Thursday: The Week in Review, Pt. 1

Hola, amigos. I know it's been a long time since I wrapped at ya.

Without navel-gazing for too terribly long: I had every sincere intention of executing a shift in the Comet's editorial content after the primary election, towards greater clinical disinterest and even-handedness. That turned out to be like training a bear to ride a bicycle: you can do it, but not without arousing some concerns. Then after the Lestitian / Mitinger / et al purge, some mixed impulses culminated in what you might call a full-on blogdentity crisis. I almost wrote "midblog crisis" but that doesn't feel accurate. I think we can all sense that the Comet is likely to pass the ball for victory while it's still 2009. At least a couple of wise bloggers once told me, "Three years is about good". However there are still several high-profile items of unfinished business on the agenda -- so in the meanwhile, I don't see how it's going to be anything other than rock and roll.

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This afternoon will see a signing ceremony and celebration for the new Allegheny County ordinance establishing a Human Relations Commission, AKA in many quarters the LGBTQ non-discrimination bill. It will be held at the Andy Warhol Museum on the North Side.

The initiative passed by a slender 8-6 margin. In offering an amendment to Councillor Amanda Green's bill which very likely made its passage possible, Councillor Jim Burn donned what he called his party "Chairman Hat" to urge his Democratic colleagues specifically to rally behind the measure.

This exhortation was lost on Democrats Jim Ellenbogen and Michael Finnerty, who joined the Council's four Republicans in citing every conceivable excuse for voting against the ordinance except those reasons cited by just about every public comment and letter in opposition: it would prompt expensive litigation, it would cause disinvestment and hardship, the people aren't sufficiently aware of what the Council is contemplating. If any member in opposition was representing their constituents' oft-stated concerns, the closest they got was when one councillor dramatically stated, "I hold in my hand a letter ... a letter from the head of the Catholic Diocese!"

I take this as a good sign. Our local Republicans aren't particularly fundie or wingnutty; they just fear for their jobs like everybody else.

Councillor Chuck McCullough, clad for the occasion in a black dryfit New Balance t-shirt, offered a motion to put the issue up for public referendum, citing the Democrats' recent maneuver to "grant themselves the authority" to place ordinances on the ballot in support of the Drink Tax. The prospect of an extended, all-out, infantry-versus-infantry Culture War must have been as terrifying to the councillors as it was to me, since it failed by an even greater margin than the new law ultimately succeeded.

During post-session festivities, Burn offered an acknowledgement "to progressives" that sometimes the party "moves slowly"; he said that "As Chairman, my job is to bring everybody along." Nonetheless he said that that day was "his proudest moment as Chairman". He also lauded Green as one of the Democratic party's "rising stars" and "one to watch".

Council President Rich Fitzgerald spoke in praise of the members who resisted some intense pressure to vote against the measure, particularly Robert J. Macey, who experienced what he called not political pressure, but ominously, "the ultimate pressure".

The occasion also marked the targeting of District 1 Republican incumbent Matt Drozd in November's general election in favor of Democratic challenger Tom Michalow, who issued a "furious" statement in response to Drozd's objections to the bill.

A final note: while there is some disappointment out there about the "compromise" that was reached enabling some loopholes for religious or charitable organizations, I'm not particularly upset. Number one: the major stakeholders in the legislation didn't seem at all upset, at least not after a somewhat-improved version of that comprise had been secured. Everyone seemed determined to celebrate an at-least 2/3 victory and a 100% positive statement across what could be considered challenging terrain. Number two: for whatever reason, the injustice of housing discrimination tugs at my heartstrings worse than employment discrimination, and its hard for me to see how the exceptions will apply to the overwhelming majority of landlords and home sellers.

So that looks to be a real solid gain. But in addition to cementing quantifiable gains, people need to win once in a while, and feel as though their participation and efforts are valued.

SO LATER TODAY: More on the unmet demand for community benefits in the North Shide, and a bit on the continuing supply of corporate benefits headed to a developer in ShadyEastLarimer.