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.