If you can, you should be watching this

Councilor Natalia Rudiak is on my teevee right now really going at Public Safety and Emergency Management Director Michael Huss for not responding to her seven invitations to speak to her without cameras present.

:-D

Exactly how many birthdays does Lil Mayor Luke have each year?

Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak sent seven invitations (on March 10th, March 29th, April 7th, April 9th, April 16th, April 19th, and April 21st) to Public Safety Director Michael Huss to speak to City Council's snow task force and each one went unanswered.

We figure he must have had a pretty good reason to ignore them all. Prior engagements? Maybe he was busy partying out of town on those days with Lil Mayor Luke -- just like he was when Pittsburgh got hit with Snowpocalypse back in February.

Of course we actually know that Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Huss have actively discouraged (ordered?) city officials not to meet with Rudiak's snow emergency task force (cause, you know, Lukey is conducting his own investigation...of himself).

Fortunately, Councilor Rudiak takes her job seriously and has the huevos to carry out her mission. So she issued a subpoena to compel Huss to appear before Council under her authority according to the Pittsburgh City Charter:

§ 808. SUBPOENA POWER.
In any case where an elected official, officer, or unit of government has the power to conduct public hearings the elected official, officer or unit of government shall have the authority to issue subpoenas for the attendance of witness and to compel testimony and the production of documents and other evidence. The subpoena shall issue in the name of the City and shall be signed by the elected official, officer or presiding officer of the unit of government. Any witness who refuses to obey a subpoena, or who refuses to testify under oath or affirmation, may be cited for contempt in any Court of Common Pleas having jurisdiction.

Rudiak stated in a press release yesterday, "One of the biggest problems during the snow storm was a lack of communication and coordination between government offices. If we can't communicate about an emergency, how can we be expected to communicate during an emergency?"

Huss' response? Via the Post-Gazette:

Mr. Huss later said he'd be happy to appear before council and will bring the police, fire and EMS chiefs with him.

He said he never objected to a public discussion of the matter but didn't believe a "closed-door" session with Ms. Rudiak would benefit the public or improve emergency response.

Mr. Huss said he'll attend the council meeting even though city Solicitor Dan Regan concluded the subpoena was invalid because it came from one council member instead of the whole body.

Uh-huh. Yeah, right, whatever. Damn straight you'll show up.

Councilor Rudiak had a more gracious reply (than mine) to Huss' new spirit of "cooperation" (via another press release):

"I am heartened with the Director’s decision to finally meet with us, and I look forward to speaking with him about how we can better protect our City, our employees and our residents in a future emergency."

But, she also had an excellent question:

"The real question is why we must resort to a subpoena to speak with our own Emergency Management Director. We should all be able to share ideas and information in a productive and objective manner."

You'd think...

Lukey GaGa

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Where in the world is Luke Ravenstahl? Part II

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Where in the world is Luke Ravenstahl?

Apparently Lil Mayor Luke is needed today to extend a declaration of emergency but no one can find him.

I don't know where he is, but this guy looks awfully familiar:


#whereisluke
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Donald Trump Calls For Al Gore To Be Stripped Of Nobel Prize

...Because it's snowing.


idiot
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Bob Mayo & WTAE look back at Lukey's 2-year old "War On Snow"

Bob Mayo reminisces on Lil Mayor Luke's "War On Snow" at his blog and on WTAE.

And speaking of Memory Lane, who can forget Lukey's wise pronouncement on Hardball a year ago that "snow falls from the air"?

Too bad that Michael Nutter is in Philly instead of da Burgh as he seems to understand a thing or two about providing city services.
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ABC News Notes Ravenstahl's Snow FAIL

From ABC News in an article about mayors and snow removal:

Another East Coast city mayor who is being bombarded with criticism is Pittsburgh's Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who was out of town celebrating his 30th birthday at a mountain resort when a record snow storm hit the city over the weekend. He took even more heat when the street in front of his and his brother's house was salted and cleared while the rest of the city remained buried underneath snow.

On being out of town, Ravenstahl said, "No one could have anticipated this."

