Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, the flim-flam artist

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Infrastructure


Fig. 1. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

I’m starting to think Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey is a flim-flam artist:

The previous administration had planned to spend $6 million on the [Charles Anderson Memorial Bridge] project this year, according to the last capital budget of former Mayor Bill Peduto. But in the current budget, Mr. [Ed] Gainey’s first, the spending was moved back a full year, zeroing out all the money that had been set to go into the project in 2023.[1]

At some point, we have to start asking where all the money is going. It isn’t going to white supremacist gangsters because Pittsburgh claims to be shorthanded and the gangster union claims gangsters are underpaid.[2] It clearly isn’t going to infrastructure because little to nothing is being done on bridges even though the need is urgent,[3] and we aren’t even talking about the roads. And despite Gainey’s promises,[4] it certainly isn’t going to alleviating poverty or creating economic opportunity.

So just where the fuck is the money going? Where? What the fuck is Pittsburgh spending a three percent local income tax on? What? Is anything at all being done to improve the lives of Pittsburgh residents?

We see $220,000 on a snow plowing contract[5] and a promise to clear roads within 24 hours of a snowfall,[6] a promise that really hasn’t been put to the test this winter because what snow there’s been has been relatively light. But that’s it.

Of course, this is par for the course with the Democratic Party: Lots of promises, then lots of excuses, and little to no delivery. But in this case, Gainey isn’t even making excuses. He just doesn’t answer why he zeroed out the budget for fixing the Charles Anderson Bridge.[7]

The city [Pittsburgh] now plans to spend $1 million to $2 million on the repair project, a stopgap measure meant to shore up the aging structure [the Charles Anderson Bridge] until a more comprehensive overhaul can begin.[8]

That ‘more comprehensive overhaul’ would be precisely the project that Gainey defunded. And I’m guessing that that “$1 million to $2 million”[9] won’t be much of a down payment on the $6 million that Gainey apparently absconded with.[10]

Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh officials closing Charles Anderson Memorial Bridge because of safety concerns,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, February 1, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-officials-closing-charles-anderson-memorial-bridge-because-of-safety-concerns/

Mike Wereschagin, “Pittsburgh closes Charles Anderson Bridge in Oakland to vehicles after inspection shows it needs repairs,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 1, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/02/01/pittsburgh-charles-anderson-bridge-closure-oakland-squirrel-hill-greenfield/stories/202302010090


  1. [1]Mike Wereschagin, “Pittsburgh closes Charles Anderson Bridge in Oakland to vehicles after inspection shows it needs repairs,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 1, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/02/01/pittsburgh-charles-anderson-bridge-closure-oakland-squirrel-hill-greenfield/stories/202302010090
  2. [2]Megan Guza, “Officials look for answers to Pittsburgh’s police staffing shortage,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 1, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/01/31/pittsburgh-police-bureau-staffing-levels-recruitment-officers-retirement-union-allegheny-county-safety/stories/202301310109; Justin Vellucci, “Pittsburgh police staffing shortage at ‘tipping point,’ officials say,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 31, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-city-council-tackles-police-staffing-pay-in-special-meeting/
  3. [3]Julia Felton, “Dozens of bridges maintained by Pittsburgh in need of repairs within 6 months, report says,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 21, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/dozens-of-bridges-maintained-by-pittsburgh-in-need-of-repairs-within-6-months-report-says/; Mike Wereschagin, “There’s been almost no progress fixing Pittsburgh-owned bridges a year after Fern Hollow collapsed,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 27, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/01/27/fern-hollow-collapse-anniversary-pittsburgh-bridge-repairs/stories/202301270078; Mike Wereschagin, “Pittsburgh closes Charles Anderson Bridge in Oakland to vehicles after inspection shows it needs repairs,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 1, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/02/01/pittsburgh-charles-anderson-bridge-closure-oakland-squirrel-hill-greenfield/stories/202302010090; Charlie Wolfson, “Gainey pledged to overhaul Pittsburgh’s bridges. His 2023 budget barely starts the process,” Public Source, December 5, 2022, https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-bridge-collapse-condition-fern-hollow-mayor-gainey-budget/
  4. [4]Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey promises to unite city in inaugural address,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 3, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-mayor-ed-gainey-promises-to-unite-city-in-inaugural-address/; Jordana Rosenfeld, “Ed Gainey sworn in as Pittsburgh’s first Black mayor; addresses questions on policing,” Pittsburgh City Paper, January 3, 2022, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/ed-gainey-sworn-in-as-pittsburghs-first-black-mayor-addresses-questions-on-policing/Content?oid=20862169
  5. [5]Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh council approves $220K annual snow removal technology contract,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 6, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-council-approves-220k-annual-snow-removal-contract/
  6. [6]Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh sets goal to clear roads within 24 hours of snowfall,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 15, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-officials-share-citys-plans-for-snow-removal-say-goal-is-to-clear-streets-within-24-hours-of-snowfall/; Julia Felton, “Pittsburghers skeptical of mayor’s snow removal goals,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburghers-skeptical-of-mayors-road-snow-removal-goals/
  7. [7]Mike Wereschagin, “Pittsburgh closes Charles Anderson Bridge in Oakland to vehicles after inspection shows it needs repairs,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 1, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/02/01/pittsburgh-charles-anderson-bridge-closure-oakland-squirrel-hill-greenfield/stories/202302010090
  8. [8]Mike Wereschagin, “Pittsburgh closes Charles Anderson Bridge in Oakland to vehicles after inspection shows it needs repairs,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 1, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/02/01/pittsburgh-charles-anderson-bridge-closure-oakland-squirrel-hill-greenfield/stories/202302010090
  9. [9]Mike Wereschagin, “Pittsburgh closes Charles Anderson Bridge in Oakland to vehicles after inspection shows it needs repairs,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 1, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/02/01/pittsburgh-charles-anderson-bridge-closure-oakland-squirrel-hill-greenfield/stories/202302010090
  10. [10]Mike Wereschagin, “Pittsburgh closes Charles Anderson Bridge in Oakland to vehicles after inspection shows it needs repairs,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 1, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/02/01/pittsburgh-charles-anderson-bridge-closure-oakland-squirrel-hill-greenfield/stories/202302010090

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