Property Tax Reform Reform

Yet another article in this morning's Post Gazette on property tax reform. Our state legislature is muttering once again about taking up the issue. This is after Gov. Rendell promised to ELIMINATE the school portion of our property taxes if his gambling buddies were allowed to do business in the state. We allowed them in, Rendell lied once again, and gambling monies will now be shuffled to many of Rendell's other buddies instead of the relief he promised. So what else is new? Homeowners (especially seniors) will be screwed once again and "Bait & Switch" Rendell just keeps smiling.

Since reform of "Property Tax Reform" will be required before any meaningful reform takes place, the Pist-Gazette has sent the following email to Bill DeWeese, Keith McCall, Samuel Rohrer and every other legislator in Allegheny County. Maybe if they hear from thousands of us, they might listen. Legislator email addresses can be easily found here.

"Read in this morning's Post Gazette where you guys "might" take up property tax reform in the fall. As you must know property taxes are one of THE two main problems in PA, the other being our uncompetitive and downright antagonistic mindset toward private sector business.

As for property tax reform, you MUST do it. And if it is anything short of eliminating property tax on primary residences or eliminating the school portion completely, taxpayers MUST have referendum abilities in regards to the school taxes.

You know why this is. I won't trouble you with the obvious. Pennsylvania's per student spending is in the top 10 in the nation, its scores are in the bottom 10, etc., etc., etc.

Do not mistake my boring "etc's" as a lack of passion on this issue. There is a level of outrage in the electorate that I'm sure you'll concede is unprecedented in recent times. Much of the outrage is over runaway taxes coupled with "services" that are laughable. 50 legislators got the boot last time around, but don't for a moment think this has mollified the citizenry.

I'm a real estate agent. I live with this daily. I see older folks frozen in fear as it becomes more and more obvious they cannot afford to live in the homes they've ALREADY PAID FOR. I help countless customers appeal their assessments, AND WIN, only to have the school district HIRE LAWYERS (paid for by the tax dollars of those who they are shaking down), drag the homeowner back to assessment court, and RE-APPEAL the new assessment on slightly different grounds. The property owner must fight again and again and again. Talk about double/triple/quadruple jeopardy!

I am NOT exaggerating. The schools will not give up until they have extorted something, anything. They have lawyers, they have time, but mostly, they have UNLIMITED resources which can be used for educating students, teacher salaries, school gymnasiums, OR LAWYERS WHO ACT AS BAG MEN insuring the uninterrupted flow of these "educational dollars". It is unfortunately their call and their call alone. I say "unlimited" because they can choose to raise the millage when they want, however much they want. Or they can choose to unleash their attorney attack dogs on the most vulnerable of the herd. Because they are cowards and jackals, they choose the latter.

If you bring "relief" to property taxes by shifting the burden elsewhere, without school district limits and accountability, the districts will be ecstatic I'm sure. They will gleefully rub their money-grubbing hands together thinking that homeowner "tolerance" for tax sticker-shock will have just been set back to square one. That will not be the case, but it won't matter. Schools will have just won the Lotto, one of PA's biggest problems will have just taken on a different form and nothing will have changed. Except that our dysfunctional clock will continue to tick, seniors will continue to lose their homes and Pennsylvania will continue its shameful slide to nowhere.

Please, please, please do something in earnest about this. You know what has to be done .... just suck it up and do it. Whether it is a .5 percent increase in sales tax or changing what is taxed or any combination thereof .... it does not matter. What matters is that you address the core of the problem which I have addressed above. Anything less than this will just put the problem off to some future date which is what you guys have been doing for decades.

This must stop and it must stop now."

On A Path To Nowhere

Pittsburgh's destiny is recorded in the stars as well as in a letter published in today's Post Gazette:

Let up on Luke
After numerous articles recently in the Post-Gazette, it seems that your paper is trying to drive the mayor out of town. Whether it's who he hires, where he goes or the security he has with him, not much light has been shed as of late.

I understand he is the most accountable figure on the city's payroll, but can we please just give this guy a chance? Let's focus on issues that matter, such as the city's added security, urban redevelopment and other neighborhood initiatives.

We're not asking him to be a saint. However, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is young, energetic and passionate about growing the city he loves so much. This is what Pittsburgh needs. And it would be a real shame to see his tenure short-lived.

