Buy This Book

Latrobe native and Kiski School grad Keith Ferrazzi has a new book out, called Never Eat Alone. It's a bit more than how to be a successful networker; it's a recipe for creating and nurturing a dense web of personal relationships that lead to success in life as a whole, not just in business. Keith's style is a little breezy, and some of the anecdotes may seem over the top, but the advice is basically very sound.

Assessment Follies

County Exec Dan Onorato has another op-ed in today's paper that defends his intention to give the county an assessment plan that is "fair, uniform, certain and stable." Last week, Jim DeAngelis critiqued the Onorato proposal on the ground that it favors wealthy homeowners. DeAngelis argues that so long as we're living with a real estate tax regime, the current round of assessments should stand, and the county should "trust property owners to use their right to appeal," and put enforcement teeth in the 5 percent limit in the commonwealth's anti-windfall law.

DeAngelis is putting a lot of faith in the appeals process -- which is largely unwarranted, from all the anecdotes I've collected -- and in the anti-windfall law. Both his plan and Onorato's suffer from building on the flaws of the original reassessment, which have never been purged. DeAngelis has a slightly better shade of lipstick on that pig: he's looking toward a genuinely better system. By contrast, Onorato claims that he's working with political reality. Why strive to do better?

In the long term, real tax reform and simple fairness dictate that real estate and sales taxes should drop substantially, and state income taxes should rise. But that's pie in the sky thinking. Local taxing authorities (read: school boards) won't give up their power, especially in wealthy communities where high tax bases mean fancy schools. And in the long run, we're all dead.

Gilmore on Privacy

Brilliant work today by Dennis Roddy in his profile of the ultimate digital iconoclast, John Gilmore. Gilmore was one of the original founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a sort of ACLU of the Internet that isn't working so much on civil liberties per se as it is to make sure that governments -- the feds, the states, and all of those little ones -- don't screw up the Internet. (The EFF Board has a deep connection to western PA. It includes not only Gilmore -- originally from Bradford, PA -- but also Dave Farber, now on the computer science faculty at Carnegie Mellon, and Pam Samuelson, now at Berkeley but for many years on the law faculty at Pitt.)

But I Do Miss the Food

A California lawyer gets transplanted to Pittsburgh, likes the community, but is puzzled by the "defensiveness" of the locals. Rather than wallow in a hangover from the disappearance of major industries, Pittsburghers should get over it. There's a lot to sell here.

Something I might have said? Nope. I've paraphrased a quote from a P-G profile today of James Martin, recently relocated from Los Angeles to the Pittsburgh office of Reed Smith.

There and Back

I've been traveling and speaking and preparing and traveling and speaking, which leaves little time for blogging.

Just returned today from New York City reminded, yet again, of the critical importance of immigrants in keeping a city and region vibrant. And why do people move to New York? Because there are jobs there -- lousy, low-paying jobs all the way up to fabulous, unbelievably lucrative jobs.

Watch this space for a posting on Monday about a terrific new book by a Western PA native who's done pretty well for himself.

Potts on Burbs

Jonathan Potts writes, a propos of a Washington Post story about the "urbanization" of the suburbs:

Wait a second here--If the suburbs are so great, why are they trying to transform themselves into cities? Could it be that high-density, pedestrian-friendly development is a more natural, more hospitable way to live.

But that's not it at all. I've been to Naperville, the west-of-Chicago town that the Post holds up as an exemplar of "urban" suburbia. Naperville is a charming town, but it isn't trying to transform itself into a city. It's taking the local tax base that ordinarily would support real city amenities (services for the working poor, for example) and using that money to transform itself into an urban-environment-without-poor-people. There's a difference.

Given a choice between high-density, pedestrian-oriented development that comes with living among the urban poor, and low-density, car-oriented development that comes with avoiding the urban poor, suburbanites choose the latter in overwhelming numbers. What they really want is the best of both worlds: pedestrian-friendliness and no urban poor. In places like Naperville, and Bethesda, and, yes, Mt. Lebanon, suburbanites seem to get that.

