Around the Burgosphere

PittGirl says goodbye to blogging making it safe once more to look for love (and other stuff)on craigslist.

Sue has been selected to participate in the LGBT Blogger and Citizens Journalist Initiative in DC (CONGRATS!).

Bram gives much thought to Pittsburgh's Ethics Board.

Progress Pittsburgh reminds us that the p2 pac is hosting a Happy Hour TONIGHT at Max’s Allegheny Tavern, 537 Suismon Street, Pittsburgh

and

They inform us that for a mere $500 you can attend a fundraiser with Bill Clinton for Lil Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (I guess all those snubs of Obama were worth it for Lukey).

Gab tells us how those bloggers still left in the Burgh can get into a free showing of the Players Production Company's Pittsburgh premiere of David Lindsey-Abaire’s Wonder of the World.

Finally:

Normally I'd think that it would take some chutzpah for a Spork to make fun of a cookie cutter, but not in this case.

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Pittsburgh (City Government) Ethics

Gary Rotstein has a piece in today's P-G that might require a little reading between the lines. Here's the set-up (from the Trib):

Pittsburgh's Ethics Hearing Board on Tuesday cleared Ravenstahl of violating ethics rules when he accepted the two days of free golf. His share was worth $9,000. The outing was acceptable because of an exception in Pittsburgh's rules for charitable events.

The law doesn't require public officials to stay within a maximum dollar limit, and Ravenstahl said playing in the tournament -- which was closed to the public -- wasn't a gift. Board members said they might consult other cities, and revise some rules.

In some cities where ethics rules are stricter, free golf is a gift, said [director of Baltimore's ethics board Avery] Aisenstark and other officials.

"Cleared" might not be the best word as what happened last week was a discussion rather than an investigation. There were no charges brought, no complaints filed, so there was nothing to "clear" exactly. But it's obvious that the board doesn't feel that the ethics code isn't specific enough about situations like this.

So it's looking to change the ethics code. Rotstein:

The five-member Ethics Hearing Board made clear to Mr. Ravenstahl last week that it hoped to persuade City Council to change the code to address occasions of large-scale, third-party gifts, such as sponsorship of his golf play by UPMC and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Why are they looking to chage the code, unless they thought that what Mayor Luke did was wrong?

All kinds of questions can arise from such high-end outings: How much does a public official benefit by participating? Is his participation helpful to the charity? Does it matter who invited and paid for him? How much does the dollar value of the sponsorship matter?

In questioning the mayor about his participation, the ethics board members -- who stressed it was a discussion, not an investigation -- made clear they believe such third-party sponsorships can give a bad appearance. Both UPMC and the Penguins have had high-profile dealings with the city this year.

The state ethics code is little help:

Pennsylvania's ethics code also applies to all municipal officials, but it is worded rather generally and the state commission has had no case with the same issues as the mayor's golf outing to establish any precedent, said John Contino, the commission's executive director.

"The rule on direct gifts is no public official may accept a gift if it's intended to influence decision-making," he said.

Unless you want to assume that even though UPMC and the Penguins shelled out more money than many Pittsburghers make in a year for young Luke to play a couple of days of golf and that they had absolutely positively hand-on-the-bible cross-my-heart-hope-to-die no intention of influencing any decisions our well-dressed mayor will be making about the millions of dollars of business those two corporations have before the city, then all is well.

P-G Editorial Board: Luke Doesn't Get It

From today's editorial. After the board points out that Mayor Luke told the ethics board that he received nothing of value, they state the obvious:

Excuse us, not only did he play golf at an exclusive club with UPMC and Penguins executives, but the mayor's foursomes also included Penguins star Sidney Crosby and former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann. The event was so memorable that the mayor didn't mind showing reporters, in his office after the hearing, two photos of his golfing groups. Yet he downplayed the whole event before the ethics panel.

"The only thing of value I received was knowing I played a small part in seeing the work of the foundation will continue," the mayor told the board. "This was not a gift to me. I received nothing from UPMC."

It's true that no one gave Luke Ravenstahl a check for $9,000, but his two-day golf treat reminds us of the boy whose grandparents take him to Kennywood Park for the day. They pay the little shiner's $19 admission, only to hear the boy say later, "My grandparents gave me nothing of value. All I received was knowing I played a small part in the continued vitality of a cherished local institution."

And they hit the "Luke is immature" button one more time:

While the mayor may not have violated the city ethics code (it exempts charities from its limits on free event admissions for city officials), his failure to see how his actions could create an appearance of impropriety should be a big worry for all Pittsburghers. His lack of an apology betrays a certain immaturity.

As Mark DeSantis said, the fact the mayor doesn't see it is astounding.

DeSantis On The Ravenstahl "Dialogue"

There's been some follow up in the press today over Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's appearance before the city's Ethics Committee. The P-G's Gary Rotstein wrote:

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl insisted to members of the city Ethics Hearing Board today that there was nothing wrong with his participation in a celebrity golf outing, but board officials said they may want new rules clarifying such events.

