Just for Fun at Blog Lebo

What should we call residents of Mt. Lebanon?
	Mt. Lebanese
	Lebonians
	Mt. Lebanites
	Leboites
	Lebonites
	Lebonists
	Leboists
pollcode.com free polls

[This is an updated poll, which adds the option offered by the first commenter to the six options offered originally. Apologies to the first 4 voters; please come back and vote again!]

Update on Russian Immigrants in Mt. Lebanon

On a hot afternoon earlier this week, two families sit on the front steps of their brick apartment building on McFarland Road in Mt. Lebanon to escape the summer heat inside.

It's a slice of Americana that is repeated over and over and up and down this street and streets everywhere in the summer. But, it's a new one for these families, who immigrated here from Russia a little more than four months ago.

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07179/797633-55.stm

Lebo's Loss, NA's Gain

A former Mt. Lebanon School District administrator has been named principal at North Allegheny Intermediate High School.

Brendan J. Hyland was appointed to the position by the school board June 20. Mr. Hyland will earn an annual salary of $98,500, prorated due to date of hire, which will be determined upon his release by Mt. Lebanon.

Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/07179/797624-54.stm

Commonwealth Financing Authority and Washington Park

The office of Governor Edward G. Rendell this week said that millions of dollars of tax guarantees will allow communities, such as Mt. Lebanon, to develop new housing, retail and recreation areas on abandoned and undeveloped sites.

The guarantees, part of what's called a tax increment financing district, are created when a municipality determines it wants to use a parcel of land -- primarily a brownfield site -- for economic development. After members of the community, the local redevelopment authority and the school district determine how to use the land, a forecast of how much tax revenue the site can generate is developed. That forecast is then used to calculate the bond amount the district can issue for development.

Link: www.postgazette.com/pg/07179/797620-55.stm

MLSD Administration & Staff Given Raises

The Mt. Lebanon school board approved raises averaging 2.64 percent for administrators last week, with six administrators earning salaries over $100,000.

The highest paid of the administrators whose raises were approved by the board was that of Assistant Superintendent Deborah Allen, who will earn $120,997.

Dr. Allen is followed in the list by Finance Director Jan Klein, with a salary of $119,368, and Markham Elementary Principal Robert Mallery, who will be paid $104,788.

Link: www.postgazette.com/pg/07179/797661-55.stm

Departments To Present Wish Lists To Commissioners

Tis' that season again--budget season--and Mt. Lebanon municipal department heads recently presented their wish lists to the board of commissioners.

The staff members summarized the levels of service their departments currently provide and the ways they would like to expand services in the coming year. It is the traditional 'kickoff" for the budgeting process explained Steven Feller, Mt. Lebanon manager.

Link: www.thealmanac.net/ALM/Story/ML_budget_discussion

Hidden Mt. Lebanon, Chapter One

A friend of mine, who used to live in the City of Pittsburgh, bought a house in Mt. Lebanon a couple of years ago. Now he's selling and moving back. Why? It's not the taxes, and it's not the suburban isolation, and it's not the cultural bubble that Mt. Lebanon inhabits. He's leaving because he couldn't connect with the neighbors. Mt. Lebanon is unfriendly.

Huh? That's my first reaction. But I'll add a few facts: He moved to Mt. Lebanon in anticipation of starting a family. That didn't go as planned, so he's been a single man living in a detached house. And it doesn't surprise me at all that he hasn't connected with the neighborhood or the town. Hidden Mt. Lebanon lesson number one: For all of Lebo's vaunted neighborliness, 90 percent of residents' social and community connections come via networks based on family and children. Don't have family here? Don't have children? Then you'll struggle to meet people and get connected. You may even conclude that Mt. Lebanon is unfriendly. (The 90 percent is a made-up number that stands in for "an overwhelming amount.") This is all eminently logical; the vast majority of Lebonians move here and stay here for the schools.

