AIDS Free Pittsburgh - World AIDS Day 2016

Today is World AIDS Day. For information in Pittsburgh, please watch the video below (definitely worth seeing Alaska Thunderfuck followed immediately by County Exec Rich Fitzgerald) and go to AIDS Free Pittsburgh.

 

Happy Birthday Pittsburgh!

The Other Political Junkie has been doing a lot of birthday posts this month, and while he did remember the most important March birthday, he's neglected to mention another pretty important one:

The Pittsburgh Bicentennial is a yearlong celebration of the 200th anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Pittsburgh, giving citizens opportunity for self-governance. Pittsburgh was incorporated as a city on March 18, 1816. Mayor William Peduto formed the Pittsburgh Bicentennial Commission to recognize and celebrate the anniversary with unique and collaborative partnerships. Over 200 organizations, companies, nonprofits and individuals are participating in the yearlong celebration. For more information visit www.pgh200.com, follow @PGHbicentennial on Twitter for follow the hashtag #PGH200

Happy Birthday Pittsburgh!

Darlene Harris: Keeper of Public Plaques

Reporter Bob Mayor to Pittsburgh City Councilor Darlene Harris, upon learning she was securing an unauthorized $2,000 plaque labeled "Ravenstahl" after the last mayor in her office, "You're not the Keeper of Public Plaques, right?"

What is it with Lil Former Mayor Lukey's administration? Taking home his city-owned desktop computer before leaving office because he was afraid the Peduto administration would move in and hide it?! Hiding plaques named after him because there was fear that it would be taken away and destroyed?!

It's like they were preparing for an invasion by a herd of thundering barbarians instead of a normal change in administration. The paranoia runs deep with this one. Or perhaps just projection...

Anyone want to guess what the next bizarre revelation regarding Lukey's departure will be?

I appreciate

This being Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, I appreciate Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay for posing with this sign when it was offered to him and for not backing down despite all the ridiculous controversy. I also appreciate Mayor Bill Peduto for standing by him, as well as for hiring him in the first place.

Thank you.

Best #UndercoverBoss Tweets

With that #UndercoverBoss episode, @billpeduto finally vanquished Darlene Harris by caring more about pets. #whispers
— Mr. Slopiak (@SouthSideSlopes) December 22, 2014

WATCH BILL PEDUTO MAKE THE CASE FOR CONSOLIDATION OF MUNICIPAL SERVICES. THIS IS WHAT REALITY TV IS ALL ABOUT PEOPLE
— Chris Potter (@CPotterPgh) December 22, 2014

A public works guy planning to run for city council? WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
— Chris Potter (@CPotterPgh) December 22, 2014

And in reply to that:

@CPotterPgh C'mon. You knew he'd be trouble as soon as he said he went to North Catholic.
— Maria Lupinacci (@maria_in_pgh) December 22, 2014

(Yeah, I'm favoriting myself.)

And, please someone do make this happen!

Can I get a .gif of that, internet? "Wassa wasa what?" #UndercoverBoss
— Laura Meixell (@lauratypes) December 22, 2014

Message of the Day

A word from Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto:



Click here for more info.

Congratulations, Newlyweds!

"Mayor Bill Peduto presides over Pittsburgh's 1st same-sex wedding"

(Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/06/16/Mayor-presides-over-1st-wedding/stories/201406160066#ixzz34oBoYiWb)

(Photo via Twitter)

LANDSLIDE

From the County website, with all precincts counted:

Josh Wander (REP) - 5,012 votes (11.46%)
William Peduto (DEM) - 36,856 votes (84.30%)
Lester F. Ludwig (IND) - 1,514 votes (3.46%)
WRITE-IN - 340 votes ( .78%)

So, yea, when the P-G calls it a landslide, I can't think they're far off.

More from the P-G's James O'Toole and Moriah Balingit:

Tuesday night, the 49-year-old Democrat brushed aside token opposition to become Pittsburgh's chief executive, officially capturing the mayoral post he first sought nearly a decade ago. In January, the veteran councilman will move to the opposite end of the fifth-floor hallway of the City-County Building, to the grand corner office about to be vacated by his longtime rival, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

As expected, Mr. Peduto was able to declare victory against Republican Josh Wander and Les Ludwig, an independent, shortly after the polls closed.

The results also brought victories to city council candidates expected to be reliable allies of the new administration. Dan Gilman, Mr. Peduto's longtime aide, will succeed him in the East End District Mr. Peduto had represented since 2001. Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak won re-election to her South Hills district. In a special election to fill the seat recently vacated by Patrick Dowd, Deb Gross won in a crowded field abetted by a turnout operation quarterbacked by the Peduto campaign team.