The fact that they create urban spaces doesn't mean that they shouldn't have left the city in the first place, or that fiscal policy shouldn't have subsidized their going. (The subsidy battle regarding places like Naperville was fought and lost many decades ago.) What it means is that people with money want cities to keep poor people in line. What people with money forget is that economic diversity is part of the very definition of a city -- some people live there, some people work there, and those may or may not be the same people. Naperville, nice as it is, is no Chicago.

Just My Opinion

According to the P-G’s Jack Kelly:

The editor of the Post-Gazette recently held a discussion with staff about the future of the news business, and the topic of Web logs naturally emerged. The consensus seemed to be that we needn't worry much about them, because we report the news and bloggers only offer their opinions.

It’s just my opinion, but like Kelly himself (“But what if it’s an earthquake about to swallow us up?"), I think that the paper is missing something important. The national media have figured out that blogging counts. Microsoft has figured out that blogging counts. (Interesting side note – Scoble asked yesterday whether the Internet has killed the newspaper. His answer: yes! And one more word: Podcasting. Remember it.)

So once again, Pittsburgh media are behind the times. Note to ed.: Make the blogosphere part of the information ecosystem, instead of treating it like Michael Crichton treats global warming.

Now, the Pittsburgh blogosphere can help the fogies at the P-G, and elsewhere in Pittsburgh media, see the light. In one form or another, blogging is here to stay. What the Internet giveth, big media cannot take away.

How do we make them notice?

First, don’t ignore the media. The P-G staff seems to think that this stuff is just our opinion. It certainly is. My opinion is this: Pittsburgh deserves a much better paper than we get with the Post-Gazette and the Tribune Review, and something broader than the City Paper. So praise the good and damn the bad, and do it loudly and often.

Second, if you don’t like the news, go out and make some of your own. Don’t rely on the P-G to tell you what the news is, or to tell you what news is important. If you know about something interesting or important in your corner of the region, sing out and share.

Why Does He Hate Freedom?

The P-G’s Dennis Roddy went to San Francisco and didn’t like the stereotypes he met. As a result, he writes, first quoting a letter writer whose work appeared in the SF Chronicle:

'I guess I did not realize the rest of the country was so uptight. God bless the Bay Area and its free and open-minded way of thinking.' I would second that final sentiment, much as I would second praise of Las Vegas for its gambling, Florida for its marlin fishing and New Orleans for its binge drinking. As the proverb tells us, there is a place for everything. Apparently, that place is San Francisco.

Mayoral Sites Part Deux

Bob "True Son of Pittsburgh" O'Connor has a website.

Michael "New Leadership Now" Lamb's is at Lamb for Mayor.

Bill "People for Peduto" Peduto's at Peduto for Pittsburgh.

Mark Rauterkus has the Platform for Pittsburgh wiki. I hadn't looked at that earlier. A wiki! Fabulous.

Simpson's

I always enjoy reading what Dan Simpson has to say in the Post-Gazette.

Nano Nano

The Pennsylvania Nanotechnology Conference is coming to Pittsburgh in April.

While I'm at it, here's the site for Pitt's Institute of NanoScience and Engineering.

Darwin Day at Duquesne

Tomorrow is the Darwin Day celebration at Duquesne University. A full schedule of events is posted online.

Why Darwin Day, and why at Duquesne? The very thoughtful folks at the University have a full page devoted to those questions. Here's an excerpt:

Science is not dogma, but a “way of knowing”. Scientists rely on the scientific method, which is a particular way of going about exploring the natural world. Observations are made, hypotheses are formed from them, and then these hypotheses are tested again and again until we gain confidence that we understand what is going on in nature. We think the scientific method provides us with an accurate description of nature mainly because it works, often and well. This is as true of evolutionary biology as it is of physics or chemistry. Among non-scientists, there is often confusion about what science is, how it is performed, and what constitutes “good” science and “bad” science. This is particularly true with regard to evolution. Those people interested in learning about the overwhelming evidence that establishes evolution (e.g., common descent and natural selection) as a scientific fact can go here or attend Darwin Day!

