The one which was just passed by County Council by a 14-0 margin."While the bill ostensibly imposes a 'fee' for general county services, it appears to be an attempt to circumvent commonwealth law and impose real estate taxes on otherwise exempt real property in a non-uniform matter," Onorato wrote in a letter to council. (Trib, Bill Zlatos)
Mr. Onorato is, first and foremost, a legal scholar.
New and necessary city legislation which Mayor Ravenstahl will submit on Monday will almost certainly perform an identical function. That makes this especially interesting.
The County Executive is kowtowing to some significant presumed gubernatorial campaign supporters by offering this legalish rational as a political fig leaf. It is time for the Council to carve out a bit of its own unique space. County Council can allow Mr. Onorato to act out his display while still politely overriding his veto, staying the course with respect to this long overdue legislation. The powerhouse of our region's economy must be allowed to become a part of our economy, or we will forever be foundering like this.
New and necessary city legislation which Mayor Ravenstahl will submit on Monday will almost certainly perform an identical function.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. First of all, closing Braddock was a terrible PR decision for UPMC. You can run as many stupid commercials as you want, it will not change the public perception that UPMC behaves like a for-profit enterprise.
If both the city and county go after UPMC. Who holds the trump card? Most of UPMC's property is located within the City of Pittsburgh - the "urban core" - or whatever they want to call it. Wouldn't the city be first in line when you consider the fact that a much larger ratio of UPMC-owned land exists in the city vs. the county?
Isn't there room enough for everybody? It's an interesting subject, and ideally the City and County would coordinate these efforts to a degree, to ensure they're not *actually* saddling health care giants with unsustainable burdens and that each gets their fair share -- but at the same time my impression is there's more than enough slack in the profit generating department to service both public needs. Just like every other healthy industry.
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