The Song: Oops! ... I Did It Again.

The Artist: Britney.

Framework Allegedly Reached for a "Tentative Agreement" in Pittsburgh's Hill District [UPDATED]

Representatives of the Hill District, the city of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and the Penguins have found consensus around "the framework for a tentative agreement" on guaranteed benefits to the neighborhood in conjunction with a new arena, city Chief of Staff Yarone Zober said today. (P-G, Rich Lord)

Not Carl Redwood. Not Tonya Payne. Not Luke Ravenstahl. Not Dan Onorato. Yarone Zober.

"People are very optimistic," Mr. Zober said.

More details in tomorrow's Post-Gazette.

UPDATE: More details...

"This is a historic event, actually," said Carl Redwood Jr., chairman of the One Hill Community Benefits Agreement Association. (P-G, Majors and Lord)

All right! Now we're getting somewhere.

But Mr. Redwood cautioned, "We don't have an agreement yet. We'll be working out a number of other items, and we look to the very near future to bring a tentative agreement back to the residents."

Would you say that you're about 95% of the way there? :-)

You go get 'em, Carl.

Yarone Zober, the mayor's chief of staff, characterized the keys to yesterday's announcement as a corporate-backed Hill development push and the creation of a job and social services center near the Hill House.

This does not impress, in itself.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, county Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Penguins officials have begun approaching corporate leaders about their participation in a Neighborhood Partnership Program that would provide state tax credits to companies in return for development aid to the Hill.

This is conceivably interesting, depending upon how the development dollars are to be controlled.

If it is to be controlled responsibly and representationally, with a minimum of political influence, the Comet will do everything within its capacity to assist the city and the county in appeals to the region.

Negotiations between the parties at the Downtown headquarters of the Sports & Exhibition Authority that ended around 5:30 p.m. nailed down the key planks of the agreement, which now goes back to the One Hill Community Benefits Coalition for approval and likely modifications.

Like we said, you go get 'em, Carl. You go get 'em, Bomani. You go get 'em, everybody in that room. Don't forget to secure some impact on the master plan!

And let us not forget that the Hill Faith and Justice Alliance (the other of the "two groups") is to be given an opportunity to sign-off on any agreement as well.

"This will be a win-win for the Hill District and the Penguins," said former NAACP President Tim Stevens, who described the difficult negotiations as "a birthing process for economic freedom for the Hill."

We are heartily encouraged by this statement from Mr. Stevens. It is duly noted that we are still the labor process, but we are encouraged.

Mr. Redwood decried recent development in the city that has been blind to the communities affected.

"The way development has been done has not been done in the interest of the community and the public," he said, citing examples such as a new electronic billboard sign being built Downtown.

"We really need to change that in every neighborhood, not just in the Hill. [We can't have] corporations get favors and subsidies from the government without giving back to the community."

UPDATE THE DEUX:

The progress in talks was enough to stop a planned protest march by an estimated 75 Hill District residents and labor activists from Freedom Corner to the Mellon Arena, site of an NHL playoff game between the Penguins and Ottawa Senators. (Trib, Carl Prine)

Glad to be able to avoid this for now. Let's go Pens.

BestFriendsgate: Further Developments

First, thank you to all tipsters who have been writing to the Comet about City and URA dirt. People seem to be in the mood to unload.

We may not have the capacity to investigate many of these matters, but when something piques our interest we will definitely pass it along to those who do. To wit:

An anonymous tipster (let's call him/her "Deep South") reports that in the Fall of 2006, the URA Mainstreets coordinator approached the South Side Local Development Company (SSLDC) about acquiring street "kiosks" from Lamar Advertising.

The URA provided the funding for SSLDC to "buy" them, but Lamar retained ownership of the kiosks. No bids, no RFP's, no compelling reason to accept them, but since they were free for SSLDC (and at the expense of taxpayers) they accepted them anyway.

Although the theory was to provide street maps and other city and neighborhood information, in reality the kiosks were utilized mostly for advertising.

Who was the URA Mainstreets coordinator in Fall of '06 again?

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Speaking of advertising and the URA:

"Personally I'm sick and tired of all the gratuitous advertising everywhere in our face. So, obviously, if I were on that board I would be anathema to this action," [Sen. Jim Ferlo] said. (P-G, Mark Belko)

Well isn't that convenient.