 Then there's this from Mike Wereschagin and Bob Bauder of the Trib:

Peduto won 84 percent of the vote on Tuesday with 96.8 percent of precincts reporting, walloping two challengers who barely put up a fight. His 35,000 votes topped the 28,600 Mayor Luke Ravenstahl won in the last mayor's race, in 2009.

And:

“We are the next great American city. It's about building from within, rebuilding the neighborhoods that built this community,” Peduto said after appearing on stage twirling a push broom at the Greater Pittsburgh Coliseum in Homewood, the neighborhood where his grandmother settled nearly 100 years ago.

“The heart, the strength, the power of the entire region will come from within the city's borders,” said Peduto, a data-crunching, hockey-playing East End progressive from a traditional Italian-American family.

 Congratulations, Mr. Mayor-elect!

Get Out And Vote!

 

With Lil Mayor Luke so nonexistent he's practically a UPMC employee, our city craves a real leader: One with a clear vision, real ideas, a belief in community engagement, and who is bursting to get to work. This has led to the extraordinary circumstance of the conservative Tribune-Review and the middle-of-the-road Post-Gazette finally catching up to what progressives have long known: Bill Peduto is the best choice for Mayor of Pittsburgh. Now it's time that we get out and give him the mandate he deserves. We also need to make sure he has a City Council who will work together with him to make Pittsburgh the city we know it can be.

 

This half of 2pj endorses:

 

Bill Peduto for Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh

Natalia Rudiak for City Council, District 4

Deb Gross for City Council, District 7

Dan Gilman for City Council, District 8

Eleanor Bush for Common Pleas Court

Jack McVay Jr. for Superior Court

 

Marty B. O’Malley for Mayor of Forest Hills Borough

*** Obligatory Disclaimer: As everyone should know by now, I've been working part-time for People For Peduto since 2010



Peduto Ad's Gone National!

Hey, remember this?  That was when the OPJ blogged on Councilman Bill Peduto's new TV ad.

Well, coverage of the ad has gone national with a story on it at Thinkprogress.

Travis Waldron writes:

Pittsburgh city councilman Bill Peduto, the Democratic nominee to become the city’s next mayor, this week released a new television ad targeting the use of public funds to expand Heinz Field, the home of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers want the city council’s Stadium and Exhibition Authority to pick up most of the $40 million tab for adding 3,000 seats to the decade-old stadium, but the authority has resisted, arguing that the expansion doesn’t meet the terms of the team’s lease with the city.

In the folksy 30-second ad touting Steeler staples, Peduto outlines it not as a battle between a team and the city, but a question of whether the money should go to the stadium or toward youth programs.

“I’m Bill Peduto, and I’ll cheer with Sax Man for the Steelers,” Peduto says in the ad. “But instead of more money for stadiums, it should go to youth programs. I’ll answer to Coach Jeff and Earl the street sweeper, not the downtown insiders. Some things should never change. But who your mayor fights for will.”

So, who's Thinkprogress?  Here's how it describes itself:

Think Progress is a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. The Center for American Progress Action Fund is a nonpartisan organization.

ThinkProgress was voted “Best Liberal Blog” in the 2006 Weblog Awards and chosen as an Official Honoree in the 2009 and 2012 Webby awards. It was also named best blog of 2008 by The Sidney Hillman Foundation, receiving an award for journalism excellence. In 2009, ThinkProgress was named a “Gold Award Winner” by the International Academy of Visual Arts.

So it's the political blog tied to the Center for American Progress and this is how the CAP describes itself:

The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan educational institute dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action. Building on the achievements of progressive pioneers such as Teddy Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, our work addresses 21st-century challenges such as energy, national security, economic growth and opportunity, immigration, education, and health care. We develop new policy ideas, critique the policy that stems from conservative values, challenge the media to cover the issues that truly matter, and shape the national debate. Founded in 2003 by John Podesta to provide long-term leadership and support to the progressive movement, CAP is headed by Neera Tanden and based in Washington, D.C.

See?  National political blog of a national progressive think tank.

He's baaaack!

Bill Peduto is back on Pittsburgh's airwaves--along with some neighborhood icons--with a brand new ad. Enjoy:

 

Peduto Campaign Kicks Off Today

Josh Wanders the Road Less Traveled to Election Day

There are many paths that one can travel as a candidate for elective office. Some running for mayor might give years of public service, put out 100 policy papers, knock on doors all over the city, and attend hundreds of community meetings -- others try a road less traveled...

