Leadership

FIRST IN LEADERSHIP
I'll give Pittsburgh the most transparent, responsive, and innovative city government in the country. I promise to be the hardest working mayor in America, striving every hour of every day to serve your needs and deserve your respect.  In my administration, where integrity and diversity andinclusiveness and accountability will be more than just slogans or buzzwords, the buck will always stop will me. 

If you elect me as the next Mayor of the city of Pittsburgh, I'll be your tireless advocate, your uplifted voice, and your unwavering champion. 

I'll make decisions based not on what's best for my administration, but on what's best for all of our neighborhoods.  I'll create policies based not on what's best for a few donors and dignitaries, but what's best for all of our citizens.  And I'll support legislation that helps not just the powerful and the politically connected, but the powerless and the politically forgotten.

---

THE ACKLIN BUDGET PLAN: Investing in Our Police and Our Neighborhoods

To my neighbors, the residents of Pittsburgh:

 

The budget of the City of Pittsburgh is a reflection of the Mayor's priorities.  My commitment to you, as your next Mayor, is to invest in public safety and neighborhood improvement, while paying down the city's substantial debt and pension obligations.  As mayor I will veto any budget that fails to make progress in these key areas.

To this end, I propose this alternative budget as a contrast to Mayor Ravenstahl's proposal of September 21st, 2009.  My budget proposal invests heavily in public safety and neighborhood improvement, saves the pension fund from state takeover, pays down the city debt, and increases the city's contribution to the pay-as-you-go capital budget without cutting a single city job, cutting a single city service, or raising a single dollar of taxes on Pittsburghers.

 

After a rash of arsons, scrawling headlines of tragic murders, and a public clamoring for safer streets and more neighborhood investments, I was surprised to see that Mr. Ravenstahl proposed a budget that was almost exactly the same as last year's.

 

My budget meets the demands of Pittsburghers across the city by making heavy – and deficit-neutral – investments in our police force. I will commit to increase the size of our police bureau by 200 officers in my first term as Mayor of Pittsburgh. My budget provides new technology, safer protective gear, and better tools for fighting crime in our city. It creates a new Neighborhood Safety Commission charged with directing our public safety resources toward the neighborhoods, where they belong.  My budget gives Pittsburghers exactly what they deserve: a clear plan to make Pittsburgh the safest big city in America.  

 

It’s time to put our neighborhoods first.

 

When I’m Mayor, that’s exactly what we’ll do. By refocusing the URA on neighborhood development instead of providing corporate welfare to large-scale developers, we can bolster our struggling business districts and invest in our neighborhoods.  Pittsburgh has built a great past on its city planning and development.  But now it’s time to spur a new Pittsburgh renaissance not just in the downtown, or along the shores, but in our own backyards.

 

My budget rejects the philosophy that you have to tax working people to pay the bills. Mayor Ravenstahl's Patient and Student Taxes are regressive and misguided and will only hinder Pittsburgh's future growth. At a time when health care costs are soaring, it is inappropriate to ask hospital patients to pay more.  When our city's future depends on young families choosing to settle in Pittsburgh, laying a new tax on college students, our most eligible future residents, is no way to roll out a welcome mat. Under my plan, we will repeal the Ravenstahl Taxes and replace them by expanding the payroll preparation tax to corporate non-profits with over $100 million in annual revenues.

 

The Acklin Budget Plan is a strong alternative to the Ravenstahl spending plan, one that meets the demands of Pittsburghers by making our streets safer and cleaner while keeping our promises to city workers and retirees. It is a road map that will lead Pittsburgh to greater prosperity, and all of us to a brighter future.

 

Kevin Acklin

[The text of my budget proposal appears below. To see the charts that accompany it, or to download a PDF copy of the proposal, click here.]

Getting our Priorities Right: Putting Neighborhoods First

The neighborhoods must be a top priority in the city's budget, but today they are not. If we ever hope to escape the seemingly constant threat of bankruptcy, we must grow our population and attract new families into our neighborhoods. That means making real investments and bringing real amenities that young families are seeking.

