Mayor Golfs During Hearing

The following post is based on my TV report
for Channel 4 Action News At Six.

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.)

.

Read More...

Summary only...

Ravenstahl Q&A Podcast: Decisions & Responsibility

Here's the link to a podcast of my Q&A with Mayor Ravenstahl on his decision not to rescind the controversial police promotions.



I asked the mayor if he feels he has any personal responsibility for what went wrong in the process. Ravenstahl answered that "it's clear my directors and chiefs have to share all information with me. Understand that they have a job to do and sometimes it requires them to make decisions without first consulting me. But decisions of this magnitude and this type of activity are certainly something that...I think it's clear to everybody--and we all understand--that this is something that I should have been briefed on and made aware of before this decision."

Seeking clarification, I asked if he was saying that he does not feel he was at fault or wrong in any aspect, but rather had decisions made below him and presented to him. He answered "Correct. I felt comfortable in the decision made on Commander Trosky and take responsibility for that decision and stand by it. The other two, again, is a different matter, and one that we have already discussed".

Jeanne Clark of the National Organization for Women was unimpressed, saying "He's not exactly shown himself to be a profile in courage. We're hearing big talk, but we've seen very little action."

When asked, City Council President Doug Shields told me "Harry Truman set the bar and the buck always stops, unfortunately, at the chief executive's desk."

Mayor Ravenstahl says that if he had demoted the controversial officers from their recent promotions, the city would have faced a losing court battle while standing on thin ice. He calls it a difficult decision and says that he's disappointed, angry, and frustrated to be in this position. He told me "I had to make a determination whether to protect the taxpayers' money or--knowing that we would lose--take a stand and say that this is not going to be tolerated. There are other ways that we can take a stand."

Clark said in my Channel 4 Action News interview that "we're talking to lawyers to find out what we can do legally, because the FOP are not the only ones who can sue."

Ravenstahl says he has reprimanded Police Chief Nate Harper for not informing him of the histories of Lt. Charles Rodriguez and Sgt. Eugene Hlavac, though the mayor reaffirms that he stands by the promotion of George Trosky to Commander. "I wasn't informed on the issue. I let the chief know about that. I was not happy; I am not happy. I'm angry with the way this played out. I'm angry with the black eye that this has given the city and the police department, and it was unnecessary," Ravenstahl told me.

Shields says "obviously citizens who are concerned about domestic violence and other issues beyond police matters are upset with the mayor as well. He's going to have to do some bridge-building here."

The mayor declined to reveal where he was during City Council's hearing on the issue. He pointed to his private meeting with members of the City-County Women's Commission the previous day and suggested that his presence in council chamber might have detracted from the hearing's focus.

Mayor Ravenstahl is promising a policy of zero tolerance for domestic abuse, and new city policies and procedures to address the issue of how officers are promoted. He told me he intends to work closely with women's organizations to deal with those issues. He says his goal is to "restore faith in government, change the policies and procedures that are currently in place, which are outdated, to say the least. And at the end of this horrible and black-eye situation, come out with a good, sound policy as we move forward, and insure that this doesn't happen again."


Note: Any trouble listening to the Podcast? E-mail me to let me know.

Read More...

Summary only...

Podcast Coming--Mayor Q&A On Decision

This weekend, I hope to post a podcast of my Q&A with Mayor Ravenstahl on his decision not to rescind the controversial police promotions. The video was to be added to The Pittsburgh Channel website this evening, but at last check it hasn't appeared. If the video isn't available, I'll provide the audio here on The Busman's Holiday blog.

Read More...

Summary only...

Police Promotions Fallout

Mayor & Women's Commission Chair Q&A With Reporters

Mayor Ravenstahl and Cynthia McCormick, the chair of the Women's Commission, fielded reporter questions after meeting for more than an hour about the controversial police promotions. You can catch the raw video of the question-and-answer session online at The Pittsburgh Channel.

Meanwhile, credit to Maria of 2 Political Junkies for being the first to publish Police Commander Catherine McNeilly's letter touching on this story.

The commander e-mailed a letter to the editor in response to the Post-Gazette's mayoral report card story. That letter also addresses the promotions controversy.

Channel 4 Action News reporter Gus Rosendale quoted from the commander's letter in his story on Monday. He also reported on the Mayor's comments Tuesday. I've held off on posting the entire letter, while waiting to see if the PG was going to print it. (Predicting publication dates can be a tricky business, as you can see in this post.) Since her letter is now already in the burghosphere, here goes.

With permission from the commander and from Gus, I'm quoting her e-mail provided to Channel 4 Action News. Note that it was sent prior to the latest developments.


Mr. Rosendale,

[A]n article appeared in Sunday’s Post-Gazette titled “Mayor Meeting Most Goals.”

In this article, the Mayor is "graded" by the Post-Gazette on 38 pledges in 6 categories he made since taking office 10 months ago.

In the category of "Diversity," the Mayor was given a “C” because in September, 2006, he created a “Women’s Commission” intended to bring “concerns of women to the city and improve gender diversity in top staff.” This goal has stalled, however, because his chosen co-chair has moved out of town and, 10 months later, has yet to be replaced.

If the Mayor were truly sincere about his commitment to the “concerns” of women, he had a valuable and unique opportunity back in September, 2006 to tout the Command Staff of the Pittsburgh Police as a “model” of female representation in “top city staff” when 7 out of 12 people (or 58%) who held the rank of Commander or higher were female.

Since becoming Mayor, there have been seven promotions made to the Command Staff of the Pittsburgh Police. Six of those promotions were male. Today, 6 of the 14 people (or 43%) of the Command Staff is female. Sadly, Mr. Ravenstahl missed a golden opportunity, and as of the date “Ravenstahl’s Report Card” was published, the same Command Staff of the Pittsburgh Police is no longer the “model” that it was just 10 month ago.

One of the most recent males promoted to the Command Staff jumped over a number of females (and males) who have rank, formal degrees, higher degrees and well-respected police management training which highly qualifies them for such a move upward – but they were not even considered for such a move.

Additionally, as has been widely reported, the last three promotions have raised concerns to a number of women’s groups in the Pittsburgh area because of allegations of domestic abuse; however, Mr. Ravenstahl will not even address the “concerns" of these women.

My opinion is the Post-Gazette has been much too lenient in giving the Mayor a “C” in these areas. If I were his professor in “Women’s Studies” and he were my student, it would be obvious by this time that he just isn’t getting it - he would have failed my course miserably.

Catherine R. McNeilly
(The writer is a Commander with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police)

.

Read More...

Summary only...