The Pittsburgh Post Gazette Weighs in on the Reform
Today the Pittsburgh Post Gazette published an editorial on the passage of Councilman Bill Peduto’s campaign finance reform legislation last Tuesday. Read on to see what they had to say about the recent reform in Pittsburgh.
Reform season: Nothing encourages change like an election
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The primary election is seven days away but some results already are in and citizens are the winners.
In a recent and remarkable turnabout, City Council enacted and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl intends to sign far-reaching new policies that should go a long way to improve accountability and transparency in city government business.
Give credit to Councilman Bill Peduto for recognizing that, with the mayor and two council members facing opponents on the May 19 ballot and voters citywide paying attention, this was the time to push.
He ran with measures that limit campaign contributions, require registration and reporting by lobbyists who work on issues before city government, and create a searchable online database of campaign contributions and city contracts. In addition, he proposed a measure that gave the force of law to a written policy issued last month by Mr. Ravenstahl that bans most no-bid professional city contracts.
Council passed them all unanimously last Wednesday, and Mr. Peduto said none of the measures would have been enacted if elected officials weren’t facing the voters this month.
Yes, the city would have been better off if these sound measures had become law long before this, but let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. The key now becomes guaranteeing compliance and enforcement against violators.
And Mr. Peduto is ready with more items for a to-do list, including: eliminating instances of politicians emblazoning their names on public property, a reference to new trash cans in city business districts that bear the name of the mayor; barring officials from sending out city-paid mailings close to election time; and requiring subsidized developers to minimize their impact on neighbors and the environment.
Let’s hope the urgency for improving city government and eliminating practices that suggest that what matters is know-who, not know-how, won’t dissipate the morning after the election.
First published on May 12, 2009 at 12:00 am
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