PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

League of Young Voters Debate Report
by Abie Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 1:22 AM

There’s going to be a special election for Pittsburgh City Council’s vacant district 3 seat real soon. First the election was scheduled for Pitt spring break when the pesky college students would not be around. But now the date has been changed and the candidates are shaking hands and kissing babies on the college campus.

audio link: MP3 at 1.4 mebibytes

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There’s going to be a special election for Pittsburgh City Council’s vacant district 3 seat real soon. First the election was scheduled for Pitt spring break when the pesky college students would not be around. But now the date has been changed and the candidates are shaking hands and kissing babies on the college campus.

It was a dark and stormy night... no, no, it was a crisp winter’s eve, like the ones from before global warming set in... no, forget it, there was a debate in the William Pitt Student Union featuring 6 of the fine candidates for Pittsburgh City Council.

Khari Mosley, the Pittsburgh Director of the League of Young Voters (and music/politics blogger --- http://www.diondega.blogspot.com/), kicked off the evening.

ogg version of Khari Mosley Intro
by Abie Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 1:22 AM

audio: ogg vorbis at 1.2 mebibytesaudio: ogg vorbis at 1.2 mebibytes

mp3 version of Chris Potter Intro
by Abie Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 1:22 AM

audio link: MP3 at 1.7 mebibytes

Flash player: Embed this audio player: <script language="JavaScript" src="http://indypgh.org/im/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://indypgh.org/im/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"> <param name="movie" value="http://indypgh.org/im/player.swf"> <param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&bg=0xf8f8f8&leftbg=0xeeeeee&lefticon=0x666666&rightbg=0xcccccc&rightbghover=0x999999&righticon=0x666666&righticonhover=0xffffff&text=0x666666&slider=0x666666&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0x666666&loader=0x990000&loop=no&autostart=no&soundFile=http://media.indypgh.org/uploads/2006/02/intro-chris.mp3"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="menu" value="true"> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"> </object> <br/> <a href=http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2006/02/22974.php><img border=0 src="http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/im/imc_audio.gif">Audio posted by Abie to Pittsburgh Indymedia (1.7 mebibytes) </a>

Chris Potter, the Hurstesqe editor of the Pittsburgh City Paper and famed co-host of the WRCT talk show With The Lid Off moderated the debate, and laid out the ground rules.

ogg version of Chris Potter Intro
by Abie Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 1:22 AM

audio: ogg vorbis at 1.5 mebibytesaudio: ogg vorbis at 1.5 mebibytes

mp3 version of Candidate intros
by Abie Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 1:22 AM

audio link: MP3 at 4.5 mebibytes

Flash player: Embed this audio player: <script language="JavaScript" src="http://indypgh.org/im/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://indypgh.org/im/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"> <param name="movie" value="http://indypgh.org/im/player.swf"> <param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&bg=0xf8f8f8&leftbg=0xeeeeee&lefticon=0x666666&rightbg=0xcccccc&rightbghover=0x999999&righticon=0x666666&righticonhover=0xffffff&text=0x666666&slider=0x666666&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0x666666&loader=0x990000&loop=no&autostart=no&soundFile=http://media.indypgh.org/uploads/2006/02/intro-candidates.mp3"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="menu" value="true"> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"> </object> <br/> <a href=http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2006/02/22976.php><img border=0 src="http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/im/imc_audio.gif">Audio posted by Abie to Pittsburgh Indymedia (4.5 mebibytes) </a>

The 6 candidates, Neal Andrus (Republican), Jeff Koch (Democrat), Bruce Krane (Independent), Bruce Kraus (Independent), Jason Phillips (Green), and Mark Rauterkas (Libertarian) each got 90 seconds to introduce themselves. In case you don’t feel like listening to them yap for a total of 9 minutes and 50 seconds (it _is_ somewhat boring), here is what I gathered from their mouth sounds.
* Andrus is a Republican, he thinks it is too expensive to live in Pittsburgh.
* Jeff Koch prefers his name to have the unlikely pronunciation “cook”, and he may be a truck driver.
* Bruce Krane is a business man
* Bruce Kraus loves community service and neighborhoods
* Jason Phillips wears a sweatshirt (everybody else wears suits). He is into transportation, parking, shopping, and nightlife
* Mark Rauterkas is interested in freedom for all and bike lanes

ogg version of Candidate intros
by Abie Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 1:22 AM

audio: ogg vorbis at 4.1 mebibytesaudio: ogg vorbis at 4.1 mebibytes

mp3 version of the debate, part I
by Abie Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 1:22 AM