TONY GREGO
Millvale

In Praise of Pittsburgh’s Mainstream Media (Except for Marty Griffin)

Thank you Rich Lord of the Post Gazette. Thank you Jeremy Boren of the Tribune-Review. Thank you Bob Mayo, Jon Delano, Tony Norman and countless others at the City Paper, KDKA, WPXI and WTAE. Radio talk show host Marty Griffin, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and of course Ravenstahl’s mother are a few who think local media have unfairly targeted our young mayor and are “out to get him.” But for the most part, Pittsburgh’s media are uncharacteristically unified on one point: We have an ethically challenged, arrogant frat-boy for a mayor and we’d better watch him closely because he could do some serious damage to a city already on the brink of insolvency.

It has taken decades of unchecked corruption, gross mismanagement, parasitic unions, corporate robber barons and one-party tyranny to bring Pittsburgh to the dangerous precipice where it stands today. True, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s contribution to this debacle is admittedly minuscule considering his short 10-month stint in office. And perhaps we would not be in the pickle we are today if the media had been half as vigilant with prior administrations as they are with this current one. Perhaps if we voters had engaged our brains prior to voting there wouldn’t have been a critical need for any media watchdogs to save us. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

One thing is clear, however….We no longer have time to debate the lessons of hindsight. We only have time to vigilantly scrutinize the every move of the man-boy who will unfortunately make or break us and who has shown himself to be deserving of such intense scrutiny. Ravenstahl’s actions and demeanor thus far have not been reassuring. He has stepped in one pile after another since inheriting the office from Bob O’Connor. Sadly, many of those piles were of his own making. Worse yet, Ravenstahl barely wipes the muck from one of his boots before he clomps headstrong with the other into yet another puddle of mud.

Was Rich Lord’s article about the cost of the mayor’s security detail “too much”? Is all of this just “piling on” as characterized by Marty Griffin? Absolutely not. Rich and Jeremy et al are stepping up to the plate, informing us about the who, what, when, where and why of this mayor. That is what journalists are supposed to do, by the way. Their job is to put the facts before us. Our job is to weigh those facts as we enter the ballot box this November. Hopefully we will weigh carefully and thoroughly and then do the right thing for Pittsburgh. We are out of time.

P.S. to Marty: We love you, Marty, and love how you watch out for the city. But on this one you are in the vast minorty, my man. The mayor has some serious "issues" recognized by the Left, Right, Conservatives, Liberals and Progressives alike. All media it seems but you.

Yesteryear Chinese Calendar Updated

“Year of the Pig” Removed From Chinese Zodiac. 2007 Now Proclaimed “Year of the Aggressive Cat.” New Icon More Fitting With Nowadays.

Get Them While They're Hot

I contacted Judith Kelly of the Pittsburgh Civic Design Coalition about obtaining an invitation to the mayoral forum they are hosting at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on September 27. Luke Ravenstahl and challenger Mark DeSantis will discuss (debate?) civic design, historic preservation and spurring development.

Judith said attendance is by “invitation only” because the coalition wants to make sure they do not exceed room capacity and have adequate refreshments for the crowd, etc. She did add, however, that anyone interested in the issues of civic design can request an invitation by forwarding her their mailing address. Judith can be contacted at:

Judith A. Kelly
Judith Kelly + Associates, LLC
Chamber of Commerce Building
jak@judith-kelly.com

Dissecting the Ridiculous

Mayor Ravenstahl’s “office” released a response to candidate Mark DeSantis who called for a certain degree of relevancy and realism in the upcoming mayoral election. The complete Ravenstahl response with snarky Pist-Gazette commentary can be read below. A slight word of hope to PG readers who have a sensitivity to the butchering of the English language: Mayor Ravenstahl’s tortured sentence structure in this instance is not nearly as dreadful as in past communiqués.

Mayor Ravenstahl:

“It is our hope and desire that this campaign can be about the issues, rather than just election year campaign tactics. The Mayor is very disheartened by what we’ve seen from our opponent thus far.

“What they’ve seen”? Unless it pertains to drinking, partying, golfing or celebrity stalking, Ravenstahl is never in the vicinity to see much of anything.

