Jonathan B. Robison

This Nov. 8, we have the opportunity to elect a truly outstanding judge to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas: Kathryn Hens-Greco.
In the spring, Kathryn ran a great campaign and, even without the endorsement of the Democratic Party committeepeople, won one of the seven Democratic nominations. She had cross-filed, but she didn’t get one of the seven Republican nominations. Consequently, our work is not finished. Kathryn needs our vote and support in the general election. To volunteer to help, call her at 412-422-7400 (her law office) or at 412-362-1786.
We would like to share Kathryn’s remarks at her rally Aug. 28. She began “Almost all of my professional life has been spent working with children and families in conflict. As a caseworker and as an attorney for the past 20 years, I search for ways to better understand the conflict and to encourage change and inspire hope.” To read this unusually thoughtful speech, please click here. (Word file will download)
Kathryn received the highest possible rating, “Highly Recommended” from the Allegheny County Bar Association (the ACBA). She has dedicated her professional career to the thorny problems of Family Division: custody, child support, shared custody, and dependant and neglected children. All new judges are assigned to the Family Division until they have seniority and can move on to another division – but Kathryn plans to stay in the Family Division to continue her work trying to mediate these unglamorous, painful disputes. With her, a child’s case will stay with one judge, not start afresh every time a judge is able to get assigned to the Civil Division, Criminal Division, or Orphans’ Court
Former City Council member Alan Hertzberg was rated “Recommended” by the ACBA. He is an incumbent judge, appointed Governor Rendell to a vacancy.
Four candidates won both a Democratic and a Republican nomination, and are therefore certain to win. The top vote-getter was Dwayne D. Woodruff; yes, that’s the former Steeler, and he was rated “Highly Recommended” by the ACBA. The other candidates with both nominations are Beth Lazzara, Anthony Mariani, and Ed Borkowski, who was also appointed by the Governor to a vacancy. All four were rated “Highly Recommended” by the ACBA. The final Democratic candidate is City Controller and former Democratic Party chair Tom Flaherty. Some people are supporting him because he is on the Democratic Party slate and voices liberal positions on issues. Others are not supporting him for various reasons. He was rated “Not Recommended at this time” by the Allegheny County Bar Association and he is a new lawyer with limited trial experience.
You can vote for up to seven candidates for Judge of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. You can vote for fewer than seven if you choose.

We support Bob O’Connor, who won the Democratic mayoral nomination and will win in November. He is decent, honest, and experienced, as were his two main opponents in the primary, Bill Peduto and Michael Lamb. Bob is good on civil rights and on lesbian and gay rights, and is now taking an acceptable position on reproductive rights.
O’Connor has also made the important point that our existing communities and neighborhoods are perhaps the most important competitive asset of Pittsburgh. But why, then, does O’Connor support the Turnpike Commission’s Mon-Fayette Toll Highway, a $4 billion subsidy for land speculators? The Mon-Fayette would trash neighborhoods, especially Oakland. It would force homes and jobs to relocate to undeveloped areas. Bob rightly says that the city needs better code enforcement, although we are not sure that sending Bureau of Building Inspection cases to the district magistrates is the best policy. We strongly agree that some improvement in public transportation to and through Oakland should be an immediate priority for the region.
Good luck to Bob O’Connor. With the financial situation, along with the Oversight Board and Act 47 Board, he’ll need it.

There is no serious contest for Pittsburgh City Council this fall. We are glad to support the primary winners in the two districts which share most of Oakland.
In our own 8th City Council district, Bill Peduto defeated Harlan Stone, who had received the Democratic endorsement, in part because of resentment against Peduto’s simultaneous mayoral candidacy. I, Jon, ran several times for that seat, and like the work Peduto has done. Peduto is flatly against the Mon-Fayette Turnpike as a misuse of taxpayer dollars and a menace to the environment. With his young ideas and young supporters, he will be a force in the future.
The 6th Council District is centered in the Hill and includes parts of Oakland and much of the lower North Side. We supported Tonya Payne, who surprised many by winning the party endorsement over the two-term incumbent, Sala Udin. Sala has done important work, and his rhetoric is good. But we preferred Tonya Payne. Tonya was a Howard Dean delegate candidate and then was office manager of the Kerry office in the Hill. She has a good background in the community, running Uptown Action. Certainly we need more leaders who are independent, progressive, African-American, and women.

Democrats hope to gain three seats on Allegheny County Council this fall, with Jim Burn in the 3rd District, Michael Finnerty in the 4th, and Mark Purcell in the 1st.
Atty. Jim Burn is an active progressive, mayor of Millvale and emergency management coordinator there, and is on the board of the Port Authority of Allegheny County. His opponent, Edward Kress, was appointed to the County Council. Mike Finnerty is a retired teacher and active with the Scott Township Conservancy and the Montour Run Watershed Association. The Republican incumbent is Doug Price. Finnerty is aided by the latest redistricting, which added McKees Rocks and Stowe Township. Former Ross Township Commissioner Mark Purcell is running in an open seat. All three are backed by Democracy for Pittsburgh and are considered likely to work with County Executive Dan Onorato. The majority of the voters are registered Democratic in all three districts.
Democratic incumbent Charles Martoni in the 8th District is a strong favorite, after being put off the ballot on a technicality and having to win a write-in campaign for the nomination. He is also on the board of the Port Authority of Allegheny County. Democrats C.L. Jabbour in the 9th and Rich Nerone in the 12th are unopposed. There are special elections in the 3rd and 12th, but they are only for six weeks, until the end of the year.

Allegheny County Sheriff Pete DeFazio is up for re-election. He has done a good job, although some of his subordinates are in trouble for soliciting campaign contributions from employees. His opponent has not been campaigning actively, as of yet.
The principal contest for the Pittsburgh City School Board was in the primary, when Tom Sumpter won both nominations in the 3rd District. Also unopposed this fall are Randall Taylor in the 1st, Jean Fink in the 7th, and Floyd McCrea in the 9th. In the 5th District, Tom Baker is challenging incumbent Theresa Colaizzi. Local municipal officials are on the ballot this fall, as are magistrates in some districts.

The district Judge of Elections and the two Inspectors of Election will be elected this fall in each election district to four-year terms starting in 2006. Some Board members choose not to run officially; they are just asked to serve each election. But if no one is on the ballot for any of these three positions, someone who wants to serve can write in his or her own name. (Ten votes are required for a nomination in the primary, but in the general election you need only one vote.)

The Last Day to Register to Vote is Oct. 11 — Warn People about Registering “Independent”.
Does anyone you know need to register to vote this November? The deadline is 5 pm Oct. 11.
Many young people register “independent” or simply didn’t put down a political party. They do not realize that under the law in this state, they are DISENFRANCHISED in the primaries. Some people think that registering independent “sends a message” to the political parties. Party bosses don’t care about this “message.” They are happy to pick candidates in the primaries without input from people who are independent-minded.