KEVIN ACKLIN CALLS ON MAYOR TO ASK FOR CHIEF OF STAFF'S RESIGNATION
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Monday, August 24, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, August 24, 2009
CONTACT:
Andy Gastmeyer, Press Secretary
412.327.6951 | 412.481.3150
A Statement From Independent Mayoral Candidate Kevin Acklin Calling on the Mayor to Ask for Yarone Zober’s Resignation
“It’s unfortunate that Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and his Chief of Staff Yarone Zober have decided that the best way to engage the very legislators we need to help solve our city’s biggest problem is to launch petty, schoolyard insults through the media. This is what happens when Mayors don’t do the hard work necessary to build relationships, overcome differences, and find common ground with leaders in Harrisburg.
I’ve spoken privately with Democratic state legislators, many of whom have expressed frustration with a lack of communication, and a lack of cooperation, from this administration. Those sorts of failures, which jeopardize the financial future of the city of Pittsburgh, culminated last week with a childish display by Yarone Zober, who aimed a series of insults at a state legislator who is actively trying to solve the pension crisis faced by many cities in Pennsylvania. Disagreeing with a state representative is one thing; insulting him, and by extension his colleagues, is quite another.
At a time when we should be building bridges, Yarone Zober is burning them. Instead of demanding that he put them out, Mayor Ravenstahl is fanning the flames.
If the Mayor really wants to do the hard work we need as a city, and if he truly cares about solving these problems, he will ask for Yarone Zober’s resignation. And I call on him to do so.
This move would send a message to our state legislators that Pittsburgh is trying a new approach, and that we are committed to coming together and doing the hard work it takes to reach solutions for everyone. It would also send a message to Pittsburgh taxpayers that one staffer’s lack of professionalism will not be allowed to jeopardize their financial future.
I pledge to the residents of the city that when I’m Mayor, I’ll work every day to build the relationships necessary to move Pittsburgh out of receivership and toward a stable financial future. I’ll view legislators of both parties not as adversaries, but as partners, people with whom I can and will work to solve our city’s most pressing problems.”
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