Let me try: Avast. Shiver me timbers. Weigh anchor. Hoist the mizzen or ye will be in Davey Jones' locker soon, ye landlubber. Yarrrr.
So anyway Rich Lord got the story today that the long-running and well established Ethics Committee wants a word with young Mayor Luke:
The city of Pittsburgh's Ethics Hearing Board expressed deep concern today about Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's attendance last month at an expensive charity golf event as a sponsored guest of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, but stopped short of declaring him in violation of the city Ethics Code.
And late this afternoon, Republican Mayoral candidate Mark DeSantis was (briefly) on Fred Honsberger's air to discuss the matter. Briefly.
Earlier in the day DeSantis released this statement:
I am hopeful that Mr. Ravenstahl will cooperate in the Ethics Board investigation. We need to have confidence in our leaders and the only way to accomplish that goal is to avoid the appearance of impropriety. I am renewing my challenge to Mr. Ravenstahl to pledge not to accept any gifts or gratuities. I agreed to the same pledge on July 5, 2007 and asked Mr. Ravenstahl to do the same.
On Fred's show, he repeated the pledge and added that "it's best for the mayor to cooperate fully with the ethics board" in order to "clear the name of the mayor and the mayor's office."
The subject of debates came up in the conversation between DeSantis and the Honz. DeSantis has challenged the Mayor to at least 8 debates adding that Dan Onorato and Jim Roddey had more than 20 debates when they ran against each other for the County Executive - so 8 debates is, well, somewhat modest in comparison.
In a letter from him to DeSantis, Mayor Luke has proposed 2.
On Fred's air, DeSantis characterized the letter as "oddly worded" and "troublesome" in that the "debates" that are described might not be debates at all, but would seem more like stylized speeches.
In the letter to DeSantis, the Mayor points out how important it is to have a debate "so that the voters have an opportunity to learn more about the candidates for Mayor and our respective positions on the issues." Then he offers the debates:
In an effort to further that objective, I have asked the League [of Women Voters] and KDKA to jointly program and host a televised Mayoral debate. Further, I have asked WQED to develop a forum wherein high school seniors, both private and public, could question the Mayoral candidates and observe a debate. I have also requested that WQED televise this forum.
DeSantis is right. It is oddly written. Is there a grammarian in the house? First thing, I wouldn't have split that infinitive in the first sentence as everyone knows that only Starfleet Captains get to split infinitives. Second, while the sentence might flow a little better if both verbs are in the same form, ("I have asked the League and KDKA to program and to host a televised Mayoral debate"), he could have simply simplified the sentence into "I have asked the League and KDKA to host a televised Mayoral debate."
That way, the "program" part is implied (and therefore unecessary). It also clears away the messy parallel verb forms AND the use of "jointly" to split that infinitive, bold as it was.
Enough of that. I am struck by the format of the second "debate." Luke wants high school students to ask the questions? About what? Granted he says in his letter to DeSantis:
While I recognize that most High School students are not of voting age, I believe they are critical to the success and future of this City. Afterall the Mayor is the Mayor for all Pittsburghers, not just those of voting age.That is of course true but think about what that means for the purpose of a Mayoral debate. Instead of experienced journalists asking the candidates probing questions about the very serious issues facing Pittsburgh (and I'm talking to you, Jon Delano!) we're runing the risk of having some 17 yr old ask "Boxers or briefs?"
Maybe that's just safer territory for young Mayor Luke.
4 comments:
You know, 17 year olds *can* read, could come up with tough questions. But they are easier to dismiss or ignore because they aren't journalists and because of their age. Which is the whole point, of course.
The Pitt College Dems offered to host a debate against Luke and Bill.
Like the other Primary Debates it was shrugged off.
I would like to see a debate where young peoples' questions are asked. However, at the rip old age of 26 I'm thinking students under 18 might not be the best source of questions for a mayoral debate.
Of course it is safer for Mayor Ravenstahl to be asked boxers or briefs by teenagers. He is a protege of Bill Clinton being mentored by Burkle. Why face he Delano's of the world when you can face some 17 year old from Schenley High School. Duhhh.
Since he's axed most of his staff, Luke must be down to writing the letters himself. We already saw what a gifted writer he is in his e-mail to Doug Shields.
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