“If our opponent does not know, the City of Pittsburgh is required under Act 47 and Act 11, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, to have a five year budget and recovery plan. We have that already. The major difference between our opponent and Mayor Ravenstahl is that the Mayor has already been a part of making that plan and bringing it into existence.”

The City’s Act 47 status and accompanying “distressed city” five year plan was enacted and approved when Ravenstahl was a city councilman. Ravenstahl “vigorously” fought both the distressed status and the five year plan, even going so far as to vote against both knowing that official bankruptcy would be the immediate repercussion of his negative vote.

“Mayor Ravenstahl is the first Mayor in years to implement a structurally balanced budget. Mayor Ravenstahl has cooperated with the ICA, Act 47 and Pittsburgh City Council to put forth a plan to balance the City’s budget. Our opponent has not.”

Re-read our previous comments. Ravenstahl has implemented a balanced budget which has been MANDATED by Act 47’s five year plan. Ravenstahl’s contribution to this five year plan was to vote against it. His cooperation with Act 47 and ICA is a requirement of law and not an option as he has inferred.

“With regard to our opponent attempting to offer a policy that differs from the existing law relative to the City Ethics Code, Mayor Ravenstahl complies fully with the existing law and will continue to do so. No amount of election year antics will change that.”

This is a superb example of why Ravenstahl is so hated. Nothing contained in the above comment is true. DeSantis wants the mayor to adhere to the EXISTING Ethics Code, a code which Mayor Ravenstahl has habitually trampled even before becoming mayor. There are no election year antics involved in an appeal for ethical behavior. But ooops, we are in error. There is one bit of truth imbedded in the mayor’s comment. He will undoubtedly persist in unethical behavior as he's told us he “will continue to do so.”

“Mayor Ravenstahl has served for over ten months now. He has demonstrated that he always treats the voters and residents of the City with the highest degree of respect. In fact, he has stood election twice before and has always done so. Our opponent has not.”

“He stood election twice before and has always done so.” ??? 2PJ takes that one on better than I am able.

“Our opponent exclaimed in his announcement that no candidates should misrepresent his own or his opponent’s past business or political experience. On this we can agree.”

My goodness, Luke, you are the embodiment of misrepresentation. Business, political, personal ….. you name it, you misrepresent it.

“Finally, our opponent asks now, in the form of his pledges, to call on the candidates to agree to debate. Our opponent should be reminded that on June 20th, Mayor Ravenstahl was the first candidate to call for and offer specific debates. To date, our opponent has not responded to our offers. Now our opponent is using campaign tactics to rewrite history. Mayor Ravenstahl looks forward to debating his opponent vigorously.”

Yes, Ravenstahl has responded that he will debate DeSantis IF he has time, IF high schoolers ask the questions, IF, IF, IF. But take heart readers, there is a “forum” scheduled. At least a few “area residents” will get to hear the mayor’s thoughts at that invitation-only event.

Until We Meet Again

China has made news recently on a number of unfortunate topics. They’ve added poisonous substances to exported pet food so that it would test higher in protein content than it actually was. Then they put an anti-freeze chemical in exported cough medicine and toothpaste for who-knows-what reason. Lead paint on children’s toys, bacteria-infected antibiotics, exploding cell phones and car tires are just a few of the other Chinese innovations which have hit the world market as of late. And who could forget the image of the Chinese street vendor using boiled and “seasoned” filthy street cardboard as filling for his savory dumpling treats.

Well, China has acted swiftly to repair their tarnished image….. They’ve executed the head of their food and drug administration, Zheng Xiaoyu. This is undoubtedly after a fair trial. And undoubtedly Mr Xiaoyu was acting alone. His practices must have been unknown to the Chinese government and were carried out without their silent consent. So we can now breathe easy that our Made-in-China purchases will no longer maim or kill either us or our pets.

As for Mr. Xiaoyu who paid dearly for his indiscretions …… maybe we can look forward to seeing him once again. Maybe he will be one of the tastefully posed, scientifically and artistically relevant plasticized “Bodies” on display at the Carnegie Science Center this October. I’m sure he, like all the other bodies in the display, will have given his permission to be used for such an enlightening purpose. After all, the Chinese government has approved and verified it as being so.