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Do you think more people should know about what's going down here in Pittsburgh?

A colleague posted this morning's excellent Post-Gazette story to Digg.com. The more people who visit the site and "digg" the article, the higher it will climb on Digg.com's rankings, and the more people will be exposed to it worldwide.

If Lamar wants to play hardball, 300,000 can play at that game.

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UPDATE: Speaking of hardball...

Four members of Pittsburgh City Council are attempting to move an increasingly bitter court case involving a controversial Downtown billboard to the federal courts. (P-G, Rich Lord)

So now the litigators have become the litigatees.

Another filing, by Lamar, appears to withdraw any claims of federal constitutional violations by council members against the billboard firm, while reserving the right to pursue them in state court.

Aw! We wanted to hear how that case went!

The case stems from Lamar's contention that five city council members may have met in violation of open meetings laws, used their influence to file their zoning appeal after the usual 3 p.m. zoning administration desk closing time and otherwise engaged in a "plot" to nix Lamar's permit to place a billboard on the front of the Grant Street Transportion Center.

Sources close to the Gang of 5 indicate that they are always extremely mindful never to all meet in the same room, seeing as that would shatter the space/time continuum. We think that sounds kind of sad. They can never all get together to barbecue or anything.

Friday: "I - That's a Good Question."

KDKA's Andy Sheehan is a tall and imposing figure, with sharp facial features that scream "justice!"

We would never want to be cornered by Andy Sheehan and made to answer questions.

The look on Our Mayor's face at 2:26 when he realizes that a TV reporter (of all creatures) is onto the "pattern of special favors" is priceless. (KDKA)

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Under Mr. Ford's direction, the URA was supposed to become a one-stop shop aimed at expediting the approval process for developers and others hoping to do business in Pittsburgh. But Mr. Ford's way of cutting corners has cut the public out of the process. (P-G, Edit Board)

There it is in a nutshell. At the same time, we must be mindful that Ford was only doing exactly what Ravenstahl and the URA expected of him. We really hope that comes into focus.

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Mr. Ravenstahl then told the Bureau of Building Inspection to order Lamar to stop work. If the firm does not comply, it could face fines of as much as $1,000 a day, and the city could seek an injunction ordering a halt. (P-G, Rich Lord)

The Comet wagers that the billboard will be "completed", in some half-finished sense, by early this afternoon.

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Recently -- and we understand it was just a coincidence -- Lamar Advertising was granted a no-bid lease for a 1,200-square-foot electronic billboard on the front of the Grant Street Transportation Center, soon to be the fanciest Greyhound bus station in America. (P-G, Tony Norman)

T-Noble might also have noted the many code requirements from which Lamar was ludicrously exempted -- but he obviously had a lot of very important data to fit into this piece, so we'll let him slide.

"So no one told you life was gonna be this way
You're supposed to have it made when you run the URA
Now your wife's outta work and you're on shaky ground
And all because for your home theater you accepted surround sound..." (Trib, Eric Heyl)

Now that's columnizing!

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"At a time when we should be engaged in doing all we can to strengthen the family, we are facing cultural forces that want to so water down the definition of marriage that it could apply to any human relationship, or to no relationship at all," Bishop Zubik told members of the state Senate Judiciary Committee. (P-G, Karamagi Rujumba)

"Sexual attraction" and "love" are common threads among these newfangled, sub-par human relationships.

BestFriendsgate: Notes and Quotes

Lamar Advertising: Digging in, or else digging themselves into a deeper hole. (P-G, Rich Lord)

If the council members want it to stop, "they're going to have to go to the Court of Common Pleas and they're going to have to post bond," countered Jonathan Kamin, a lawyer for Lamar.

"Stop making us obey the law, or we'll make you poor."

##

The Comet gets much love from the MacYapper.

I would quibble with one thing Bram told Bob [Mayo]. Bram said it's not "our job" to judge the gift taking unethical bureaucrats. If people sitting around in their underwear typing a lot can't judge humanity then who can?

