The Money from Roddey v Mistick

Mistick: Mitt Romney has more money ... and less wives ... than any other Republican candidate.

Roddey: That's despite the fact that he's Mormon.

Roddey also gave an impassioned defense of sel-- um, leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike to private interests for 99 years, for $16-$18 billion dollars, for the purposes of constructing sorely needed new bridges and roads.

Editorial Aside: You know, Pittsburgh? We're set for bridges. How about we ask for our share in public transit?

Also, host Chris Moore dropped the word Congestion Tax, like it was some kind of secret ninja policy idea of his own.

From the Courier

Christian Morrow gets in-depth with the Oak Hill Development compromise.

Apparently, the Black Political Empowerment Project put the heat on Mayor Ravenstahl, and in turn the Mayor stuck it to the University of Pittsburgh.

“It was an exhausting, up-hill battle, but after 18 months we finally struck a deal and it worked out well for us,” said Resident Council President Eloise McDonald. “Pitt got Robinson Court, but we got everything else. The residents are very happy.”

Note to our friends: Robinson Court, apparently, will involve a soccer field!!

Morrow also gives a behind-the-scenes account of Rachel "Winnie" Cooper's removal from the District 9 ballot.

Deborah M. Todd covers the 3rd Annual African American convention, at which Dan Onorato gave an introduction, and casino owner Don Barden gave the keynote address.

Money quote from K. Chase Patterson: “It was a fantastic event, but not all young people are down for galas.”

Last Chance City Paper

Chris Potter gets his big sit-down with Bill Peduto.

It was presented in an innovative 2+ page format, that provided the impression of shock and awe: ATTENTION!! THIS IS A SPECIAL CITY PAPER INTERVIEW EVENT! GET OUT YOUR GOOD READING GLASSES, AND HOLD ON TO YOUR BLADDER! Money excerpt:

Potter: Why is that?

Peduto: Because I'm a bad politician. Good public servant ... ba-a-a-a-d politician.

Meanwhile, John McIntire does a non-victory lap in which he prays we all "wake up"; and Charlie Deitch reviews the process of challenging and striking names from the elections ballot.

Interview: Leah Kirkland

"With respect for the process ... and with respect for the headquarters ... and with respect for Jim Burn ..."

Leah Kirkland did not care for the decision to open the District 9 party endorsement up to a second vote. The first vote found her in second place, to a disqualified candidate. She saw the ruling as a sharp break with precedent.

"Not only that, but it's very hurtful to the candidates -- we're all back to square one." Candidates for council had been courting the same pool of committee members and ward chairs since January; the election is fast approaching. She was impatient to focus on the community at large.

Kirkland met us late at night; she was wearing a tracksuit and a Leah Kirkland for City Council tee-shirt.

The following afternoon, she would once again finish second, this time to Ricky Burgess -- but not by much, and well ahead of incumbent Twanda Carlisle.

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The District 9 of Leah Kirkland isn't described by wards -- or even neighborhoods. She goes by streets. Derry figures prominently, as does Lincoln.

"I remember back when kids would play in the street ..." she stops herself and smiles sweetly. "Yes, I'm only 25. But I remember kids playing, and adults watching over them, out on the porches."

She recalls many aunties and uncles keeping an informal, effective Neighborhood Watch. She couldn't quite define what happened, but she wants to use the office of city councilwoman to bring it back.

"The last thing we need are new empty community centers" she insists. "We have enough of those." She describes a very service-oriented office, that connects and harnesses existing community assets.

For example, Kirkland has been active with a young preservationist society (unaffiliated with Preservation Pittsburgh) that is reclaiming on Apple St. what it describes as the First Negro Opera House in the country. She also helped to bring a Family Dollar store to a problem street corner, and continues to crusade against nuisance bars.

She says her community is tired of broken promises and pipe dreams; there's been no development in her community, she says, in 20 years. Economic development tops her list of priorities along with senior citizens, children and youth, and crime prevention.

When asked about policing, and the use of the BEAR, she said "It leaves a sweet and sour taste in my mouth." She readily concedes that there is a war in the streets, but "we can't come in like we're in Iraq. You're going to get that defense mechanism, you don't get that trust."

"You don't see them on foot patrol" she says of the police department. "You don't see that friendliness. There's a lack of a relationship."

When asked about city finances, she said there is certainly no "one cure", but we must get more efficient, and we must make sure more money is coming in than going out. She favors some kind of system for those who simply work in Pittsburgh, and enjoy its many services, to make contributions.

So, you mean a commuter tax? "Yes."