Here's the one taken by Josh Wander, Republican nominee for Mayor of Pittsburgh:

 

August 2012

Do a creepy "mock interview with myself pre and post an Apocalyptic event...."

December 2012

Appear on a national television show referring to the city that you want to become mayor of as an "urban deathtrap." Also be filmed running around a park with your buds covered in fake blood--guns in hand--playacting your response to some catastrophic event.

January 2013

Publish a YouTube video pushing your government conspiracy theory:

"I see the government playing a sort of PSYOPs game against the 2nd Amendment lovers, against people that care about their rights of bearing arms. What I mean by that is that I think that they're trying to bait us. I think they're trying to get us riled up and they're trying to get one of us that's possibly on the edge to do a crazy act of desperation..."

April 2013

Do a local TV interview where all you do is bitch about how terrible Pittsburgh is and why no one would want to live here.

June 2013

Do a newspaper interview moaning about how no one takes your campaign seriously.

August 2013

Admit you're not in the race to win.

September 2013

Relate in an interview that you've sold your home, moved with your family to a foreign country, and "expects to return in time for the Nov. 5 election against Democrat Bill Peduto but would instruct campaign staff to assume his duties otherwise."

Have your press secretary resign citing law school commitments.

 

 

*** Obligatory Disclaimer: As everyone should know by now, I've been working part-time for People For Peduto since 2010

Really!?!

Really, Darlene Harris? Really!?! You dropped out of the Pittsburgh mayoral primary race polling in the single digits and now you're contemplating an independent run in the general election? Really? Even the embattled current mayor thinks it's a bad idea and he spent $161,000 against Democratic nominee Bill Peduto who he now supports. Where do you think your support will come from? That's the sound of one hand clapping you hear. Really!

Really, Ken Cuccinelli? Really!?! You want to restore anti-sodomy laws -- the same ones that were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court a decade ago. Really? In a state whose advertising declares "it's for lovers." Really! Are your trying to out-Santorum fellow Virginian Rick Santorum? Is there something in the water there? This begs the question have you ever had a blow job, and if not, can someone legislate you one so you can get over it? Really!!

Really, Anthony Weiner? Really!?! Your name is weiner and your sexted photos of your wiener made you have to resign as a congressman. Yet you're saying you won't drop out of the NYC mayoral race even though there's more sexts coming out now -- ones you did after your resignation. Really? Does NYC need a Mayor Carlos Danger? Can you maybe take just a little sip of whatever Cuccinelli is drinking? Really!!!

Really, American Media? Really!?! We fought the British so that we never had to give a royal f*ck about all things royal and here you are orgasiming over the birth of the latest royal. Really? Sam Adams isn't just a beer you drink to toast the latest in the line of inbreds whose worth is determined by between whose legs they popped out of. He was one of many who risked life and limb to publish articles against the idea of royalty. History. Journalism. You might want to look into that. REALLY!

SCOTUS Kills DOMA & Dismisses Prop 8: PA, It's Your Move Now!

 

PennLive takes a look at how today's ruling could make Pennsylvania "less appealing to progressive-minded businesses and their gay employees."

 

Via WTAE: "A spokesman for Republican Gov. Tom Corbett says he supports a state constitutional ban on gay marriage in Pennsylvania."

 

The celebration in Pittsburgh: Post-Gazette, The Trib & City Paper.

 

UPDATE: LGBTQPGH "City-county consolidation"

The Peduto Primary Win - How He Did It (The Social Media Edition)

By now we all know who won the recent primary in May.  As the P-G wrote:

With a convincing win for the Democratic nomination for mayor of Pittsburgh Tuesday, Bill Peduto...

And so on.

We must remember, of course, that the election hasn't happened yet.  There still is a Republican ticket with a Republican running on it: Josh Wander.  Though as he pointed out to Bob Mayo:

The Squirrel Hill resident admitted city Democrats' registration edge stacks the odds against him.

"My only chance of actually winning is the race is if the Democratic nominee drops dead, but then there's a possibility I'll still lose because there's a demographic of dead voters out there that still may vote him in," Wander joked.

Ha.  Funny.  A voter fraud joke.  Wow.  Cutting edge political humor.  Still not true, of course, but he's a republican so I guess he's constitutionally incapable of not telling it so I guess I'll let it pass.

Not a big deal.  Not like it's the end of civilization or anything.  Ha, I'm just joshing.

Back to the primary election.

Being a "social media" sort of guy, I was curious about how the Peduto campaign used it to connect with its supporters and how important he thought it was for his primary win.  We had an old-school "phone call" to discuss the topic. 

