COUNTY COUNCIL IS FIGHTING TO STOP THE UNNECESSARY BUS CUTS AND CLOSING OF THE HARMAR GARAGE
Without our buses, we're going nowhere!
JOIN US TO SHOW OUR SUPPORT!
WHEN: Tuesday, March 15th 2011, 4:00 PM
WHERE: 5th and Grant, Downtown Pgh
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SOLIDARITY RALLY TO STAND UP TO THE STRIPPING OF WORKERS RIGHTS IN WI!
Defend the Dream Action
WHEN: Tuesday, March 15TH, 5:30 PM
WHERE: United Steelworkers Building, 60 Blvd of the Allies, (Corner of Blvd & Stanwix)
Corporate power is openly waging war on workers, the middle class and American democracy.
This is our moment to come together and show that we will not tolerate this naked power grab by big money interests.
Bring a sign, bring your passion, bring a friend.
RSVP here
March 15, 2011
Two Rallies Today!
February 24, 2011
Rallies and Protests and Press Conferences, Oh My!
We're not "special interests" when we are the majority!
Please attend any of these that you can:
THURSDAY, 2/24/11
Impacts of Proposed U.S. Budget Cuts on Pittsburgh Jobs & Families Press Conference (This is for the media)
TIME: 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: WGF Office, Landmarks Building, 100 W. Station Square Drive, Suite 315
WHAT: Via press release [edited]: "Women and Girls Foundation hosts. Southwest PA organizations, their local workers and service recipients, would be directly impacted by the drastic cuts included in H.R. 1 which slashes billions of dollars of funding resulting in the elimination of millions of jobs and services for working families in our region. Federal programs impacted range from early childhood education and college financial aid to nutritional assistance for infants, veterans housing, public broadcasting, and reproductive healthcare. It eliminates federal funding for Planned Parenthood and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and it defunds the implementation of health care reform and EPA pollution enforcement. It now moves to the Senate for vote later this month. Representatives from the following organizations will speak: Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children, Fair Housing Partnership, Just Harvest, WQED Multimedia, Women’s Center & Shelter, PennFuture, Planned Parenthood, Adagio Health, The Arc of Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Community Services, Action United, ACLU Pittsburgh, SEIU, Women’s Law Project, New Voices Pittsburgh, National Council of Jewish Women, National Organization for Women, Pennsylvania Health Access Network, and Health Care for America Now. (Members of the media are asked to RSVP if you plan to attend.)"
MoveOn / Democracy for Pittsburgh: Invest in America!
TIME: 11:30 AM;11:45 AM
WHERE: Gather @ Aldo Coffee Shop, 675 Washington Road, Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon), PA 15228; Proceed to Office of Rep. Murphy, which is at 504 Washington Road, Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon), Pa 15228
WHAT: "We are going to go to Rep. Murphy and let him know that cutting billions from funding health care, education, and science will do nothing to turn our economy around, but it will hurt the other 98% of us that are barely getting through the worst recession since the Great Depression. We will go to the office of Rep. Murphy with our Invest in America message, and share our personal stories of why we need support for our broken economy and communities." Please RSVP for the event by clicking on the link below: http://pol.moveon.org/event/invest2011/112639
“Fighting For the American Dream” Rally
Stand in Solidarity with the Wisconsin Workers
TIME: Noon (lunch provided)
WHERE: USW International HQ, Downtown Pittsburgh, 5 Gateway Center, 60 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh PA
WHAT: "Our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin and other states are in a fight for the very survival of their jobs and their union. This is our moment to stand and show solidarity with them and let their Governor and the extremist organizations financing these attacks know: WE STAND TOGETHER! "
FRIDAY, 2/25/11
People's Rally For Public Transportation
TIME: 8:30 - 11:30 AM
WHERE: Mellon Square Park, 6th & Smithfiled, Downtown Pittsburgh PA
WHAT: Protest the drastic cutbacks in public transit.
SATURDAY, 2/26/11
Rally to Save the American Dream, Harrisburg, PA
TIME: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
WHERE: Capitol Steps, 3rd St., Harrisburg, PA 17101
WHAT: "Americans who believe in the right to organize are standing up on Saturday. It's time to stop the dismantling of organizations opposed to the right wing agenda."
RSVP: http://www.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=112822&is_manage=1
July 21, 2010
Coming and Going
FOR DRIVERS
Via the Office of Council President Darlene M. Harris:
FOR RIDERSCity Council will hold four public meetings to discuss Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s plan for leasing Pittsburgh’s parking assets and how these proposed changes will impact in the most traveled and dense neighborhoods in the City -- Downtown, South Side, Oakland and North Side. Leasing the City of Pittsburgh’s parking assets will result in increases to the cost of parking in the City-owned parking garages and meters.
Each meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., dates and locations:
Monday, July 26 – Downtown – in City Council Chambers, 5th Floor, City-County Building, enter on Grant street side
Tuesday, July 27 – South Side – Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers Headquarters -- 10 S. 19th Street at the River
Thursday, July 29 – Oakland – Pittsburgh Board of Education headquarters – 341 S. Bellefield Avenue, second floor
Monday, August 2 – North Side – Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School Cafeteria – 50 Montgomery Street – enter by the loading dock
The City Council web site is the only place you will be able to read a copy of Mayor Ravenstahl’s draft agreements for the 50 year lease of parking assets and the study commissioned by the Parking Authority to evaluate its parking garages and meters. It is www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/council , just below the photographs of all the Council members. These four meetings will be the public’s best opportunity to comment on the concession agreements before an official meeting of Council.
