The LuLac Edition #58, Sept. 12th, 2006

PITTSBURGH POLITICS



TALE OF TWO MAYORS

Pittsburgh recently lost its Mayor, Robert O’Connor who had previously served on the City Council. O’Connor was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer and died in early September. He was regarded as a positive booster of the city and had the distinction of hosting both the Super Bowl Champion Steelers as well as the All Star game in his short tenure. Here is a recap of his life and legacy to the Steel City as reported in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on the day he died.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor died last night at 8:55, ending his fight with a brain cancer diagnosed when he was just six months into the job he had sought for a decade.
One hundred minutes later, City Council President Luke Ravenstahl was sworn in as the 59th mayor of Pittsburgh.
Mr. O'Connor, 61, died at UPMC Shadyside less than two months after being diagnosed with primary central nervous system T-cell lymphoma, a rare variant of an unusual cancer of the brain and spinal cord.
Present with the mayor at the time of his death were his wife, Judy, his sons, the Rev. Terrence O'Connor and Corey O'Connor, daughter Heidy Garth, in-laws Jacob and Dee-Dee Pelled, longtime friends Robert Jablonowski and Jimmy Carr, chief of staff Dennis J. Regan, secretary Marlene Cassidy, spokesman Dick Skrinjar and Kevin Quigley, manager of the city's "Redd Up" campaign.
"I'm devastated. He was my best friend," Mr. Jablonowski said. "It's a tremendous loss. People loved him. When I would walk the streets in Squirrel Hill, you couldn't walk 10 feet without someone coming up to him."
"Our region lost a great man and a visionary leader, and I lost a dear friend and confidant," said Dan Onorato, Allegheny County chief executive. "Bob O'Connor and I began our political careers on the same day, when we were sworn in as members of Pittsburgh City Council. From that day on, our friendship grew and strengthened, and we became partners in governing. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Judy, his children, Heidy, Father Terry and Corey, and the entire O'Connor family during this difficult time."
At City Hall last night, the process of succession began when Deputy Mayor Yarone Zober somberly crossed the hall from the mayor's office to council's office. He carried a blue folder containing a letter from acting city solicitor George Specter, advising that the post of mayor was vacant and asking if the council president would accept it.
Mr. Ravenstahl, at that point still the president, opened council's door and, his face a portrait of trepidation, wordlessly accepted the folder. He then retreated to council's hallway for several minutes.
Meanwhile, city officials gathered in the mayor's conference room. Council members William Peduto, Jim Motznik, Twanda Carlisle and Len Bodack assembled to the left of the conference room desk. Mr. Ravenstahl's current and former staff members gathered on the right. Administration members, including Mr. Skrinjar, Chief of Police Dominic J. Costa and Public Works Director Guy Costa, joined the gathering.
Mr. Ravenstahl, with his wife, Erin Lynn, entered from a door that connects with the council chamber. Then he placed his hand on a Bible, and Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Robert C. Gallo administered the oath of office.
"I, Luke Ravenstahl, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and of this state, and the charter of the city, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of office to the best of my ability," he repeated after Judge Gallo.
Mr. Ravenstahl gave a short speech, calling the day one "of great sorrow and grief for the entire city of Pittsburgh." He ordered flags flown at half-staff and urged residents to pray for and support the O'Connor family.
He said nothing about his plans, other than to indicate that he will follow in Mr. O'Connor's footsteps.
"His words and actions and deeds will serve as a model to my tenure as mayor of the city of Pittsburgh," he said. "The time will come for Pittsburgh to continue on with its mission. Now is the time for us to look back and reflect on what Mayor Bob O'Connor has meant for the city of Pittsburgh. He will be dearly missed."
He took no questions but returned to the Council Chamber, an aide closing the door behind him.
"Tonight, we get a new mayor, and the city has to rally around Luke Ravenstahl like it rallied around Bob O'Connor," said Mr. Peduto.
Hours earlier, it had been a day of uncertainty and prayer following an announcement Thursday night by Mr. Skrinjar, who told reporters that Mr. O'Connor's condition had deteriorated. "The mayor has gone from day-to-day to hour-by-hour," Mr. Skrinjar said.
City Council opened its first session since its summer break yesterday with a moment of silence for the mayor, then many officials headed to a Mass and 12:30 p.m. interfaith prayer service for Mr. O'Connor at St. Mary of Mercy Church, Downtown.
Mr. Ravenstahl, Mr. Motznik, Mr. Zober, Allegheny County Sheriff Pete DeFazio, state Sen. Jay Costa Jr., acting city Controller Tony Pokora and other city and county officials were among the 150 who filled the church.
Pastor Donald Green, of Christian Associates of Southwestern Pennsylvania, called Mr. O'Connor "a witness who has cheered on family and friends and indeed a whole city" and saw his destiny as a place "where there is no more pain or sorrow."
And in reference to Mr. Ravenstahl, Mr. Green said, "For your sake we will cheer him on."
Rabbi James Gibson of Temple Sinai said, "We know that sometimes we can leave this world whole and healed, even if we are not cured."
And Bishop Paul Bradley, administrator of the Catholic diocese, read the Beatitudes, which famously begin in the Matthew version, "Blessed are the poor in spirit."
Bishop Bradley praised Mr. O'Connor as "a good man, an honest man, a man of faith, a man who has used the Beatitudes as the standard to guide his own life."
Uncertainty permeated City Council's session yesterday morning. The first meeting after the summer is usually little more than ceremonial, but yesterday's session was heavy with significance. Mr. Ravenstahl opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence for the mayor.
Throughout the afternoon, friends and admirers of the Mr. O'Connor visited his office to comfort his staff.
"Bob and his family have been in our constant prayers," said the Rev. John Dinello, pastor of Immaculate Conception-St. Joseph Parish. "He's been a great asset to us in Bloomfield. He's been moving on many of the projects we've wanted to have done for several years," Father Dinello said.
"He's part of our family," added Bloomfield advocate and developer Janet Cercone-Scullion. She said Mr. O'Connor had agreed in January to serve as grand marshal of the neighborhood's upcoming Halloween parade.
"We are heartbroken," she said, breaking into tears.