He said his street needed to be cleaned because he has to be out and about.

OK, so Pittsburgh is not exactly "East Coast" but someone at ABC News was nice enough to send me an email noting that they had read this post on Lil Mayor Luke's history with snow removal and that they enjoyed following our perspective on politics.

So, I guess that makes the whole blizzard thingy worth it. ;-)
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Later Today

Also via Twitter:


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Mayor Ravenstahl: A History of Snow Removal Problems

(Video here)
While I made light of Ravenstahl's snow removal problems here, that post did show that this was not the Mayor's first failure to provide basic city services so I decided to delve a little deeper.

February 2007:
Ravenstahl "asks people to stay home today, tonight." "Crews have been out all day, but Mr. Ravenstahl acknowledged that many city streets are slippery and snow-covered."

February 2008:
- "2/13/08:

Complaints surface of political plowing."

- 2/15/08, Mayor promises changes in snow removal priorities

"Reliance on RouteSmart, a computerized system that can route snow plows to neglected areas, a move Public Works Director Guy Costa foreshadowed in January. An executive order to end the practice among some plow truck drivers of delaying work on primary roads in favor of clearing the streets of elected city officials and Democratic committee members."

- 2/16/08, Mayor declares war on snow, Ravenstahl makes changes, vows 'we will do better'

"With the city fielding more than 1,000 calls about unplowed streets this week, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl intends to pull out all the stops -- and a few more snow plows as well -- to make sure it doesn't happen again."

November 2009:
Mayor/Administration brags to New York Times: "By most measures he has been fairly successful as mayor. He cut the city’s work force by 2 percent, streamlined snow removal..." [Emphasis added]

December 2009:
"Into Sunday morning, even major thoroughfares were snow-covered and residents said other roads remained impassible. [snip] Some neighborhoods registered few complaints with the lion's share of the criticism coming from Squirrel Hill, Shadyside and Greenfield in the East End and Brookline and Beechview in the South Hills. Those complaints come after Mayor Ravenstahl declared war on snow and called for the implementation of a route system to make snow removal more efficient."

February 2010
- 2/5/2010

Mayor leaves town despite a Winter Storm Warning issued, headline stating "Pittsburgh region preparing for the arrival of its largest snowfall in seven years," and KDKA predicting up to 12 inches all by early that morning.

- 2/5/2010 - 2/6/2010

City receives 15 to 23 inches of snow.

- 2/8/2010

'Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said this afternoon that city crews are scrambling to clear snow from all secondary streets today, knowing that a forecast of 6 to 10 inches of new snow expected tomorrow will force them to return to primary roads. The goal for secondary streets is "to at least get them treated in some way before the additional snow starts to fall tomorrow," Mr. Ravenstahl said by phone. "I want to make sure that those roads that haven't been touched are dealt with. "The thought process and rationale is to attempt to get at least the top layer of snow off of all streets" before snow starts again.'

- 2/9/2010

"Mayor Luke Ravenstahl defended the city's snow removal while admitting the city hasn't had enough resources to do a total job. Ravenstahl said during the early stages of the storm Friday night, public works employees, in many cases, had to respond to some public safety issues. The mayor issued a call for outside contractors and private individuals to contact the city by...if they can help in snow plowing and removal. The city already is getting assistance in the form of manpower and vehicles from both the Pa. National Guard and PennDOT."

- 2/10/2010

'Mr. Ravenstahl said that while the city would evaluate its performance and the effectiveness of its routing system, the week's problems were to some degree rooted in numbers: 30 inches, five days, and only so many dollars. "Our fleet is not adequate for the storm that we had this time, with 20 inches of snow," and a follow-up storm of perhaps another 10 inches. "We could very easily purchase more equipment, but of course we have to balance that with our budgetary constraints." Mr. Ravenstahl said a big problem over the weekend was the diversion of salt trucks from routes to assist stuck police cars, fire trucks and ambulances.'

