"I Promise to be Everybody's Boy"

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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

"I PROMISE TO BE EVERYBODY'S BOY"
Kevin Acklin Campaign Kickoff Speech

Thank you. Thank you, George, for that gracious introduction. And thank you all for being here tonight...

You know, when I look around the room, I see people from all across Pittsburgh. I see family and friends, neighbors and colleagues. City employees and community activists. Nurses and teachers, police officers and firefighters. I see people who came from other cities and fell in love with what they found here. I see young people who've grown up in Pittsburgh and want to be able to stay here. I see people who, like me, went away for school or work or both, but who longed to come home and finally, happily did.

But most of all, I see a room full of people who want to make a difference.

You're here tonight because you love Pittsburgh. And because you're concerned about Pittsburgh. You're concerned about where we're headed, and about what we're gonna find when we get there. You're concerned about your jobs, your families, your schools, and your neighborhoods. And you want someone on Grant Street who's as concerned about those things as you are – not because he's thinking about re-election, and not because the state tells him he has to be, but because they're a part of the very fabric of who he is and what he believes.

You want someone who'll work for you all day, every day, no matter who you voted for, or whose campaign you contributed to, or what party you belong to. You want a Mayor who'll listen to and work with everyone – even people who disagree with him. You want a Mayor who'll move this city forward – not just with election-year baby steps, but with the bold and confident strides of someone who has a vision and who won't stop working until he makes it a reality.

I'm here tonight for those very same reasons. I love our city, I'm concerned about it's future, and I want to unleash every last bit of its potential. And that's why, tonight, I'm kicking off my Independent campaign to be the next Mayor of the great city of Pittsburgh.

Forty years ago, Pete Flaherty became Pittsburgh's 53rd Mayor – in part because he promised to be "Nobody's Boy." I've always liked that. And Lord knows we could use that kind of defiant, Independent spirit on Grant Street today. But I'm gonna go him one better. If you elect me the 59th Mayor of the city of Pittsburgh, I promise to be "Everybody's Boy."

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. I'll support legislation that helps not just the powerful and the politically connected, but the powerless and the politically forgotten.

I'll be your tireless advocate, your uplifted voice, your unwavering champion.

For too long, this town has been run by politicians who care only about themselves and their re-elections. They've gotten by on old tricks and new stadiums. They've left whole neighborhoods and communities to suffer. They've hidden the truth, mortgaged the future, and squandered a lot of wonderful opportunities. They've played on our pride, traded on our hopes and dreams, and taken cynical advantage of our love for this city. But we're here tonight to say, enough is enough. We're not going to let you play us like fools any more.

Starting today, we expect more. We demand more. And we will not stop until we've raised our government up to the standard of our city and of our people.

This city was built upon the bent backs and iron wills of the men and women who came before us. They worked hard to build a Pittsburgh we can be proud of, and they showed us the difference – the real, remarkable difference – that a band of committed brothers and sisters can make when they set both their minds and their deeds to the task. We stand today on the shoulders of those generations of Pittsburghers. We've inherited from them a great city and an even greater responsibility – one I'm eager and ready to accept.

My story is a Pittsburgh story. I come from a family of Pittsburghers – nurses, firefighters, police officers, public works employees – who've lived and worked in this city for generations. I grew up on Parkview Avenue, across the street from Dan Marino and a few doors down from St. Regis Church in South Oakland. I went to grade school in Greenfield and to high school in Oakland, just a few blocks down Fifth Avenue from where we're standing. My parents live in Banksville. My uncle lives in Overbrook. My wife and my boys and I live just up the street in Squirrel Hill. I truly am one of you, and nothing – no ambition, no power, no political office – will ever change that.

Teddy Roosevelt, one of my personal heroes, once said that In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

My whole life, I've stepped up and answered the call when work needed to be done or people needed to be helped. It's what my family and my neighbors taught me to do. And I won't be able to look them in the eye ever again if I just keep sitting on the sidelines, seeing so much potential unfulfilled, so many opportunities wasted, so much fertile soil left fallow.

When I'm mayor, I won't just say I'm getting it done. I will get it done. I'll get it done right, and I'll get it done for everyone. And I won't stop until I – until all of us – are getting it done better than it's getting done in every other city in the country.

I'll never put myself or my friends or my administration or my campaign contributors or anyone or anything else before the needs of the people in this city. I'm going to put you – every single one of you, from Bloomfield to Brookline, from Hays to Homewood, from South Oakland to Northview Heights – first. I'm going to put good government first. I'm going to put Pittsburgh first.

I'll talk a lot more about my proposals in the weeks and months ahead, but for now, I'll tell you that...