THE ELEMENT OF CHANCE


The succession of a popular politician most times has a major element of chance in it. When Theodore Roosevelt succeeded William McKinley, he was put in the Veep spot to get him out of the hair of the Republican guard that controlled the nation. When Lyndon Johnson was picked to be John Kennedy’s Vice President, the Kennedy insiders saw their man as a vigorous 43 year old as opposed to the elder Johnson who had had a major heart attack. In both cases, there was no foreseeable chance that either man would be elevated to the top spot. In the late 1970s, City Council President Diane Feinstein became the Mayor of San Francisco after she took over for the assassinated George Moscone. And in the late eighties, Sophie Masloff, an old time political pro (still active at the age of 85) became the Mayor of Pittsburgh after the death of Richard Caligerri. With O’Connor’s death, the succession of chance continued when you read the story of new Pittsburgh Mayor, Luke Ravenstahl, a 26 year old council member.

In the last hours before Mayor Bob O'Connor succumbed to a rare form of brain cancer, the man in line to succeed him declared himself ready to serve.
Council President Luke Ravenstahl, 26, of Summer Hill, became the youngest mayor in city history shortly after Mr. O'Connor passed away last night.
In remarks to news reporters earlier in the day, Mr. Ravenstahl acknowledged that his youth "is an issue that many will raise. But I am here. I have been the president. I have been elected by my district, I have been elected by my colleagues, and I'm more than confident that if and when I'm called upon, I'm here to serve the residents of the city."
Yesterday marked the end of a long, quiet period for Mr. Ravenstahl, who had chosen to say little about his governing priorities since the July 10 start of Mr. O'Connor's ongoing hospitalization with central nervous system lymphoma. His reticence faded after city officials on Thursday began acknowledging that Mr. O'Connor rested precariously on the edge of death.
"We're waiting for the mayor to make his decision," said mayoral spokesman Dick Skrinjar.
The city's charter says that if a mayor isn't able to serve out his term, council's president can accept or decline the post. Mr. Ravenstahl made it clear he wouldn't decline. Though he's young, public service is in his blood.
His grandfather, Robert, was a firefighter, and later a state representative, until ousted by Tom Murphy, later the mayor. His dad, Robert Jr., worked his way to the top of the city's water and sewer authority, then was tapped to be a district judge, a post he still holds.
Mr. Ravenstahl graduated from Pittsburgh's North Catholic High School in 1998, a star baseball player and kicker and quarterback for the football team.
He signed on to play football at Mercyhurst College in Erie, but stayed for just one year. He transferred to Pitt, where he didn't play football. Then he transferred again to Washington & Jefferson College, where he kicked for the football team, and graduated with a bachelor of arts in business administration.
After graduation, he worked as an account manager for a courier service. By 23 -- a year after graduation -- he was running against incumbent Barbara Burns for the Democratic City Council nomination in District 1. Though Mr. Murphy backed Ms. Burns, Mr. Ravenstahl won.
He was inaugurated in January 2004, and married Erin Lynn Feith, a beautician, six months later. They live in a three-bedroom home on Cerise Street, in the northernmost fringe of the city.
Mr. Ravenstahl's early career was marked by opposition to the stringent cost-cutting measures eventually adopted under state Act 47 for financially distressed municipalities. Joining labor unions in opposing the plan for months, he only voted for it at the last possible moment, in December 2004, when all of council united behind it.
In late 2005, he got a freak break. Then-council President Gene Ricciardi, now a district judge, announced that he would resign the presidency some time prior to leaving council at that year's end. That was widely viewed as an effort to pave the way for Councilman Jim Motznik to seize the reins.
Mr. Motznik could not assemble four colleagues willing to vote for him. He and Mr. Ricciardi, however, were able to get just enough votes together for an ally of theirs, Mr. Ravenstahl.
On Dec. 6, 2005, he won council's presidency with the bare minimum number of votes. In January, a unanimous council vote gave him a two-year term.
"The fact that he has positioned himself to become president is encouraging," said Ms. Burns. "That tells me he has good communication skills. ... Sometimes, you're in the right place at the right time, and you seize it and you gain something from it."
No one, at the time, thought he would imminently become mayor, given the inauguration of the apparently vigorous Mr. O'Connor.
In eight months in the post, he worked closely with Mr. O'Connor's administration. He voted against a nonbinding measure to remove state fiscal oversight, bucking the potent firefighters union.
After Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle's spending on consultants was questioned and referred to prosecutors for review, he proposed curbs on council discretionary funds, which were approved, though a few members said they fell short of true reform.
Then the mayor was hospitalized. A month later, he was declared temporarily disabled, and appointed Deputy Mayor Yarone Zober to run the city.
Chemotherapy failed, and after seizures and an infection occurred, focused radiation treatments were put on hold.
Now the focus is on Mr. Ravenstahl.
"He has had experience on City Council, but I think how you gauge somebody is by their intelligence, work ethic and ability," said state Rep. Don Walko, D-North Side, an early backer and adviser to Mr. Ravenstahl. "I think Luke has all of those great characteristics."
With the mayor's passing, there will be not just a generational shift, but a change in tone from the ebullience of Mr. O'Connor to the cautious poise of Mr. Ravenstahl, he added.
"Luke puts a different face on the city."