Numerous Pittsburgh streets remain untouched by plow or salt...
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Councilwoman Rudiak to lead task force on City's performance during snow emergency

Via Councilor Rudiak's office:

(Pittsburgh) – Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak today was named to lead a task force convened by Council President Darlene Harris to look into the City's performance during the current snow emergency. The task force will be tasked with investigating, reporting key findings, and making recommendations on how the City can better administer its emergency operation systems in the future, with a specific eye toward snow emergencies.

“Four days after the storm there are still thousands of people across our City who are snowed in,” said Rudiak. “People are angry that it is taking so long to get power restored and streets cleared, and there needs to be accountability.”

The task force will initially convene later this week to begin its review. Until then, City Council will focus on helping the Mayor’s Emergency Operation Center with constituent calls. Once the snow emergency is over, the task force will begin a full review.

“We want to make sure we can dig out of this storm before we start getting too academic. We are in an emergency and we need to be focused on that right now,” Rudiak said.

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General Luke Ravenstahl Announces "I have returned" to the War On Snow

Luke Ravenstahl promises to not just fade away.
Two years ago (almost to the day) General Luke Ravenstahl, after suffering heavy losses to the elements, vowed "to pull out all the stops -- and a few more snow plows as well -- to make sure it doesn't happen again." On that day in 2008, he famously declared a "War On Snow."

Last night, General Ravenstahl announced "I have returned" to a snow weary City of Pittsburgh.

Ravenstahl was bogged down in Laurel Highlands when the City was blitzed by the surprise attack (the neighborhoods of Beltzhoover, South Side, and Beechview being the hardest hit).

General Ravenstahl has now brought in reinforcements from the National Guard and has called upon the citizenry to join in the battle to ensure our right to once again move freely throughout our fair City.

Ravenstahl also swore a solemn oath to take on undesirable elements in City Council once order has been restored saying, "I am concerned for the security of our great City; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within."

God Bless and Godspeed, General Ravenstahl!

A grateful City salutes you.
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Cyclops Snowman Stalks South Side

Or in this case, Kyklops snowman:


South Side streets still snowed-in...
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Snowpocalypse: Photos From Scott Township, PA

Uh-oh! Looks like action is needed:


Shoveling a path:


Someone decides to make a tunnel...


She's actually trying to *eat* her way through:


A well deserved break:


BONUS MD PHOTO:
From Silver Spring, Maryland early this morning.

My sister's car is -- fortunately -- on the right:

Kill Phil

Forget Kill Bill. It's time for Quentin Tarantino to make Kill Phil:


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Snowpocalypse: Photos from Pittsburgh's South Side

(Notice the woman in the upper left window.)




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Snowpocalypse Now Edition (Updated 2x)

Downtown Pittsburgh
Predictions by the local TV stations for Snowpocalypse 2010! are all over the map (no pun intended):

WPXI: 3 - 6 inches

WTAE: 4 - 7 inches

KDKA: 8 - 12 inches

No idea how much the storm may effect DemFest 2010 -- this year's State Democratic Party meeting -- which is scheduled for today and tomorrow in Lancaster, PA.

But if you're in the mood to both battle the elements and battle the elements lobby on behalf of Single Payer, here's the info you need:

WHERE: Lancaster Host and Resort.
2300 Lincoln Hwy E
Lancaster, PA 17602-1114

WHEN: February 5, 2010, 12:00pm - February 6, 2010, 3:00pm

To Lobby for Single Payer: Go to Lancaster County Democratic Committee’s table. Logistics meeting in the restaurant near the lobby bar Friday evening. Or look for folks with “HealthCare4ALLPA” buttons as well as “Support the Single-Payer Resolution” buttons. Or contact Jerry Policoff @ 717-682-4434.

www.progressives4pennsylvania.com

www.healthcare4ALLPA.org

UPDATE: From my sister who lives in Maryland and works in DC:

The local schools didn't even bother to open this morning. The Arlington County government is warning residents to get ready to "shelter in place" for up to 5 days. Metro has already announced that they'll be closing the above-ground stations tonight or tomorrow...

Not a snowflake to be seen yet!

UPDATE 2:. Official weather report here.