As of Sunday, Sept. 2, 2007

Ravenstahl's report card – 2007
In one school year at the helm of the City of Pittsburgh, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has set a tough curriculum for his administration, and has a mixed record of achieving the goals he's set.

An overview
Grading the mayor

One year ago, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl was sworn into office, promising little more than carrying on the platform of his predecessor.

Since then, Ravenstahl has made a number of pledges -- on diversity, public safety, neighborhoods, development, education and the function of city government.

On the Post-Gazette's report card of 38 pledges, Mr. Ravenstahl gets A's in eight for meeting his goals, B's in 14 for making substantial progress, C's in 17 for little progress and D's in two for making no improvement.

Use any of the links above to see his grade on that category, as well as read details about specific promises that he made. When the grade has changed, the previous grade is indicated in brackets.

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A - The goal was met
B - Substantial progress was made
C - Little progress was made
D - There was no improvement

Development

Date	Pledge / Progress	Grade

Sep. 16, 2006	*"My objective is to retain the Penguins in Pittsburgh."* The Penguins will stay in a new arena backed by gambling revenues.	A

Sep. 21, 2006	*Create a Business Assistance and Retention Team to streamline business permitting.* The "team" has six members, and a business retention manager started work in July.	A

Oct. 16, 2006	Revamp Market Square, removing marble risers and creating four distinct quadrants. The city hired Klavon Design Associates to analyze lighting and landscaping and has set up a committee to review bus routes.	B

Nov. 19, 2006	Pressure parking lot operators to lower rates in light of a parking tax cut. No major lot operators lowered rates, though the Pittsburgh Parking Authority provided six days of free Downtown parking.	C

Dec. 7, 2006	Buy back delinquent tax liens from private company to smooth development of properties. The city bought the liens and has moved more than 300 tax delinquent properties closer to redevelopment or use as side yards or gardens.	A

Dec. 12, 2006	Implement a 10-year tax abatement for housing Downtown and in challenged neighborhoods. The city has developed an application for the abatement, and is pushing for county and school district participation. So far, there are no applicants for the tax break.	B

Dec. 12, 2006	*Spur development of affordable housing Downtown.* The city so far counts 112 of the 1,000-plus planned new units of Downtown housing as "affordable."	C

Jan. 10, 2007	Seek a developer to revamp the area around the Garden Theater in Central Northside. The Urban Redevelopment Authority has received 11 proposals to redevelop the area, and expects to choose one in mid-September.	B

April 5, 2007	*Negotiate an agreement on "the specifics of community involvement" in Hill District development.* The city faces multiple Hill district groups making different demands.	C

[ Return to overview ]

Diversity

Date	Pledge / Progress	Grade

Sep. 12, 2006	*Create a Women's Commission to bring the concerns of women to the city and county.* The commission became a voice in the debate over the promotion of three police officers who faced accusations of domestic abuse.	A [ C ]

Sep. 12, 2006	Improve gender and racial diversity in top city staff. Among 14 top mayoral staff and department or bureau heads, nine are white males, six of whom face possible replacement.	C

March 11, 2007	Improve racial diversity in public safety bureau hiring. The city has hired an equal employment opportunity manager. A minority paramedic training effort yielded four African American hires. A new recruiting team is in place in the Police Bureau.	C [ D ]

April 10, 2007	Empanel a 35-member Propel Pittsburgh Commission to express young professional concerns. The city has 394 applicants and is interviewing them, but has named no members.	B

[ Return to overview ]

Education

Date	Pledge / Progress	Grade

Dec. 13, 2006	Create a scholarship fund so all Pittsburgh Public Schools graduates can afford college. Just $10,000 has been raised, and the program's terms are still under development. The mayor and schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt said there will be scholarships for 2008 grads.	D [ C ]

[ Return to overview ]

Governance

Date	Pledge / Progress	Grade

Sep. 8, 2006	Seek a new solicitor, finance director and personnel director. The city hired directors of finance and personnel, but has left an acting solicitor in place for 13 months, in violation of the city charter.	C [ B ]

Sep. 19, 2006	Review city fleet maintenance and determine whether to bring it back in-house. Legislation creating a committee to review the performance of a private vehicle maintenance firm has passed, but the committee hasn't yet been created nor met.	C [ B ]

Sep. 21, 2006	Create a 311 help line for non-emergency problems. Launched in October, it has taken 31,073 help requests, resulting in 24,630 problems resolved.	A

