Just when you thought "Mayor" Luke Ravenstahl (D) couldn't get any more shameless.
Pittsburgh "Mayor" Luke Ravenstahl was supposed to attend a Memorial Day Service to honor fallen soldiers from Pittsburgh. This is an important service to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Those putting on the service apparently waited and waited for the "Mayor." The "Mayor" never came--he was in Detroit recovering from his post-Stanley Cup Finals game hang over.
"Mayor" Ravenstahl has done it again. It all began when he crashed a private Tiger Woods event with the line "I'm the Mayor." The "Mayor" then bailed out on a meeting about the promotion of police officers with histories of domestic violence to play golf in a charity tournament. UPMC picked up the "Mayor's" $9,000 entry fee. Following that, the "Mayor" no-showed at a meeting about the Casino on the north side--this was a meeting her personally signed invitations to. Where was he? In Boston, attending a Red Sox baseball game with his developer buddies.
And, of course, we cannot forget the Mayor's infamous joy ride in a Homeland Security Mobile command vehicle. This vehicle is designed to protect Pittsburgh in case of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. But the "Mayor" thought it looked like a great vehicle to take to the Toby Keith Concert and have a tailgate party in. Apparently, the beer and chicken wings damaged the vehicle--Ravenstahl paid the Department of Homeland Security $145.50 for damages to the vehicle.
Pittsburgh desperately needs a real, ethical, and honest Mayor--not partier-in-chief Ravenstahl. There is one person who I believe could defeat Ravenstahl's in next May's Democratic Primary. State Representative Chelsa Wagner (D-Beechview) is a bright, hard working, honest, ethical, and well spoken young politician. Wagner shuns the use of government-owned cars and commutes to and from work in her own Jeep. Wagner is an attorney with a solid understanding of the law--something that eludes the non-attorney Ravenstahl.
Ravenstahl will only be defeated by another young politician who is, unlike Luke, competent and who can combine support from the anti-Ravenstahl East End and the moderate South Side. It's vital for the greater Pittsburgh region, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, and the people of Pittsburgh that a competent person enter the Mayor's office in January of 2010. Four more years of "Mayor" Luke Ravenstahl very well may destroy the City of Pittsburgh, and cause all local government in Pittsburgh to be run by Allegheny County, which can--and already has--elected a Republican to the Executive's office. Wagner says she won't run; I hope she changes her mind.
(Cross-posted on my blog)