Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Lamar 4 Buy Selves a Week or More

Before the legislation to pay the attorney was read into the record, Councilman Shields asked Councilman Motznik to chair the rest of the meeting.

Dumbfounded, Motznik asked that the President Pro Tem (Councilman Burgess) fulfill that duty instead, or failing that the Finance Chair (Councilman Peduto).

However, all four of them were fleeing from the room.

To considerable mirth, Councilman Motznik then ascended to the dais, and asked to bring the legislation to a vote. Councilman Dowd asked for a moment to review the rules of council, but discovering that the absences did not necessarily inhibit council's power to act, Motznik went on to ask the clerk to read the bill into the record.

Motznik started the discussion by stating he was "a bit confused at the animosity" he and Dowd were receiving for requesting a legal opinion, as neither of them wrote the legal opinion themselves.

Dowd stated that "if there were any unintended consequences" of his raising concerns with the Law Dept, he "genuinely apologizes." He also pointed out that the Law Dept had clarified for him that he personally had no conflict of interest in the matter, so he was free to vote after all.

The vote to approve the measure proceeded as follows: Councilman Deasy nay, Councilman Dowd nay, Councilwoman Harris abstaining, Councilwoman Payne aye (a surprise), and Councilman Motznik nay.

Interim President Motznik then began to say that by a 3-1 vote the motion failed, but several in the room corrected him that due to procedural issues of a failure to secure a majority vote, the motion was merely tabled. At this, the remaining four council members poured back into the room, having delayed the vote and having not admitted to any conflicts of interest.

Councilman Shields took control of the dais again, to Motznik's amused chagrin.

6 comments:

  1. bram..?..when you used the word shegrin,was that a veiled statement about Motznik's sexuality or was it merely a misspelling??

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  2. I misspelled, and at least somewhat misused, the word chagrin. Much to my own chagrin.

    However, I have no idea what direction you're taking "shegrin", as I can find nothing at urbandictionary.com to give me any indication. At the risk of offending my readers, what were you afraid I meant?

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  3. he meant did you mean motznik is a girly man bram. for a bright guy i thought you would have figured it out yerself. lol

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  4. A coy bram?
    A koi Motznik?

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  5. "for a bright guy i thought you would have figured it out yerself."

    Yeah apparently not so much. I was afraid I had stumbled upon a newly invented slang term, perhaps a contraction, referring to some action or organ. We are positive the Councilman's sexuality is whatever he says it is.

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  6. pay the damn LEGAL bill and let's get a citizens petition to have the attorney general conduct an investigation OF ALL OF THESE stupid ass goings on.

    Look, these Council Members who stood up for THE LAW AND THE LEGAL PROCESS deserve a break and some PUBLIC SUPPORT INSTEAD OF DITHERING HERE IN THE BLOGS.

    The LNMAR 4 have been beat up, intimidated and they have their own political limitations as well.

    How's bout we, the people of Pittsburgh take the responsibility for getting to the bottom of all of this!

    So here is a petition. Copy, paste, circulate, get signitures. Mail petitions to the PA attorney general.


    Tom Corbett
    Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
    16th Floor
    Strawberry Square
    Harrisburg, PA 17120

    It's an of the people by the people for the people thing. Get the AG to get to work and clean up this mess.

    PETETION

    WE THE UNDERSIGNED RESIDENTS OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS RELATED TO THE FUNCTIONS OF OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT. WE HAVE NO CONFIDENCE THAT LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN FAILY AND WITHOUT PREJEDICE INVESTIGATE THE MATTERS BELOW.

    THE CITY GOVERNMENT HAS ACTED TO ALLOW AN ILLEGAL BILLBOARD OWNED BY LAMAR ADVERTISING TO BE ERECTED.

    THE DIRECTOR OF THE URA, MR. PAT FORD IS ON LEAVE AND UNDER INVESTIGATION BY THE STATE ETHICS COMMISSION AS A RESULT OF AN IMPROPER RELATIONSHP WITH A LAMAR LOBBYIST.

    MR. FORD, AS PLANNING DIRECTOR AND THE URBAN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY HAS ALSO HAD INTERVENED ON BEHALF OF A LOCAL REAL ESTATE COMPANY HEADED BY A CONVICTED FELON TO ALLOW ILLEGAL BUILDING PERMITS TO BE ISSUED.

    MR. FORD RENTED AN APRTMENT FROM THIS AME CONVICTED FELON'S AND HAS REFUSED TO DISCLOSE WHAT, IF ANY, RENT WAS PAID.

    THE DEPARTMENT OF LAW HAS ISSUED CONTROVERSIAL LEGAL OPINIONS AND HAS FAILED TO PROVIDE THE COUNCIL WITH OPINIONS IN A TIMELY MANNER ON THE LAMAR ZONING CODE VIOLATIONS AND OTHER MATTERS.

    THE LAW DEPARTMENT NOW ACCUSES OUR REPRESENTATIVES OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST BASED UPON THEIR OBJECTIONS TO THE CITY CODE VIOLATIONS BY LAMAR.

    WE DEMAND THAT THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL CONDUCT A THROUGH AND COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION INTO THESE MATTERS TO DETERMINE IF THE LAWS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OR CITY CODE WERE BROKEN.

    WE DEMAND THAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL INVESTIGATE WHY A STATE AUTHORITY, THE PARKING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH, ISSUED A NO BID CONTRACT, WITHOUT BOARD APPROVAL TO ALLOW LAMAR TO ERECT AN ILLEGAL BILLBOARD ON PUBLIC PROPERTY. MR. FORD WAS CHAIR OF THE PARKING AUTHORITY AT THE TIME.

    WE DEMAND THAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL INVESTIGATE WHY THE PITTSBURGH STADIUM AUTHORITY SOLD PUBLIC LAND TO THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS WELL BELOW MARKET RATE ($0.80 A SQ. FT.) WITHOUT STADIUM AUTHORITY BOARD APPROVAL.

    WE DEMAND THAT THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY AND ALL LAW BREAKING IN THESE MATTERS BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE AND RESTORE OUR FAITH IN OUR INSTITUTIONS OF GOVERNMENT IN THE CITY OF PIITSBURGH.

    NAME ADDRESS ZIP CODE

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