Dog Cat and not Fish Licenses

Fluffy and Mrs. Whiskers are going to do something secret in Bodack, Carlisle, Payne and Motznik's shoes: From the P-G:

A tentative Pittsburgh City Council vote on licensing cats ended in a tie today, setting up a final vote Tuesday that could go either way.

Council members Len Bodack, Twanda Carlisle, Tonya Payne and licensing bill sponsor Jim Motznik supported the bill. Members Dan Deasy, Darlene Harris, William Peduto and Doug Shields voted against. Councilman Jeff Koch abstained, meaning he's the swing vote on what has become a controversial issue.

"A lot of pressure on Mr. Koch next week," quipped Mr. Deasy after the vote.

Mr. Motznik argued that a $7 annual fee for cats that have been spayed or neutered, and $12 for those that have not, would allow the city to pin responsibility on owners of cats that cause property damage, and make it easier to return those that become lost and are captured.

"To me, it's a no-brainer," said Mr. Bodack. "It's something that's been needed for a long time."

Council President Shields countered that there's "a much lower level of concern" about cats than dogs, because the latter can cause injury.

Ms. Carlisle said that's an outdated perception. "That was yesteryear," she said. "In 2007, cats are more aggressive than they used to be."

Ms. Harris said she would prefer a one-time fee rather than "something you're paying over and over again."

"Twice in the last couple of weeks I've gone out to get my newspaper, and seen a cat on the porch," said Mr. Deasy. Nonetheless, they are not a big problem in his neighborhoods.

So, I ask you: where are these Council people living that they are frequented by cat attacks? Yellowstone? The Serengeti? Yusuf Islam's house? Is there a half-crazed Adam West standing outside their houses with a cat gun?

Council is wasting its time worrying about phantom cat attacks when it could be dealing with issues that are far more pressing and pertinent to the health and safety of this City: licensing lawyers.

Just yesterday, my neighbor was set upon by a pack of vicious litigators as she went outside for her mail. The pack would have chewed her wallet off if I hadn't had the good sense to turn the hose on them.

As I was riding to work, I saw two lawyers debriefing. On the street! Where children might see them! And there was another one digging through the trash looking for some pro bono work.

And if you go down to Legal Friends, you can see whole cages of them, disbarred and left to go feral. Those that can't be placed with a loving firm are forced to be euthanized.

This is truly a tragedy that we, as a society, should be able to fix.

Although, cats are waaaaay cuter.

Lightning Round!

Here's the actual headline from this article in the Trib:

'Kill Point' extra arrested for impersonating a public servant

Too... Many... Jokes! Hands on buzzers please. We're going to the lightning round.

The Category is Complete this headline: "'Kill Point' extra arrested for impersonating a public servant". GO!

Takes Four Hour Coffee Break, goes home after lunch.

Councilman Jeff Koch offers her free t-shirt for all her "hard work".

In other news, Twanda Carlisle has taken up acting.

Suspect was immediately identified by her warm, caring nature and genuine interest in the problems of others.

AFSCME demands back payment of fake union dues.

Proclaims loudly, "I'm from the fake government, and I'm here to pretend to help."

Is immediately downsized due to budget cutbacks.

Will, no doubt, have a better retirement plan than anyone else in City Government.

Dick Skrinjar not adjusting well to demotion.

Thousands of real municipal employees pause to consider if prison is a viable alternative.

Neglected to fill out form 1054-S in triplicate.

Suspect is expected to start her own snarky blog this coming Monday.

BUZZ!

Oh! That's the end of the round. And with the scores all equal, we're going to suddenly stop the game.

Tag(s): Bureaucracy, Crime

More on Twanda

The Carlisle arraignment seemed to come out of left field for a lot of people... in the same way that a fly ball comes right out of left field for the Pirates: you hear the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, but you get beaned on the head anyway, because you were too busy stomping on a beach ball that wandered its way onto the field. If you were paying attention to the ethics board criticisms, the investigations, and so forth, you would have realized that something was going to go down, it was just a question of "when."

What did catch me completely by surprise was the sheer number of charges. I would have figured there would be an ethics charge and maybe something regarding campaign impropriety, but certainly nothing like the laundry list that came down. We're talking Ben Woods level crime here.

Now, it is, of course, improper to assume that the Councilwoman is guilty, and she is entitled to her day in court where she can rebut the charges against her. Still, just from the news reports, Ms. Carlisle is guilty of transgressing at least one of The Rules of Bureaucracy over there to the left: #2 ("The Sixty Minutes" Rule).

It's a hard rule to follow, I know.

The big sin here is that not only did Carlisle (allegedly) do something stupidly illegal, but that she got caught (allegedly) doing something stupid and illegal. And while it is often hard to judge when an action would trigger a visit from the Investigative News Team, I've come up with a little a shortcut, nay, a moral maxim which may help those with lingering ethical dilemmas:

DON'T DO STUPID SHIT!

