even be bothered to be at the hearing or watch it on television".
Mark DeSantis, the republican candidate for mayor, tells me "it's poor judgement. Him not going to that hearing is just simply poor judgement. Playing golf instead of going to a hearing the cause of which was the poor handling by the city administration itself shows a complete lack of judgement".
(Note: this post was first filed via mobile Blogger, with links and images added later. I'm now in Akron, Ohio to cover closing arguments in the Donna Moonda murder trial.)
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Saturday, June 2, 2007
DeSantis Q&A Podcast
I've posted a podcast of my interview earlier this week with Republican mayoral candidate Mark DeSantis.
Click this link to check it out on my podcast page.
My Channel 4 Action News report based on the interview is now also online. (A quick note: let me know if you have any problem listening to the podcast. Because of a temporary tech issue, I had to save it in a different format than I usually use. )
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Thursday, May 31, 2007
The Three Pillars of DeSantis
I'm posting some quote highlights from Mark DeSantis, culled from my interview with the Republican candidate for mayor of Pittsburgh. You'll find them further down in this entry. I may put up a podcast of the Q&A session later this week. Watch here for an update.
The name of this post, "The Three Pillars of DeSantis", kept coming to me after the interview. DeSantis used the "Three Pillars" metaphor to describe issues on which he'll focus. It reminds me of a phrase or legend from ancient mythology. Last night, I started googling the phrase "three pillars of" to see what I could find.
There are these images, among many:
If you add the pillars DeSantis mentions (efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency) to the google search, you'll get this, which includes a number of U.N. and other international links. Your comments and insights are welcome.
Quotes from Mark DeSantis:
• "I just think it's time for change. And the people I've spoken to over the last several months or so when I was considering this have said they want change and they want it now."
• "With my public sector background from Washington, and now my most recent experience as an entrepreneur combined, I think I can make a difference for this city."
• "I was hoping Bill Peduto would stay in the race. I think he's a reformer. When I saw that we're not really going to have a dialog about this city the way I had hoped, I thought maybe we should think about jumping into this race."
• "There are really three pillars: efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency. You can't have one without the others. We don't have any right now. And I think it's important that we focus on making this the best government we possibly can have."
• "We have almost 2-and-a-half billion dollars in debt and liabilities, which is unprecedented on a per capita basis in the country; some profound, profound issues that we have to deal with."
• "So, before we can think about being great, we just have to get to the start line. We have to get to what would be average performance for other cities. That's an essential first step."
• "Our focus is on the reform agenda, and what I would even call profound reform. That's what's desperately needed here. And that's going to be the focus of our policies going forward."
• "We have issues like crime, which is a big issue here. Economic development: there have been no new jobs in this city, no new private sector jobs--net new private sector jobs--in five, six years. We've had continuing population decline. It's declined consistency over 6 or 7 years, this is unacceptable."
• "That vision isn't a function of which political party you're from, what part of town you live in, or your background. That vision is all about common sense, efficient effective, and transparent government."
• "It won't matter, necessarily what you're party affiliation is, or any other aspect of your background. If you believe in change and you believe in profound reform, you're with us."
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