Jonathan B. Robison

Jonathan and Mary Robison
154 N. Bellefield Ave. #66, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
412-683-0237 jon@jonrobison.org

Oct. 15, 2007

Dear Friends,

In the November 6 election, the most important contests may be the races for two statewide courts.

The five Democrats are all excellent and top-rated by the Bar Association. Debra Todd and Seamus McCaffery are running for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Christine Donohue, Ron Folino, and John Younge are running for the Pennsylvania Superior Court. All have proven records of caring about people, all are solidly pro-choice and supporters of the rights of the lesbian and gay communities. Consequently, all were endorsed by the Gertrude Stein Political Club of Greater Pittsburgh, except for Ron Folino who we think would have been endorsed except that he did not get his questionnaire in.

Judge Todd is celebrated for her dissenting opinion when a majority on the Superior Court prohibited “second parent” adoptions by lesbian and gay couples. On appeal, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed, agreeing with Judge Todd that LGBT couples are real families and can adopt in accordance with “the best interests of the child.”

These court races, while obscure to many non-lawyers, are important. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court interprets state law. The Superior Court decides many individual rights issues, subject to possible appeal, including family law, adoption and custody, and criminal convictions.

There are four seats up on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. Three of the Democratic nominees have both the Democratic and Republican nominations: Cathleen Bubash, Michael E. McCarthy, and Kelly Eileen Bigley. The fourth nominee, Jack McVay, has opposition from Arnie Klein, another Democrat who won the Republican nomination, but is apparently not campaigning actively. (All five candidates cross-filed with both parties.) All the candidates are excellent.

Not much is happening in the races for Allegheny County offices. For Allegheny County Executive, incumbent Dan Onorato has both the Democratic and Republican nominations. He has done a good job, except for complaints against the Port Authority of Allegheny County, and threats to defund PAT unless PAT “reforms.” This is strange, coming from him, since as county executive, he appoints all the members of the PAT Board of Directors. You may want to skip this office.

For the next three county “row offices,” the Democratic nominees are unopposed. They are Mark Flaherty for County Controller, Steve Zappala, Jr., for District Attorney, and John Weinstein for County Treasurer. For Sheriff, Democratic primary winner Bill Mullen has fairly nominal opposition from Edward Kress.
There is an interesting contest for Allegheny County Council-at-large. The Democratic incumbent, John DeFazio, has done an excellent job and is considered a shoo-in. But the top two candidates will be elected, although you can vote for only one. The Republican nominee has serious legal as well as ethical problems with his work as a lawyer in handling an estate. Various Republican leaders consider that he would bring shame on their party, so they are supporting a strong candidate running on the Reform label, David Tessitor. Tessitor is bright and articulate. We have known him personally for years. He is worth consideration. After all, if he finishes second, he will be elected.

For Allegheny Council by district, there is no contest in two-thirds of the nine districts up this year. The unopposed candidates include two good friends: our own Rich Fitzgerald in the 11th and Brenda Frazier in the 13th. One friend who does have opposition is Joan Cleary in the 6th County Council District, which sprawls from Baldwin and part of Mt. Lebanon to South Park and Clairton. Joan, a health care worker, was elected with strong union support from SEIU as well as progressive and feminist backing. She had party organization opposition in the primary and is now opposed by Donald Lacek. The strongest Democratic attempt to pick up an additional seat may be in the 5th District, where Barbara D. Logan is trying to unseat one of the Republican leaders, Vince Gastgeb.

For us, the most difficult contest is for mayor of the City of Pittsburgh.
The Democratic nominee is Luke Ravenstahl, who ascended to the office after the death of Bob O’Connor and was unchallenged in the primary. I, Jon, am an elected member of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, and we normally support our party’s nominee. But we have problems.
The dissolution of the Department of City Planning, which is under way, will benefit no one except possibly some of the sleazier developers. The elevation of acting city solicitor George Specter to the top job was another victory for the ‘good old boys’. Specter showed no strength as acting solicitor, especially in enforcing the city’s housing and zoning codes.
Some people like Luke Ravenstahl because he is young – only 27. Others say he fits in with the ‘good old boys.’ One example is the promotion of three police officers with apparent domestic abuse problems. There was also his personal use of the Police Department’s Homeland Security SUV, and declining to release relevant documents on ‘national security’ grounds. He has over-publicized himself, putting his picture everywhere.
The Republicans have a good candidate in Mark DeSantis, although he does not have much experience with city issues. He is on record in support of lesbian and gay rights and reproductive rights, which won him the endorsement of the Gertrude Stein Political Club of Greater Pittsburgh. He would face difficulty governing with a Democratic City Council – the Republican Party did not even field any candidates. (Three Democratic City Council nominees have opposition – from two independents and a Libertarian.) DeSantis has claimed to be a better Democrat than the incumbent. However, we’re reluctant to have a Republican mayor during a crucial national election.
This election is only for the two years remaining on the term of the late Bob O’Connor. The usual mayoral election will be in 2009. Councilman Bill Peduto, who ran in 2005 and considered challenging Luke Ravenstahl in the primary for the current special election, may run in 2009. Peduto has new ideas and a lot of activist young supporters. There are other possibilities, including Mike Lamb, who will presumably be City Controller. Lamb had been elected Allegheny County Prothonotary before the County Charter was amended and most county “row offices” abolished.

