Frack me? No, no! Frack you!

Anyone who has spent any time listening to the pro fracking crowd knows that pretty much the first thing out of their mouths is the assertion that there's never been a proven case of fracking contaminating underground drinking water -- it's been their mantra. I maintain that that is pretty much a red herring as you do not need to pollute groundwater to harm the water supply. The water used in fracking has to go somewhere and very little is being recycled. Aside from illegal dumping and leaching from fracking pools, water treatment facilities simply aren't equipped to handle even the legal disposal of the witches' brew of toxicity found in the "flowback" water.

That said, guess what? Turns out there is a very well documented case of this very thing and the EPA has known about it for decades. Count me not shocked that they've all been lying to us this whole time.

In Pittsburgh, the City Council voted 6-3 to allow residents to decide if they want fracking in the city, but even though that's a veto-proof majority, the Mayor could simply sit on the bill making it too late to get on the November ballot as a referendum. Council requested that Lil Mayor Luke return it to them by the 8th at 4:30 PM, but we know how well the Mayor listens to Council -- the majority anyway -- so if you believe the citizens should have a say, contact the Mayor now:

Email: luke.ravenstahl@city.pittsburg​h.pa.us
Phone: 412-255-2626

Lastly, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato has poked his head above ground to weigh in on the referendum. Via the Trib:

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato said Wednesday he has "serious concerns" about the legality of Pittsburgh City Council's proposed ballot referendum banning natural gas drilling within city limits.

Council on Monday approved legislation that would ask voters to decide in November whether to add the ban to the city's Home Rule Charter. Council banned Marcellus shale gas drilling within city limits in November.

Councilman Doug Shields proposed the bill, saying a charter amendment would make the ban harder to overturn. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who said he has concerns about the legality of the ban, is considering a veto.

In a written statement, Onorato said he directed the county solicitor and Elections Department to review and analyze the referendum.

[sigh]
.

I do declare!

It must be that time of year as my inbox has been full of candidates declaring a run for office this past week. As the Post-Gazette pointed out, Dan Onorato's decision to not seek a third term for Allegheny County Executive has started a game of musical chairs. Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb and County Council President Rich Fitzgerald may run for his seat; County Controller Mark Patrick Flaherty has already declared. Flaherty's decision to run for County Executive leaves the door open for county Real Estate Manager Valerie McDonald Roberts and State Rep. Chelsa Wagner to declare their candidacies for his current position with State Rep. Matt Smith also considering a run.

Then, there's half of Pittsburgh City Council up for re-election this year and State Auditor Jack Wagner hinting at a challenge to Lil Mayor Luke in 2013...

Here are the candidates who have sent us press releases so far:

....Valerie McDonald Roberts
Currently Manager of the Allegheny County Department of Real Estate, Valerie McDonald Roberts has announced her intention to run for Allegheny County Controller. She has a long record of public service including: Pittsburgh School Board Director, Pittsburgh City Council Member, and Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds. I was a poll watcher for her race for Lt. Governor (she was endorsed by the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). I miss her extremely rational and intelligent commentary on the now defunct offQ show.

From her press release (full version here):

Ms. Roberts states, “I have been blessed to have had many years of corporate, legislative and administrative experiences to make me uniquely qualified to be the best candidate for County Controller in addressing Allegheny County’s challenges. The breadth of my career experiences prepares me to handle the essence of the County Controller’s job – independent fiscal responsibility for Allegheny County. ‘Good government’ and ‘reform’ are great concepts, but I have actually implemented them, and will always strive for nothing less than excellence in government.”

....Bruce A. Kraus
Bruce Kraus is seeking a second term on Pittsburgh City Council for District 3. This is my district and I'm a longtime supporter of Kraus (poll watcher, heck, I've stuffed envelopes at his house) and I couldn't be happier with my choice. He's a solid member of the progressive alliance on Council. I can't count the number of times I've seen him walking my district. I also greatly appreciate his efforts to get a handle on the vandalism and violence that have unfortunately become features of the South Side's nightlife.

From his press release (full version here):

In a letter to constituents, Councilman Kraus cited—among other accomplishments—a few examples of the many successes that he has had in his first term:

Protecting libraries in our district—we will soon see a renovation of our South Side branch library. In addition, efforts are underway to bring a new state-of-the-art library building serving Knoxville, Carrick, and our other Hilltop communities

Responding to our neighbors’ needs more efficiently with the opening of our Hilltop District Office on Arlington Avenue

Working to reduce gun violence through responsible gun ownership legislation that requires reporting lost and stolen guns

....Patrick Dowd
Patrick Dowd is also seeking a second term on Pittsburgh City Council for District 7. He was formerly a high school history and economics teacher and a member of the Pittsburgh Board of Education. I've had my ups and downs with Dowd (supported his mayoral bid; had some issues with his actions on Council), but I thought he acted admirably during the parking-pension crisis.