Sep. 29, 2006	Cut Fire Bureau premium pay using new hires. Premium pay has dipped from more than $1 million a month to $800,000 a month this year.	B

Oct. 12, 2006	Maintain integrity. "[A]ctivity that's not focused on the duty of serving the residents of the City of Pittsburgh will not be tolerated." The mayor's attendance at a golf event, courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Pittsburgh Penguins, spurred an ethics flap.	C

Oct. 19, 2006	Support the Advisory Committee to Enhance Efficiency and Effectiveness of County and City Government. The committee has met in secret and members say it may report this fall.	B

Nov. 13, 2006	Meet with union officials and state overseers to decide whether to reopen firefighters contract. The city is taking no action, pending a report on the Fire Bureau commissioned by state overseers.	C

Nov. 16, 2006	Market city services to suburbs, in light of deal to collect trash for Wilkinsburg. No new deals have been inked, but the city is negotiating with Wilkinsburg to take over firefighting, and with other municipalities over other services.	C

Jan. 7, 2007	Find ways to bring advertising money and sponsorship dollars to the city. The city and a marketing firm are in the final stages of finalizing a contract to seek private dollars for the city.	B

April 12, 2007	Unite mayors from around the state to seek a solution to underfunded pension plans. The mayor brought his initial idea -- a statewide municipal pension fund -- to a conference of mayors June 19. He's awaiting a report by a committee on pensions.	B

April 17, 2007	Bring all employees into a health insurance plan that saves $17 million over 3 years. The firefighters union contract gives it veto power over the plan, and talks between the city and union have begun.	B

May 3, 2007	Hire a Management, Accountability, Performance and Strategy coordinator to improve city operations. The position has been filled.	A [ B ]

June 14, 2007	Conduct a national search to determine whether heads of 10 city departments and authorities should be replaced. Just one director -- Urban Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Jerome Dettore -- has left his post. No new directors have been announced.	D [ B ]

June 29, 2007	Institute a "zero tolerance" policy on domestic abuse by city employees. The administration has told departments to scour the records of candidates for promotions, but other changes are still pending.	C

July 3, 2007	Use biodiesel fuel to run garbage trucks. The city received a grant for $303,675 to fit 8 to 10 trucks for biodiesel fuel, and has ordered a fuel storage tank.	B

July 3, 2007	Turn Pittsburgh into a "Solar City." A federal grant has been approved and a Solar America Cities group has met twice.	C

Aug. 2, 2007	Conduct background checks on all proposed new hires. Departments that did not already conduct checks have begun to do so. The administration is considering background checks on current workers.	B

[ Return to overview ]

Neighborhoods

Date	Pledge / Progress	Grade

Jan. 24, 2007	Compel vacant property owners to demolish, board or rehab their buildings. This and other anti-blight bills have stalled in council.	C

Jan. 30, 2007	Launch new C-TIPS police unit to help neighborhood groups and businesses. The unit has been assigned 66 cases and closed 33 of them, resulting in 20 arrests.	A [ B ]
July 30, 2007	Meet with college and university leaders to craft policy on disciplining students who are disruptive in neighborhoods. A first meeting occurred in late August.	C

[ Return to overview ]

Safety

Date	Pledge / Progress	Grade

Sep. 21, 2006	*Boost the number of uniformed police to 900.* There are now 850 officers, with 40 in training.	B

Nov. 1, 2006	*Analyze the number of crossing guards in light of school closings and parent complaints.* The city is deploying 130 crossing guards this school year, the same as last year.	C [ B ]

Feb. 1, 2007	*Distribute 1,000 free fire alarms to city residents.* The Fire Bureau has installed 1,480 free smoke detectors.	A

March 26, 2007	*Sue owners and seize buildings that are scenes of violent crimes and drug crimes.* The city has sued one defendant, compelling them to demolish a dilapidated home, and identified 31 other properties for similar court actions.	B

April 3, 2007	*Charge $3.85 an hour fee for use by all private entities of off-duty city police.* The city has imposed the fee, but has been criticized for allowing some companies to hire police through entrepreneurial officers rather than a central system.	B [ A ]

May 8, 2007	*Install surveillance cameras in high-crime neighborhoods.* The city issued a request for information from interested video surveillance, and expects to start the process of choosing a vendor later this year.	C

May 8, 2007	Create an "anti-crime cabinet" including public safety experts, community and religious leaders. A June 16 meeting with 50 clergy and others launched a "52 weeks of peace" effort to reconnect police and communities, and a second meeting is set for Friday.	C