BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

haha. this too: Harris: “He hasn’t done anything but bicycle lanes.” Delano: “Bicycle lanes?” Harris: “Bicycle lanes without traffic and safety studies. Bicycle lanes.” Delano: “That’s all he’s done for Pittsburgh?” Harris: “That’s all I can see he has done.” Retorted Peduto, “I would ask Mrs. Harris to go onto the website.” “There are over 300 initiatives that we have undertaken,” says the mayor. http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2017/04/17/pedutos-use-of-trump-in-first-campaign-ad-infuriates-his-challengers/

She's going after people riding bikes while literally riding an elephant

Don't underestimate her. She is using Trump's playbook: * Facts are meaningless * Reason is pointless * Rules are an annoyance That approach resonates with an awful lot of people. Karl Rove set the bar: 50%+1 wins the election. Since we have a three-way race, she won't even need 50%. Turnout will be everything.

Definitely vote, please. If you don't vote in an election where, literally, bike infrastructure that could save your life is on the line, when are you going to vote?

Are the mayoral primaries open to everyone, or do you have to be registered as a Democrat to participate?

You have to be registered as a Democrat to vote in the Democratic primary, which is all that matters in Pittsburgh.

I checked out Darlene Harris's facebook page. Wow. It has all the hallmarks of a non-intellectual. Personally, I like when our government is filled with smart people. Her page mostly consists of her wishing people happy holidays in all capital letters. That and religious slogans. No offering of stances or evidence of reasoning. From the topics and sentence structure, i'm saddened that this woman is on city council. And that's without me knowing any of her positions. Even if she agrees with me at a high level, she is likely incapable of applying those principles appropriately to specific issues.

Voter registration and party change time is over. The only things that matter now are making sure people are educated properly, and to get them to actually show up to vote. Off-season primaries, turnout is often in single digit percentages.

Ick, this is the same woman who subjects her co-workers to her second hand smoke because she feels she doesn't have to walk outside to smoke like everyone else does? SHE SUDDENLY GIVES A CRAP ABOUT THE SAFETY OF PITTSBURGHERS?   She forces the city to spend $1200 on a smoke eating machine for her office because she's too lazy to walk outside? This self-centered elephant-riding person wants to run the city?  

Unfortunately, I do not live in the city limits :-(  

That she smokes, and acts like that when she smokes, is relevant, and worrisome. It indicates a self-centeredness, impervious to reason, to knowledge, to caring about other people. That matters to a lot of people, in the wrong way, in that those are seen as admirable qualities. You cannot change these people's minds. You need to outvote them. Find 15 city residents, and get every one of them to commit to voting.

Looks like the deadline to change party affiliation was Monday, so I won't be able to vote. Oh well.

so this happened   http://www.pghcitypaper.com/PolitiCrap/archives/2017/04/21/video-shows-pittsburgh-city-councilor-darlene-harris-in-verbal-altercation-with-cyclist-on-city-streets

ha! After all the criticism from her, I was wondering if that video was ever going to be disseminated outside of this forum. And honestly, I'm not sure if that is a good or a bad thing.

Non peduto voters don't read cp, so won't change anything in the race.   Also, you can still support peduto and his pro bike policies by donating to his campaign even if you don't live in the city. I get a lot of utility out of those lanes. And my suburban ass doesn't need to help pay for them. So a small donation is me giving back and covers only a tiny fraction of the gain I get out of the bike lanes. https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/peduto  

Kudos once again to @stuinMcCandless! Great work!

What you can do that will matter is ensure that sensible people actually show up at the polls on Election Day. Especially the young, especially those from out of town, like college students registered here. The Pittsburgh mayoral race is decided in the primary, so newbies to the town or the process may not realize that. Identify 15 people, every one of you, to promise to vote in the primary. As the Judge of Election in Pittsburgh Ward 4, District 8, I had over 4,400 voters in Nov 2008. For the May 2009 primary, selecting a mayor, turnout was 22. Not 22%. No. Twenty-two voters. All day.

As a "Bernie Bro" I thought I re-registered back to independent after the 2016 election, but looks like I forgot to. After looking this morning I am still registered as a Democrat (not proud of it), so I will go the polls on May 16th. Couldn't imagine having this low IQ all Caps-lock typing Trumpkin chain smoking clown as mayor.

Great work, Stu! I think your video camera paid for itself, that day.

Rob Rogers draws Darlene Harris: "I saw that video of you yelling at a cyclist ... not your best moment!"  

