posted by Mike Madison at 8:08 AM /
Four new faces on the Mt. Lebanon School Board. Three new Commissioners.
Is there a message here? Not? What does it mean?
Is there a message here? Not? What does it mean?
Labels: the future of Mt. Lebanon
46 Comments:
Mike -- I don't think there's any message in the commissioner elections considering that all 3 positions were available because the incumbents decided not to run (Mulvihill/Humphreys) and the other decided to run for another office (Logan).
Now the school board? That's a whole other situation! :)
In an earlier posting re: the mailers against the school board incumbents, there was a comment about the costs. Does anyone know how much candidates for all the local offices spent on their races or is there a way to find this out? Thanks!
Gina,
Candidates and PACs are required to file documents with the County Elections Office on the 6th floor of the County Office Building. Anyone can go up there and ask for a copy of the information.
Updated information is required to be filed by December 6th (30 days post election). If you head up there anytime after that date you should see all the financial information you want.
As for the election, I am very excited to see what happens. All three new commissioners are great people and I believe they absolutely have the best interests of Mt Lebanon in mind.
James
James -- do you know if this information is only available in person at the office you mentioned or if it will be published on the county web site somewhere? I think it would be good for the readers of this blog to know how much money was spent by each of the candidates in all of the races.
Local elections like School Board/Commission have fund raising information available only in person from what I understand. In larger races (State and Federal elections), there is a website that posts information about fund raising.
The statewide site can be found here:
http://www.campaignfinance.state.pa.us/CFHome.aspx
Federal data is here:
http://www.fec.gov/disclosure.shtml
James
I think Mt. Lebanon will be well-served by all who were elected Tuesday. Some new ideas and new energy are a good thing.
I am curious as to why people would be concerned with how much someone spends on a local election?
It doesn't seem that any of the candidates did anything out of the ordinary or over the top.
Lincoln Mom
Lincoln Mom -- we won't know if anyone did anything over the top or out of the ordinary unless we see what they spent! It's a matter of public record, so I think it's perfectly fine to investigate and/or ask what was spent.
I'm inclined to agree with Lincoln Mom. I don't recall anyone doing anything out of the ordinary from a campaigning standpoint. As best I could tell, most candidates had the same number of yards signs and most had websites. I know that some candidates had a few catered Meet & Greets within their Ward and bought some ice cream cones at Scoops, but its not like anyone was running TV commercials or buying radio spots.
Let's face it - campaigning is really nothing more than advertising, and the purpose of advertising is to get someone to buy your product. People can't buy your product (or in this case, vote for you) if they don't know what (or who) it is.
I have no problem with a candidate who feels strongly enough about a race to either raise money or contribute his/her own to help spread the word.
Plus, in municipal races that are decided by a couple hundred votes from your neighbors, there's still no substitute for knocking on doors . And last I checked, that's still free.
I suppose my greatest frustration is - and always will be - the limited number of people who actually turn out to vote. The good people of Mt. Lebanon are well educated and informed folks, yet the overwhelming majority still do not take part in the election process. According to the Allegheny County statistics, there are a total of 15,348 registered voters in Wards 1, 3 and 5 (the 3 Wards that had Commission races this year). However, only 4,917 total ballots were cast in those races.
Specifically, only 35% of the registered voters voted in the Commissioner's race in Ward 1, 33% in Ward 3 and 28% in Ward 5. In one Ward 5 district with 441 registered voters, only 87 people bothered to vote for the next Commissioner - a whopping 19%!
Stated differently, 65% of the registered voters in Ward 1, 67% of the registered voters in Ward 3 and 72% of the registered voters in Ward 5 have no business complaining about the taxes they pay, the services they receive or the overall quality of their government.
I agree with Dave F. regarding the poor turnout of voters. There is a lot of apathy regarding issues and candidates.
However, I disagree about the money...There were certain candidates that had significantly more in the way of signs and mailed literature to homes. Multi-colored signs are much more costly than a two color sign...not that colors get one elected, but they are often more noticeable.
Money affords you the ability to send more information by way of the postal system as well. Campaign mailings are VERY expensive. Once again, it is more costly to send a multi-colored postcard or brochure...add a picture and it's VERY expensive. Those things do get noticed by voters whether we would like to believe it or not.
To Dave's point, door knocking is free and effective...the problem is our voters often either don't go to the polls and vote or do so without truly being informed.