One important victory for progressives and independent Democrats was in the 3rd District, centered on the South Side, where Bruce Kraus won the Democratic nomination and is opposed only by Libertarian Mark Rauterkus this fall. In the 7th District, which includes Highland Park and Lawrenceville, Pat Dowd won a tough primary fight against an incumbent from a major Pittsburgh political family. In the 9th District, centered around Homewood, we expect Ricky Burgess will be an improvement over troubled Tawanda Carlisle. Rev. Burgess’s only opposition this fall is independent David Adams. In the 5th District, Democrat Douglas Shields is unopposed.
The hottest local fight in November may be in the 1st District, which is most of the North Side. Again, the challenger is an independent, David Schuilenburg. He is articulate and progressive, running against Darlene Harris, the incumbent, who has mostly been part of the Democratic organization. He is endorsed by the Gertrude Stein Political Club.

All School Board contests were settled in the primary. There was a contest in the 6th district, but the candidate on the Republican line is trying to do a late withdrawal; he says he is moving out of the district.
There are ten yes-or-no judicial retention elections – 7 statewide and three in Allegheny County. None have serious opposition.
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In the Nation – a look ahead
Speaking of the national administration, that disaster is coming to an end next year.
There are four leading candidates: Clinton, Obama, Edwards, and Richardson. For reference, their web sites are hillaryclinton.com, barackobama.com, johnedwards.com, and richardsonforpresident.com. We like all of them, and will enthusiastically support the Democratic nominee. We think any Democrat will get us out of Iraq promptly. That’s essential. We think any of the four would reverse the ruinous economic policies that are dividing this country between the rich and poor. And they would all protect Constitutional rights, protect our environment, and so on.
Which one do we like best? We lean to Hillary Clinton. It’s about time that our country had a woman president – way past time,. This may be the best chance to elect a woman president in our lifetimes.
More important, we don’t have to wait until 2008. Here are suggestions for possibilities NOW
Some are already working for a presidential candidate, and that’s great. But others will say let’s wait until we know the Democratic nominee. That wastes our advantage – time. Time is even more precious than money in a political campaign. We have ideas and people to organize around now. There are many things we can do now that will help redirect and rebuild our country and our world.
>> Work for any of the Democratic candidates helps build our future, especially since all the candidates now are mostly discussing their ideas and qualifications, rather than attacking each other. You’ve probably heard from the candidates.
>> Work in the 2007 campaign. We discussed the excellent Democratic statewide judge candidates. Work in 2007 is preparation for the 2008 campaign as well as good experience.
>> You can hold a house party on an issue (as well as for a candidate).
Organizations which have been working on issues, in the teeth of a hostile administration, would be happy to provide a speaker. They include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 412-681-7736, the Thomas Merton Center 412-361-3022, especially on Iraq and other peace issues, the Sierra Club 412-802-6161, on environmental issues, Pennsylvanians United for Single-payer Healthcare (PUSH) 412-431-2075, Just Harvest 412-431-8960, on economic justice, Planned Parenthood 412-434-8957×119 on reproductive rights, and Disability Voting Coalition 412-391-5225x#2132 on barriers to voting. This is not an exhaustive list of possibilities (exhausting, maybe)
The hard part of a house party is doing the invitations. Your invitation list needs to be ten times the number of people you expect, believe it or not. That’s with a written invitation and a follow-up phone call. Don’t worry about the size of your apartment.
>> Political Training is always useful and pits you in contact with good people. Various groups are doing training, including the above organizations.
>> As you know, fundraising is well underway for all the candidates, and they’re looking for little donors as well as the big ones. You also might raise some money for groups like Emily’s List, http://emilyslist.org/, which has been in the forefront of raising money for pro-choice Democrats
>> There are possibilities for fun. You could have a poetry reading. Lots of local poets (including me, Jon) will share their poems with anyone who might listen. There is music, classical or folk. You might have a speaker on history about the context of the messes we’re in. You could show a movie – PUSH is getting copies of the DVD of “Sicko,” for example.
Others will have more and better ideas – “fun” is not our specialty.

Peace Vigil Every Saturday
There are one-hour vigils for peace in Iraq every Saturday. I, Jon, am at the vigil almost every Saturday, either at Noon in Regent Square, at Forbes and Braddock, or at 1 pm in East Liberty, at Penn and Highland. There are also vigils in the North Side, Beaver County, Westmoreland County (on Fridays) and the North Hills (on Mondays) For more information, contact the Thomas Merton Center 412-361-3022.
The vigils every Saturday won’t influence George Bush – nothing will. But the vigils will help ensure action by the next president. Please join us some Saturday.

M.S. WALK SUNDAY MORNING APR. 13, 2008
To add a personal note: please support research on MS – multiple sclerosis.. I – Jon – have MS, so this is a personal issue for me. I will be on the MS Walk Sunday, Apr. 13, 2008 – on my power wheelchair, on the five-mile route. We check in at 8 am in the Great Hall at Heinz Field¬¬¬¬ on the North Side, and start at 9. Please join me, or join by making a contribution to help support medical research into a cure for MS. You can send a check to me, made payable to the National MS Society.
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About This Newsletter
Because this newsletter is a political tool, it is sent out free. Mary and I send it to about 2,000 people in advance of the primary and general elections. We are sending about half of the newsletters by e-mail, but some people don’t have e-mail and for some, we don’t have their e-mail addresses, so we print the newsletter, and send it via bulk mail. Some of our friends contribute to help support the newsletter, and we are very grateful. If you would like to help with the costs, you are invited to send a check to Robison Political Action Committee, 154 N. Bellefield Ave., #66, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
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If you want more information on a candidate, or are interested in helping a candidate, you are invited to contact us at 412-683-0237 or jon@jonrobison.org.

Love and Peace,
Jonathan and Mary Robison