Mayor Luke Ravenstahl seems to have a political tin ear.

When three city police officers with questionable behavior on their resumes were promoted, he admitted that the news about two of the men -- that they had faced allegations of domestic abuse -- was news to him.

Then, when 150 people showed up June 28 for a City Council hearing on the matter and two dozen speakers gave their troubled response to this troubling news, the mayor did not attend. Now, it's not unusual for a mayor to pass on this sort of council session, and Mayor Ravenstahl had met a day earlier with representatives from 16 organizations on the same topic.

But didn't he realize how insensitive it would sound when he admitted that the business that kept him away was playing in the Mario Lemieux Celebrity Invitational golf tournament at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier?

And now, questions are being raised about the fee that was paid for the mayor's participation. He wasn't one of the "celebrities," and the amateur package for the two-day event cost $27,000 for three golfers. The mayor said he was a guest of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

The city's code of conduct and its charter prohibit elected officials from accepting items of value, yet the mayor as of yesterday had not written a check to the Mario Lemieux Foundation, which sponsors the tournament.

Didn't Mayor Ravenstahl learn anything back in March, when he triggered criticism by taking a free ride to New York on the private jet of the owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins only hours after announcing the deal that builds a new arena and keeps the hockey franchise in town?

All of this makes us wonder if the mayor just doesn't get the standards of behavior that the public expects from someone in his position. And if not, isn't there anyone around him to give good advice?

Sadly, Pittsburghers might be in for more of the same from its 27-year-old mayor. Last week he decided to hire as his director of public affairs not some experienced hand in political or government communications, but his former high-school athletic trainer. It's true, however, that David White, the man who will fill the new $88,859 position, did have a community relations job.

With UPMC Health Plan.

None of this sounds very good.