John is correct of course. When the story was just breaking, all we could think of was, "Appear credible, appear impartial, don't 'distort' anything!" Perhaps the memory of a previous major blog-broken story was looming large in our minds. At any rate, we got our judgmental side out of our system on Kevin Miller today.

Kevin Miller today, as captured by Mark Rauterkus. (Note: it's pronounced "Rich Bomb", no biggee)

At least one female blogger is wondering what's up with Sirk getting canned and Ford getting a paid vacation. (PWBS)

Ford vs. Meacham: Clash of the No-Goodnicks? We also have heard some evidence of a feud like this at the Housing authority. (Hoagie 1, Hoagie 2)

Infinonymous is blogging:

It now appears that George Specter did not become a thoroughgoing dunce upon the junior varsity's taking the field to replace Bob O'Connor's administration. Instead, my diagnosis has become a severe case of dopey client disease. Specter apparently advised against the serial extracurricular accommodations of Lamar's commercial interests, but that advice was ignored. A dopey client puts a lawyer in a damning position, often warping the lawyer's conduct. Specter couldn't reveal that his clients knew damned well that they were acting inappropriately (because he had so advised them, in writing); he also could not endorse their frangible positions or wrongful conduct.

Mmmm. Frangible positions. Ghughughughu.

That Shotgun Shine (shame about it...)

"I think it deserved swift action. When I was made aware of it, needless to say, I was very concerned and not happy," Ravenstahl said. (Trib, Jeremy Boren)

Glad to help.

Ravenstahl said he was shocked to learn from a Tribune-Review report that press secretary Alecia Sirk and her husband, Urban Redevelopment Authority Director Pat Ford, accepted a surround-sound system, neckties, cigars and other gifts from Lamar Advertising executive Jim Vlasach.

"We plan to obviously thoroughly investigate this issue," Ravenstahl said.

Investigation? As in, "What did you know, and when did you know it?" Best that be made an external investigation.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl gave Mr. Ford a role of unprecedented scope, serving as executive director of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, housing authority board chairman, Pittsburgh Parking Authority board chairman until he left that post early this year, and unofficial overseer of some planning functions. (P-G, Rich Lord)

Unofficial overseer of some planning functions has been particularly troubling to the Comet, to most of the burghosphere, and to many other Pittsburghers.

Lamar has placed Mr. Ravenstahl's face or name on free billboards lauding the Redd-Up Campaign and the region's hosting of the U.S. Open golf championship. In addition, attorney Jonathan Kamin, who represents Lamar in the just-filed lawsuit against five City Council members, gave Mr. Ravenstahl's campaign an in-kind donation in February 2007 worth $2,755, and characterized in campaign finance filings as "event catering."

This is not about a sound system and cigars. This is about an administration that conspires with businesses to weaken and ignore inconvenient regulations, while punishing any and all public servants who dare cry foul. Don't miss the forest for the trees.

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The Comet once published a post calling attention to Patrick Ford's swift rise through the ranks of the Ravenstahl administration. We wrote:

Considering our Mayor's very short tenure, the rapid ascension of Pat Ford should offer an excellent window into both Ravenstahl's policy preferences and personal administrative style. We also think it merits exploration of what the Ford Doctrine is all about.

We had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Ford after our policy differences were already on the table, thanks to his impact on a City Planning hearing regarding UPMC signage on the U.S. Steel Tower.

Part I of our interview covered biographical details. Part II dealt with Ford's approach to city planning and development.

Our editorial objections to Ford's overbearing, anti-democratic role in Ravenstahl's government only deepened upon witnessing it in action at another contentious City Planning hearing -- this one regarding the new Hill District arena.

By the time the Lamar electronic billboard fiasco came around, we felt we already knew what to expect.
__________
The Tribune-Review might easily have framed its story as "The Tribune-Review has learned..." instead of acknowledging from the get-go Ford and Sirk's motivation for reaching out to the newspaper:

Ford approached the Tribune-Review with the information. He said he was worried that local bloggers who discovered an entry on Sirk's old blog about the surround-sound system would distort the facts and use the information in an attempt to discredit him.

More importantly, no story break would have been possible without a tip and a suggestion from our esteemed and anonymous colleague, the Burgher, who went on to cover the fallout with well-deserved joyfulness.

What Can We Say?