Pittsburgh's candidates respond to BikePGH's questions as to how they "think about your safety, as well as their ideas on how to improve biking and walking in Pittsburgh": http://localhost/2017/05/02/bike-walk-vote-2017-10-questions-with-the-mayoral-candidates/ Well, two of them do, anyway. https://twitter.com/zeemaddun/status/859413648460193793

Darlene Harris is much more intriguing by not answering any of the questions.   Then again, she doesn't want to give credence to Bike Pittsburgh's "gotcha" journalism, obviously.

I appreciate Rev. Welch taking the time, and he's clearly an intelligent and educated man, but I was disappointed in the quality of his responses. On top of being unprepared on matters of infrastructure as it relates to pedestrians and cyclists (victim blaming in the first answer?! Come on.), his answers belied his own intelligence by repeatedly using questions as a crutch and showing an inability to tackle multiple problems at once. You, me, and everyone else who's lived here since the 80's understands there's a jobs problem.  So what's your solution, and why can't we address safe streets and Main Streets at the same time?  Can't see a correlation there? Every one of those BRT questions were either disingenuous or easily answered with a bit a research.  No, for the millionth time, you cannot simply take money appropriated for a project and use it on whatever you want.  No, the Port Authority does not anticipate a fair increase to cover capital costs or increased ops cost for the route that would require fare adjustment.  And what does it mean to question whether or not $240m can be spent on safer streets when you just answered whether or not appropriate funds are currently placed on those needs with "It depends"? He's much smarter and more articulate than Darlene, but I find it hard to see how their actual performance as Mayor would be any different to us.  

KDKA TV is teasing a story for tonights 6pm broadcast:  Darlene Harris talks with Andy Sheehan about (Stu's) bicycle video.  

Was the Stu piece aired this week already?   If so, I can't find a link anywhere on the intertubes.

^it was linked in a City-Paper story last week. See erok's comment above.  

Yes, but then Stu was interviewed by a local TV station who attached a camera to is handlebars and had him ride   supposedly going to air sometime this week.

Harris, by all accounts, is just not a very smart person.  And I'm soft peddling (or maybe pedaling) that assessment that several people in politics that have dealt with her. BTW, the CP article which notes that she has yet to provide any data or even arguments as to the negative impact of bike lanes is spot on.  Because that evidence doesn't exist.  I don't go Dahntahn during morning rush very often, but the last two mornings walked between 12th and 10th on Penn at 8:15 AM.  During the 45 seconds or so that I walked those two blocks I saw 4-5 cyclists in the bike lane and there was zero car congestion on Penn.  Just a few cars lined up waiting for the lights.  Normal traffic.

Darlene discussed the Stu incident on the Public Source Facebook Live interview. Some choice moments: Gets called out by the interviewer for claiming that there are no traffic studies done. She claims traffic on Chestnut and E Ohio St are due to the bike lanes, then admits that there are no bike lanes there, but then says that they eliminated a turning lane for said bike lanes (that do not exist) Around the 24:00 mark, she claims that the video that Stu posted was edited and only a portion of it and said that "he was driving a lot further out East St...and I got cut off by the bike where I almost hit him...and I had to lay on my brakes...and then I laid on the horn halfway down East St...and none of that is in any of those pictures...So if you're going to put a video out, put the whole video out. Don't just give pieces and try to make a political thing out of it. As far as the elephant..." She also talks about how she used to have chimpanzees. https://www.facebook.com/publicsource/videos/1540488915971001/?pnref=story  

Did she just challenge Stu to put the whole video up? LOL

Not really. she lied. the whole video is up and always has been

Darlene attacked with the "alternative facts"! How original!

Wow.  That interview reminds me of that cable TV show Drunk history. How does this woman get elected to ANY office?

Don't underestimate Pittsburghers desire to keep things "the way they are." The same attitude that elected Trump motivates a lot of Harris voters -- the feeling of being left behind, of resources that have "always" been available (like on-street parking) being taken away and used by the "elite." Pittsburgh has a lot of people who think like her, and who think Peduto only cares about Uber and bike lanes. So please, please vote.

It was posted May 5, 2016, in this post. The incident happened exactly one year ago today.

Wait.  We're missing the larger point here.  Chimpanzees?!???

Chimpanzees. Plural.