 

The Mayor's proposed 2010 city budget sheds some interesting light on his real priorities.  His budget proposal requires the city to spend:

• More on car washes than on cement to repair our sidewalks

• More on its phone bill than on salt to plow our roads

• More on the Mayor's office than on community center repairs

• Twice as much on dog food as on our libraries

 

Under an Acklin Administration, our city's K-9 units won't starve, but neither will our libraries.  We can make the investments we need by streamlining our operations, identifying cost savings, and making smarter choices about our energy use.

 

Several expenditures in Mr. Ravenstahl’s proposed budget would not be top priorities under an Acklin administration. Most of them fall under three categories:

 

Modernization

The city wastes money by over-spending to support outmoded and inefficient technologies. For instance, the city's yearly phone bill comes to an astounding $678,633, a cost that can be cut in half if we pursue VOIP technology instead of traditional land lines.  Most departments spend incredible sums of money on “papers & forms” – most notably the Department of Finance, which spends more than a quarter of a million dollars on this line item each year. If we commit to go near paperless in our offices, we can drastically cut the cost of paper and other office supplies.

 

Rethinking Privatization

The city has continued to privatize its operations, from the city garage to legal and budget related work. These privatization schemes end up costing the city a lot of money and delays, and we need to stop.  As your Mayor, I will stop the privatization of city services, and I will work to rescind costly privatization contracts like the city garage, which is costing Pittsburgh almost $5 million a year and resulting in unnecessary delays and complaints.

Wasteful Spending

There are many examples of wasteful spending in the city budget, from unnecessarily large car-washing budgets, to lobbying contracts that aren't doing the city any good.  As Mayor, I will cut wasteful spending wherever he sees it, starting with his own office.

 

The city also has a tendency to over-budget its administrative costs – that is, to allocate substantially more to a department's administrative unit than it will realistically spend. By adjusting the budget so that it more accurately reflects actual expenditures, we can lower the budgeted resources for each department without actually cutting any funds from their operations.

 

Energy Efficiencies

Additionally, the city can save money by strengthening its commitment to energy efficiency.  The Acklin Budget Plan calls for the acceleration of LED street light installation, energy efficient appliances and light bulbs in all city buildings, and a comprehensive energy use study to identify additional cost savings. These cost-saving initiatives could save the city an additional $3.6 million a year by 2011.

 

$37.95 Million Savings Over 4 Years

These cost-saving initiatives will help the city invest more in public safety in the years to come.  The yearly savings in the next four years are estimated to be:

 

Additional Cost-Savings

There are several other cost-saving initiatives that Kevin Acklin would pursue once elected:

 

Reduce City-County Administrative Duplication: $2.2 Million

Merging administrative functions with the county in the law, payroll, personnel, tax collection, and other departments could bring needed savings with little to no impact on the city's workforce or ability to deliver neighborhood services.  Kevin Acklin would pursue any reduction in duplication that would save Pittsburgh money annually.

 

Federal COPs Grants: $3-7 Million

While the city was shut out of Federal COPs grant money this year, the election of President Obama and Vice President Biden (the original author of the COPs legislation) means it is likely these funds will continue to grow and be available for years to come.

 

Pursuing Tax Fraud: $1 Million

Tax fraud is a problem in Pittsburgh with many passing through the city undetected.  It’s time to make sure everyone is paying their fair share.  By pursuing tax fraud violations, the city can increase its net revenue by as much as $1 Million.

 

Outcome Based Budgeting: $1.8 Million

Currently there is no formalized system for creating department-by-department goals and tracking performance.  If the city were to adopt outcome based budgeting, these common-sense management practices could save almost $2 Million annually.

 

The Acklin Plan:  Promoting Safety and Growth

Under an Acklin Administration, the budget savings we have identified will be invested entirely in public safety and the neighborhoods.  Kevin Acklin's pledge to increase the size of the police force by 200 officers can be accomplished with these savings by starting the hiring process slowly, then incrementally increasing the size of the force by 200 officers over four years.