The mailing about the incumbent school board members really bothers me because it contained a lie regarding the building of a new high school. Those board members have repeatedly stated and written (on web sites) that they have made NO decision regarding the high school. Some anonymous group or "committee", with plenty of money, was able to write and send that out and effect voters...this is where money does play a role.
I stopped by the County Elections office yesterday and was able to find out the following information about the spending on the commissioners' races. They told me this was the last report before the election:
Bonnie Van Kirk -- $7,235.09
Dan Miller -- $5,632.80
Andy Reinhart -- $5,218.48
Joe DeIuliis -- $4,409.76
Bill Hoon -- $1,200.00
D. Raja -- $35,815.76
I also asked about looking at the school board spending but they were extremely busy with the post-election reports and asked me if I could stop back early next week to find out that data. I will stop by again and will report those numbers as soon as I get them.
As the Treasurer of The Blue Ribbon Team and wife of Ed Kubit I can tell you that we ran a very conservative campaign. We spent approximately $10-11,000 for the whole campaign. About 90% of that came from donations from friends and family. It is expensive to run a campaign and we were newcomers to this. As Dave F. pointed out - our best method of reaching voters was the free one - knocking on doors and being out in public. Ed and James spent MANY hours walking through neighborhoods introducing themselves to the community. And personally, I want to thank the community who elected them.
Is there something wrong when one candidate spends more than all the other candidates combined? It strikes me that there is.
Door knocking is effective, but time consuming. It helps if you pay people to door knock.
Fliers can be designed by professional political designers.
Election issues can be created by professional political strategists.
Money can make a difference.
BTW: I'm always suspicious when some one says that they're going to do more with less. Don't tell me that you're going to cut taxes. Tell me where you will spend less and what you expect to happen.
Freedom to spend money as you wish in a campaign is one thing, but I think it is remarkable that the winning candidate in Ward 1 spent roughly $35.50 per vote.
Yes, anyone can spend what they want, but at some point, when you spend that kind of money it changes the nature of the race. It's no longer about your constituency's best interest, but about the interests of the people who gave the most money. Door to door is still the key, but if two candidates are equal on that score, the one with the most money will win 9 out of 10 times.
The $10-$11,000 spent by Kubit and Fraasch would seem to match the averages of the commission candidates on a per candidate basis (excluding Raja as the outlier).
There isn't really anything we can or should do about how much candidates want to spend to win a commission seat. But as a community we should be asking, "Why would someone want to spend that kind of money relative to their peers?"
Oh My Goodness!
When someone told me the number was approaching $50,000 I thought they were nuts. Seems they were right.
As I’ve said before on this Blog, I didn’t notice anything different about Raja’s campaign vs. Bonnie Van Kirk’s. I received the same number of colorful mailings, and saw the same number of signs. So I’m not here to judge whether he got what he paid for. However, I'm shocked, confused and troubled by the reactions to Raja's campaign expenditures.
First, please allow me to point out that based upon these numbers Dan Miller spent about 5 times as much as Bill Hoon, but no one is criticizing his spending. I would also point out that based upon these numbers Andy Reinhart out spent Joe DeIulius and lost. I’m sure Andy would be bummed to hear that he’s the poor guy that lost the one time in ten as suggested by Tim. And I’d venture a guess that most of the money that Raja spent came out of his own pocket, and not a horde of special interest groups. And one more thing, Raja didn’t spend $35 per vote, he spent about $6 trying to get the word out to *each registered voter* in Ward 1. You don’t campaign to the people who vote, you campaign to everyone. Unfortunately, only about 35% of them elected to exercise their right to vote.
Why is it that Raja’s spending is deemed to be “wrong“ or “nuts“? Why do people believe that Raja only won because he spent more money? Perhaps, just perhaps, he knocked on more doors. Or perhaps, just perhaps, he was viewed as being more qualified.
Why is it considered improper or inappropriate to spend this amount of money for the Commissioner’s race? Why is that we are upset, instead of satisfied, that one of our Commissioners wanted the job so badly that he went to such a level to try and win?
Personally, I’m rather pleased that Raja believed in himself, the position and Mt. Lebanon enough to want to spent such a considerable amount (probably of his own money) on his campaign.
