Who is that man behind the curtain?

If, as mayoral candidate Kevin Acklin suggests, Cranberry businessman John Verbanac is the great and powerful Oz of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's Emerald City, the independent challenger is going to have to pull the curtain back farther and reveal more.

So far, the allegations leveled by Mr. Acklin during a televised debate Wednesday are more questions and suggestions than evidence of, as he put it, "outright corruption."

In the packet of information he released, Mr. Acklin makes a strong case that Mr. Verbanac has been active and involved in giving Mr. Ravenstahl political and policy advice, including strongly worded recommendations on hirings, firings and demotions. Mr. Ravenstahl does not dispute his friendship with Mr. Verbanac or the fact that he relies on the developer for advice and input, and he says he will continue to do so in the future. At the same time, though, Mr. Acklin is correct in saying that the mayor initially was less than forthright in publicly acknowledging the influence that Mr. Verbanac has.

Mr. Verbanac, CEO of the firm Summa Development, worked on the campaign of the late Bob O'Connor in 2005 and previously was an aide to Republican Sens. John Heinz and Rick Santorum. He has provided the mayor with advice on everything from development to public relations and personnel, and he has been an adviser to Forest City Enterprises both in its quest to win Pittsburgh's casino license and to be selected as lead developer for the former LTV site in Hazelwood.

Suggestions that Mr. Verbanac's political connections would be helpful in those dealings are nothing new, and the argument is diluted by the fact that the companies with which he was associated did not get either the casino license or the development deal.

Which is not to suggest that there has never been anything amiss in the Ravenstahl administration. We've been critical before of arrangements that suggest that political contributors are treated far too well in winning city contracts.

So far, though, Mr. Acklin has whipped up more smoke than fire. Until he has more, his allegations melt under careful scrutiny.

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