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Motznik apologizes for 'out of line' comments
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Pittsburgh Councilman Jim Motznik, who questioned his colleagues' honesty and intelligence Tuesday, apologized for those comments yesterday.
Mr. Motznik had sought council's presidency, thought he had enough support to win and sounded off after other council members chose Doug Shields for that post.
"I know that I reacted out of frustration and realized this morning that I was out of line and that I needed to apologize for [those comments]," he said.
The apology came shortly after he again criticized council on KDKA-Radio, he admitted. Shortly thereafter, he said, "I realized that the comments that I made were out of line."
Mr. Motznik's colleagues balked at his bid for the presidency after he tried to line up votes for the post before Mayor Bob O'Connor died and former President Luke Ravenstahl became mayor. Some thought that was disrespectful.
Today Mr. Motznik denied lobbying for the post during Mr. O'Connor's final days, though he said he participated in meetings starting a week ago regarding how a transition to a new mayor would be handled. "Doug [Shields], the person who is president, was in those discussions, too, on Wednesday," he said.
Mr. O'Connor died late Friday of central nervous system lymphoma.
Mr. Motznik said he did not believe his actions prior to the mayor's death were the real reason his bid for the presidency fell apart. "You know why I'm not the president? It's because I'm an independent person," he said.
Mr. Shields is close to Mr. O'Connor's loyalists.
Mr. Motznik said no one told him to apologize, nor did he act out of fear that his effectiveness on council or his political future had been compromised by his comments.
"I don't anticipate running for any other office in the near future," he said. "I just felt [the apology] needed to be done, that's all."
Councilman Jeff Koch, whose intelligence Mr. Motznik questioned, the apology.
"I was done with it after I left the building yesterday," he said. "It's all right now."
First Published September 7, 2006 12:00 am