 

While the annual savings from the first two years are left in the city's fund balance, they will accrue interest.  This interest is estimated to total $940,000 at the end of Kevin’s first term as Mayor and will be completely allocated over the 4 years to the Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh.

 

Finally, Kevin Acklin will also make substantial investments in the Bureau of Building Inspection.  BBI is the sole city agency charged with monitoring and improving the quality of housing in Pittsburgh. In his 2010 budget plan, Mr. Ravenstahl proposes an almost 10% budget cut for this vital program.  As part of his plan to re-focus the Urban Redevelopment Authority on neighborhood development, Kevin Acklin will allocate $1 million of the URA's almost $80 million annual revenue toward the BBI so it can modernize its operations, hire more professionals, and strengthen its ability to ensure quality housing for Pittsburgh's families.

 

Solving our Legacy Crisis:  Delivering on our Promises

The crushing unfunded liabilities in our city's pension fund will drive Pittsburgh into more debt and more state control unless we find a way to bring it to 50% solvency in the next two years. 

 

Kevin Acklin's plan is to re-focus the Urban Redevelopment Authority away from large-scale, corporate projects and toward neighborhood developments that will improve our livable communities and attract young families to our housing.  We can then divest a portion of the URA's considerable assets and invest them in the pension fund. 

 

The URA has $416 million in assets, much of which is in liquid cash and investments.  To put that into perspective, the operating budget for the entire city of Pittsburgh in 2009 was almost exactly the same size.  In Minnesota they have the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul; here, we have Pittsburgh and the URA!

 

Divesting $225 million from the URA and infusing it into the pension fund would immediately save the pension fund from state takeover and bring the plan to a sustainable level of funding.

 

Kevin Acklin's plan is a sustainable solution that allows for more investment in the neighborhoods and also allows the city to keep its promises to retirees and city workers.

 

Budgeting to Grow Pittsburgh

The Acklin Budget Plan will move Pittsburgh toward a healthier financial future while investing in our public safety and neighborhood needs, which are critical to growing this city. Over the next four years, the city’s operating expenditures will only increase by $25 million, while the reserve fund will grow to $73 million – funds that can be transferred to the city’s Pay-As-You-Go Capital Budget for more neighborhood investments.

 

There is no doubt that Pittsburgh can – and must – afford to make investments in the neighborhoods.  The city's financial future rests on bringing new residents into the city who can spend money at our stores, occupy and care for our housing, and contribute to our tax revenues. The solution is not to cut away services, but invest in the services we need, so that we can remain competitive as a destination for people to live, work and raise their families. 

 

This is the strength of the Acklin Budget Plan – its forward-thinking investments in city amenities that will grow Pittsburgh. 

 

The only way to reach this goal is by investing in public safety and in our neighborhoods.

---

SOLVING PITTSBURGH’S PENSION CRISIS

Good morning. Thank you for coming out today.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen an important, and potentially city-altering, debate unfold over the future of Pittsburgh’s pension fund. The State has proposed taking responsibility of the fund and placing it under strict oversight. 
 
I’ve spoken with colleagues in Pittsburgh and in Harrisburg, elected leaders from across the state and members of the House and Senate, and I’ve urged them to resist a state takeover of our pensions.  If the state took over the responsibility of governing our pension fund, it would be yet another assault on our autonomy as a city.  It would be a catastrophe not just for our budget, but for all the working men and women who rely on their pension checks and on vital city services to live their lives, like my grandmother who lives off of the pension my grandfather earned as a battalion chief in the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau.
 
Thanks to the work done by our state legislators and some of Pittsburgh’s strongest unions, the legislature looks like it’s ready to pass the bill with a temporary exemption for Pittsburgh. Under legislation now before the state house, Pittsburgh will have two years to bring the pension fund to the critical 50% solvency level, or face the state takeover.

Make no mistake: this new round of legislation won’t solve our problem; it will only give us two more years to solve a problem we have not solved, and in fact have barely even addressed.

A Crisis of Leadership

Five years ago, the pension fund was 44% funded.  Today, it’s 29% funded.  This problem has been getting worse and worse, and for three years before this moment of crisis, we’ve heard almost nothing from our Mayor about how he’s going to fix it. 