audio link: MP3 at 11.7 mebibytes

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Questions from the crowd were selected from a pile by Potter, who then grilled the candidates, giving each one minute to respond. Don’t take my word for it, but here are my recollections of what was discussed.
* Casinos
* Andrus: Hill district plan is the front runner, and it is bad for families
* Koch: likes to play the slots himself once in a while
* Krane: would bring community together to enforce zoning codes
* Kraus: councilor must manage public safety
* Phillips: we should continue the fight against casinos in our community
* Rauterkas: gaming licenses should expire in 25 years
* Improving the state of South Oakland
* Andrus: enforce and educate tenants on current laws
* Koch: a landlord himself, doesn’t want neglect, but sympathetic to landlords
* Krane: the city has no money to deal with this
* Kraus: some private company from California owns 1200 properties in Arlington alone
* Phillips: need a renters bill of rights
* Rauterkas: a William S. Burroughs style stream of consciousness response
* Mon-Fayette Expressway
* Andrus: against it
* Koch: “I don’t have enough information”
* Krane: it’s bad, but council can’t do shit about it
* Kraus: opposed, adamantly opposed
* Phillips: shrines? Shriners? doesn’t support it
* Rauterkas: I have no recollection of what this man answered
* A question just for Koch, will Bob O’Connor’s position influence you?
* Can you guess the answer? It was “Not at all”
* Non-profits in Pittsburgh
* I’m bored with typing this all in, everybody said go after the organizations which are non-profit in name only, except Phillips, who said don’t beat up non-profits and instead get more home owners and tax them

ogg version of the debate, part I
by Abie Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 1:22 AM

audio: ogg vorbis at 9.7 mebibytesaudio: ogg vorbis at 9.7 mebibytes

mp3 version of the debate, part II
by Abie Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 1:22 AM

audio link: MP3 at 7.8 mebibytes

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I broke the question and answer session into two parts to make it easier for you, the listener.
* Consolidate city and county
* A question for Phillips only, if elected, will you play well with others?
* Can you guess the answer? It was “Yes, I promise”
* How can Pittsburgh build sustainable income?
* How will you encourage businesses and bring jobs?

ogg version of the debate, part II
by Abie Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 1:22 AM

audio: ogg vorbis at 6.0 mebibytesaudio: ogg vorbis at 6.0 mebibytes

mp3 version of the closing statements
by Abie Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 1:22 AM

audio link: MP3 at 3.9 mebibytes

Flash player: Embed this audio player: <script language="JavaScript" src="http://indypgh.org/im/audio-player.js"></script><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://indypgh.org/im/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"> <param name="movie" value="http://indypgh.org/im/player.swf"> <param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&bg=0xf8f8f8&leftbg=0xeeeeee&lefticon=0x666666&rightbg=0xcccccc&rightbghover=0x999999&righticon=0x666666&righticonhover=0xffffff&text=0x666666&slider=0x666666&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0x666666&loader=0x990000&loop=no&autostart=no&soundFile=http://media.indypgh.org/uploads/2006/02/outro-candidates.mp3"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="menu" value="true"> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"> </object> <br/> <a href=http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2006/02/22982.php><img border=0 src="http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/im/imc_audio.gif">Audio posted by Abie to Pittsburgh Indymedia (3.9 mebibytes) </a>

After a relatively painless 45 minute questioning session, each candidate had another 90 seconds to make a closing statement, and Potter asked them to consider mentioning their top 3 priorities as part of it. It was Republican candidate Andrus who finished strong in this round, and the crowd seemed receptive to his claims that he is not beholden to the unions.

ogg version of the closing statements
by Abie Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 1:22 AM

audio: ogg vorbis at 6.0 mebibytesaudio: ogg vorbis at 6.0 mebibytes

LATEST COMMENTS ABOUT THIS ARTICLE
Listed below are the 10 latest comments of 7 posted about this article.
These comments are anonymously submitted by the website visitors.

TITLE	AUTHOR	DATE
Thanks for the podcast	Chris	Saturday, Mar. 04, 2006 at 12:23 PM
Biasness or just an editing mistake?	Jess Smith	Friday, Mar. 03, 2006 at 11:11 AM
Re: incomplete soundbyte	Abie	Friday, Mar. 03, 2006 at 9:36 AM
incomplete soundbyte	Neal Andrus	Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 11:33 PM
Rauterkus -- spelling	Mark Rauterkus	Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 8:43 PM
Phillips WON'T play nice	Andrea Boykowycz	Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 at 10:51 AM