There are 38 potholes on the block of Shadyside's Howe Street between College and South Highland avenues.

Buckling Guarino Road in Squirrel Hill drains so badly that one pool of standing water yesterday was 22 feet long.

Neither street is on the city's resurfacing list, and yesterday residents decried what they viewed as inadequate or unfair paving, as city officials debated how to improve the system.

Pittsburgh aims to pave 40 miles of its 800 miles of streets this year. A review of the paving list shows that three council members and at least 30 Democratic Committee leaders and members will see their streets, or streets very close to their homes, paved this year.

City Chief of Staff Yarone Zober said politics doesn't play into paving decisions and that the city is looking for ways to deal with road problems nearly a decade in the making.

"We're looking at other cities right now for both pavement and pothole management systems," said Mr. Zober, the top aide to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

One model under consideration is Philadelphia's Operation Smooth Streets. That program, started last year, involves "a targeted and heavy attack on roadway street defects," according to Philadelphia's Web site, and aims to reduce "long-term degradation."

Mr. Zober said "years of neglect" is catching up with the city.

"The rule of thumb is we should [repave] 80 miles a year," he said. The city last hit that target in 1999. Because of budget pressures, paving miles dipped steadily from 2000, when the city did 57 miles, to 24 miles in 2004. It has climbed slowly since then.

He said the administration listens to regular citizens as fervently as to Democratic Committee members.

Councilman William Peduto disagreed.

"Paving of streets right now is not determined through need and is not a transparent system," he said.

He said that by summer he will propose changes to the City Code that would restore a computerized pavement management system the city stopped relying on in 1999.

Mr. Peduto said the proposal will mandate that the city craft a three- to five-year paving plan based on data on street composition and traffic, and then post the plan on the Internet. The city would have to base 90 percent of its paving spending on the computer-assisted plan, with the remaining 10 percent reserved for unforeseen situations.

Now the city uses a subjective process involving observations by public works division chiefs and referrals from council members, committee members, community leaders and residents.

Mr. Peduto, who abandoned his campaign to unseat Mr. Ravenstahl last month, said he has tried to use that system to get six streets on the paving list this year. Only one got on it.

Among those that didn't make the list was Howe Street.

Dave Matta, an educational consultant from Shadyside, said he's been trying to get Howe paved for years.

"There are crews here from the city to patch the potholes on Howe Street about once a week," he said. "If they're out once a week, why not just repave it?

"I think we'd all just like Pittsburgh better if we weren't saddled with having perhaps the worst roads in the area."

"If a lot of politicians lived on this street, it would probably get paved," said retiree Tom Moores, as he walked Howe, around the corner from his home. "I wish I didn't have to drive it, but I don't know any other way to come."

On Guarino, Victor Pelakh, a medical imaging systems field engineer, said he's been trying to get the mud slick in front of his driveway fixed for years.

"The taxes are high, but we don't get much for it," he said.

Council President Doug Shields said he has tried to get Guarino on the paving list, but that the city's $9 million paving budget doesn't go far enough. He said the state-appointed Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority stripped council of its ability to increase paving funding.

"People wonder why the council members have to scramble around the back doors to get things done," he said.

An ICA official could not be reached for comment.