Two years ago, when he was first running for re-election, Mr. Ravenstahl repeatedly claimed that we needed the state’s help to solve our problem.
 
One year ago yesterday, Mr. Ravenstahl testified before a joint public hearing of the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee and told state legislators that he supported a state takeover of the pensions.  When questioned, he told them he didn’t care what the plan looked like, as long as the pensions were taken over by someone else:

“We're open to whatever makes sense and whatever is most manageable on your side... But I think clearly what I will say is that some sort of consolidation, I think, has to happen.” 

I don’t know why or when the Mayor changed his mind, but I do know that when I’m Mayor, I’ll work for the people of Pittsburgh every day, and I’ll never play politics with their retirement, their fire houses, their community centers, or their neighborhoods.

Privatization Will Not Work

Now.  If the legislature votes as we expect them to, the City of Pittsburgh will have to pump $189 million into the pension fund over the next two years, or face a state takeover. 
 
Privatizing the city’s parking assets will not fix the problem. In fact, it won’t even come close.

A study conducted at Carnegie Mellon University earlier this year concluded that Mayor Ravenstahl’s plan to privatize the City’s parking garages would, after all debt repayments, yield only $71 million. That’s not even half of what we need. 

Privatization of public assets like parking garages is not a good idea, and not a good solution to our pension crisis. Other cities that have privatized their garages have encountered problems with the companies contracted to manage them and with the residents who have to use them. In Chicago, parking fees have skyrocketed. Some rates have tripled. Most experts say the same thing will happen here.

The parking assets are a secure source of income for the city of Pittsburgh for years to come. We can not trade in long-term stability for short-term gain. Especially a short-term gain that will pay for less than half of what we need to bring the pension fund back to solvency.

The Acklin Plan for Pensions

We need bold new thinking and clear-headed financial planning to solve this problem. And we need a leader who’s committed to solving it. That’s why I’m running for Mayor, and that’s why I’m proposing my plan to make the Pittsburgh pension fund 50% solvent in two years.

The solution starts with the Urban Redevelopment Authority, an integral tool in the economic development of our city, but one that over time has grown so large that it is crowding out potentially beneficial investments from private developers.
I propose today that we redefine the size and scope of the URA, re-focus it toward neighborhood investments and community development, and divest a portion of those assets to be placed immediately into the City’s pension fund.

The URA, as of December 31st, has at least — at least —  $417 million in total assets.  $225 million of those are liquid assets in cash and investments. 

Let me put that into perspective for you: the City of Pittsburgh’s entire operating budget for 2008 was $424 million. Nearly identical to what the URA is worth. I’ve always thought of the Twin Cities as Minneapolis and St. Paul — but here we have Pittsburgh and the URA.
 
Now, the URA has played an important role in the redevelopment of the City of Pittsburgh, a job that should never be overlooked.  But Mr. Ravenstahl and I disagree on where the development of the future should take place in our city.  Mr. Ravenstahl has sided with big, corporate developers, and I say it’s time to go back to the neighborhoods.  Back to places like Carrick and Sheraden, Beechview and Brookline, Homewood and The Hill, The North Side and the South Hills. 

Saving the Pension Fund

The re-shaping of the URA is only a small part of my economic development plan, and in the coming weeks I will unveil that plan in its entirety.  But today, we focus on saving the pension fund.

If we divest less than half of the URA’s assets and devote them to the pension fund, which is what I am proposing, we could avoid a state takeover, put the pension fund back on the path to financial success, and ensure the retirements of Pittsburgh’s hard working men and women. We would immediately return the pension fund to fifty-percent solvency, and the URA would still have more than half of its assets to work with.
 
My plan would be the first serious, substantive effort in more than a decade to address our city’s most pressing financial problem. It would take the first step toward the important goal of refocusing development on our neighborhoods.  And it would stop a potentially catastrophic state takeover of Pittsburgh’s pension fund without privatizing any city assets, without costing us any good union jobs, and without raising any taxes or cutting any services. 

Thank you. I will take your questions.