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As we noted yesterday, the field of candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor has grown to seven, which includes state Sen. Jim Ferlo.
But while he’s filed his petitions, Ferlo says he’s taking the time between the March 27 deadline to withdraw to fully consider a campaign.
“I don’t know yet and I’m being very sincere,” he tells City Paper. “My heart is in community activism and generating enthusiasm at the grass-roots level. To get involved not only in politics, but take back communities.”
He touted his ability to drive economic development and capacity, in part by serving on the board of the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Ferlo says he filed nominating petitions to “safeguard the process by at least doing this as a transition to give some consideration to the issue.”
Ferlo says he wanted to see how the field fleshed out, while considering the two years he has left on his Senate seat. He’s “torn” about leaving Harrisburg, he says, where he’s been an outspoken critic of liquor store privatization, Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling and the “corporate administration of Medicaid expansion.”
“My intention to file was because … of the surprising departure of the mayor…which left a lot of people scrambling,” he says. Ferlo says he believes Ravenstahl could have won re-election until questions of alleged misappropriation of funds engulfed the police bureau. Such questions, he says, left “everybody still looking to say ‘what is the essence of the issue? Clearly there is appearance of impropriety that left everyone conjecturing”
Ferlo says he also is “weighing the mechanics” of a campaign, including fundraising.
“All of my campaigns have been grass roots fundraising and organizing. I never bought a TV or radio ad in my life,” he says. “The point is I’ve had to re-evaluate what I’m trying to do right now, plus I wanted to see who was going to file and what the dynamics of the race would be.”
This article appears in Mar 13-19, 2013.
“The essence of this issue” was that nobody in the administration was making sure the Police Bureau was staying out of trouble, could properly define trouble, or was leading by example by ever taking seriously ethical ambiguity of their own. In fact Ferlo’s allies consolidated their power in city government by appointing a Chief (Harper) and a Public Safety Dir. (Regan) and making a series of internal promotions PRECISELY to encourage the value of personal agendas amidst the workforce. So they could be popular among the police in-crowd and receive their own favors in return, like political support and discreet personal security.
As to Ferlo, I’m incredulous that giving away 28 acres of the Hill District to the Penguins for free with no strings attached, or Lot 6 on the North Shore to the Steelers for pennies on the dollar, or the riverbank in the Strip District to erosion in favor of a private enclave and a salute to concrete, that any of it might qualify as “grass-roots taking back communities.”
So he filed petitions so he would have political cards to play depending on what “the dynamics of the race” would be. Not to lead Pittsburgh but to decide on behalf Pittsburgh what he, and only he, can do to “fix” those dynamics so it’s not entirely left up to ordinary voters and the people sincerely standing for public office. I hope he weighs and reflects with wisdom on all this.
So from your statement, are you asserting that his time on City Council or the URA hasn’t assisted the rebuilding of communities from a grass roots level (i.e. East Liberty & Lawrenceville)? There’s more than enough proof to refute your claim….
Well “Bikprogressive”, one can hardly get handed the $100’s of M’s of federal grants every year that is our share, and be expected to NOT build anything at all with it. Contrary to popular belief he’s not the only Pittsburgh politician capable of that wondrous alchemy of turning grant money into construction. Now highlight for me: what about giving away the most valuable land between Chicago and New York for free to the corporations which support him, or about enabling a negligent, myopic, patronage-choked city government, did you just refute with your comment? And did you just call Eastside “grass roots”?
Free and open debate among D candidates is slated for 1 pm on Sunday, March 17, at Obama Academy, corner of Highland Ava and East Liberty Blvd (former Peabody). Let’s pack the school auditorium.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/…