On Mayors and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

Regarding last night's debate:

"While reporters shuttled between the mayor and Mr. Acklin, Mr. Harris, who turned in a solid debate performance, was largely ignored by the media."

A reminder to the Post-Gazette: You are the media. If you think Mr. Harris is a worthwhile candidate, you can choose to not ignore him. But the Pittsburgh Comet will be happy that at least the status and validity of the race wasn't questioned by the "media." Kudos to Bram over at the Pittsburgh Comet for putting up some very thorough and compelling entries regarding this race.

Now, skip on over to "Green Is Good" and check out my interviews of Kevin Acklin, Franco Dok Harris, and Lindsay Baxter (acting as a stand-in for the current mayor). The interviews are focused on the candidate's green opinions from public transportation to pollution, so there will be no mention of John Verbanac.

Cool Summer = Less Murders

There has long been a supposed correlation between hot summer weather and violence. In the summer, kids are out of school and restless. The hot weather exacerbates that. This summer the weather was cooler, and the murder rate has dropped significantly. The city is on track for a 40% decrease in the murder rate this year over last. 3/4 of the way through the year, we have 34 homicides as opposed to a total of 72 last year. Boston has also seen the effects of bad weather with a drop in shootings.

This is great news for an incumbent in an election year even as the Post-Gazette is publishing that Ravenstahl's administration let the ball drop on a sweeping crime-reduction plan. I wrote about the PIRC plan last year when it was announced. I had high hopes that the violence in my nearby neighborhoods would be reduced.

"Press conference, photo-op, no follow-through," said Mr. [Franco Dok] Harris. "We talk a lot, and we don't seem to do much."

Let's make PIRC (Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime) more than a photo-op for the mayor.
This good news will be a short reprieve if Climate Change experts are right. In the long-term, Pittsburgh is expected to have colder winters and hotter summers, which means we better deal with the potential for violence now.

Disappointing

Dear Kevin Acklin,

Please publicly renounce your campaign supporters who are disputing Harris's petition signers. I am one of those signers (a valid one as far as I know). I signed his petition because I want more choices, more voices, and more ideas in this election. When I was asked to sign the petition, I confirmed that I was a voter in the city of Pittsburgh.

In entering this Fall's mayoral election, you are fighting an uphill battle. Your supporters would be much better serving your campaign in phone banks and knocking door-to-door. Instead they spent a pathetic number of hours scrutinizing the competition by analyzing the 3,270 people who are happy to see another name on the ballot.

Sincerely,
pghisacity

Welcome to the Race

Yesterday, Franco Dok Harris officially announced that he is running for Mayor.

If elected mayor, he promised to say "yes" to enhancing economic opportunities, fighting crime, investing in education and fixing the city's infrastructure.

Is he also going to say "yes" to higher taxes? I know it's early, but I'm really curious as to where this money is going to come from. I want someone to say "yes" to implementing Controller Michael Lamb's audit recommendations. Let's use the money we have smartly instead of making lots of new grand plans.