And a few paragraphs later got to the quotation that should eventually haunt Mayor Luke:

"This was not a gift to me -- I received nothing," he said. "It would be different if I was the [beneficiary] of $9,000. I wasn't."

The story made it onto the AP:

The five-member Ethics Hearing Board questioned Ravenstahl about the June golf outing and about his $9,000 entrance fee, which was paid for by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The board asked whether the arrangement could give the public the perception that the mayor won't be impartial when doing business with the hospital network, the city's biggest employer.

Nice to see it's made it onto the national press.

Not that any of this sways Mark DeSantis, Republican mayoral candidate. "It's not about living up to some bureaucratic language," he told me this evening. He said the code of ethics describes the minimum performance level for a public official. A good public servant has to go above and beyond those minimum requirements.

He repeated his call for the mayor not to accept any gratuities from any entity doing business or looking to do business with the city.

But beyond all that. I ask him whether the mayor had violated the ethics code or just the spirit of the ethics code.

"I think he violated the ethics code." DeSantis said, with little hesitation. Along with the spirit. He bases this on his assertion that no one else would have been able to walk up to that event and get what UPMC and the Penguins paid for him to get. Therefore it's something of value.

"He took something of value." He said. "The fact [the mayor] doesn't see it is astounding."

Frustrating coverage of Lil Mayor Luke's "dialog" with Ethics Board

As The Burgher correctly notes, the most salient fact of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's UPMC/Penguins two-day golf outing is that it he didn't attend the event at the behest/largesse of the charity itself, but that the interested parties of UPMC and the Penguins gave him tickets to the event as a gift.

While watching Bob Mayo's story about this on WTAE's noon broadcast, I was pleased to see this issue mentioned and wrote it down in my notes. I see from an online clip that Jon Delano also brought it up at the top of his piece at KDKA (sorry, WPXI, but KDKA is the only one of the three stations whose video clips I can watch online).

However, when I went to find the online 'TAE story to quote from (and link to), that key point was no where to be found. Nor is it really in the online written edition at KDKA's website. Nor is it brought up in the Post-Gazette's article***.

This is extremely frustrating.

They all did note that Lil Mayor Luke claimed, "This was not a gift to me -- I received nothing." Apparently unless Lukey gets an envelope stuffed with cash like a bride at an Italian wedding, it doesn't count.

One might be forgiven for thinking that this makes our Mayor seem rather dense or very slow.

And, if he isn't dense or slow than he needs an ethics board to follow him around 24/7.

I also bet there's some golfers out there who would like some of that "nothing."

(And, yes, Bram live-blogged the "hearing" here.)

***Bonus Points to Steve Mellon for capturing this classic photo of Luke and for the P-G for printing it:


Aaaw, c'mon, yinz guys got nothin' on me!.

Mayor Luke To Face The Music Today - Sorta

Both the P-G and the Trib have articles out today pointing out that today's the day Mayor Luke faces the city's Ethics Board.

Bram's posted on the Trib article already. There's not much more in the P-G. Here's how Blazina begins:

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl will tell the city Ethics Hearing Board today why he believes he didn't violate the city's ethics policy when he participated in a charity golf outing as the guest of two organizations that do business with the city.

The framing is at the very least embarrassing to Mayor Luke. He has to show how he hasn't violated the City Code - and the last part of the sentence reminds us that he had some fun on someone else's dime.

Here's the City Code, by the way, if anyone wants to follow along at home.

More Ravenstahl / Ethics Board Coverage

Jon Delano video story:
http://kdka.com/video/?id=29811

Bob Mayo video story:
www.thepittsburghchannel.com/video/13680005/index.html?taf=pit

WTAE online story:
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/13677749/detail.html

Super-Bob is On The Job

Take a look at this and read through the whole thing.

I am hoping the once and future Ethics Board will be more forthcoming with information than this. They sure made it difficult for Super-Bob Mayo.

The posting involves the hoops Bob Mayo and Elaine Effort (of KQV) had to jump through in order to get some info on the new nominee to the city's ethics board, one Penny Zacharias. Zacharias was being escorted through the city county building by a member of the city law department, one Kate DiSimone.

Here's an interesting part. At this point in the dance, DiSimone had been shuttling Zacharias away from Mayo and Effort for a short time when this interchange occurred:

Solicitor DiSimone: "I'm going to show Miss Zacharias where our meeting is going to be on Friday."

Mayo: "You are (who); I'm sorry?"

Solicitor DiSimone: "My name is Kate DiSimone, I'm with the city law department and will be meeting this Friday..."

Mayo: "Do you know what time and the location of the meeting?"

Solicitor DiSimone: "The meeting is scheduled for 10 o'clock. I'm not sure of the location yet."

Okaaay. So she's showing Zacharias where the meeting will be held but she doesn't know where the meeting will be held.

God, I hope this isn't any indication of the future efficiency or transparency of the ethics board.