Tom Murphy would have you believe it’s a beautiful day in Pittsburgh’s 88 neighborhoods. His future as Pittsburgh’s mayor depends largely on whether city residents buy that highly suspect premise. City Council President Bob O’Connor, Murphy’s chief rival in the May 15 Democratic mayoral primary, has vowed to be much more neighborhood-oriented than Murphy. O’Connor and other Murphy critics believe the mayor has focused too narrowly on Downtown and North Shore redevelopment efforts at the expense of the neighborhoods. No one attending Murphy’s first inauguration in the City-County Building in January 1994 would have believed such charges ever would be leveled against the mayor. The city’s neighborhoods clearly were on his mind that day. ‘Because I have seen first-hand the strength and ingenuity of our neighborhoods … we will begin a series of 88 meetings in each neighborhood of the city,’ Murphy said. ‘The purpose of the meetings is to define an aggressive action plan unique to each neighborhood, with the city as a full partner.’ Murphy, a former community activist turned state legislator, held dozens of those meetings in subsequent months. But has the city been a full partner with its neighborhoods during Murphy’s tenure• Have the needs of the neighborhoods been as aggressively addressed as Murphy pledged they would be seven years ago• Much of the evidence suggests not. A DIFFERENT COURSE Murphy’s energies in his second term were devoted largely to building stadiums and trying to advance a Downtown redevelopment package – the $522 million Market Place at Fifth & Forbes – that dissolved in dissonance and community opposition in November. While the new sports facilities have risen on the North Shore and an expensive new park is being built there, city spending on many public services that neighborhoods need to survive and thrive continues to decline. So, apparently, has public willingness to tolerate an environment where their neighborhood needs too often are neglected. The city’s population dropped 9.5 percent – from 369,879 to 334,563 – during the 1990s. The fact that Murphy was mayor for most of the decade led O’Connor to quip recently that Murphy has turned Pittsburgh, ‘from the country’s most livable city to the most leaveable.’ Why are people leaving• Perhaps, in part, because city spending on sanitation, public works and community and recreational services fell by more than 30 percent during the 1990s. The city’s 2001 operating budget shows a 6 percent drop in spending for parks and recreation programs and a 1 percent drop in public works (and not necessarily because of any greater efficiencies). The latter is the department that makes street repairs and picks up refuse, services that contribute greatly to a neighborhood’s viability. The public works cuts have come while Murphy proposed a garbage collection fee in three of the last four years, only to have the plan nixed by City Council. Murphy has pledged not to raise taxes if he wins a third term; he has made no promise not to revive the proposed garbage fee. Despite the spending cuts on crucial services, Murphy supporters tell you the mayor has done plenty to advance the neighborhoods. Just last year, with an election fast approaching, Murphy doled out $10 million in neighborhood-improvement funding. Each of the nine council districts received $1 million, with the administration distributing the final $1 million. To the casual observer, that $10 million may seem like a lot to spend on neighborhoods. The money seemingly provided Murphy a credible defense against charges he has largely ignored the neighborhoods. But wait. Do the math. That $10 million amounts to a rather paltry $113,000 for each of the 88 city neighborhoods. The city also allocated $10 million in one fell swoop recently toward a single project – the new North Shore riverfront park now being built between PNC Park and the Steelers’ new stadium. The entire park project will cost $47 million. That amount is equal to 40 percent of the estimated $115 million cost of renovating and beautifying the city’s existing four major parks – Schenley, Highland, Frick and Riverview. While construction continues at breakneck speed on the North Shore park, predictions are it could take as long as 20 years to completely upgrade the other four parks, scattered throughout city neighborhoods. Not enough money to do it more rapidly, you see. Nor is there enough funding to make significant neighborhood improvements in Mt. Washington. Community leaders there have developed a $4.4 million plan to upgrade the mile-long stretch of Grandview Avenue famous for its spectacular view. The plan was more than eight years in the making. The ambitious proposal includes renovating the 33-year-old concrete overlooks, whose concrete is cracking and whose railings are deteriorating. The project also would include a new photography park at the western end of Grandview and improving the appearance of the mount’s Shiloh Street business district. The city has yet to come up with funding for the plan. While $4.4 million is a lot of money, remember that the city recently allocated twice that amount for the new North Shore park. The park whose regal splendor will be clearly visible from those cracked concrete overlooks. City officials last year were rebuffed in their attempt to wrest $650,000 from the Allegheny Regional Asset District to renovate the overlooks. At the time, RAD Executive Director David Donahoe noted that the district – which funds regional assets using a portion of Allegheny County sales tax revenue – typically does not fund local public works projects. In other words, the pods were the city’s responsibility to fix. To this date, the city has shirked that responsibility. SOME ‘COMMITMENT’ As evidence of his commitment to neighborhoods, Murphy cites a penchant for opening senior citizen centers and renovating the city’s 169 playgrounds. He claims to have revitalized East Liberty by brokering the deal to bring a Home Depot to the vacant Sears department store site. But the Home Depot affair illustrates how callously the needs of neighborhood business owners can be disregarded. Just ask Al Vento, pizza shop owner and star of an O’Connor campaign commercial. Vento’s pizzeria, a mainstay on Highland Avenue for 40 years, needed to be acquired for the big-box retailer. Over Vento’s strenuous objections, Murphy minions were about to relocate the business to a side street. Vento credited O’Connor with intervening in the dispute and ensuring the pizza shop was rebuilt on Highland adjacent to Home Depot. As further evidence of his commitment to neighborhoods, Murphy boasts of adding more than 150 acres to Frick Park as part of the Summerset housing development in Nine Mile Run. But the housing won’t be affordable to many people – prices for Summerset’s first stage range from $239,000 to $635,000. On the rise in Pittsburgh these days are expensive new stadiums, an expensive new park and expensive new housing. On the decline are Pittsburgh’s population, the amount it spends on key services vital to the success of its neighborhoods and many residents’ expectations for the city’s future. Democratic voters face a clear choice as the May 15 primary that will determine the presumptive winner in the mayoral general election draws near. If they believe the notion that it’s indeed a beautiful day in Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods, Tom Murphy will win a third term. But if they ponder the considerable evidence and determine such a notion belongs squarely in the neighborhood of make-believe, Bob O’Connor will be Pittsburgh’s next mayor.

Eric Heyl is a Trib columnist. Call him at (412) 320-7857. E-mail him at: eheyl@tribweb.com

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