Timothy McNulty | November 2, 2009
Election eve. Kevin Acklin has a press conference at 11 am in Brookline today to talk about a volunteer program he would launch as mayor, and the local blogosphere is talking about the Acklin endorsement by Democratic committeeman (and former Ravenstahl supporter) Matt Hogue. Hogue, of Elliott, says Ravenstahl isn't doing enough to rehabilitate his neighborhood:
This will not be received well by many of my political friends but I
don't care. I really don't. This is a vote that I wrestled with for
some time but lately the smoke has cleared and I am voting with my mind
and for my community. I truly believe that Acklin is the best candidate
for our city neighborhoods. Acklin reminds me of our late great Mayor
Bob O'Connor in his community first approach to government. I have sat
by for far too long and been a cheerleader for an administration that I
once believed in and an administration that I believed would help me
get through issues in my neighborhood. I am not here to say that I
don't support this administration but I am here to say that I have lost
faith in them and lost faith in the overall direction that this
administration has towards Elliott. If Ravenstahl wins, which he will,
I will give him and the administration the chance to make better
efforts in my community. I am not going to pick fights but I will call
out inefficiencies and I will let my neighbors know who is helping us
and who isn't.
Progress Pittsburgh talks about Hogue's endorsement here. On Friday, Maria at 2 Political Junkies endorsed Dok Harris. Here's why.
There's also reaction to the op-ed Friday by Ravenstahl's mom, Cindy. Bram R says her story about little Luke stretching his dollar to buy candy in the 80s doesn't add up. Mike Madison at Pitt criticizes Ravenstahl -- saying the essay infantilizes Pittsburgh-- and the PG for running her essay.
And Chris Briem (who has a great set of election resources here) mentions the Hogue endorsement, as well as yet another New York Times story about Pittsburgh, this time about the mayor's race. The NYT mentions Acklin and Dok Harris mostly in passing, and says this about Ravenstahl's job performance:
By most measures he has been fairly successful as mayor. He cut the
city's work force by 2 percent, streamlined snow removal and received
increased economic development aid from state officials in Harrisburg.
The result has been budget surpluses for the last four years.
Moreover,
the city has done fairly well in replacing its steel industry with jobs
in education, health care and a variety of "green" businesses.
Posted
Nov 02 2009, 09:24 AM
by
Timothy McNulty