Whoa. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Wednesday's interview with Harris: She loves animals. “I have raised wild animals, chimpanzees, I have had groundhogs, I have had raccoons, dogs, cats, mice — you name it, I've had it as pets growing up,” Harris said. “Wild rabbits, too.” Harris made headlines last month — and her campaign hasn't made a lot of them this election cycle — when she rode an elephant and a camel at the Syria Shrine Circus after stopping in to see how the animals were being treated. She posted photos of her experience on Facebook. She said Wednesday that she rode the elephant because that was the best way she could look behind the animal's ears for signs of mistreatment. As for the camel? “There was nothing to that. I had just never been on a camel,” Harris said. Responding to criticism from animal-rights activists, Harris said, “Animals know how I feel (about them). I don't need no pat on the back from any human or group that doesn't want people to have even a cat or a dog.”   http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/12261608-74/pittsburgh-mayoral-candidate-darlene-harris-identified-her-top-legislative-priorities-along-with

Been following the mayoral race, but what is the best place to find info on candidates for Judge of the Superior Court? Commonwealth Court? Common Pleas? Sheriff?

Ben, the League of Women Voters, Allegheny County is a good place to start to learn more about candidates.

Also here's another article. Darlene deflects from actually saying anything by saying that her transportation vision is what the "community" wants. Meanwhile, when bicyclists show up to community meetings, she literally says that "no one from the community was there, it was just people from the bike community." her definition of community are the people who agree with her, http://wesa.fm/post/mayoral-candidates-tackle-future-pittsburgh-transportation#stream/0    

her definition of community are the people who agree with her

I recall a public meeting on the East St/Federal St bike lanes last year (or maybe 2015?). Darlene was there, but didn't speak. There were quite a few people there that were both cyclists and part of her constituency; people who argued in favor of bike infrastructure in their district. So yeah, she seems to only care about those who agree with her. (also present at that meeting: her future costar, Stu! Little did she know...)

This thread delivers.  Really enjoying the commentary on chimpanzees, elephant & camel riding, and political cartoons re: handlebar cam footage. That said, I did my part and voted absentee. http://www.pabar.org/site/Public/Media/NewsReleases/2017-News-Releases/Jan/JEC2017 http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2017/03/03/Allegheny-County-Sheriff-election-race-Bill-Mullen-George-Satler/stories/201703030138  

I've only seen this on Twitter -- Stu says he's going to be on KDKA News tonight @ 6.

Tfw you know you're gonna be on the six o'clock news. KDKA, Andy Sheehan story.

Stu the tv star!! http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2017/05/04/darlene-harris-bicyclist-confrontation/

slightly off topic for bikes, but where is this "paper street/steps" in Point Breeze that the person/people were camped out on by Mayor Peduto's house?  the P-G and Trib mentions Hastings but I can't find it on google maps. maybe this would be a good new tag.   edit-- on google maps I found the wilkins-linden stairs with a nearby neighbor with a kidney shaped pool AND a half court basketball court.  but that's more sq hilly.

Looks like Edgerton turns into stairs for a block between Hastings and Linden.  That's the only one I see on the map that directly hits Hastings, though there are a couple others that run down to Wilkins on the other side of the school. No idea where that would be in relation to Peduto's house, though.  Never bothered to try to find out where he lives.

Post-Gazette did a 44 minute video interview with Darlene Harris today. http://www.post-gazette.com/video/?v=5426127009001 . From 29:19-34:00 they ask her "would you eliminate any bike lanes? Would you put a moratorium on new construction?" She gives a rambling and vague answer, griping about how no safety or traffic studies were done (false), griping that "our firefighters just came down Penn Ave and wiped out all the poles" implying that the cause was bike lanes (huh?), complaining that somebody standing on a corner counting cars is not a traffic study, saying that people in the community were not consulted when planning bike lanes (false). At 42:30: Question: How would you increase suburban tourism to the city? Harris: "I have a lot of friends that live in the suburbs and I will try to find out any other needs but the one thing that they’re having a problem with is bike lanes. Not being able to get to the garage, you have to go up four blocks, then you’ve got to come down a one-way street to even get to a garage. By that time they get disgusted. They said they sit in traffic during the day. Why when they want to go out in the evening or on the weekend that they have to sit. And not even have people in the bike lanes!" An obvious solution is for these suburbanites to park & ride bikes. Maybe with HealthyRide. Then they could avoid sitting in traffic, and they could address the underpopulated bike lane problem that she imagines.

I went downtown at 10 am last Friday from Fox Chapel, parked in the Grant Street garage, picked up my half marathon packet at the convention center, paid $5 parking fee, and was back home all within 35 minutes. But I did yell at all the bikers I saw to stay in the damn bike lane!  That's what Darlene built them for.   Unfortunately in her world of alternative facts, no amount of non alternative facts nor logic will away her or her diehard supporters. Best to rally those who want to sit this election out "because it is just an off year primary" to get out and vote not for Harris. Second best option is to swing some money to/volunteer for peduto and/or bikepgh.