Even among those with kids, there is a soft (that is, permeable) barrier between insiders and outsiders. Many Lebonians grew up in Lebo and still have older generations of family in town -- making Mt. Lebanon much like the rest of Allegheny County -- so these folks have well-established social networks. Newcomers aren't unwelcome generally, but they may not be embraced. The insiders don't need to add to their networks. My friend says that no one invited him over for a visit. None of his neighbors showed up with cookies -- or even a six-pack. That's consistent with our experience: Our first friends in Mt. Lebanon were other families that moved in to the neighborhood during that same summer that we arrived. Gradually, we met many more, mostly through our kids. Over time, outsiders often become insiders.

What about the other 10 percent or so, folks in Mt. Lebanon who can't network via existing family connections, or through their kids?

One answer: Dogs. We got a dog a few years ago, and walking the dog regularly opened up a whole new window on the Mt. Lebanon world. No kids? Get a dog.

Answer two: Religious congregations play a huge role here for many people. The first question I was asked years ago by the mom of a kid on my daughter's first Lebo Cup soccer team was: So, what church did you join? This was two months after we moved to town! Religion and family overlap to a huge degree, however; here I'm pointing to congregational affiliation for people who have no other family networks locally. No kids and no dog? Find a congregation (or, no kids and no dog? -- get a congregation. Or hang out in the Public Library.)

Final answer: And then, finally, there are the young adults, like those affiliated with the Young Mt. Lebo crew, who are trying to manufacture a social scene for Generation Y in Mt. Lebanon. I wish them well and hope that their summer street party/fundraiser is a success, but they have a steep hill to climb. If they have families and congregations and dogs, the group has a future. If they have none of those things (no kids? no dogs? no congregation?), they may find themselves joining the migration back to the City.

Next, Chapter Two: Living with fear.

[Update 7/4/07: The protagonist of the anecdote that I used to begin this post weighs in with some surprising thoughts.

Hidden Mt. Lebanon

I have a series of posts on tap called "The Insider's Guide to Mt. Lebanon," modeled ever so loosley after "The Insider's Guide to the Colleges," with a dose or two of my earlier "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Mt. Lebanon School District." Because I no longer use Pittsblog's older comments system, comments to that post have been deleted. But at the time, Dan Remely, then a candidate for the MTLSD School Board, wrote a long and thoughtful partial rebuttal to the H2G2 post, which I posted in full.

Here's a taste of what's to come:

Ever so quietly and ever so gradually, Mt. Lebanon is diversifying and getting more welcoming of non-white and non-traditional families and activities. I see more Chinese families buying homes. I know gay couples here; I assume that there are lesbian couples as well. My family held a garage sale on Saturday; among the people who stopped by were the members of a large, multi-generational Mexican family. I have no idea where they live, but they were enthusiastic bargainers, which I thought was great.

My favorite among recent anecdotes is this one: The soccer field in Bird Park is now the home pitch of Pittmandu FC, an amateur adult soccer club comprised mostly of Nepalese Pittsburghers.

MTLSD Airs Edited School Board Tape

Mt. Lebanon school officials deleted portions of a heated exchange between residents and school board members from a videotape of this week's meeting before airing it on cable television.

Residents now are questioning the integrity of the school district broadcasts.

Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/southwest/s_513969.html

More Limits Sought On Sex Offenders

State, county and local legislators are examining residency restrictions aimed at keeping sexual offenders away from schools, a move Mt. Lebanon residents suggested after learning an offender lives nearby.

State Rep. Matt Smith, D-Mt. Lebanon, is a co-sponsor of House Bill 926, one of two bills in the judiciary committee that would tighten the state's Megan's Law. It would prohibit sexually violent predators who commit certain crimes on children younger than 14 from living within 11/2 miles, by road, of any public, private or parochial school that teaches children in kindergarten through elementary school. Violating it would be either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the number of violations.

Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/07172/795729-55.stm

Blog Civility

Discussions of the Mt. Lebanon School Board sometimes seem to bring out the worst in blog comments, especially among those who choose to remain anonymous. Please remember that Joe and I moderate comments. I just rejected a comment, submitted on the post regarding televising board meetings, that made a very pointed personal claim regarding a member of the School Board. Anonymity may provide a shield from retaliation (I remain skeptical of that claim, but I'll accept it for now), but anonymity should not be a sword for personal attacks.

