The Mayor, The Chief and the Unanswered Questions

Just as a follow up, I called the offices of Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and that of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to inquire about my previously ignored questions.  I opted not to confront them at the Steel City Stonewall Meeting which was probably a mistake on my part, however given their ongoing broken promises on these questions, it would probably have served no purpose.

Remember this from Rich Lord's article about the Club Pittsburgh pay for play?

It's our prerogative to meet with who we want to meet with,” he said. “We want to try to help businesses grow here, stay here, expand here, and that was no different” for Club Pittsburgh.

“Nothing was done for those individuals that wouldn't be done for someone who sent a random letter to our office,”

I guess it is their prerogative to not meet with me and avoid answering my questions.  Still, it is worth the ask. 

In case you forgot:

My LGBT related question submitted for Onorato's cyber town hall meetings was not answered.  I was informed by his staff that they would send me an individual response.  To the best of my knowledge, no one who submitted an LGBT related question received a response.  Bram from The Pittsburgh Comet reported that he did receive an individual response to a question on an unrelated topic. I have tried to contact the Chief's office repeatedly with no luck.

My follow up questions on the Mayor's LGBT Advisory Council were submitted to Deputy Chief of Staff, Kristen Baginski, and Press Secretary, Joanna Doven.  Baginski promised at the meeting to get me one specific answer.  Doven asked for my cell phone number and never called. She recently told me she would be in touch when the “woman in charge” of the project returned to the office.  No follow up.

Folks, if they sent me unsatisfactory answers or answers I disliked, that would be one thing.  IGNORING our questions suggests that the pay for play suspicions are right on the money. 

Nobody wants to play with me.  Sigh.

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  • Just another case of rich white men that don't think they need to deal with the people they represent.
    Gotta wonder why people listen to these smucks and others like them. Take that Delta “Sex Club” Foundation – I hear ALL the lesbians have left them now too. The rich white men's club can now have their “non profit” sexfests without the lesbians breathing down their neck.
    Way to represent the community.

  • Gimme until Monday, I'll pick this up in my space as well.
    How about them Stonewall Dems endorsing Patrick Dowd, huh? After all this time reading you, I figured the incumbent was the shoe-in for their endorsement. Hopefully the Stonewall Dems just led the way in showing Pittsburgh that you can be successful by supporting deserving reformers.

  • I will bet a shazillion dollars that Gary Van Horn will be part of the Mayor's Advisory Board. I will also pass along rumors that a major gay organization is giving their “gay of the year” award out to Peter and Steve in spite of the possibility that they bribed the Mayor and sold a lethal agent to a dead gay man. No wonder we are considered the anti-family values crowd. When this shizz hits the roof, baby, kablam!
    ps: if you want to know who the group is, figure out every group who has a yearly award and call the president of their board to ask directly. i'll give you a hint. there are three groups.

  • I guess this post is the way Sue chooses to admit that she could have asked Onorato & Ravenstahl any questions that she wanted during the mixer or the formal meeting. Other people certainly were asking tough questions.
    Regarding these anonymous posts. I'm always amazed how all of these different anonymous posters manage to stay on message. It is almost seems like they are all coming from the same person.
    Bram, if you thought Ravenstahl was a “shoe in” for our endorsement, then all that I can say is maybe you have been mislead by reading this blog.

  • From Pittsburgh Magazine: http://www.wqed.org/mag/arts-leisure/artscats.php?id=1
    PITTSBURGH AIDS TASK FORCE’S 23rd ANNUAL BENEFIT
    Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 06:00PM
    The Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force celebrates its 23rd annual benefit at the Pittsburgh Public Theater featuring the Broadway writing legends John Kander and Fred Ebb. The evening includes cocktails and hors díoeuvres followed by the light-hearted, entertaining musical revue The World Goes Round. Writing legends Kander and Ebb are best known for such Broadway shows as Chicago, Cabaret and New York, New York. A dessert reception will conclude the evening. The Kerry Stoner Award, named for the PATF founder, will be presented to Steve Herforth and Peter Karlovich for the more than ten years of support, fundraising and community awareness they have provided.

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