For heavens sakes folks, we have a PR person on the municipal staff who makes over $80,000 a year! Our proposed budget is almost $45 million! Commissioners cast votes that greatly impact people’s lives - just ask the two good, hardworking people who are slated to lose their jobs under the new budget. The amount of one of the single biggest checks we all write each year is determined by the Commissioners. In that regard, the ability of some of our senior residents to keep their homes is directly impacted by the decisions these people make. Make no mistake about it, this is an important position.
In my opinion, the Commissioners collectively have a greater and more direct impact on our individual lives than our State Reps.
Is $35,000 really too much to spend to try and gain this important position?
Yes.
Dave F- The answer to your question is yes, $35,000 is too much money for someone to spend on a commissioner race.
And we don't yet know how much money he ended up spending! Does it mean that he is a bad person for it? No. But I agree with Tim- the real question is why would one candidate spend more than all other commission candidates combined? He even spent over 3x as much as 2 school board candidates and they ran in a district 5x the size of his?!? Just doesn't add up... I wonder if the answer to this question is the reason that he ducked answering whether he would fulfill his 4 year term when his opponenet promised to do so at the PTA candidate forum.
John F.
Dave:
It isn't just that he spent $35k on the campaign - it is the fact that much of that went to a high priced PR firm that does political consulting for statewide candidates. This is unheard of for a municipal race. That's like offering $20,000 to buy a $3,000 car! And you can honestly say this doesn't make you at least raise your eyebrows?
BTW, the figures from Joe were submitted by the end of October. You can bet that more money was spent in the last week of the campaign so $35,000 is probably undershooting a bit.
Raja did in fact send out many more mailings than the VanKirk campaign- glossy mailers, postcards, etc...all cost money.
The impact of the school board is much greater with respect to taxes (i.e., municipal v. school taxes are not even close) and none of those folks spent $35k and they ran Mt. Lebanon-wide.
Would you feel the same if Raja turned around and ran for a higher office in January of 2008? Wouldn't this demonstrate that it had nothing to do with a commitment to this municipal office and/or Mt. Lebanon? He ducked this question in the forum. Certainly if he decides to use this race as a stepping stone to some other office, then he ran under false pretenses and sold the good folks of the first ward a bill of goods.
You may think this is okay Dave, but I want representation and I really question Raja's motives when I see outlandish spending like that. Basically I begin to believe it's about him and not about us.
Relative to John F.'s comment - ask yourself whather Raja really wanted the job or valued the position in about 4 months or so.
I guess I'm the one guy in the 1st Ward who wasn't clued into to Raja's career plans.
So you say he's using his seat on the Board of Commissioners as a stepping stone to higher political office? Wait a minute - isn't that what a lot of good elected officials do? For example, I'm sure Matt Smith has higher goals and aspirations that can best be obtained with his current stop as a State Rep. Should I be worried about his motives too?
Do you know for a fact that Dan Miller and Andy Reinhart didn't have higher political aspirations when they entered the race?
Does having such a plan make someone a bad leader while in office? Does it make his work in office any less important? Does it make him any less qualified?
If that's Raja's aspiration, so be it. Good for him - you gotta have goals. If he and as best I can tell, he's been wildly successful in his professional life already. Perhaps he's ready for something new - and public service is certainly a noble pursuit. If he wants to pay for the PR machine to guide him, so be it. (Personally, as a resident of the 1st Ward I certainly didn't see the results of this additional labor and expense. I received one mailer from each candidate.)
So why is having a "personal political plan" such a negative? Or is it a only negative because Raja's a Republican and the current State Rep is a Democrat?
I suppose what I find to be most unusual though is that Raja is being attacked more or less on the basis of how much money he spent. No one has suggested that he is unqualified.
And please help me identify the "evildoer threshold". If a candidate spends $25,000 does he have impure motives? How about $20,000? $15,000? What is an appropriate amount in your minds? If I spend 2x, 3x or 4x more than my opponent, am I automatically deemed to be nuts, wrong or trying to pull a fast one?
Mt. Lebanon spends close to $500,000 per year on *publicity,* and almost no one on this blog bats an eye. Yet $35k is too much to spend on a Commissioner's race?
I agree with Dave F.
The problem here isn't that Raja seems to care too much. Given the low turnout at the election, the problem -- if there is one -- is that too many Lebo voters care too little.
Dave F-
I asked a retiring commissioner how much the typical Commission race cost and they said around $5k. I am concerned that Rajas radical spending will have a trickle down effect. You basically need to have millions of dollars to run for Congress and I wonder if the average concerned citizen will now need $100k to run for a community level position. If that happens we will have to endure endless fundraisers or just lose another office to the millionaires-only club.