From his press release (full version here):

As a councilman, Dowd has also worked hard to address the city’ legacy issues. With his colleagues, he was able to find a solution for the city’ pension crisis that maintained important public assets, and worked to address debt and infrastructure problems that have been kicked down the road for too long. On a regional level, Dowd was instrumental in the creation of the Council of Neighboring Communities, also known as CONNECT. CONNECT is the first serious effort to bring together the City and its 35 adjacent municipalities to solve problems in an organized and collaborative way.

....Lucille Prater-Holliday
Lucille Prater-Holliday is challenging Rev. Ricky Burgess for Pittsburgh City Council for District 9. I'm not familiar with Ms. Prater-Holliday so I'm especially glad that she sent me a press release.

From that release (full version here):

“I’m looking forward to running a campaign focused on addressing the needs of low- and moderate-income families,” Prater-Holliday said. “We deserve a representative who will focus on increasing community and economic development opportunities and actively work to empower communities by giving ordinary people a voice in our political decisions.”

Transit Workers Oppose Stringing-out Funds Over 18 Months

Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
A letter by Patrick McMahon, President of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85, was hand-delivered to Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato on Tuesday, opposing Port Authority plans to "string-out" $45,000,000 in supplemental funding (by Gov. Ed Rendell) over the next eighteen months. The letter notes that these funds were intended to give the legislature six months -- not 18 -- to find a way prevent transit cuts next year and that stretching it out for triple that length of time will necessarily involve expedited cuts in services and routes.

According to the Post-Gazette article today, the union also believes that sunshine laws may have been violated:

Port Authority officials denied an allegation by a union spokesman that the board decided during a private conference call to cut service by 15 percent in March and close the Harmar bus garage.

AFL-CIO spokesman Marty Marks said such a call appeared to violate the state's open meetings law. "It's not fair to take the public out of the process," he said.

Full text of McMahon's letter after the break.

December 20, 2010

Mr. Dan Onorato
County Executive
101 County Court House
436 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Dear Mr. Onorato:

Thank you for your efforts in helping to win approval from the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission for Governor Rendell’s proposal to shift $45,000,000 of transportation funds to the Allegheny County Port Authority from projects that finished under budget or are not going forward. Your leadership, helped to prevent massive cuts in transit services to thousands of riders who depend on bus and rail service to get to work, school, medical appointments and other essential needs and
services.

However, for the record, we strongly disagree with any plan that seeks to distribute that money over an eighteen month period requiring more cuts in transit routes and services. The Governor’s intention was to prevent cuts in transit services in 2011, giving the new governor and legislature six months to act on a transit funding formula that fairly and adequately provides for public transit at current levels.

Cutting transit at this time is bad for many reasons:

● Transit cuts kill jobs and that is the last thing this fledgling recovery needs. Many low wage workers in particular, will be unable to get to work without bus and rail service, adding to unemployment and personal hardship.

● Our riders, workers and local tax payers have sacrificed enough. In recent years workers have conceded changes in work rules and pension benefits saving the Port Authority more than $96 million. Transit riders are paying higher fares with yet another fare increase scheduled for January. Local tax payers are doing their fair share, adding $25 million annually to the pot with new taxes dedicated to public transit.

● Suggesting the legislature has an additional year to solve the problem takes the heat off of them and postpones the urgency of living-up to their responsibility.

● SEPTA, the transit agency serving the Philadelphia region, will be facing a funding crisis this budget cycle. The Governor’s emergency funding for the Port Authority, if used as intended, will bring our transit funding crisis to a head the same time as Philadelphia’s, significantly increasing pressure on the legislature to act responsibly and timely.

● With gasoline costing more than $3.00 per gallon and every indication prices will continue to rise, it is ill-advised to cut transit at a time when ridership is likely to increase in response to rising fuel costs.

We respectfully disagree with your assertion the incoming legislature needs eighteen months to solve transit funding inequities. More than three-quarters of legislators are returning to serve another term. These issues are not new to them and our new governor has been a statewide elected official for eight years, surely enough time to have become well-acquainted with high-profile, critical state issues affecting
millions of our citizens.

We believe our fight is now. We call on you to lead the effort to get the legislature to act now and provide the state’s fair share of public transit funding. Do not impose further pain on transit riders and commuters by misusing the funding the Governor has delivered. We urge you and our region’s elected leaders to join us in the fight to make this right. Pennsylvanian is counting on you.

Sincerely,

Patrick McMahon,
President of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85,
The union that drives 200,000 workers to their jobs every day.

cc: Port Authority Board Members
Allegheny County Council Members
Pittsburgh City Council Members
Allegheny County State Legislators and Senators
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl