Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Pittsburgh
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-12-2014, 10:36 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,297 posts, read 120,779,853 times
Reputation: 35920

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelCityRising View Post
Cut the guy a break. He has a new girlfriend, who apparently is on vacation with him. He's human with physiological, emotional, and social needs, just like the rest of us. Are mayors not allowed to take a vacation now and then?
Kind of a strange time to vacation, so shortly after assuming office, isn't it?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-13-2014, 03:56 AM
 
1,010 posts, read 1,394,755 times
Reputation: 381
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
Kind of a strange time to vacation, so shortly after assuming office, isn't it?
Especially leaving right after naming a guy to a post that oversees city finances. The guy he appointed owes 80,000 in back tax dollars. I'm sorry he doesn't get a free pass on this one. He probably left so the news of this appointment would die down.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-13-2014, 07:38 AM
 
Location: Mexican War Streets
1,584 posts, read 2,095,574 times
Reputation: 1389
Quote:
Originally Posted by zman63 View Post
Especially leaving right after naming a guy to a post that oversees city finances. The guy he appointed owes 80,000 in back tax dollars. I'm sorry he doesn't get a free pass on this one. He probably left so the news of this appointment would die down.
He's back in town now, long 5 day weekend.

His schedule is posted publicly, every day:
Office of Mayor William Peduto*·*Press Releases

Don't think there's an attempt to hide much.

As far as the OMB appointment, here's the Mayor's statement:

Quote:
I have consulted with Council President Bruce Kraus about my nomination of Ed Kiely as OMB Director. Prior to submitting the nomination to Council, Mr. Kiely will be scheduling meetings with members of council to discuss his substantial background in performance-based budgeting, and to explain the tax situation reported in the media. Mr. Kiely was forthcoming in disclosing that he is under an installment agreement with the IRS, and that while he had an unfortunate situation as the owner of a small business, he has been in compliance with tax laws. He and his family have suffered as a result of a prior business dispute, and he has worked hard to correct the situation. I encourage members of Council to consider Mr. Kiely's substantial experience in performance based budgeting and management, and to objectively evaluate his candidacy, as I have, as someone with integrity who is fully capable of serving the residents of this city.
Doesn't look to me like the Mayor was blindsided by anything but rather, in light of a full disclosure of the situation he determined Mr. Kiely as the person he wanted to appoint. He certainly hasn't done anything yet in my eyes to not be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to executive appointments.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-13-2014, 07:45 AM
 
6,601 posts, read 8,984,298 times
Reputation: 4699
Quote:
Originally Posted by zman63 View Post
I was a big supporter of peduto, but now his honeymoon is over... Where has he been the last week? Its convenient he went on vacation when he made a huge appointment blunder. The appointment of the guy who owes 80k in back taxes was a huge misstep. Especially since he is supposed to oversee city finances.
He is 38 days into a 4 year term.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-13-2014, 12:58 PM
 
7,112 posts, read 10,135,076 times
Reputation: 1781
One thing people told Fitzgerald, they wanted a system like BART for Pittsburgh i.e. "why don't we have one too?". I doubt a heavy rail system is possible but peduto seems to be on the same page

Peduto envisions rapid transit system in Pittsburgh - The Pitt News: News

Luckily the story addresses the obvious elephant the room....funding. I've been doing some traveling and I can tell you the rail to downtown link from the airport is....sweet.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-13-2014, 01:06 PM
 
Location: South Hills
632 posts, read 853,732 times
Reputation: 432
I don't really have a problem with him taking a vacation. Unlike some of the President's I don't think it cost obscene amounts of taxpayer money. I was impressed when he attended the National Council of Mayors meeting without bringing along a big security entourage.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-13-2014, 11:12 PM
 
5,802 posts, read 9,897,487 times
Reputation: 3051
Quote:
Originally Posted by MathmanMathman View Post
One thing people told Fitzgerald, they wanted a system like BART for Pittsburgh i.e. "why don't we have one too?". I doubt a heavy rail system is possible but peduto seems to be on the same page

Peduto envisions rapid transit system in Pittsburgh - The Pitt News: News

Luckily the story addresses the obvious elephant the room....funding. I've been doing some traveling and I can tell you the rail to downtown link from the airport is....sweet.
Funding, but also the political climate in the state of Pennsylvania as well. Big Grandiose projects like these are much more involved at a state level, than Peduto or Fitz's power alone can overcome. Until we have a Governor (that very well may be not until Peduto or Fitz runs themselves) that has the same vision, and on the same page as Peduto/Fitz about how we move forward as a state, projects like these are just that pipe dreams.

I'm all about what can we do now, with the cards we have now.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-14-2014, 05:39 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
7,541 posts, read 10,261,826 times
Reputation: 3510
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212 View Post
Funding, but also the political climate in the state of Pennsylvania as well. Big Grandiose projects like these are much more involved at a state level, than Peduto or Fitz's power alone can overcome. Until we have a Governor (that very well may be not until Peduto or Fitz runs themselves) that has the same vision, and on the same page as Peduto/Fitz about how we move forward as a state, projects like these are just that pipe dreams.
.

The state government in Pennsylvania really can't afford these big grandiose projects at this point in time. Remember there are 67 counties in the commonwealth, a big transit program in Allegheny funded by the state will need to be balanced by other transit or other capital projects in the outlying areas and that just pushes the costs to the stratosphere.


Mr. Peduto and Mr. Fitzgerald can come up with projects, but they are unlikely to come to fruition unless they want to use their own government's funds. And the county government isn't likely to fund something which will just benefit the city unless it helps out the people in the other 129 municipalities
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-14-2014, 01:46 PM
 
6,601 posts, read 8,984,298 times
Reputation: 4699
Quote:
Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam View Post
The state government in Pennsylvania really can't afford these big grandiose projects at this point in time. Remember there are 67 counties in the commonwealth, a big transit program in Allegheny funded by the state will need to be balanced by other transit or other capital projects in the outlying areas and that just pushes the costs to the stratosphere.
Most of the other counties are already having their transportation systems (roads) subsidized by the few urban counties. You're right from a political standpoint though -- we would need a strong state leader to overcome and correct the false perception that the rural areas are supporting the urban metros.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-14-2014, 03:58 PM
 
480 posts, read 611,897 times
Reputation: 234
Quote:
Originally Posted by zman63 View Post
I was a big supporter of peduto, but now his honeymoon is over... Where has he been the last week? Its convenient he went on vacation when he made a huge appointment blunder. The appointment of the guy who owes 80k in back taxes was a huge misstep. Especially since he is supposed to oversee city finances.

The guy took a few days off. Who cares?? Let it go.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Pittsburgh
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:11 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top