If you want to discuss whether or not the School District should have broadcast the meeting video as a matter of course, that's fine.

If you want to discuss whether the School Board should have voted to renew the Athletic Director's contract on the cusp of a new Superintendent's assuming office, that's fine.

If you want to discuss the stresses of parenting or coaching a student athlete in a high profile, high pressure school district, that's fine.

If you want to beat up on the integrity of a member of the Board or administration, that's pushing the limits of my patience, at least if you're posting anonymously. There has been some of that here over the last few weeks, and probably a little too much. (If you hold public office or hold an appointment of public significance, you have to expect that some criticism goes with the territory.) Going forward, I'm going to review anonymous comments more carefully. I'll still approve anonymous comments, but I will be more generous with anonymous comments about policies and programs and a lot less generous with anonymous comments about character and personality. Save those for your favorite coffee shop or jogging or walking route. Comments with real names attached, on all topics, will get more generous treatment, though I'll still be reading carefully.

NHL Prospects From Lebo Probably Will Wait A Year

The NHL Entry Draft convenes tomorrow night and Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, but it appears unlikely any players from Mt. Lebanon will have their names called ... not yet.

But during next season's draft, the possibility becomes a much more likely one. And the fact the idea of two former Mt. Lebanon High School players being drafted by an NHL team is even in the realm of possibility shows how far high school hockey has come in Western Pennsylvania. And where the Blue Devils' program sits in that hierarchy.

Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/07172/795621-139.stm

Censorship by Lebo School Board?

An Anonymous commenter earlier today (Tues. 6/19) wrote:

The school board meeting wasn't shown today because Joe Rodella refused to broadcast negative comment about personnel. Now television is a cheerleading event instead of showing what happened.

Is this true? Is any part of it true? (Perhaps the school board meeting wasn't broadcast, but it was a call by the board as a whole, not by the president of the board.) If so -- if any part of it is true -- that's outrageous. The board meetings are broadcast so that the citizens of the munipality (and the folks who pay the taxes that support that schools) can see just a little bit of how the schools are run. And that opportunity gets taken away?

UPDATED 6/21 10:45 am: An anonymous commenter reports that the meeting in question was broadcast this morning on Channel 19.

Sex Offenders Could Be Banned From Living Near Schools

Several Allegheny County communities, including Ross and Mt. Lebanon, are considering ordinances prohibiting sex offenders from living near schools, but one county council member hopes to pass a uniform law for all 130 towns.

Megan's Law, which requires sex offenders and sexually violent predators to register their addresses with law enforcement, has no residency restrictions.

People from Mt. Lebanon and Ross have recently asked for the ordinances, but County Councilman Vince Gastgeb, R-Bethel Park, thinks it makes more sense to pass a single ordinance for the county.

Link: www.postgazette.com/pg/07169/795159-100.stm

New Lebo Superintendent Starts July 9

On his first day on the job, Mt. Lebanon Superintendent John R. Allison will meet the public.

His first day, July 9, is also the date of the school board's July discussion meeting. Mr. Allison said that's just fine with him since he's ready to roll up his sleeves and get down to learning the business of the district.

"My first steps really are to listen and learn," Mr. Allison said.

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07165/793802-55.stm

Use the comments to post your welcome messages to Mr. Allison. Like Frasier Crane, he's listening.

Senior Lebo Educators to Retire

At the end of the month, 108 years of experience will walk out of the door in the Mt. Lebanon School District when three elementary school principals retire.

They are: Howe Elementary Principal Kenneth Getkin, who is retiring after 35 years with the district; Foster Elementary Principial Karen Kanell, who has 39 years in Mt. Lebanon; and Lincoln Elementary Principal Larry Snyder, who has 34 years.

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07165/793800-55.stm

Added: "In addition to the elementary principals, Grant Williams, supervisor of guidance for the past 17 years, is retiring at the end of July."

Use the comments to share memories of and farewells to Mr. Getkin, Dr. Kanell, Dr. Snyder, and Mr. Williams.

Lebo Lacrosse Falls in State Final

The Mt. Lebanon High School boys' lacrosse team fell to 0-4 in state championship games after losing, 5-3, to Dowingtown East last Friday at Marple Newtown High School's stadium.

The Western Pennsylvania champions have always been considered a decided underdog to the champion from the eastern side of the state since the state playoff format began in 2000 and this year was no exception.

Nevertheless, Mt. Lebanon coach Kee Joe Song was not particularly pleased by his team's close loss. Anything short of victory is considered a disappointment by the high standards Song has set for his team.

"It's a terrible way to look at things if you are satisfied with a [close] loss," Song said. "You'll never get over the hump or take that next step in the program if that's how you view it. If we look at this as a good loss, then we'll never win that game."

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07165/793680-364.stm

Congrats Lebo Class of 2007!

Here's the commencement speech that no one asked me to give:

To the members of the Class of '07: Congratulations! Now you're on your own.

Seriously: For most of the last 12 years, you've heard your teachers and your parents telling you to do as they do and think as they think. When you're six or ten or 14 years old, that works pretty well. The best and safest way to bring up a young person in this community is to encourage them to emulate the elders in their lives. Your presence here today is testament to your success, and theirs, in pursuing that goal. Let's hear you give a round of thanks to everyone here today -- and those who can't be here with us today -- without whom your success and happiness would not be possible.

Now, however, the tables are turned. You're all about to begin lives of independence -- living away from home, most of you, for the first time. Choosing how to spend your own time. How to prioritize your interests. How to respond to trouble. How to savor success. Your family and friends will, I hope, always be there to support you when you need or want help. But from this point forward, the most important rule to follow is this one: Think for yourself.

I hope that while you were thinking like your parents and teachers these last several years, seeds of independent thought were being planted as well. I'm doing more than hoping, actually. I'm confident that those seeds are there. Those seeds have already started to sprout. And over the next several years they -- and you -- will mature. Use your time to acquire knowledge. Use your independent thinking to examine the choices you make. Are those choices the right ones for you? For those around you? Are those the right choices where you live? Where you study? Where you work? Where you play?

Do not confuse independent thinking with self-absorption. Think for yourself not just to make yourself the best person you can be, but also to make the world around you a better place. Think for those you love and for those you befriend. Think for those you serve. Think for your community and your country, for the environment and for the future of the world. When you leave this school and this place, you literally can choose the world you want to make for yourself. You have earned the power to choose. Think about that.

Let me close with something a little less heavy. Youth, they say, is wasted on the young. Don't believe that for a second. Have a blast. Knock yourself out. Get crazy. Bend the rules -- even break them once in a while. Before you know it, you may end up at a podium at a commencement, giving a speech like this one. And you may look back and wonder, when did I get so serious all of a sudden? Go find a Talking Heads song called "Once in a Lifetime" and listen to it again and again. You are the choices you make. Take advantage of your right to choose. Then no whining, and no regrets.

Go forth. Have fun. Do right. And be well.

New Lebo Eagles

Boy Scout Troop 284, based at the Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church on Washington Road, held a Court of Honor a week ago at the Unitarian Universalist Church (also on Washington Road!) to recognize the advancement to the rank of Eagle Scout of two very impressive young men: Spencer Fields (Woodhaven Drive) and Peter Scheuermann (LongueVue Drive). Spencer is going into his senior year at Mt. Lebanon; Peter will graduate tomorrow night and will attend Carleton College after spending a year in Argentina on a Rotary Foundation Scholarship.

I've known Spencer and Peter and their families for several years, since they are both neighbors and colleagues in Troop 284. No boy earns the Eagle rank without amassing a stellar record of personal development and service, but I have to say that I'm particularly impressed with these two. (Among other things, the Eagle Court of Honor was stoked to the rafters with their non-Scouting friends, which spoke volumes.) Congratulations to them, to their families, and to the Troop!

I do know that there are other BSA troops in Mt. Lebanon, and other boys in town are earning advancement to Eagle. Please send me announcements of Eagle Courts of Honor (after the fact is best), and I will post recognition of the awards here at BlogLebo. Thanks!

