So they were really mean to me over on 414 GRANT STREET. Wah, Wah. Anyway, come to find out the residency requirement thing is handled by the state legislature. Luke’s supporters apparently have their panties all twisted up and in a bind because the Mayor, whoever it might be, might ask the state legislature to get rid of the residency requirement (Heavens forfind!). Like asking for things has worked out well for us. If a Pittsburgh Mayor had that kind of power, we would be knee deep in pension fund bucks.
So it’s a non-issue. DeSantis can’t sell the city down the river, he’s got nothing to sell … it … with … OK, that analogy kinda went wrong, but you get the point. So how much does it piss anyone off that that was the big issue in the papers, and it is a non-issue. Meanwhile, the Mayor didn’t answer about the deficits in his five year plan, and said that the pension funds could only be fixed at the state level. Does he think state legislators don’t have people watching the Pittsburgh Mayoral debates? Does he never want to have a meeting with Jane Orie?
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7 comments:
Amen on all counts, Ed.
And all the more so because, pedantic meanness aside, 414 still didn't answer your first (and most essential) question. But then, neither did Luke at last night's debate.
Nor has anyone else.
Ever.
Jane Orie has been sponsoring legislation to remove the residency requirement for several sessions and has also offered it as an amendment to many bills during sine die. It may have made it out of the Senate one year, but ultimately, it usually dies in committee. Even before this became an issue in this race, Jane was pushing for a change. It is highly unlikely that it would find success during this session either.
Love the blog. Long time reader, first time posting.
Thanks for the comments, Chad and Ex.
It appears Jane Orie has pursured this issue for years. As the Majority Whip, she may be coming into a level of power that allows her to shoe horn it through the State Senate. I expect the house would not pass a similar bill so easily. What's interesting to me is the idea that our Mayor is supposed to have strong influence on this issue in the state legislature.
I really don't think it has anything to do with this mayor's (or the previous mayor's) influence. This bill first came about in 2002 and has yet to ever receive a vote of the full Senate. If I remember correctly from my Harrisburg days, it might have come out of committee once or twice, but there was never any true support among any of the caucuses, despite being a subject that gets a lot of print. I was in Harrisburg when the teacher residency requirements were lifted and remember the discussion starting to shift to law enforcement and no one wanted to go there -- the impact it would have on Philadelphia pretty much made it is non-issue from the get go, especially in the House, so it was basically a "don't even think of sending the bill over here" discussion.
Keep city employees in the city!
Again, I appreciate the comments, Ex, as I have no perspective from Harrisburg. I was basically repeating what FOP leader James Malloy has said about Ravenstahl and his power in Harrisburg. I think a lot of Pittsburghers see Harrisburg through a Pittsburgh prism, although in Malloy's case he may be playing up a view that suits his agenda (whatever that might be). This Mayor's relationship with the police has some very bizzare aspects.
Bizarre is a good way of putting it. Having been born, raised and educated in Pittsburgh and then immediately going to work on the legislative side of things in Harrisburg for nearly ten years(for Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly and the Governor's Office, and no, I never got a bonus), I can attest to the Pittsburgh view of Harrisburg. The view of Pittsburgh, from Harrisburg's perspective, is a bit distorted as well. Pittsburgh's mayors, at one time or another, have had their moments of favor and disfavor in Harrisburg, generally tied to whatever is needed politically by those running the show. My experience has led me to believe, at times, Harrisburg just simply forgets that Pittsburgh actually exists. It's not intentional, it'smore of the "out of sight, out of mind mentality". The poiticos in South/North Eastern PA do a much better job of working across party lines for the good of a region than the electeds from the western side.
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