If Raja decides to run for something else after his 4 year term I dont have a problem with that. If his $35,000 PR job was to merely inudate teh are with his nsme to run for something else next year then he clearly misled the residents of the 1st ward.
For the record, I live in the 4th ward and I have found Dale Colby to be very forthright and clear with his intentions. I appreciate that.
John F.
I would have to agree with an earlier comment by Tim. At some point, the race changes from serving the constituents to serving one's special interests and contributors. I would hope that someone on the state level would consider taking the issue of campaign finance reform on. Currently there are no spending restrictions on state or local races but maybe it's time for that to change so that everyone can afford the opportunity to hold public office. Spending this kind of money is a disincentive for people considering running for office. Most people who would make excellent public servants either don't have the personal finances or contacts to spend the kind of money that was used for the Ward 1 race. Also, using one's political office to get to another is not unusual. When one does get elected,however, I view it as an unofficial contract between a representative and his/her constituents that they will serve the full term for which they were elected. Finally, just as an aside, I received many more mailers from Raja (I stopped counting after 6) than from the Van Kirk campaign (somewhere around 3).
Dave,
I think you are deliberately missing the point. Raja spent $35,000+ to win a job that pays $6,000, but would not be honest about his real intentions--running for higher office. I find that dishonest and misleading. If he wasn't interested in being 1st Ward Commissioner, then he shouldn't have run. Let someone else take it who has the constituency's best interests at heart.
If instead, as you stated he aspires to run for State Rep, then he simply used this race and the voters of the 1st Ward as a big publicity stunt. If you combine that with hiring a PR firm and spending $35k on a race, it certainly does begin to look like we in the 1st Ward were just part of his marketing plan. If he wants higher office he should be honest about that rather than making us a resume-builder.
I don't find that shrewd, I find it misleading and irresponsible.
Will Matt Smith or Dan Miller run for higher office someday? Probably. But I'm sure they will also serve their full terms and serve the constituencies that elect them. Both of them have strong records of public service.
Wait a second. I see a few people are saying that Raja 'ducked' a question at the debate. Were you at the debate? If you were, then you would know that the question was NEVER ASKED during the debate.
At the very end of the debate the moderator made the comment that 'here are a number of questions that were written by the audience that we DO NOT HAVE TIME TO ASK'. One of those questions was about serving the entire term.
As far as the money goes, it probably costs a lot of money to hire a PR firm to help with a campaign. Personally, if someone wants to invest and has that kind of money then I would view it as a positive. No laws were broken. He just wanted to make sure he won so he spent some of his own money and appears to have hired a very good PR firm.
Please, stop saying the man ducked a question at the debate that was never asked. That, to me, is more appalling than someone using a commissioner seat as a stepping stone to a possible higher office down the road.
*CitizenA*
Well if Matt Smith runs for anything but reelection as state rep in 2008, that would not be right. I know he made a commitment to serving his full term of two years and not running for another job before his term is up. Dave, would your opinion of Mr. Raja change if he starts circulating petitions to run against Senator Pippy, Congressman Murphy, or Rep Smith TWO WEEKS after he is sworn in as a Mt Lebanon Commissioner??
John F.
First, for all of you conspiracy theorists out there, I am not in the Raja camp, so to speak, so please do not think that I have some special interest in defending him on these issues. In fact, I was an undecided Ward 1 voter in the weeks leading up to the election, and I was rather vocal about the lack of attention that I perceived the candidates were giving to the race. So, I guess the big bucks were wasted on me. I also don’t have the direct line in to Raja’s brain (as it seems several of you do) to know what his long (or even short) terms political goals may be.
How does someone throw out a label like "radical spending" without any knowledge as to what Raja actually spent his money on? What if he spent it on a PR or campaign consultant who did nothing more than suggest to Raja how he should approach/manage his campaign? That sort of spending would have no direct connection to any voter. Are you suggesting that Raja (or any first time candidate) shouldn't be able to educate himself on how to best run a campaign? Raja’s willingness to pay for professional campaign advice does not, by itself, sway a single voter.
