Twenty Questions for the Would-Be Mayor

PRIMARY 2009

Sunday, May 17, 2009

By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Patrick Dowd

Luke Ravenstahl

Carmen Robinson

It hasn't been a by-the-numbers mayor's race.

Rather then issue new, detailed proposals for Pittsburgh's ongoing budget and personnel challenges, the three candidates in the Democratic primary Tuesday have painted themselves – and sometimes each other – with a broad brush.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has focused on his record and 11 general goals. Councilman Patrick Dowd has called him corrupt and wasteful. Attorney Carmen Robinson has argued for a fresh face unsullied by political mudslinging.

Ask them to get specific, though, and they reveal differences that would affect voters' pocket books, city hiring and benefits, public safety, infrastructure and the future of city government itself.

Here's what they had to say about the some of the issues that face the next mayor:

TAXES

People who work in the city pay $52 a year, which is one way that commuters pay into city coffers. How much should non-city residents who work within its borders pay each year?

DOWD: $145 for non-residents only

RAVENSTAHL: "$52 will have to do" for now though the city's recovery plan called for $144

ROBINSON: $52 for those who make $12,001 to $40,000, and $72 for non-resident commuters earning more than $40,000

Tax windfalls from property reassessments are capped at 5 percent. If a reassessment occurs, by what percentage should the city allow its property tax take to rise as a result?

DOWD: 3 percent, and the new revenue should go to pension and debt reduction

RAVENSTAHL: Under 5 percent, "subject to periodic review"

ROBINSON: No more than 1.5 percent

The parking tax is 37.5 percent, and is supposed to drop to 35 percent next year. What should the parking tax rate be by 2013?

DOWD: 30 percent

RAVENSTAHL: 35 percent

ROBINSON: 35 percent

A consortium of nonprofit groups has pledged to make donations to the city averaging $1.8 million a year. A 2007 city controller's office audit found that 22 education and health institutions would pay $32 million if their properties were taxed. What should the big nonprofits pay the city per year?

DOWD: Unspecified amount of voluntary payments, plus in-kind services that improve urban life

RAVENSTAHL: "More than they are currently proposing," maybe via "a gross payroll tax on large nonprofits" if the state approved

ROBINSON: "A minimum of $10 million from our hospitals and large universities"

The city's recovery plan of 2004 calls for bringing in $1.25 million a year from selling advertising space and sponsorships to private firms, but that has not been implemented. How much should the city attempt to raise, per year, by selling advertising and sponsorships of its events?

DOWD: $0

RAVENSTAHL: $125,000 in 2009, and $500,000 by 2011

ROBINSON: $1 million per year for ads and sponsorships "done subliminally or aesthetically"

City authorities pay the city $9.6 million a year -- a transfer largely from water rate payers, parkers, and development funds to the city. What is an appropriate level of payment by the authorities to the city?

DOWD: $0, because "taking from authorities is robbing Peter to pay Paul"

RAVENSTAHL: $9.6 million as reimbursement for services provided by the city

ROBINSON: Unspecified, but the payments are "a shell game"

SPENDING

How much money would you expect to borrow over a four-year term to repair the city's infrastructure?

DOWD: $120 million, because "delaying investment increases costs for future generations"

RAVENSTAHL: $0, consistent with "my policy of issuing no new debt" and paying for improvements year-by-year

ROBINSON: $0

City employees paid an average of $3,000 each – 4 to 6 percent of salary – into the troubled pension fund in 2008. How much should the average city employee pay into the pension fund?

DOWD: $5,000, on average

RAVENSTAHL: 5 percent of salary is "standard and appropriate"

ROBINSON: 7 percent of salary, with new hires in a defined-contribution plan, rather than a pension plan

The Mayor's Office costs the city $1.1 million a year, out of a total city budget of $438 million. What is an appropriate budget for the Mayor's Office?

DOWD: $500,000

RAVENSTAHL: $1.1 million, as it has been since 2006

ROBINSON: $800,000

SAFETY

The city is budgeted at 917 police officers. How many should it have by 2011?

DOWD: 950 "on the street, not at desks"

RAVENSTAHL: 917, "a significant increase over the number we began with" in 2006

ROBINSON: 1,000 after "right-sizing" other city departments, and only if crime climbs

The Police Bureau is 80 percent white. What goal would you set for the bureau in terms of the percentage of new hires that should be qualified minorities?

DOWD: 50 percent of recruits should be women and minorities

RAVENSTAHL: 28 percent minority representation within the bureau in 3 years

ROBINSON: 1 in 4 new hires (25 percent) with a goal of 35 percent minority representation

The Fire Bureau is expected to pay $10.8 million in premium pay – mostly overtime – this year. What is your target for annual premium pay to firefighters by 2013?

DOWD: $5 million, or $8,000 per firefighter

RAVENSTAHL: $10.9 million, because paying overtime is more cost-effective than hiring new firefighters

ROBINSON: "I would start by cutting overtime by 50 percent"

The Fire Bureau includes 11 female firefighters – less than two percent of the force. What goal would you set for the bureau in terms of the percentage of new hires that should be qualified women?

DOWD: 50 percent

RAVENSTAHL: "Better than" the 3.7 percent of firefighters nationally who are women

ROBINSON: 1 out of every 4 new recruits with a goal of a 15 percent female bureau

The city budget currently calls for 161 paramedics. How many should there be?

DOWD: Merge paramedics and the Fire Bureau

RAVENSTAHL: 161

ROBINSON: 161

Average paramedic response time on emergency calls was around 8 minutes in 2008. What target would you set for emergency response time?

DOWD: 7 minutes

RAVENSTAHL: 8 minute response time is within the national standard

ROBINSON: 9 to 13 minutes meets national standards

MERGERS

If you support a city-county merger referendum, by which year would you push to have this referendum conducted?

DOWD: 2011

RAVENSTAHL: 2010, "with the right pressure from the media" on legislators to allow a vote

ROBINSON: No merger vote

STREETS

How many of the city's 40,000 street lights can realistically be converted to more efficient lighting technologies during the four-year term?

DOWD: 6,000 per year; 24,000 in four years

RAVENSTAHL: The entire job can be done in four years

ROBINSON: "About half in 4 years" due to financial constraints

The city plans to repave 36 miles of streets this year, out of 800 miles it maintains. Experts say it should ideally repave 80 miles per year. How many miles per year would you hope to repave?

DOWD: 40 miles per year of a "right-size" street grid, with a focus on public transportation

RAVENSTAHL: "I hope to repave all of them" and will do "more than we are currently doing"

ROBINSON: Unspecified, according to a schedule "balancing what is critically necessary"

BUILDINGS

The city condemned 602 buildings in 2008, and razed 451. What is a reasonable annual target for the number of abandoned homes demolished?

DOWD: Unspecified, subject to "a demolition plan"

RAVENSTAHL: 600 this year, up from 269 in 2006

ROBINSON: 100 percent of condemned buildings, subject to "balancing safety with costs"

The city's $12-per-unit rental registration plan is on hold. What is an appropriate per-rental-unit fee?

DOWD: $12

RAVENSTAHL: $12

ROBINSON: Unspecified, but wants to make sure it "isn't really a hidden tax"