Pittsburghers won't have a chance to vote for an "open government" referendum on Nov. 8, but they will be able to vote for the referendum's creator -- longtime activist and Squirrel Hill resident David Tessitor.

Tessitor, former head of Pittsburghers for Open Government, is running for mayor as an independent candidate.

He met a deadline yesterday to file more than 1,000 signatures with the Allegheny County Elections Division, and he joins two third-party mayoral hopefuls, Titus North of the Green Party and Jay Ressler of the Socialist Workers Party.

Joe Weinroth is the Republican nominee for mayor and Bob O'Connor is the Democratic nominee.

The referendum needed 8,493 signatures to get on the November ballot, and a group of 100 volunteers managed to collect about half that number over the last seven weeks, Tessitor said.

If approved by voters, the referendum would have amended the city charter to require that all public documents and video of public meetings be made available on the city's Web site.

It also would have created a citizen advisory panel, open to any city resident, property owner, taxpayer or business owner. The panel would give residents more opportunities to voice their concerns to the mayor and City Council.

"It's designed to open government communication in two directions," Tessitor said.

He said Pittsburghers for Open Government will conduct a new signature campaign either during the winter or next summer.