Election 2007: Pittsburgh's 9th Council District

It's still early in the 2007 Pittsburgh campaign season and I'm still slightly nauseous from the November campaign., but I'd be amiss if I didn't at least slightly address the goings on in the most exciting race thus far.

No, it's not the Ravensthal/Peduto race for mayor; that one has all the makings of a girly slap fight.

And no, it's not the thrilling Pekora/Lamb race for controller (two Bureaucrats enter, one Bureaucrat leaves... the other leaves too, but with his sense of pride slightly hurt.)

And it's not the Bodack/Dowd race in Council District 7, although I always thought that a Douwd was an immortal being of false surroundings an appearances most commonly found near the destroyed colony on Delta Rana IV. I may be wrong on that point.

No, it's the 9th Councilmatic District Barnburner. Apparenly everyone in the whole friggin' district is running and everyone hates each other. From The New Pittsburgh Courier:

When [Rev. Ricky] Burgess sent notice of his Jan. 5 press conference, he named Ora Lee Carroll, executive director of the East Liberty Concerned Citizens Corp., as one of his key endorsements. Carroll, however, says she never gave Burgess permission to use her name and doesn’t support his race...

Along with Burgess, [Ora Lee Carrol] joins Rachel Cooper—daughter of District Judge Kevin Cooper, Milton Raiford, head of Imani Christian School and incumbent Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle.

If her own campaign falls short, Carroll said she would endorse Ed Gainey or Judy Ginyard of the Lincoln-Larimer Community Development Corporation, but she made it clear that she did not, and would not in the future, support Burgess for City Council.

Judy Ginyard later announced that she was also running here.

When you read the first article in it's entirety, a few things become apparent:

(1) Either Rev. Burgess made a deliberate slight at someone or someone's getting their panties in a bunch over a misunderstanding (the entire article isn't too clear on this matter);

(2) There are a lot of people jockeying for a position to usurp the incumbent or at least flex their political muscle to help that effort;

(3) As evidenced by #2, there is a very deep sense of mistrust about the incumbent for the district.

And, from the second, brief article:

(4) Is former Executive Director of a defunct Community Development Corporation really a good qualification for a Councilperson. I mean, I suppose Ms. Ginyard could run on the slogan, "I've driven a CDC into the ground, now watch what I can do for Pittsburgh."

Or maybe not.

Get out the popcorn Gramma! It's gonna get good.

Tag(s): 9th Councilmatic District, Pittsburgh Politics