BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

A good personal friend of mine, Matt Wholey, is running for the magistrate judge position in Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Point Breeze, Swisshelm Park and Regent Square, which is magisterial district number 05-3-35. I would respectfully ask that you vote for him on May 16, if you live in that district, for the following reasons, among others: (1) He is very well qualified for the position, having spent over twenty years as a prosecutor in the District Attorney's Office. In that role he has tried in excess of 400 criminal cases, including many homicides, complex homicide-by-vehicle cases, public corruption cases and a litany of other major felony cases, and has negotiated the settlement of many thousands of additional cases. (2) Beyond his experience in the public sector, he has many years of experience in the private sector through working at and helping to manage his family's fish market in the Strip District. This hands-on business experience, combined with decades of practicing law, will be an asset in making rulings on the various issues of business, real estate and municipal law which come before magistrate judges. (3) I personally attest to his integrity, decency and dedication to providing a fair forum for all who might appear before him. If you want to get to know someone's character, just spend +100 hours with them mountain biking the region's toughest trails, in all weather, and then spend +25 more hours with them in a courtroom defending against the attempted homicide, burglary, robbery and aggravated assault cases they are prosecuting. This has given me a pretty good opportunity to observe his temperament, judgment, ability to deal with challenges and adversity, dedication to doing the right thing, and commitment to fairness and the rule of law - all of which make him exceptionally well-suited to serve the community in this position. (4) He has long been a mountain biker, road biker and and bike commuter, and regularly uses a bike for hauling groceries, transporting his daughter to day care, and otherwise moving about the East End. I mention this to make the point that he is someone who can appreciate the perspective of city cyclists, and would bring that perspective to the position, if elected. For all of these reasons, and those discussed on the website below, I would respectfully ask that you vote for Matt Wholey if you live in his magisterial district (Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze, Swisshelm Park & Regent Square). www.mattwholey.com