Special interest groups? Please identify for me a special interest group (aside from the Dem/Rep committees) that would benefit from trying to influence a single Mt. Lebanon commissioner's race. Do our commissioners now have the ability to affect gun control laws, environmental resources or abortion rights? Or is there a Water Park Lobby out there that I'm not aware of that is pushing hard for an over the top new pool? And if there is, why in the world would they only pour their money into Raja's campaign? Why not the other races - they’re all going to have the same ability to influence the outcome of such an issue. Come to think of it, why would a special interest group have chosen to get involved in the Ward 1 race at all? By all accounts, there was no clear cut favorite so any special interest money spent on Raja could just have easily been lost in a race ultimately decided by less than 200 votes.
Heck, why would a special interest group back a Republican in Mt. Lebanon? Haven’t we been told time and time again that Ds now outnumber Rs in Mt. Lebanon? To further complicate it, the current Ward 1 commissioner is a Democrat. Sure seems like a risky race to pump special interest money into if you ask me.
Similarly, how can you accuse Raja of playing favorites with contributors without knowing where he received his money? I’m somewhat comfortable in predicting that a campaign finance report would reveal that Raja’s largest contributor was Raja himself. I doubt he received big checks from the NRA, the FOP or the Steelworkers. And again, why stop with the Ward 1 race? It looks like Bill Hoon (also a Republican) could have used some big help in Ward 5 from those looking to buy a seat on the Commission.
I also don’t believe that Raja’s willingness to spend his own money creates a slippery slope for future elections. All of the other winners in both the Commission and School Board races (including the comments that they have made on this Blog) are evidence of that. In the end, when less than 2,000 people vote, getting out and meeting Joe Voter (in your own backyard) is still the clear cut difference maker.
A publicity stunt? Tim, based upon your logic, it would be almost impossible to vote for someone in any election. Should all of the current U.S. Senators that are involved in the 2008 Presidential Race be labeled as dishonest or irresponsible? If so, don’t even think about voting for that dishonest Hillary Clinton - she still has 5 more years left on her term. Stay away from the irresponsible Barack Obama - he still has 3 years left on his term.
Should I also assume that you abstained from voting in the County Executive race because Dan Onorato ran unopposed and it has been well-documented that he may run for Governor? Do you need to be out of politics all together to run for office? Our current Ward 1 Commissioner has made no secret about her desire to sell her house for the right price and move out of state to be closer to her family, but yet she just ran for County Council. Was that a fraud too? And perhaps since a seat on County Council only pays about $9,000 should we assume - using Tim’s logic - that all of those folks are in it for the wrong reasons or campaigned under false pretenses?
How does his aspiring to a higher office (if that’s truly the case) lead to your conclusion that Raja is not qualified to be a Commissioner? How does it lead to the conclusion that he does not have our best interests at heart? And please let me know how it is irresponsible? Please ease up on the holier than thou stuff and give me details.
My interest is simply that Raja be the best damn Commissioner he can be while he’s in office - whether that’s 2 years, 4 years or 6 months. If he accomplishes that goal, what’s the harm to any of us? I will demand the same from the person who takes his place. If Raja is a lousy Commissioner, he’ll hear it from me (and others) and it certainly will do nothing to advance his political career.
Lastly, I agree completely with Mike. Don’t blame Raja for wanting it too much. Blame your neighbors for not caring. The 65% of the voters in Ward 1 who chose not to vote were not denied access to the polls because Raja spent more money. Who knows if the race would have been different, but when only 1 out of 3 registered voters shows up, it’s pretty hard label Raja as the bad guy.
If I understand you correctly, you are saying that Raja needed to spend $35k to educate himself on how to run. Either running for local office has become much more difficult or you have a very low opinion of Mr. Raja's ability. None of the other 5 candidates for Commission needed $35k to figure out how to door knock and send mail (and I dont think they ran for office before either!).
This brings us back to the main question- why did he need to spend it? To ease your sensitivity let me be clear that I have nothing against him and never met the man. But anytime I see a massive jump in campaign spending (which I consider $35k to be radical) it concerns me as a possible shfit in priorities and an attack on the integrity of the process.
And by the way, lost in your diatribe is a direct answer to my question. Would your opinion change if Mr. Raja turns around two weeks after becoming your Commissioner and run for something else? I am interested to know your answer.
John F.
I have read all postings and it seems to me that there is an easy balance. Let me add a disclaimer - I live in the First Ward and supported Raja, told my neighbors to vote for him, and met him at my door. As for the money, who cares what a candidate spends? Is $35K over the top? Probably, but it isn't my money. Hopefully, he will watch our tax dollars with more scrutiny.
