AN UNDESERVED pay raise passed in the dead of night can motivate citizens in more ways than one. The newest manifestation of public anger comes in the procession of candidates who have decided to oppose an incumbent for state House or Senate seats this year. After the deadline passed last week for filing petitions to run, a look at the numbers by Post-Gazette staff writer Ed Blazina revealed that 30 of the 40 House districts in the five counties around Pittsburgh will have contested battles in 2006. That compares to only 18 two years ago. Incumbents typically have an easy ride to re-election, but last year's lesson is that the public's business should be done in public. Ignore your duty on that, and an incumbent is inviting a stiff challenge in the next election. The surge of candidates for the state legislative seats is proof.

ONE LAW that we've asked legislators to improve is the one that will license 14 slots casinos in Pennsylvania. Debate has swirled in Harrisburg over the need to make two changes in the original act: one would bar elected officials from owning any stake in a casino and another would give the state attorney general clear authority to investigate the facilities. The Post-Gazette has supported both changes and is glad to see Rep. Paul Clymer, a Bucks County Republican, calling for one more: the removal of the supplier mandate. Dressed up as a way to leverage more jobs and business in the state from slots, the provision is actually a way to funnel money to political operatives and former politicians of both parties who have applied to become "suppliers." The law requires casino licensees to buy their machines and equipment service from Pennsylvania-based middlemen, a.k.a. suppliers, instead of directly from manufacturers. Rep. Clymer wants a measure to make this optional, which would, in effect, make it moot. Sounds like fair game to us.

A DIFFERENT kind of contest is being sponsored by the Riverlife Task Force, and the payoff won't come in cash but in a more beautiful and accessible city. The group is holding an international design competition on adding a dramatic, creative pedestrian crossing to the West End Bridge. The walkway would fill a gap in the Three Rivers Park trail system, which will give joggers, walkers and cyclists smooth passage around Pittsburgh's most famous natural resource. Last week the task force announced that the field of 109 design teams had been culled to seven finalists, each of which will receive a $15,000 stipend to come here and develop a final design. With support from the Alcoa Foundation, this enterprise is one more way that Pittsburgh is moving into the future by capitalizing on its past, in this case the simple elegance of the West End Bridge. This kind of private leadership is public service of the highest order.