It gets better. Duquesne cites and quotes John Henry Newman (that is, Cardinal Newman), whose philosophy lies at the core of modern higher education:

If I were asked to describe as briefly and popularly as I could, what a University was, I should draw my answer from its ancient designation of a Studium Generale, or "School of Universal Learning." This description implies the assemblage of strangers from all parts in one spot; - from all parts; else, how will you find professors and students for every department of knowledge? and in one spot; else, how can there be any school at all? Accordingly, in its simple and rudimental form, it is a school of knowledge of every kind, consisting of teachers and learners from every quarter. Many things are requisite to complete and satisfy the idea embodied in this description; but such as this a University seems to be in its essence, a place for the communication and circulation of thought, by means of personal intercourse, through a wide extent of country.

I don't know whether Newman and Darwin knew one another, but their era was full of intellectual blockbusters. Newman's classic work, The Idea of a University, was published in 1854. On the Origin of Species was published in 1859.

Sign of the Apocalypse

From yesterday's Post-Gazette:

The star running back from Central Catholic has decided where to attend college next year. Eugene Jarvis is going to Kent State. Wait -- didn't Eugene Jarvis commit to Akron? Well, Akron didn't get Eugene Jarvis's signature. What's worse, Akron's scholarship offer didn't cover Eugene's first semester at school. According to the P-G, Eugene Jarvis said:

The more I thought things through, and thinking about all the things I've accomplished, why should I pay for my first semester?

Full marks, then, to Eugene Jarvis, for reminding us that the entitlement culture for talented athletes begins in high school. And full marks to Akron, too, for forgetting to hand Eugene Jarvis a pen.

SableGate Fallout

Long-suffering readers may recall my comments last Fall about what I (and apparently no one else) called "SableGate," the unexplained big-money buyout of the contract of the Mt. Lebanon School District Superintendent.

It's time for an update on school district goings on.

First, for sheer farce, Mt. Lebanon has nothing on the City of Pittsburgh. I won't belabor the details; today's entry is here.

Second, the citizens of Mt. Lebanon have been busy. Some of them have channeled their energy into the formation of an honest-to-goodness children's education not-for-profit. I'm all for hoping that this does some good, but Pittsburghers put up not-for-profits like Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney used to put on shows. Hey, there's an empty barn! Why not!

There was a group of folks gunning for impeachment of some or all of the Board. So far as I know, that effort is dead in the water.

There was a related group of folks suing to open up the records related to negotiation of the buyout. I haven't heard anything more about that lawsuit, but at this point I think that the issue is moot. The buyout followed acrimony, recrimination, and threats of litigation among people -- citizen politicians -- who couldn't figure out how to get along in carrying out their obligations to their constituents. What more do we need to know now?

There is still another related group doing what I think is the most useful and interesting work: organizing a slate of candidates to challenge those Board members who will be running for reelection later this year. SableGate isn't even at the top of the issues list. A lot of people are raising questions about Board management of the renovation of the District's facilities, and there's a lot more money at stake here than there was with the Superintendent buyout. We'll see what comes out during the campaign.

This last group is the most intersting in part because it's the one that's going to confront some challenges that have longer-term implications. These are challenges that I think face any community in this area that wants to change historic ways of doing business. Mt. Lebanon just happens to be going through this process right now.

Challenge number one is school-specific. This is to figure out just what a School Board is for, and -- probably more important -- just what a School Superintendent is for. There is a lot of research out there that suggests that a School Superintendent has very little power to influence the academic performance of children. In fact, the most important thing that a Superintendent may do, if the office has this power, is to hire good teachers and let them teach, and to fire bad teachers. If union contracts limit hiring and firing, then why care about the identity of the Superintendent at all, except for symbolic purposes and to have a fall guy if things seem to go badly?

Challenge number two applies to school issues and to many other things. This is to figure out how to answer to at least three citizen constituencies: The Historians, the Idealists, and the Pragmatists. All three groups have been evident in Mt. Lebanon in SableGate. Their strength and visibility elsewhere will vary.

"Historians" are the folks who believe that all is essentially well. Trust the leadership to do the right thing. It's worked in the past, and it will continue to work in the future.