Interestingly, exactly zero (0) Republicans are on the Republican primary ballot to run (presumably) against Peduto in the fall.

Another Rogers cartoon mentioning bike lanes.  

@benzo, league of women voters guide is up as a PDF. Someone else mentioned this, too.  Here's the link. http://lwvpgh.org http://lwvpgh.org/files/votersguide_5_03_17.pdf Plus omitted city council district 4 info for pgh http://lwvpgh.org/files/anthony_coghill.pdf    

"This thread delivers." It sure does, and it shows what divisive, scapegoating characters we have challenging the mayor. It would be nice to return to the last election, where the only other serious, qualified candidate in the primary (Jack Wagner) actively solicited cyclists' votes by getting on his bike and speaking with cyclists on the South Side about his support of improved safety and infrastructure.

In 2013, Wander ran a half-assed campaign for Mayor as the Republican nominee.  Anyone with an R after their name will never win the office of Mayor for the foreseeable future, and his commitment to actually Mayoring was suspect (vs. continuing to fly all over the world with his business), but at least the candidates that year (Wagner, Wander) were within the box of normalcy.  I fear that 2016 burst open the box, then lit it on fire, then peed on the ashes, and then took a weapon to anything that remained.  I hope that out-of-left-field-say-whatever-you-want-alternative-facts candidate isn't a trend...

Jake Wheatley must be thinking 'what am i, chopped liver?'

I have to say, I'm remiss in forgetting about Rep. Wheatley's candidacy, and his support of biking and walking. I wonder if his campaign was overshadowed by the strength of the Peduto and Wagner campaigns, and the circus of the A.J. Richardson candidacy (whose various criminal convictions may or may not prevent him from mailing in an absentee ballot from state prison). I guess that's all another reason it would be nice to go back to 2013.

Well, Jake, if you find a way to go back there, let me know.

Someone started a Tumblr page of Darlene Harris' quotes: https://darlenespeaks.tumblr.com

Well, Darlene's campaign seems to have found money, somehow. Earlier today we received a call at home from her, in which she "humbly" asked for a vote, then proceeded to an extended rant about Peduto. (A version of which you will also find in the League of Women Voters candidates pamphlet.) Yes, bike lanes are one of his sins. But most of her time was devoted to blaming Peduto for the PWSA fiasco. As you may recall, French firm Veolia was hired in July 2012 to improve PWSA's performance. I'm not sure why, but it's safe to say that those promoting it would have asserted that a "private company" would know how to eliminate "waste". One of the ways they did this was to fire half of the people in the inspection lab. After all, why should they waste money on tracking water quality? A year and a half later, Peduto gets elected mayor. (And a year after that, Veolia's contract ends and they move on; while the now all-efficient PWSA stumbles on, into the current morass.) But according to Harris, Peduto was personally responsible for the inspection lab firings! She even singles out one unfortunate's story ("a 23 yr veteran!", if I recall). I would expect some basic honesty from a candidate, not blatant lies. This woman has nothing of substance to offer; she is not qualified to be a mayor. Strange things have been happening in this country, but I hope that Pittsburgh voters make the right choice. Neither of which should be Harris. If Harris loses and remains a council member, I am ready to give money to whoever runs against her next time. And so should you. We need competent people in local government. Ones who respect the rights of all citizens. The Harrises have had their day.

PG endorses Peduto: http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2017/05/14/Peduto-for-mayor-Two-challengers-can-t-deny-him-a-second-term/stories/201705310036

I don't think there's any reality where Bill Peduto loses tomorrow. That the challengers are making an issue of bike lanes and a situation that the mayor apparently doesn't control indicates there is little about his job performance that they can criticize.

I went to bed on a Tuesday last November thinking the same thing...

Now, imagine waking up Wednesday morning and finding that, unexpectedly, Darlene Harris's appeal to old time Pittsburghers who hate bike lanes has given her a narrow win. Please vote.

I spend my days getting angry about politics on a national level, but local politics probably have a bigger bearing on my day to day quality of life...

Remember to vote, 7a-8p. Especially in pgh.  The more Harris gets crushed the higher the potential that someone will see this as a signal that's she's vulnerable and will challenge her in city council elections next go around.

She has no shortage of people challenging her in her district--in fact, last time the problem was she had too many people challenging her; more people voted against her than for her, as I recall, but they split the vote between two candidates running against her, so she still ended up with a plurality.