The Saloon Goes Online

The Saloon of Mt. Lebanon, a Washington Road institution, is now online. Check out its very nice website at http://www.thesaloonofmtlebanon.com/.

Welcome Lebo Expats!

I've noticed some Mt. Lebanon expatriates posting in the comments. Welcome to BlogLebo! Feel free to send along Lebo memories and questions about what's happening in town these days. It's always nice to hear from part of the Pittsburgh Diaspora.

Luma Goes Smoke Free

Mt. Lebanon's newest restaurant, Luma, has joined the ranks of restaurants that have voluntarily gone smoke-free. It now joins Bado's and Enotria as the only establishments in Mt. Lebanon that have banned smoking.

Link: www.thepittsburghchannel.com/food/13459994/detail.html

Link 2: SmokeFree Pennsylvania

Assessment System Thrown into Turmoil

So Judge Wettick ruled today that Allegheny County's property tax system is unconstitutional under the PA Constitution.

Discuss.

Lebo Boys Win Lacrosse Title

Robert Morris recruit Rob Marasti scored a game-high three goals, and Mt. Lebanon won its second consecutive WPSLA Divisional championship with a victory over North Allegheny at Quaker Valley.

Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/mostread/s_510766.html

Updating the Blog Lebo Blogroll

The Municipality of Mt. Lebanon has rolled out an attractive new website (go, as usual, to http://www.mtlebanon.org), and Blog Lebo is included in the site's list of Community Links. Not!

[UPDATE 6/05 at 11:35 am: I received a nice note from the Municipality letting me know that Blog Lebo has been added to the Links page, and that omitting the site in the first place was based solely on the fact that the Links were simply carried over from the old website -- where Blog Lebo didn't appear. Thanks! Mike M.]

Meanwhile, here at home I'd like to update and round out the blogroll to the right. If you live in Mt. Lebanon or run a business or organization located here, and you have a blog (personal, family, hobby, business, organization), and would like to have your blog added here, please email me (professormadison@gmail.com) or Joe.

It would be nice, too, if you included a reciprocal link back to this blog. Right now, Blog Lebo shows up in the top 10 of Google search results for "Lebo," but it doesn't show up until the top 30 of Google search results for "Mt. Lebanon." With some more links to the blog, maybe we can get the blog into the top 10 for "Mt. Lebanon," and maybe even hit number one.

In High Schools, A 'B' Is New 'C'

At high schools across the country, more and more students are graduating with grade-point averages of A, including some whose averages are well above the traditional 4.0 for an A.

Grades -- some weighted with extra points or fractions of points for taking harder courses -- are getting so high that a solid B is becoming the new C, which years ago was considered average.

Consider these examples:

At Mt. Lebanon High School, roughly 20 percent of the senior class of about 470 students have weighted grade point averages of 4.6 or higher, and averages occasionally reach as high as 5.2.

Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/07154/791202-298.stm

Illegal Workers In Mt. Lebanon?

I was reading the following article about Verizon probing whether or not their subcontractors were using illegal workers as part of their work crews. One of the more interesting statements made in the article was:

"Meanwhile, neighbors in Mt. Lebanon called police about a 13-member work crew, claiming they’re illegal. They also work for a Verizon private contractor."

What I want to know is -- what made my fellow residents believe that these people were illegal? Were they asking the crew members for their IDs? What made them call the police on the crew? I really, really hope that people didn't call the cops because of the nationality of the crew members -- because legal and illegal workers can (and do) come from all over the world.

Don't get me wrong -- if they were illegal, then they should be dealt with according to the law. I just hope that no one assumed anything when they called the police.

Link: www.kdka.com/topstories/local_story_152215126.html

If You Don't Like The Lebo News

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and lived there for many years, and one of my favorite radio news guys was Wes "Scoop" Nisker, who wrote and read "the news you can dance to." Scoop ended every update with this phrase: "If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own."