As for the higher ambition question, I have to admit I am more troubled and I think we can all find common ground on this part of the discussion. I assume that even Dave F would agree that it would be wrong for a candidate to circulate petitions to run for another office TWO WEEKS after being sworn into office. Onorato, H. Clinton, Obama, and any of the other "examples" cited by Dave F are totally distinguishable from this timeframe in that they either served full terms or at least more than half of their initial terms. I also note that Dave F never responded to John F's question. That to me is the big issue. If he does run against Sen. Pippy, Congressman Murphy, or Rep. Smith and STARTS doing it in mid-January, then yes that is wrong and I will feel "shocked, confused, and troubled" (to use Dave F's words) and throw in offended and used to use my own words. I told my neighbors to vote for Raja because I believed (and still believe) that he wanted to be First Ward Commissioner for a four year term (at least that is what he told me). There is a simple solution to this folks - Raja please weigh in on this issue and let us know you will serve a full term. If you won't, then I must admit I erred on Tuesday and in the weeks prior by talking to my neighbors about Raja.
Tim A
Relax John F., your question came after my "diatribe" was posted. Remember, this isn't real time. I'm happy to answer it.
This would not change my opinion at all. I did not vote for Raja because of any full-term commitment. Frankly, I never thought to ask the question. Would I be a bit surprised, sure. That's only natural. However, I voted for Raja because, in my opinion, he was the best option on the ballot. That's true whether he serves for one year or for his full term. And unlike you (and probably others), I developed my opinion AFTER I met the man and not on the basis of his campaign budget or someone's *belief* that he may leave.
Like I said, I'm only interested in what a Commissioner does while in office. I can't control how long anyone chooses to stay in office, nor do I demand the right to know.
Now its my turn: will you (and the other bashers) come back in a year or so to apologize when Raja is still in office? I think he'd certainly be entitled to an apology, especially from those who questioned his honesty and integrity without ever making an attempt to meet the man.
Trying to boil down Raja's victory as a function of "outspending" is crazy.
Let me keep it simple...Raja could have spent $150,000 on his campaign and if his platform and flyers were as lame as Van Kirks "I am for taking care of the police and firemen and slowing down traffic on our streets".....he would have lost.
Listen...do I think that turning Mt. Lebo into a "wireless community" and attracting CMU IT start ups to Washington Rd is ambitious...you bet but we gotta start somewhere. Van Kirk represented the "same old same old" the Steel Mills are not coming back we have to try new things and reinvent ourselves. CMU is the #1 or #2 Computer Science school in the world...we should do everything we can to attract IT companies and residents.
I agree with Dave F...the real bummer is the lack of turnout.
Great string
To Dave F: I am not a "basher" as you say. In fact, as noted, I supported and voted for Raja. With that in mind, I don't know how anyone with a straight face can say it is okay for a new Commissioner to be sworn in around mid-January and start running for another office in mid-January without putting in any time as a Commissioner. That to me is not a party issue (I am a Republican), but an intergrity, honesty, and good government issue. To run for one office, but really look to another office almost contemporaneously strikes me as a very suspect approach. I will be very happy and quite frankly expect Raja to be in office as my First Ward Commissioner in one year time. If not, as I said, I was duped.
Dave F,
Remember, politics isn't personal. I hope Raja does a great job. As I stated earlier, I hope this race doesn't scare off people who may have considered a run in public service but who are not wealthy.
Well Dave you sort of answered my question and that's fair enough. I went to the debate but did not approach Raja since he is not a candidate for my ward- which I already told you. Can you honestly say that you personally met all the Commission candidates regardless of the ward they are from?
It's funny to me how you have done your best to answer a question that only he can truthfully answer. You decided to interject and reprimand those who questioned why anyone in their right mind would spend $35k (so far) on a Commission race. Whether intentionally or not you have thrown out a series of related and unrelated issues perhaps in an effort to make people forget what the original question was. Your reaction seems like blind fanatical support to me, but perhaps I am not as trusting of elected officials as you are...
While it amazes me that you wouldn't be upset if he dumped your ward next year- the answer to your question is that I wouldn't apologize to Raja for questioning anything. Such scrutiny is part of public life and I don't think anyone has crossed a line. As I stated before I have nothing against him. Isn't the whole point of a community blog to share questions and ideas with each other? I still hope that he decides to answer for himself on this. He has posted to this blog before. Regardless I think that you and I have exhausted the issue. Perhaps on another issue we can find some common ground.