She says she has nothing against Carlisle, whom she describes as "a wonderful person," but she politely demurred when asked about Burgess.

The New Arena

Yesterday's P-G Mark Belko article made the forthcoming cathedral of hockey sound just fantastic.

From a glass atrium that will span some five stories and offer views of the Downtown skyline to open concourses at each end that will allow people to catch the action below while buying a hot dog, the goal is to provide a "cutting-edge" experience for fans, Penguins President Ken Sawyer said.

Seating is improved, for both the super-boxes and the plebes. Design goes out of its way to court media -- all kinds of technical and creature comforts, the better to facilitate the action into America's livingrooms.

The innovations inspired from Lemieux's hockey playing career are just adorable:

The players will be able to go directly to the locker room from the bench without having to cross the ice. There also will be a small theater in the locker room where coaches and players can watch tapes of opponents and other film.

Remember our arena can host all kinds of other events, as well.

Mr. Sawyer said the Penguins also want to work with Pitt and Duquesne to bring the NCAA men's basketball tournament back. The city hosted the early rounds in 1997 and 2002.

"Clearly with college basketball being so significant here in Pittsburgh, I think we would be a great host city," he said. "We'll now have the capacity to do it."

But don't expect the National Basketball League to be part of the action. Mr. Sawyer said he doesn't believe a market the size of Pittsburgh can support professional basketball and hockey.

"It's just not possible," he said. "The NBA just wouldn't come here. The market's not big enough."

Editorial Comment: Wa-wa-WHAT? Nay-saying! Such blatant nay-saying! Think about it -- another major league sports team for the city! Won't somebody please think of the children?

Two-Hit Monday

The P-G's Rich Lord reports on city EMS minority recruitment.

[EMS Chief Robert McCaughan] said he doesn't yet know when the impending minority recruitment drive will start, nor who the training provider will be. He said the push will look something like a 1991 effort in which the city recruited 15 African-Americans and women, and provided free paramedic training, plus a modest salary. Most finished the training and went on to become city paramedics.

-snip-

He said the problem with the 1991 effort was that it was a one-time thing that only temporarily boosted diversity. He said the bureau should ensure that this time, it's a sustained program. "That way the numbers would even out."

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"Let's start these conversations today. Let's Save our Transit."

Thus concludes Joan Ellenbogen, board member and finance chair of the Port Authority, in her P-G Op-Ed.

She identifies unions, the business community, and state and local government as three groups that "need to step up to the plate." Unions in particular have been "obtaining the best of everything for their members."

What I would do as soon as possible after today, if I were a union leader, would be to follow the lead of our new CEO, Steve Bland. In an unprecedented move and at great personal cost, he voluntarily gave back present and future benefits that were part of the contract he negotiated before moving here last year. Steve Bland is a true leader.

Editorial Aside: Is Steve Bland pressuring the rest of management, past and present, for benefit cuts?

Review: Ann Coulter

Ann Coulter is a lot like Rodney Dangerfield. Rodney delivers round after round of punchy jokes about I get no respect. For Coulter, it's Liberals are godless traitors.

Too much of her material, especially towards the beginning, was about the Jersey Girls, the widows of 9/11 who demanded public congressional investigations. That part was a snooze, and uncomfortable for everyone.

She claims her assault on the Jersey Girls is generating massive controversy, but charges of godlessness and treason are met with silence ... so obviously liberals are happy to concede that they're godless traitors. What she fails to account for is that no one much listens to her when she's not going to the extremes of attacking widows of terrorism, or using ugly language.

She was at her most engaging during her Jimmy Carter bit, and maybe World War II.

Only once was she booed outright -- when she said there are no liberals in the U.S. Armed Forces. First there was just some consternation in the audience, but then she said, "Well, there aren't!" and so she got loudly booed.

Visibly taken aback, she said, "I didn't realize there were so many liberals in the audience!" That should be taken as a measure of everyone's great civility. The University of Pittsburgh and the Young Republicans did an excellent job setting the tone.

A little hecking broke out toward the end of her talk, but Coulter was warmed up enough to go back and forth. She then answered maybe a dozen audience questions. Shorter answers included, "First, I'd deport all the liberals," but longer ones, like about the supposed effete wussiness of liberals, were actually more interesting.

She was asked about illegal immigration, which she deplores, but she focused very narrowly on its illegality. She said that a system which accepts immigrants based on their willingness to break the law is untenable. When someone shouted "Then change the law!" she actually said, "Fine. We just can't have it illegally," which got a strong round of applause.

Coulter took that opportunity to give a jolly wave goodbye, and everybody left smiling.