Learned a lit - it was very enlightening.

Hey, did you know that the Maria, the OPJ, was a very important player on Peduto's social media team?  Peduto said she was the campaign's "Social Media Consultant" and she worked the content while John Carman, of Avenue Design, was the tech guy.  If you have the time, you can watch this Podcamp video of "a very 101 session" (his words) on using Social Media.  The web based video was from Chris Ivey.  The whole PR team answered to Sonya Toler.

Necessary disclaimer:  Just as there were discussions on the campaign side about any possible conflicts of interest arising from having a prominent local blogger working for a prominent local politician, there were some similar discussions, if I recall correctly, here at this blog.  Maria's solution was to disclose on her blog posts, whenever and as often as she could, this (or something very close to it):

Disclaimer: Yes, I am a member of Peduto's cyber staff.

And whenever I (who had no connection to the campaign at all) wrote about Peduto or the race, Maria and I would have no communication about it whatsoever.  Full disclosure.

The first thing I learned was that the campaign's social media infrastructure is not something they threw together in a few weeks.  Peduto said his campaign website was set up in 2009 (though Reform Pittsburgh Now was put up just after he pulled out of the 2007 mayoral race) and it was initially updated each week but as the primary drew closer, the updates became more frequent - and this is where Maria did her work.  That's 4 years' momentum for the campaign.  By the time of the primary, the website was updated daily and 17,000 people received emails from the campaign every day as well.  Then there were those 100 policy papers posted one per day.  The email list was compiled over a long period of time (people stopping by the website or recommending friends and so on).

Peduto's tweets were his own, as was his facebook status updates, though a few staffers with "People for Peduto" were able to tweet on the campaign's behalf.

But that's the past.  What would the social media thumbprint look like in a Peduto administration?  He said we can expect more information being transmitted to the city more quickly via twitter and facebook and emails.  Info on street closings, street pavings, storm warnings.  It would be a far cry from what he said was the rather small amount of info being transmitted currently.

With the greater use of social media, we can probably expect a new position in the mayor's office: someone to coordinate all that information to the public.

The amount of up to date information available to the public (as well as the rate at which it was released) was something new (certainly for local politics) and if Peduto wins the election in November, we can expect to see the same sort of connectedness with the public as we saw in his primary campaign.

Coda: I had to ask the Peduto about this video:


Had he seen it?  Did it come from the campaign?  What did he think of it?

The answers (in order) are:

• Yes 
• No, it's from Megan Lindsey (she, of the local HOT DOG source Franktuary, and the local band Goodnight, States)
• He loved it - says they're thinking of posting it as "the ad we never aired."

All in all I have to say that his campaign's use of social media was a lot of work, day in day out, accumulated over a long period of time - and obviously, it paid off.  Bill Peduto won the primary.

You still have an hour...

Some Follow-Up On Those Susquehanna Poll Numbers

There's a little more to say about the Susquehanna poll out a few days ago.  Mostly about the remaining undecideds.  From Keystone Politics:

The final poll of the Pittsburgh Mayor race, from Susquehanna, shows Bill Peduto leading Jack Wagner by 9 points, 42-33.

But wait aren’t there a lot of undecided voters? Sure, there still are about 16% undecided, but when the pollsters pushed them to say which way they’re leaning, Wagner only gets 20% of them. With the soft supporters included, Peduto still has a 7-point lead – safely above the poll’s +/-4.88% margin of error.

I have to add a slight "Yes, but..." here.  In an election of this size (a municipal election where the margin of victory might be a few thousand if not a few hundred votes) nothing is "safely above" or assured.  The worst thing would be for a voter to assume that because these numbers point in one direction that his or her the race is over.  (And this is true for either camp, Wagner or Peduto.)

Moving on:

Wagner would need to win 80% of the undecided voters to overtake Peduto’s lead. Could that happen? It’s unlikely in the extreme.

But it's still possible.  There's only one solution for this situation:  VOTE!

At this point it's all about GOTV - the candidate with the better Get Out The Vote organization will probably win.

It's really very simple.

Let's Redd Up City Hall: Vote for Bill Peduto Tomorrow!

Help Bill make a clean sweep!

In less then 24 hours, you can change Pittsburgh. You can make this the city we know it can be!

The Peduto Phenomenon

I have no idea who these people are but since they're in tune when they break into harmony, I will assume one or more of them have some musical training.


I am also assuming they're proscuito, voluto, menudo, potato Peduto supporters.

I haven't been able to find any similarly kewl Wagner videos.