And if you're still unsure and have lingering moral questions, let me clarify further:
YES IT IS STUPID SHIT!

I hope this helps.


Tag(s): Twanda Carlisle

Carlisle to be Arraigned

Oh my. 

 

Pittsburgh Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle will be arraigned this morning on three charges of theft by deception, three charges of criminal conspiracy, three charges of violation of the state Ethics Act, five Election Code violations, and three charges of failing to file required financial disclosures.

 

 

Guess my meeting is cancelled for today. 

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

Scenarios

By the time you finish reading this post, Mayor Bob O'Connor may be dead, so I will be brief.  I need one of those Wikipedia graphics about "current events may change rapidly". 

 

Here are some scenarios that could play out in the near future:

1. Luke Ravenstahl, as Council President, is sworn in as Mayor;
2. OK, a 2/3rds vote of City Council (once they return to session... which just happened as I was writing this post) could oust Luke as President of Council.  This would mean that 8 people could jockey for position as President of Council [I'm throwing out Twanda Carlisle from consideration here], and it could be anyone's game. 
3. Alternatively, Mr. Ravenstahl could decline (highly unlikely as he's been holding a vigil in the City County building, the papers have been prepared, and there's an emergency judge on standby).  This would also throw it back to Council, with 7 people jockeying for position.  
4. (3 a.) If they can't reach resolution amongst themselves (unlikely again), according to the City Home Rule Charter , they could conceivably throw open the nominations to pretty much anyone, including yours truly and Chuck Norris... assuming that Mr. Norris takes up residency in the City of Pittsburgh.
5. Assuming that 2-4 do not happen... and only people who bet everything on Green at the roulette table would assume that it's a possibility... we'd be left with a whole administration now in the hands of Mr. Ravenstahl, who may hire, fire, and otherwise reassign pretty much everyone.  

But again we should be focusing on the Mayor, so our best wishes, hopes, and prayers go out to Bob and his Family. 

Axes, Nice and Ground

If you were paying attention the last few days, you would have noticed this article and this article. From the first:

Foes of Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle launched a petition drive to impeach her yesterday, even as neighborhood groups criticized her for cutting them out of an effort to build stores in Lincoln-Lemington.

Phillip Martin, a 50-year-old Homewood resident, said he began circulating impeachment petitions in the morning, and had 17 signatures by lunch. The city's charter says it takes the signatures of 20 residents who are registered voters to begin the impeachment process...

Mr. Martin, a soldier in the Homewood-Brushton branch of The Salvation Army, is working with Ora Lee Carroll, executive director of East Liberty Concerned Citizens Corp., on the impeachment.

He said the petition does not include specific charges against the councilwoman, because he did not want to narrow the scope of any resulting proceeding...

Ms. Carroll was among a handful of community activists who appeared before council to criticize Ms. Carlisle for the proposed sale of nearly three acres of tax-delinquent land to Alex Development of Mount Washington. The property is at 1111 and 1113 Lincoln Ave.

Ms. Carroll and Judith Ginyard, executive director of Lincoln-Larimer Community Development Corp., said they have been working with Alex Development for nearly four years on a $1.5 million plan to bring a Family Dollar, ethnic grocery and other small shops to the site...

Ms. Ginyard ran against Ms. Carlisle in 2003, and has been rumored to be a potential candidate in next year's race for the council seat....

And from the second article:

Council members voted 2-0, with four abstentions and three members absent, to sell 1111 and 1113 Lincoln Ave. to Alex Development of Mount Washington...

The nonprofit Lincoln-Larimer Community Development Corp. has a competing $1.5 million plan to bring a Family Dollar, an ethnic grocery and other small shops to the site. The group was working with Alex Development until recently.

"Turning this site over to a for-profit developer tells us that all of our hard work is down the drain," said the group's executive director, Judith Ginyard.

Deputy City Solicitor George R. Specter told council the city can't sell to the community group because city code bars the sale of land to organizations that owe back taxes. City records show that the community development group owes $5,679 in property taxes to the city and Pittsburgh Public Schools on its Frankstown Avenue headquarters...

Now, first, I understand that there are "coincidences," but it seems a little more than coincidental that these two items are coming up at the same time: a denied sale and an impeachment petition.

Second, twenty signatures is all you need to impeach a council person? Shit, if I had known that was an option I wouldn't have bothered with this blog, instead putting my effort into getting rid of Michelle Madoff.*

Third, there are an awful lot of "community" groups out there with "plans". Some of these "plans" have been around for "years," brought out every now and then when foundations and other grant making organizations are looking for "results." I'd kinda like to know what kind of "results" this community group has had recently before selling property to them.

Fourth, seems a pretty clear cut case here of the rules: tax delinquent organizations can't buy city property until they are caught up on their taxes. I like rules.

Fifth, impeachment has me nervous for one reason: what devil we don't know would replace the devil we know? Going through my little rolodex of people in the 9th Councilmatic district, eliminating the people that are opportunists, political tools, ignoramuses, and down right idiots, I've come up with two people, and I think one of them is dead.