John F.
The $35,000 spend (maybe $50,000) by the time final reports are in, is ridiculous, just as the 20% tax cut plan may be. From the Raja's website: Cut Taxes While Improving Services: ... through increased tax revenue, eliminating any duplication of services and cooperating with the school district and neighboring municipalities.
Taking these in reverse - Contrary to popular belief, the folks at 710 Washington Road are not asleep at the wheel - They do cooperate with the School District, Commonwealth and surrounding Communities for services and bulk purchasing arrangements via SHACOG (South Hills Council of Governments) and other initiatives. There is more that can be done - but the low hanging fruit has been picked.
Regarding cutting taxes - let's assume Raja is referring to property taxes alone. The 2008 budget has something over $10MM in Real Estate tax revenue. A 20% cut in property tax rates must be replaced with incremental wage tax revenue of just over $2MM.
At a municipal 0.8% wage tax rate and assumed average household income of $100,000 - this requires an increase of 2,000 households with $100K annual taxable wages. This means turning over 20% of MTL households. And remember these must be “net new” wage $$ - every existing wage earner that moves must also be replaced. If Raja also wants to cut the wage tax rate, we will need more than 2,000 new $100K income households.
Monday night the MTL Commission will hold a Public Hearing on the 2008 budget. I expect Commissioner-elect Raja will present his concrete plan to accomplish his tax cut. Hopefully Raja will bring a PowerPoint presentation on his flash drive. The audience will be able to follow along and afterward it can be published on Blog-Lebo.
So I'm a bit lost as to what is being argued.
Raja's future plans?
Or his ability to judge what is fiscally responsible in a campaign? The latter question would be more fun to answer if he'd lost. Let's hope he's not excluding even more people from public office who view his largess as the entry level to public service.
So was his $35K spent in Mt. Lebo where it benefitted the local business? Or was it spent externally in other municipalities?
It seems to me that while the race is behind us there are questions before us as to holding people accountable for the office they've won. I believe Tim A suggested that Raja should be watched for more fiscal responsibility with our tax dollars than his own funds. I think that responsibility is up to all of us. Too many people become disengaged after the election is over.
Let's take a look at what each of the candidates brings to the table and what they've done for our community already. In that regard the picks on Bonnie were unwarranted. She has a history of service to the Mt. Lebanon Community that exceeds Raja's. But he's in the seat now. It will be an opportunity to demonstrate what he can do for the community and what he was investing in during the election.
I expect to see all of you in the sunshine meetings before the council meeting Monday. Let's see just how engaged you really are and to what degree you follow the candidates once the fun and frolic of the election is over.
It will also be nice to remove the anonymity of the blog. :-)
Dave F, Lincoln Mom, James, Foster Mom et al... Say Hi. We're all inn this together now. The candidates may have won in their party but they represent everyone in their ward now.
Bob Lee
Thought we should also consider the impact of the Raja plan on the School District. The equivalent incremental (net new) wage tax revenue for MTLSD would be about $1.25MM based on the 0.5% wage tax. But before you look for a tax cut on this side your tax bill. Consider the rest of the story.
If each new $100K household has (on average) one school age child, that is an additional 2,000 new children for the schools. This is about a 35% increase to our current 5,400 student enrollment. The current cost per student according the District is $13,145. At this rate, the school budget would grow by $26,290,000.
Now certainly there would be some economies of adding an additional 2,000 students. Maybe the budget only grows +/- $20MM? This still results in a net tax increase of +/- $1,500 to each and every MTL household after considering the savings at the Municipality.
I went to the sunshine meeting and the board meeting yesterday. As best I could tell, I'm one of about 2 people (other than municpal staff) who stayed for both sessions. One vocal commenter on this Blog was second to speak. He spoke in (what I think was) support for the proposed budget, and then ran out.
I did not recognize any other names from this Blog among the speakers last night - but then again many are still anonymous.
Suprisingly, the overwhelming majority of thos in attendance spoke out against the proposed layoff of the ice rink manager who has held that job for some 20 years. They seemed to have some valid personnel and business reasons for keeping him.
A couple folks spoke up on the proposed pool, and a couple more spoke out against the lack of Parking Authority consoilidation in the budget. A MtL police officer suggested we need more officers on the beat.