Via Slag Heap:
In May, Port Authority CEO Steve Bland said potential budget woes could lead to "draconian" cuts in service. That time may be here. The Port Authority of Allegheny County plans to roll out today a proposal for system-wide cuts. If approved, the cuts would go into effect in January, and would make up for a $47.1 million shortfall.Read it and weep here.
"It's going to be drastic," says spokesman Jim Ritchie. He says the proposal will affect every route in the system and leave 55 neighborhoods with eliminated or severely reduced service.
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May 31, 2007
Two Big Events TODAY!
What: Rally to Stop the Bus Cuts
Where: Mellon Square 6th and Smithfield Streets
When: Noon, Thursday, May 31, 2007
Transit Workers, commuters and concerned citizens will rally at lunchtime at Mellon Square Park at 6th and Smithfield Streets on Thursday to protest the looming transit cuts. The action, organized by ATU Local 85, is being supported by the Campaign to Stop the Bus Cuts. The rally to protest the service cuts will call on leaders to get the funding that we need to prevent them. This problem should not be solved on the backs of riders or transit workers.
More on the bus cuts from Agent Ska here.
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Cocktails for a Cause at the Firehouse Lounge
What: Planned Parenthood's Cocktails for a Cause
Where: The Firehouse Lounge (Strip District, 2216 Penn Avenue)
When: 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM, Thursday, May 31, 2007
Sexy meets savvy when Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania invites you to carouse with an evening of Planned Parenthood pictionary, Condom Blackjack, and their Safe Sextini drink special. 21+, free parking, $5 donation.
May 16, 2007
Primary 2007
New faces for Pittsburgh City Council: Kraus, Dowd, Burgess
After all the grief back in March over the Peduto mayoral pullout, this morning looks a lot brighter for progressives than anyone had a right to expect.
Machine hacks (There is no machine!) Len Bodack and Jeff Koch were ousted by progressives Patrick Dowd and Bruce Kraus. As other blogs have noted, it was the Pedutoistas who really got behind both these candidates after they no longer had Bill to support. Additionally the much embattled Twanda Carlisle lost heavily to Rev. Ricky Burgess -- instantly lowering the embarrassment quotient on Council. (Now what about Motznik?!)
While County Chief Executive Dan Onorato won easily as expected, his challenger Rick Swartz made a really decent showing with 13.45% of the vote. Especially when you consider that latecomer Swartz ran his campaign on $5,000 vs. over a million collected for Onorato.
I spoke to Swartz Campaign Manager Joy Sabl last night and according to her figures, Rick received about 3 votes for every dollar spent and nearly half the flyers distributed resulted in a vote -- a really good grassroots effort. Rick also received loads of good coverage last night (much owing to PCNC waiting for Onorato and Ravenstahl to show up resulting in their relying on Rick's after party for visuals). Republican curmudgeon Bill Green was quite complimentary towards Rick's grassroots efforts. Likely because he recently ran himself and has discovered exactly how much "fun" it is to got out collecting petition signatures in the coldest month of the year. Most importantly, Onorato's victory speech contained not only a gracious nod to Swartz, but the recognition that voters really do care about public transit. That was a real victory not just for Swartz, but for the residents of Allegheny County.
We also saw a progressive win in the City Controller's race with Michael Lamb getting over 42% of the vote.
And Luke Ravenstahl? Yep, he won resoundingly. But for those of you who have been made to feel crazy by the "Give the kid a chance" contingent, it should be noted that you no longer need to feel like a lone voice in the wilderness. A full 14% of the voters chose not to "I Like Luke." In addition to the 4% who chose to write in someone, another 9% chose to leave their ballot blank for Mayor (38,665 voted citywide for Controller, but only 35,705 voted citywide for Mayor). Moreover, write-in Republican candidate Mark DeSantis received over three times the number of votes needed to get on the ballot in November so it looks like Luke will have to face a debate after all (hehehehe).
All in all, a nice night for those of us who believe that ACDC is the problem.
UPDATE: I want to make sure to note that while I mentioned Bram's assertion that the Peduto folks helped the Dowd and Kraus campaigns, from what I saw, both those camps had tight, really well run efforts and candidates who were on fire. Kudos to their campaigns!
On top of that, as Smitty has commented, Koch really disintegrated in the last two weeks with all his crazy shit. Also, both campaigns paid loads of attention to the Burghosphere which doesn't hurt.
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March 7, 2007
Stop the Bus Cuts Press Conference -- Today!
WHEN: Wednesday March 7th, 2007, 8:30 AM
WHERE: County Courthouse -- Grant Street between Forbes and Fifth Avenues
From a The STOP THE BUS CUTS CAMPAIGN press release:
Mr. Onorato,
We Can't Afford to Lose Our Transit!
More than 10,000 people have signed our petition so far…
The STOP the Bus Cuts Campaign will hold a press conference Wednesday March 7th, 2007, 8:30am in front of the County Courthouse (Grant Street between Forbes and Fifth Avenues ).
The STOP THE BUS CUTS CAMPAIGN is: concerned transit riders, The Mon Valley Unemployed Committee, SEIU, UNITE-HERE, The League of Young Voters, ACORN, Save Our Transit & the Almagamated Transit Union. We believe there are ways to fix the Port Authority without cutting service.
http://www.stopthebuscuts.org
http://www.savepatnow.org
http://www.saveourtransit.org