Wednesday, November 05, 2003

hed:By Mark Belko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

For 11 years, Doug Shields has been the consummate city hall insider, working behind the scenes as chief of staff for former city Councilman Bob O'Connor and more recently as an aide to Bill Peduto.

Now he's about to move to center stage.

Shields, 50, of Squirrel Hill, easily captured the District 5 City Council seat last night. Shields, a Democrat, won handily over Republican Daniel A. Cohen, a 39-year-old real estate agent, and independent Michael Milch, 37, both from Squirrel Hill and both making their first run at political office.

Cohen is not related to former city Councilman Dan Cohen, a Democrat who supported Shields.

Shields will inherit the seat -- and same office -- formerly held by O'Connor during those years he served as his chief of staff. His path to council chamber was not without a bump -- he lost to Tucker Sciulli in a special election to fill the time left on O'Connor's term this year -- but recovered to win the primary.

"I feel good. It's been a long walk. It started in January and I am very happy to have it come to an end," Shields said last night.

Although Shields has been a frequent critic of Mayor Tom Murphy, he said he plans to "extend my hand in friendship" to him.

"We've got to put the city first," he said.

He said he does support Murphy's call for a more equitable tax structure. He also has backed mayoral budget initiatives such as merging the Fire and Emergency Medical Services bureaus and state pension funding reform. Shields also favors merging services with Allegheny County.

Shields was involved in one of the two contested races for City Council seats.

In the other, council President Gene Ricciardi overwhelmed two opponents, independents Gary T. Piso, 26, of Mount Washington, and Michael Waligorski, 54, of the South Side, in District 3.

In the other three City Council races, Democrats won unopposed:

Luke Ravenstahl, the new councilman in North Side District 1, in essence claimed the seat by defeating incumbent Barbara Burns in the Democratic primary. In Lawrenceville's District 7, Len Bodack, son of former state Sen. Leonard Bodack, won a full term to replace Jim Ferlo, now a state senator; he also won a special election last spring. In Homewood's District 9, incumbent Twanda Carlisle received another term.

Democratic City Controller Tom Flaherty also was unopposed for re-election. He will start his 21st year as controller in January.

Correction/Clarification: (Published Nov. 6, 2003) Doug Shields was elected a Pittsburgh city councilman in District 5. A headline in yesterday's edition had the wrong district.

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