I'M GOING TO MAKE PITTSBURGH FIRST IN JOBS
We'll grow the city for the first time in generations: taking care of our own, bringing our people home, and putting Pittsburgh back on the map as the country's leading job and business creator.

I'M GOING TO MAKE PITTSBURGH FIRST IN SAFETY
As someone who comes from a family of people who've dedicated their lives to public safety, I'm committed to giving our police, fire and EMS workers the tools they need to make Pittsburgh the safest big city in America.

I'M GOING TO MAKE PITTSBURGH FIRST IN EDUCATION
The education of our children and the excellence of our school system is the key to the growth and prosperity of our city. So my Promise will be to help make the Pittsburgh Public Schools the finest urban school district in the country.

I'M GOING TO MAKE PITTSBURGH FIRST IN NEIGHBORHOODS
We'll promote and renew our greatest assets – all 88 of them – by enhancing our pools and playgrounds and community centers, by improving our business districts, by cleaning and paving our streets, by launching comprehensive new green initiatives, and by making our parks and trails what they should be – the envy of every major city in the country.

I'M GOING TO MAKE PITTSBURGH FIRST IN LEADERSHIP
We'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, inclusiveness and accountability will be more than just slogans and buzzwords, the buck will always stop WITH ME.

Of course, the question on everyone's mind right now is: can we win?

Well, a little piece on the Post-Gazette web site last week said that I had a "very very very ... small chance." I think that was a nice way of saying I can't do it. Which is kind of funny, because I've heard things like that my whole life.

You can't overcome a childhood like that. You can't get in to Harvard. You can't make it at Georgetown. You can't land that big job in Boston. You can't go back to Pittsburgh. You can't get people to volunteer on Saturday mornings for all those Renew Pittsburgh projects. You can't get that smart, funny, beautiful girl from Iowa to be your wife.

I know what it's like for people to tell me I can't do something. And I know what it's like to prove them wrong. I love being the underdog. I've been one my whole life. It motivates me to do my best. And then to do even better than that.

So I'm gonna do what I've always done – what Pittsburghers have always done, whether they were told they can't clean up their smoky city, or they can't survive the closing of their steel mills, or they can't rebuild their economy. I'm gonna get my back up, put my head down, and go to work. And I'm not gonna stop until I've done it.

Can we win? Yes, we can. We have to.

One of the ways we're going to do it is to find and inspire that silent majority.

Those thousands and thousands of Pittsburghers who liked Bill or Mark or Patrick or Carmen, but who didn't volunteer or didn't take a yard sign or maybe didn't even vote because... well, because they were told they couldn't do it. Because they thought they couldn't make a difference. Because they forgot, or maybe no longer believed, that their votes and their voices mattered.

They're out there. We're gonna find them. We're gonna unite them. And together, we've gonna deliver one hell of a shock to the system.

When I'm out on the street talking about my candidacy, people tell me all the time about the "political machine." But I'm going to let you in on a little secret: there is no machine. There's only complacency. And fear.

The current lack of leadership in the Mayor's office is what happens when Pittsburghers aren't getting involved. Or when they think that what they have is good enough. Or when they're worried about losing a city job, or getting blacklisted from a city contract, or winning their next re-election, or just facing some sort of political retribution.

Folks, the way it is, isn't the way it has to be.

That kind of boogeyman politics has held this city back for far too long. No job, no contract, no empty threat is worth sacrificing the future of our great city. Because this isn't just about winning an election. This is about making Pittsburgh the best that it can be.

As Pittsburghers, we're born to demand, and bred to deliver, excellence. We expect only the best from our children. Only the best from our sports teams. Only the best from our coaches and our goalies and our quarterbacks. It's time we started expecting – and demanding – the best from our Mayor. And from our government. And from ourselves.

You know that pride you feel when you take out-of-town friends up to Mt. Washington or down to Primanti's or over to PNC Park? That excitement you feel when you see downtown pop out the Ft. Pitt tunnels? That passion you feel when you're rooting for the Steelers or the Pirates or the Penguins? If we could take all of those amazing energies, and all of the love that we have for this city, and channel them into our neighborhoods and communities, into all of our civic and political arenas, just imagine what we could do.

But you know what – we don't have to imagine it. We can do it. And if we stand together, we will do it.

This is it, Pittsburgh. This is our time. This is our chance.

Let's show the political pundits that elections really do matter.

Let's conquer those fears and complacencies.

Let's expect more from our government and demand more from our leaders.

Let's elect a Mayor who'll work for you and with everyone and won't stop until he's made his vision a reality.

Let's grow this city, give a voice to the voiceless, and make Pittsburgh the kind of place we all know it can be – one worthy of our rich heritage, and dedicated to our boundless potential.

Thank you.

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