That was pretty much it. From a $45 million budget, the vocal people of Lebo only found fault with those items. I suppose the Manager did a pretty good job then. However, I'm inclined to believe that only about 5% of our residents have actually read the proposed budget.
I would encourage you to take a look at it. It's more than just numbers, and it actually provides an excellent window into what it takes to run this community and how much it all costs.
There's one more public comment session left, so if you care as deeply as you seem to on this Blog (and there are things that bother you about the budget), this is the time to express your concerns.
PS: Raja was in attendance, but it seemed that the only person interested in introducing themself was a reporter. I'm sure he would have been happy to meet you all.
My apologies for "running out" of the Commission meeting, but I wanted to get to the School Board meeting at the High School. It is hard when both meetings are on the same night.
As far as the budget goes: Yes I am in support of the budget, I certainly could move some pieces around more to my liking, but this is a Community Budget and it is OK.
There are some procedural items that need addressed in executing the budget - but that is work for the new Commission to take up in 2008.
I also told the Commission last night, that while my personal tax bill has gone up quite a bit since 1991 when my wife and I married and bought our first house in MTL - I still think the Municipality is a good value. The Municipality is far from perfect - - - However, it is our choice and pleasure to live in Mt. Lebanon.
Bill, we agree on that.
Dave F,
Are you the guy who spoke at both the IDA and the regular meeting?
My wife and I were there at both meetings. It's nice to put a face with the login and I think that if I've put a face with the right login then I liked your idea about consolidating the Parking authority. I don't think things like this happen without someone offering a plausible explaination for why. Can anyone shed some light on why the parking authority became thier own entity?
I did introduce myself to Raja after the meeting. I was the guy lurking over him while he was being interviewed. He seems to have a very energetic plan for downtown. I'm not sure who's going to pay for the plans but it will make for interesting debate.
Bob Lee
Sorry to disappoint Bob, but that wasn't me. That was a different Dave. He is far more knowledgeable and active in the community than I am, and he regularly attends the Commission meetings, as well as the meetings of the other boards and authorities. Not sure if he reads the blog or not.
Seems odd to me that the outgoing School Board is holding a vote tonight to hire the architect for the high school project.
Can't this be put off to allow for newly elected members of the Board to vote for the architect THEY want to work with during their term? Why does the outgoing Board feel the need to put this up for vote as the last thing they do on the way out the door?
I will reach out to who I can that has just been elected and see what they think. I would urge others to consider asking themselves why this vote would be taking place at this juncture.
*CitizenA*
CitizenA, I hope that you will go to the meeting and ask the current board members this very question. It is a good one, but if it is only asked on Blog-Lebo it does no good. The re-organization meeting, which seats the new directors is in less than a month, and certainly this matter can wait until then!
I'm a long time friend of Raja and a first term elected City Councilman from "across the aisle" in McKeesport.
I find many of the postings on this blog humorous at best and politically motivated at their roots.
I personally don't think Raja needed to spend the money he did on a consultant.
With the work ethic he displayed and the number of doors he knocked on, more than just once, he'd have won without it. He could have saved HIS MONEY for a later race, if he ever decides to go that route.
Raja makes your local elected officials at all levels nervous because he should.
He is intelligent, personable, self made, hard working and reasonably well off. These are qualities you rarely find in most elected officials and lifelong political hacks.
I know personally from a recent conversation that all he is interested at the moment politically is doing a great job for the good folks of Mt. Lebanon.
I suspect he will.
If he has further politcal ambitions, I can't say. I think he wants to work at the municipality level to see if this sort of work is a good fit for him.
Most successful people are ambitious. Now this is a character flaw in Mt. Lebanon?
As to the "anonymous" posters out there... Get a Life!
If you are going to bash someone, at least have the courage to sign your name.
Nobody ever built a statue of a critic or a coward.
You couldn't beat Raja at the polls so you try to beat him in cyberspace.
Good Luck.
You don't know Raja!
I personally took on the machine in McKeesport and won. I took all the same type of arrows now cast at my friend Raja and worse.
It was worth all of that to have EARNED a seat at the table and a chance to make a difference for the community I love.
I want to leave a positive legacy here so that my kids can inherit a better hometown that I was handed. Wish me luck here and give Raja a chance there.
I've posted about my friend yesterday at www.paulshelly.com if you want to know more of the real story.
Now if I could just get Raja to join the right party.... :)
Peace.
Paul Shelly, Democrat
McKeesport City Council
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