You are correct more people voted against her

I voted today! I did not vote for Darlene Harris.  I mean, like, if any of you were wondering.

Even if she could arrange a free elephant ride.  You know, to check out their ears to make sure they're well cared for?

Perhaps someone should ride Darlene Harris and check her ears to make sure she's well cared-for. Not volunteering. Nope. Wlaaah! ;^P (sorry. couldn't stop that one before it escaped...)

Depending what you mean by ride. It may be a serious short straw best 4 out of 7 situation

AP has called it for Peduto: https://twitter.com/PublicSourcePA/status/864651472356741120

And Mrs Harris is #3, right now.

http://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/elections/2017/primary/ ... for all the details. Peduto won.

Since there are no Republican candidates, does that mean he will continue to be mayor for sure?

unless someone mounts a very effective write-in campaign for the fall election.  Or, he withdraws from the ballot for some reason. In reality, 99.99999% chance he's mayor in the fall.

And Darlene Harris placed THIRD, with 5,052 votes to Welch's 6,693. I like to think that at least some of that is due to Stu's video. Good work!

Plus that crazy phone message from her where she implied it was Peduto's fault there is lead found in the local water.

This might seem at bit distant: Harris, representing District 1, will be up for reelection in 2019. Unless she decides that it's time to retire. She did in fact receive only 47% of the primary vote in 2015. But note that this was 2,022 out of 4,300 votes. Bobby Wilson, the runner up, received 1,419. A difference of 603 votes. District 1 is in the northern part of the city, above the Allegheny and the Ohio. It includes many routes familiar to Pittsburgh cyclists and no doubt home to a number of them. While I live elsewhere, I find biking in District 1 enjoyable. As a resident of the city I think it's important that District 1 elect someone whose cares about the city. After all, the city is the sum of its districts, and hopefully more.

Now that this is over I hope we can stop talking about bike lanes and start building bike lanes. The mandate is there, Peduto- let's go big. There a lot of gaps in the network to fill in. Let's do it.

There is a movement afoot to oust Harris in 2019. Facebook group

Over at the City Paper's annual "Best of" competition, you can vote for "Abusing a bicyclist" under BEST DARLENE HARRIS CAMPAIGN FAUX PAS

I guess I would have been crushed like a bug if Darlene Harris was on Panther Hollow Rd. today while I was recording a ride from the Schenley Oval Sportsplex to to Dollar Bank in Oakland. I'll show motorists that we have equal right to use any road we please (excluding freeways)! I think Beacon St., Hobart St., Panther Hollow Rd.  Blvd. of the Allies to either Dawson St., Halket St, or Craft Ave. is a fast way for the seasoned city cyclist who is confident in taking the lane to get from Squirrel Hill or Greenfield (Once the Greenfield Bridge opens) to Oakland, Uptown, the Hill District, and the South Side. Tomorrow, I will do a video of a ride from Squirrel Hill to Duquesne University. Here is a link to today's video. http://youtu.be/qvL85CMzNig  

I am cross posting my last post to another thread.

Darlene Harris made Pittsburgh City Paper's annual "Shit List", which listed 20 individuals or committees, "public servants who need to clean up their acts, or risk being flushed". It should be noted that almost all on the list were men. Here's an excerpt of their statement https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/pittsburgh-city-paper-presents-its-2017-shit-list-of-public-servants-who-need-to-clean-up-their-acts-or-risk-being-flushed/Content?oid=3687969 Pittsburgh City Councilor Darlene Harris (D-North Side) She claims bike lanes are bad for public safety and traffic (without citing evidence), even though dozens of studies show they’re good for public safety and traffic. She also verbally accosted a cyclist on the North Side who was obeying all traffic laws. Not cool.  

Pittsburgh City Councilor Darlene Harris was caught driving her SUV on a walkway in Allegheny Commons Park on October 5. There was an article in City Paper: https://www.pghcitypaper.com/Blogh/archives/2017/10/06/pittsburgh-city-councilor-darlene-harris-caught-driving-car-on-pedestrian-path-in-park-upsetting-constituents And discussion on her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/darlene.harris.35/posts/1631554243575079?pnref=story And discussion on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/74o72q/councilwoman_darlene_harriss_response_to/

Regarding Darlene Harris' facebook thread: A Darlene-defender had said "she always looks out for her constituents" or something like that, and in my most recent comment, if I remember correctly, I'd written that she honked and yelled at one constituent to "get in the damn bike lane" when there was none, and had driven another constituent with a stroller off a pedestrian path in the park by illegally driving her SUV there. I'm no longer able to view her facebook page. It appears she blocked me.