"Idealists" are pretty upset with the status quo, because the Historians have screwed things up. This is the group that treats Mt. Lebanon as a special place. "Mt. Lebanon just doesn't do things this way; we're better than all that" might be their rallying cry. SableGate, and whatever may have happened with school renovations, reflect a failure to honor Mt. Lebanon ideals. I happen to think that it's a mistake for anyone, resident or otherwise, to treat Mt. Lebanon as special -- I hear echoes of The Church Lady -- but I recognize that it's a powerful impulse.)

"Pragmatists" are the newest and smallest constituency, but the group seems to be growing. These are often younger families, often not Pittsburgh-area natives, who've lived in other places and chose to move to this area. They've seen the puppet show elsewhere, and they know that this region is a relative bargain when it comes to the combination of real estate prices and public amenities. But they also see high end real estate taxes, and they want to get their money's worth. They're careful to watch out for waste in government, and they think they know laziness and hidebound, backward looking public management when they see it.

The next few months will be fun to watch.

Mayoral Websites

Michael Lamb and Bill Peduto each have campaign websites up and running.

Lamb's is at Lamb for Mayor.

Peduto's is at Peduto for Pittsburgh.

I haven't seen anything yet from Bob O'Connor. Post a link if you do.

Fighting Words

Last week's issue of The New Yorker had a long profile of the Cleveland Orchestra by Charles Michener, the regular music critic for the New York Observer.
The piece isn't online (so far as I can tell, but if you find it, please post a link).

In some respects the story is familiar to Pittsburghers. An extraordinary symphony orchestra, with a sound that's more European than American, struggles to find local support in the waning days of a once-mighty industrial city in the heartland.

The curious thing, though, is that Michener never once mentions the contemporary Pittsburgh Symphony. Not once. And here I was laboring under the illusion that our local players were on the international musical map. Does Pittsburgh have one more reason to be envious of Cleveland?

Police State in Mt. Lebanon

But it's a good thing: Traffic cops were handing out $180 tickets yesterday to drivers who didn't stop for pedestrians in crosswalks.

Pittsburgh Comics

Pittsburgh's finances may be a mess, but as our political leaders know well, its comic sensibility is increasingly highly refined. The laughter isn't limited to the political arena. Two titans of local sports talk radio, Mark Madden and Stan Savran, are apparently going at each others' reputations with rhetorical knuckles bared. Bob Smizik of the Post-Gazette's sports section writes about the dust-up in today's paper with an admirably straight face. You can almost hear Smizik and the rest of the P-G sports staff laughing in the background. The piece is written in a tone that's so straight that a reader or two might actually believe that Madden and Savran are serious, and that their argument is more than a comic diversion from anything that matters, even in the sports world. But they can't be serious. One sports radio guy calls another one a coward?! Their argument just doesn't pass the straight face test, and what they're arguing about can't possibly matter to anyone. Great joke all around, though, and nice work by Smizik and the P-G for bringing it to light.

Who's on First?

To say that the keys to the city are in the hands of the Keystone Kops (or Abbott and Costello, or Laurel and Hardy, or the Three Stooges) -- well, to say that is too kind. They're fiddling, and the city is burning.

Are we obliged, by the way, to repeat the "Pittsburgh is dying" mantra every time someone dares to suggest that all is not entirely lost? I'm willing to assume, absent evidence to the contrary, that the person interviewed on NPR yesterday morning wasn't simply repeating the local party line. The CFO magazine article is now on the web, and to me it mostly bears this out. The author doesn't say much about regional politics or economics that local observers don't already know, but he doesn't sugarcoat it, either.

A colleague of mine pointed out that thanks in part to federal money, some of the neighborhood development organizations in Pittsburgh are doing reasonably well. That judgment doesn't represent thorough research, and it doesn't represent any large number of new jobs, and it doesn't offset the lack of any significant in-migration to the region. But it does suggest that there may be something to the intuition that despite the catastrophe at the political top, there are little rays of economic light here and there, around the edges. Is this just wishful thinking on my part?