So while I've been traveling a lot over the last couple of weeks and not blogging here much, Scoop's line kept occurring to me while I read the torrent of comments that poured in recently -- especially regarding the school district's budget, the new pool, and real estate assessments. A few thoughts, and some food for news:

(1) When the real estate tax system in Allegheny County is so bizarre, it's easy to forget just what a bargain Mt. Lebanon in particular and Pittsburgh in general really are. This is a beautiful little town, with extraordinary public amenities. And compared with just about any comparable town anywhere else in the United States -- charming old housing stock, walkable leafy neighborhoods, excellent public school system, accessible if modest commercial areas, close proximity to an urban center with impressive resources -- the price of housing here is just dirt cheap. Sure, there are issues and problems in Mt. Lebanon (anyone catch or kill that dog-stomping deer yet?), but let's keep things in perspective. If you bought a 300k house here recently, you're taxed to death. But if you bought a 300k house in almost any other upscale suburb of almost any other US metro area, you just bought a garage.

(2) I was disappointed that when a neighbor named Dave Franklin popped up in the comments and posted under his own name, he was excoriated by name for the viewpoint that he expressed. I don't agree with everything that Dave wrote, but I do agree with a lot of it. Most important I genuinely appreciate his willingness to sign his own name. Whatever you think is wrong about Mt. Lebanon, anonymous commenting -- however constructive it may be -- will get you absolutely nowhere.

(3) And a lot of the anonymous commenting at BlogLebo these days isn't particularly constructive. I strongly suspect that at least some Commissioners and School Board members and even folks who work for the Municipality read this blog from time to time, but I also strongly suspect that much of the time those folks ignore what's said here. Why? Because a lot of the commenting comes across as anonymous whining. People in power, whether they are politicians or bureaucrats, respond to names and faces. I understand that some folks are afraid that the teachers will take parents' opinions out on their kids (if you can actually prove that this happened to you and your child, then you should report it -- no teachers' contract will protect that teacher from being fired). I understand that some folks are afraid that the Municipality or the county will figure out a way to punish them via the assessment process (hasn't happened to me, and I've been pretty publicly critical of almost anything that you can think of, and I don't even have any local family ties to fall back on). I've said it before: I have no plans to cut off anonymous or pseudonymous comments. But there's a difference between ranting and working for change. When you speak out, decide which approach you want to take.

(4) If you want to be constructive, what can you do? Say, for example, that you're unhappy about the gold-plated pool proposal. Or you think that the Commissioners and the members of the School Board don't coordinate what they think and do. Call them! Write them! Show up! To a person, they all seem to be pretty accessible and responsive, at least in my experience. Or if you don't have the time for that, talk to your neighbors. Make that a topic at your next block party, and gather the facts. Maybe the Commissioners and the School Board don't coordinate, maybe they coordinate more than you know. But perceptions count, too; even if the Commissioners and Board members do coordinate what they do, the fact that some sizable part of the Lebo population thinks otherwise is itself evidence of a real problem. Push that point of view. Start your own blog! Use your real name.

(5) Why oh why are Mt. Lebanon residents so afraid that our real estate market will collapse because people might choose to live in Upper St. Clair instead? I've lived here for nine years. I just don't get it. USC is a pleasant place. I have some good friends who live in USC. But no matter how funky Lebo taxes get, I have zero interest in living there.

(6) And as long as we're talking real estate taxes, there are two real problems in Mt. Lebanon: one is inequity, and two is residential/commercial balance. Most folks focus on the first, that is: I'm assessed at X while my neighbor in a comparable (or larger) house is assessed much lower. That's clearly a problem, though usually the problem is that the neighbor's assessment needs to be raised, not that your assessment needs to be lowered. Not as many people focus on the second, which is that Mt. Lebanon has a relatively small commercial real estate tax base (as well as highly heterogeneous residential housing). Find ways to improve the commercial tax base, and pressure on the residential base gets relieved. (And tax the high-end residential properties at full market value, regardless of how long their owners have lived there.) That, among other reasons, was why I was so disappointed by the decision to go forward with the Washington Park TIF, and why I'm happy that the Kossman development is finally moving forward on Castle Shannon Boulevard.

There. How was Friday's First Friday? Unfortunately, I was out of town.