WTAE's The Pittsburgh Channel now has our entire mayoral debate online. You can view it in five segments by clicking on the links below:
Showing posts with label Debate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Debate. Show all posts
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Mayoral Debate Video Now Online
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Post Debate Q&A: Acklin Attacks Ravenstahl on Verbanac Ties
It triggered the sharpest exchanges of WTAE's mayoral debate. Independent challenger Kevin Acklin repeatedly questioned Pittsburgh Democratic Mayor Luke Ravenstahl about the influence and role of a private businessman in his administration. Acklin claims that Cranberry businessman John Verbanac is powerful figure who has clients that stand to benefit from influencing Ravenstahl's policies. As he did during an earlier debate, the mayor described John Verbanac as a friend but he ridiculed Acklin's allegations as desperate and false. Verbanac himself later dismissed what he called Ackin's attempt to impugn him as "distasteful and wrong".
Acklin told Ravenstahl he had obtained:
"...very specific documents and e-mails that prove that Mr. Verbanac has had a very intimate relationship with your administration He's written your speeches, he literally puts words into your mouth. He's called the shots on who you hire and fire. He advises you on city policies and developments, including developing your strategic plan. He advised you on the firing of BBI (Bureau of Building Inspection) Director Ron Graziano and also called for the purging of your staff. It was very clear, Mr. Ravenstahl, that you lied to the people of this city..."
...Later...
Kevin Acklin:"What business interest does John Verbanac have before your administration or with any of these city authorities?"
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl:"First of all, he has none, I answered the question last week, that he is a friend of mine. Your accusations are wrong. They're inappropriate. And I think they show the level to which apparently this campaign is going to go over the next couple of weeks. Bringing private citizens into conversations, making accusations that are false, like Kevin just did. And I'm not going to get into the minutiae of responding to every single thing that he thinks he can throw against the wall. I would just advise Mr. Acklin to be very, very careful."
Acklin:
"Is that a threat?"
...Later...
Acklin:
"The mayor just lied again. We have information in documents again, including e-mails that prove very clearly..."
Ravenstahl:
"I don't understand your point, Kevin. John Verbanac is a friend of mine, yes."
Acklin:
"Who very much is actively involved in your administration at the same time he literally has business interests in front of the city, that we have documentation to prove. Isn't that the definition of corruption?"
Ravenstahl:
"Not at all. Because I have conversations with a gentleman who's a friend of mine?"
Acklin:
"At the same time he's directing your policies."
The barbs continued after the debate, during my interviews with the candidates. You can click the link below to listen to the raw audio from my mp3 recorder. Below that you can read some breakout quotes from the Q&A.
Acklin:
• "To be clear, these aren't attacks. These are facts..."
• "It's very that Mr. Verbanac has played a strong role in this administration. It's also very clear that he has business interests in front of this city."
• "...These documents came from a former high ranking official and I was a little taken aback by the fact that he (Ravenstahl) lied to us."
• "...It matters because people want honest leadership in government. And you have a situation here with someone with a lot of influence over this mayor's administration (who) also has a lot of interest in business before the city. These documents speak for themselves. "
• "...And if this isn't corruption, I don't know what is."
Ravenstahl:
• "It's laughable. Especially when you consider if he and I were so close, I don't think I would have been a supporter of the Isle of Capri's bid for the casino license."
[Note: Verbanac had ties with Forest City Enterprises, which was teamed with a competing casino license bidder.]
•"I'm not sure exactly what Mr. Acklin is referring to . I think it shows the desperation right now in his campaign. That John Verbanac is a friend of mine -- he is a friend of mine. When I make decisions I speak with a lot of different individuals. Including my staff, including friends..."
• "Once again, It's a desperate attempt by a desperate candidate to try to create some interest in a race. And it's uncalled for. And you'd have to ask Mr. Acklin why he's choosing to stoop to these levels."
• "..He's (Verbanac's) never given a dollar to my campaign. He's never contributed to my campaign. He's no more than somebody I bounce ideas off of... There's no inappropriate relationship there whatsoever."
Franco Dok Harris, the other independent candidate for mayor, said after the debate:
"You hear whispers all the time. We don't have a stack of documents like the Acklin campaign or try to paint any kind of pictures. What we're doing is, we're trying to bring a positive message."
[Note: Excerpts from the documents released by the Acklin campaign appear on Bram Reichbaum's blog, The Pittsburgh Comet.]
In response to my phone messages, I received the following e-mail from John Verbanac:
Bob,
With regard to your inquiry, here is my statement.
" I consider myself to be a valued friend and advisor to this Mayor, his predecessor and a number of current and former public officials, non profit and private business leaders. The fact that a desperate candidate in an effort to bolster his failing campaign would attempt to impugn me or the Mayor is distasteful and wrong and an example of why voters are so disenchanted with politics."
Thank you.
John Verbanac
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
(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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Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Ravenstahl Debate Update
Right now, at an unrelated news conference:
In answer to my repeating my debate request for his public schedule, Mayor Ravenstahl blasted KDKA-TV for the way it called off its debate. He says he called the station today to complain.
Ravenstahl says he's also told the station that he's available for a TV debate next Thursday.
--
Sent from my mobile device (and later edited for clarity). Check back for new details Tuesday.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
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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Thursday, April 17, 2008
Media Debate Blowback
UPDATED 9:10 PM:
[Here's the link to the Washington Post critique of ABC News handling of the debate. Andrew Stockey gets answers from ABC News President David Westin at this link. My Channel 4 Action News report on the debate blowback is on The Pittsburgh Channel. The link to Attytood is also now repaired.]
I'm scanning the web this morning for journalists' critiques of the performances in last night's debate -- not of the candidates, but of the questioners.
• Let's start with this open letter from Philly Daily News "Attytood" blogger Will Bunch. He says:
"I am still angry at what I just witnessed, so angry that it's hard to even type accurately because my hands are shaking. Look, I know that "media criticism" -- especially when it's one journalist speaking to another -- tends to be a genteel, colleagial thing, but there's no genteel way to say this. "
• Editor & Publisher has a quick critique by Greg Mitchell headlined "Clinton-Obama Debate: ABC Decides Top Issues Facing Americans Are Gaffes, Flag Pins and '60s Radicals". He writes:
"In perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years, ABC News hosts Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos focused mainly on trivial issues as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off in Philadelphia."
• Andrew Sullivan writes on his Daily Dish blog about what he calls the ABC News "Freak Show". He asks:
"...don't you miss the League Of Women Voters?"
• As I'm writing this, there are nearly 11-thousand viewer comments about the debate on the ABC News website. [Note: twelve hours later it was 17,000+ and counting.]
Later today, I hope to have a link to Channel 4 Action News anchor Andrew Stockey's interview with David Westin, the President of ABC News.
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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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