I would vote for the dead person; I have an axe to grind against the living.

---
* What do you mean she's gone? Dang.

Meanwhile... Back in the 9th Council District

Things don't look too good for Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle. The Trib broke the story awhile earlier, and now it looks like a pile on. Saw it all over the news recently, and the P-G is really trying to make up for not picking up the story first. I hear that they have Mark Belko and Rich Lord chained to an oar.

Last night I even saw KDKA's footage of the Councilwoman making "a break for it"; this was tabloid journalism at its finest, adding much needed shots of cars "swerving" into oncoming traffic at the blistering speed of 5 mph.

Anyway, you might remember (I know that Luke does) that the Councilwoman was, how shall we say, "tweaked" for her purchase of near random books with taxpayer money while the city was going through cutbacks.

On June 22, the day that more than 250 city workers went to City Council to lobby against the deep spending cuts in the city's Act 47 plan, Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle went to Oakland and put a half-dozen books on the city's tab. Among the titles were "On the Down Low," "I Am the Central Park Jogger" and, for $27.99, Bill Clinton's "My Life."

Those were just some of the dozens of books Carlisle has charged the past 20 months, using $2,400 in taxpayer funds. Others include cookbooks, romance novels and self-help books....

On June 29, council approved the Act 47 recovery plan by a 5-4 vote over the forceful complaints of city workers facing job, health care and pension cuts in the plan. Carlisle joined Len Bodack, Jim Motznik and Luke Ravenstahl in voting against it...

Two days after Christmas in 2002, Carlisle went to the Pitt bookstore in Oakland and bought more than a dozen novels and other books, including "At Home with Carolyne Roehm" (a $60 entertaining guide) and "I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It," by former professional basketball player Charles Barkley.

Carlisle rang up $2,397 in similar book purchases through this summer, going to the store at least 13 times. She said she gave many books to constituents to promote reading and support African-American authors...

So, there's the hint at a history of questionable actions and judgment or, more seriously, impropriety there. That doesn't bode well for her.

You might also remember that Ms. Carlisle was subsequently the chief supporter of ending the Act 47 oversight, much to the delight of the Fire Fighter's Union. One may wonder how that will play in her bid for re-election in 2007. A cynic may even go so far to say that she used that vote to opportunistically grandstand.

But, I'm one to give people the benefit of the doubt. I'm going to point to Rule #5 over on the right there and... let's say... Rule # 16. I don't believe that Ms. Carlisle was acting with malicious or devious intent that would constitute an illegal act. Further, the action was so obviously transparent that it would almost have to be legal; only really, really dumb person would try to pull this off if it was illegal. Still, the problem here isn't if what the Councilwoman did (directing funds to a researcher with questioned credentials who happened to be living with her mother for a study with seemingly commonsense findings that she subsequently refused to release) was illegal, but rather that it appears to be illegal.

I'm also going to go out on a limb here and say that what the Councilwoman did was not illegal... but it sure seems that way. "Perception is reality," the saying goes, and it will be up to her constituents to decide whether or not they believe that her actions warrant removal from office.

Her campaign for re-election will culminate a year from now. Two large questions spring to mind: (1) will the Mayor and the Powers-That-Be support a candidate that is proving to be political poison and (2) is there anyone else is Council District 9 that can be a reasonable challenger to both the incumbent and Rule #16.

I'm not optimistic.

Act 47, Lakers 56

Meanwhile, back in City Council Chambers a Councilwoman makes a fateful decision. We join our story, already in progress:

A little more than two years after the city was declared distressed, Pittsburgh Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle and labor unions are asking its fiscal doctors to release it from care.

Ms. Carlisle introduced a resolution yesterday that would ask Dennis Yablonsky, state Department of Community and Economic Development secretary, to pull the plug on the team that has crafted a fiscal plan for the city. Though the chance of that happening soon seems remote, the resolution officially kicks off the debate on when the city can consider itself healed.

Now I'm not a big fan of the Act 47 people, but I'm also not a fan of diet and exercise as a means towards healthy living either, so take the following views for what they're worth:

(1) It's no surprise that Ms. Carlisle is supporting the termination of Act 47. Ms. Carlisle's African American constituents, if you believe the conventional wisdom, are more likely to gain benefits from Union membership. Union contracts are significantly restricted by Act 47.

(2) I find it interesting that she asked for the elimination of Act 47, and not the ICA. Me, the handsome, intelligent, funny, modest, technocrat is much more supportive of the professionalism of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott than a bunch of political appointees.

(3) With regard to point #2: Governor Lynn Swann. It is doubtful that the ICA would be any more friendly to the City should the Republicans gain the governor's office, and thereby gain majority control of the Authority.

(4) Everything I learned about City Government, I learned from SimCity: make sure you have a good contingency reserve before you go rezoning.

(5) There is no point five.