Q&A with Laura Pollanen, Candidate for Bellevue Borough Council

  LGBTQ folx are everywhere, and we’re not going away. By taking office, we can push not just legislation to ensure our legal rights are protected, but also push for normalizing what are seen as LGBTQ+ issues until your LGBTQ+ identity is as unremarkable as your hair color. I want to make it clear that […]

Q&A with Cheryl Patalano, Candidate for Northgate School Board of Directors

I am all for reforming the way charter schools source and use their money.  Paying charter schools is the biggest drain on public schools.  I am for school choice because there will always be situations where a public school is not the right fit for an individual student, but destroying public schools in the process […]

Q&A with Robert Disney, Candidate for Bellevue Borough Council

Legally changing one’s name should be an exciting, uplifting, hopeful, and ceremonious occasion, not one clouded by uncertainty caused by the legal process or the worry of the perception of others in the courtroom, and my goal is to be a resource and ally for anyone in this position. This is the 11th post of […]

Q&A With Tiffany Sizemore, Candidate for Judge, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge

Tiffany Sizemore

This has the potential to be a change election for our county. Nearly 25% of the court’s seats are open and up for election. It is clear that criminal justice reform is the order of the day and nearly all of the candidates in this race are astute enough to be able to speak the […]

Q&A with Anita Prizio, Allegheny County Councilor District 3

Anita Prizio

County Council work much be approached to the lens of equity and justice. Clean water and air are a human right. Transgender rights are human rights. Affordable housing is a human right. We must all work together and leave our silos if we truly want to see change in Allegheny County. This is the ninth […]

Q&A with Alyssa Cowan, Candidate for Court of Common Pleas Judge

Alyssa Cowan

I’ve been working on developing a glossary to be used across Allegheny County’s Department of Human Services, the Courts, and DHS-contracted service providers. The glossary is nearing completion and had been developed utilizing gender inclusive and gender neutral language throughout the glossary. It is critically important for judges to recognize the importance of word choice […]

Why I Won’t Allow Leah William Duncan to Complete my Campaign Q&A

Leah Williams Duncan

For transparency sake, I want to explain that I have turned down a request by a candidate for Magistrate here on the Northside. Her name is Leah Williams Duncan.   Dear Ms. Williams Duncan, I have received your request to complete a Q&A for my blog, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents. I must decline. In 2013 while […]

Q&A with Judge Derwin Rushing, Candidate for Magisterial District Judge 5-2-40

Judge Derwin Rushing

I have virtually eliminated cash bail from my practice and doing so only in extenuating circumstances to protect the safety of the community or ensure court appearance. The variables in each and every criminal arrest are too involved to discuss here, but it cannot be denied that in using cash bail, those without cash are […]

Q&A With Connor Mulvaney, Candidate for City Council District 4

Connor

But if a global pandemic and ensuing economic crises aren’t enough to motivate public officials to create real safeguards such as public housing (as well as healthcare, the two of which I believe are inseparable) against public health emergencies, when will they? This is the sixth post of our election season series ‘Political Q&A’ with […]

Q&A With Hilary Wheatley Taylor, Candidate for Magisterial District Judge for District 05-2-19

HIlary Wheatley Taylor

But from that experience comes a perspective that can only benefit those that might come before me as Magistrate: I’ll approach each person as more than their worst day or worst choice or most shameful story.  I know first hand that we are all more than any one of those things and we deserve a […]