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Patrick Dowd formally kicked off his mayoral campaign today, before a crowd of about 50 supporters atop Polish Hill. Dowd maintained that the blustery February weather was proof that “winds of change” were blowing … but trust your correspondent on this one: It was just freakin’ cold.
Dowd offered at least a partial answer to a question he expects to be asked a lot in the weeks ahead: “Who is Patrick Dowd?” He also suggested a rough outline of his vision for the city — pledging to create a fiscally transparent government that would be tough on crime. Perhaps a bit more esoterically, he promised to overhaul the city’s planning efforts, which he contended were suffering from “decentralization.” He said he would scale back the use of tax incentives to entice developers, even as he would seek to lure new residents and businesses from overeseas.
Dowd also invoked the spirit of former Mayor Pete Flaherty, claiming that just like Flaherty, he would be “Nobody’s Boy“. As proof, he pledged that his first action as mayor would be to prohibit no-bid city contracts from being awarded to anyone who had made a campaign contribution to a city official.
Some have fretted that Dowd won’t be tough enough on the mayor, and that he lacks the stomach for a two-fisted political fight. Dowd gave a sense of his willingness to take on Ravenstahl when, in response to a question from KDKA’s Jon Delano, he repeatedly asked “where was the mayor?” on a series of key issues over the past year.
The media turned out in force to witness Dowd’s remarks, and the crowd supporting him skewed young and enthusiastic. But the campaign kicked off on an improvisational note: Organizers had pro-Dowd stickers to wear, but the poster for the podium was drawn in magic marker. Perhaps because of the wind, or because the campaign realized it looked a little silly, the poster was removed before any of the real reporters showed up.
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2009.
“Perhaps a bit more esoterically, he promised to overhaul the city’s planning efforts, which he contended were suffering from “decentralization.””
Ooh, that is interesting. Because where is it that I’ve heard that the planning process needs to be more centralized and “streamlined”? Hopefully he is talking about stripping the URA of its ill-gotten planning functionality and not vice-versa.
Will digest the soundbytes when I get home.
“Hopefully he is talking about stripping the URA of its ill-gotten planning functionality and not vice-versa.”
I’m pretty sure he was talking about stripping the URA of it’s planning capacity.
If I were a Highland Park hippeh mum, then I’d be swooning, but I’m not so I won’t.
At any rate, I appreciate the ideas Mr. Dowd has regarding the roles of and relationships between the URA and the city’s planning department. Why not take it a step further and throw in the county’s Department of Economic Development for a full blown mind meld?
Vision for the city: I love the “tough choices” at the beginning of this part of the speech. Perhaps addressing his vote to oust Dr. Thompson? How’s he doing by the way?
Nobody’s Boy: I take his position, with respect to the Lamar issue. Dowd, singly, and the coucilpersons, jointly, performed a noble act. However, one cannot bend or outright break the law to assert a position: there is right, wrong and the law. I give credit to Dowd following the law and taking a position which I also feel was right.
Where’s the mayor: No argument there, but I feel Dowd has an uphill battle with this statement. I believe to close the argument Dowd must cite specific pieces of legislation he authored/co-authored that illustrate his assertiveness on at least one of the issues he listed. I don’t believe Dowd’s voting record is enough for me to join the party and vote in a primary.
Also, I fear he may pull a Geitner… <:|
Golly. Don’t strip the URA of its planning capacity. Rather, liquidate the URA. Strip the URA of its life. The URA is the problem too. Take it down. Then, if necessary, in the second term, re-build a better, different, agency within the context of accountable government.
Don’t ask, “Where it the mayor?” Rather, tell those who will listen exactly that the mayor didn’t show up and was instead doing XYZ.
I think the city could exist without ANY no bid contracts — from campaign donors and everyone else.
If the planning efforts of Pittsburgh are suffering from decentralization — does that mean he’ll offer central planning? I rather enjoy organic planning and planning with freedoms in mind.
Do not “scale back the use of tax incentives to entice developers,” when ending all tax incentives would work better. The tax incentive should be universal — as in the land value tax. That’s real incentive to invest in the city/region.
I am not sure where Pat Dowd’s greatest strengths lie, whether he would is best in the executive branch or the legislative branch. I am not sure whether the would be a better Mayor than Bill Peduto or Mike Lamb, or vice versa.
I do know that it just doesn’t matter.
I am looking forward to the debates, but I don’t think they will matter. Maybe Aaron Sorkin or someone from Chicago’s Second City would be fast enough on their feet to get some crowd pleasing zingers in. Not that Ravenstahl is particularly smart or an accomplished debater. But he is earnest enough, sure of himself enough and is so clearly an ordinary guy that average voters are more willing to trust him, compared to a smart candidate. Plus the debate format favors the candidate who gives a bull shit answer to questions about City debt or what have you.
The reasons it doesn’t matter what are Dowd’s best qualities include the ACDC endorsement, incumbency and the Mayor’s huge advantage in funds. Plus I am not yet convinced that Dowd will hit the right tough notes with regard to the Mayor, ones that will capture the attention of local voters. And behind it all, the ghost of Bobo Connor still holds the crown of the Mayor-ship over the head of Luke Ravenstahl. There is probably an elaborate MacBeth metaphor in there somewhere, but maybe not right now.
Seems like it was Ravenstahl who practised kick-offs, in college.
That’s some pessimistic thinking there, Ed. You may be denounced for a lack of revolutionary zeal if you’re not careful.
Kidding, kidding. But this thought —
“I am not yet convinced that Dowd will hit the right tough notes with regard to the Mayor, ones that will capture the attention of local voters”
— is a question I had after yesterday’s event as well. As some of the earlier comments suggest, Dowd’s concerns about planning are important. But I’m not sure how many people they resonate with. Whether planning is carried out by the URA or in some other agency … it just SOUNDS like a lot of shuffling of deck chairs.
A guy I know, one who is steeped in local politics, says Dowd can’t be taken seriously unless he circulates photos of Ravenstahl with Snoop Dogg in a mailer that targets elderly voters. Dowd also didn’t say anything about trash cans, which is something I think Bram suggested as a worthy topic for discussion. He DID talk about how upset he was by money sitting in a reserve account that was supposed to pay off long-term debt … but by that point, I’d lost feeling in my fingers and my mind was wandering. I suspect I wasn’t the only one.
Well, on the one hand your friend is wise, but surely there has to be an image besides the Mayor with Snoop Dogg. Because the local African American community, which may already be lost to Dowd, would absolutely turn their backs on Dowd if he circulated the picture. If someone else circulates the picture, then Dowd doesn’t get credit for having balls with Pittsburgh’s elderly. And it is possible it would boomerang on Dowd anyway, he would be seen as too ruthless. Given the number of older Pittsburghers, though, it might be worth a shot.
I am kind of pessimistic. I don’t think the blogs have much influence with voters, only with other bloggers and maybe some print journalists. And I don’t think that many people are reading the paper anymore.
It will be an interesting campaign. I just hope it is not another DeSantis campaign, where the high road is taken and only the University crowd votes for our guy.