Mayoral challenger Mark F. DeSantis, Ph.D., gets a long critical examination from the P-G's Timothy McNulty."This is the most responsible job in local government. You perform or you do not. This is not a development program, this is not a training program, this is not a resume builder. This is a real job where people's lives are affected by the quality of this CEO," he tells the receptive Fox Chapel crowd.
All exquisite, save for the location.
Mr. DeSantis voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 and supported former Sen. Rick Santorum in his failed re-election bid last year.
GAAAH! Icky icky icky!
The Comet is clear that this has nothing whatsoever to do with the price of tea in China. As to the rest of Pittsburgh, we have less confidence.
##
The Ethics Hearing Board would like to bar public officials from accepting admissions to exclusive charity events from the likes of UPMC and the Penguins. (Trib, Jeremy Boren)
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl would like to continue accepting any such admissions, so long as he reports it (although he markedly refused to do so on the last occasion).
Challenger Mark DeSantis says "I oppose any gratuity of any amount ... public service is not about the perks, it's about the job."
In a press release (h/t TWM), DeSantis highlights the contrast like so: "When I’m Mayor, I’ll work to strengthen the City’s ethics code, not weaken it for my own benefit."
That should play. Really.
##
By accusing Luke Ravenstahl of "telling some transparent whoppers," claiming he has "run out of strategies, excuses, and explanations," and repeatedly likening him to a habitually lying marionette, Trib columnist Joseph Sabino Mistick reveals an increasingly savage edge to his opposition.
##
Trib columnist Bill Steigerwald writes the surest thing one can write to get a mention in the Comet: Let's end failed & dogmatic drug war.
Why not? Because, says Nadelmann, "the drug war, and the prohibitionist ideology which fuels it, is not about rational policy." It's not "about science, compassion, health or human rights," it's "a sort of dogma -- a secular fundamentalism that sees itself immune from critical examination."
Also:
If you think those 829,627 Americans [arrested for marijuana last year] were all out selling weed to 10-year-olds at the local strip mall until they were heroically brought to justice, you've had way too many Bush administration cocktails.
We all know how Pittsburgh feels about the Bush administration. Unfortunately, we also know how it feels about cocktails.
The Comet is clear that this has nothing whatsoever to do with the price of tea in China.
ReplyDeleteI haven't followed any discussion of this matter here, but I have to say I disagree on this one. I simply could never pull his lever. So to speak.
While his views on many issues are largely irrelevant to municipal government, his allegiance to said GOP leaders could prove to be extremely important, and unfortunate They will have his ear, and he theirs. They'll have plenty of "ins" they haven't had before. Conservative-leaning or not, Ravenstahl is still a Democrat, and he's no Zell Miller.
Mark is pro-choice, Luke is pro-life. This actually DID have an effect on a local issue, ie Luke voted against the protective zone around abortion clinics.
ReplyDeleteBut your concern is broader than that. I can only testify that A) City council, in all likelihood, will still be 9-0 Dem, so the firmament will not be ripped assunder and B) maybe after 73 years of one-party rule (and you know how corrupt the halls of government can get after a mere decade!), that having some Republicans have "ears" and "ins" is comparatively not such a bad thing.
It would certainly remind local Democrats why it is they are Democrats, and some of them could use some reminding!