Let's make this simple for all those Pittsburghers that are still having difficulty figuring out whom they should vote for:
(Thanks again to the Burgh Report!)
I just hope the city's Democrats will not be hypocritical on election day. Just look at he issues, not the party affiliation. DeSantis is pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-environment. How can a true liberal vote for Luke??? Not to mention their qualifications, or lack thereof!
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
See: http://askalesbian.blogspot.com/2007/11/vote-for-mark-desantis.html
http://democratsfordesantis.blogspot.com/
http://republicansforravenstahl.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label Mark Desantis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Desantis. Show all posts
Monday, November 5, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
LIES: Yeshiva Dinner Discrepancy
I just went back to listen again to the KDKA debate (kdka.com) from yesterday to make sure I heard the mayor correctly, and yes, he said that he was given a $1000+ ticket to the Yeshiva dinner for the Jewish community.[21:25] (I will not address now that the Yeshiva is one institution and does not represent the entire Jewish community or even the Orthodox Jewish community!) What amazes me, is that the dinner's tickets were only $180 each.
Then I saw an article in the Pittsburgh City Paper that says that Mayor Ravenstahl claimed the tickets were between $3000-$9000 for he and his family!!!
(http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A34957)
What is he talking about???
This all comes after the mayor's comments in his last debate in which he distorted all the facts, as reported by the Burgh Report: http://burghreport.blogspot.com/2007/10/ravenstahls-amazing-debate-remark.html
Bloggers for DeSantis
Just picked up this banner (Thanks Char). I encourage all DeSantis supporters to prominately display it on your site.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
And they're off...
Just returned from the Mark Desantis campaign kick-off downtown. It was quite a show! Lots of media and a well organized display. It's nice to hear some intelligent speech come from Pittsburgh candidates. Now, if he can raise the money, he may have a fighting chance...I think we finally may have a serious Republican candidate for mayor of Pittsburgh!
http://kdka.com/video/?id=29256@kdka.dayport.com
http://kdka.com/video/?id=29256@kdka.dayport.com
Friday, June 1, 2007
Congratulations Pittsburgh!
Congratulations Pittsburgh, You've (or yinz/yunz, in Pittsburghese) taken the first important step towards a two party system...
GOP mayoral candidate DeSantis unfazed by obstacles
Mark DeSantis
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Mark DeSantis sat in his sparse South Side office Wednesday, cradling his company's latest investment -- a plastic sphere of tiny wireless cameras called a "MobileFusion Ball."
The prototype might one day help soldiers or police officers safely survey a room filled with gunmen and hostages.
But DeSantis, soon to mobilize a political campaign, knows it will take a lot more than stealth technology to unseat Democratic Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.
A day after learning he captured enough Republican write-in votes to challenge Ravenstahl in November, DeSantis said he is undaunted by the young mayor's enormous popularity and fundraising advantage, the Democrats' voter registration dominance in Pittsburgh, or the fact that a Republican hasn't been mayor since 1933.
story continues below
<a href="http://ads.pittsburghlive.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/pittsburghlive.com/pittsburghtrib/s_510260.html/811917349/Position1/OasDefault/dollarbankP1R3_June07/DB_nothing_300x250.txt/34363131626538613436356662363430?http://dollarads.h2media.com/dollarads/nothingtohide/"><IMG SRC="http://ads.pittsburghlive.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/dollarbankP1R3_June07/http://ads.pittsburghlive.com/richads/dollarbank/nothingtohide/300x250_PL.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0></a>
"We need profound reform, and that really crosses any party affiliation or party lines," said DeSantis, 47, of Downtown, who founded the technology consulting firm Formation3. "Pittsburgh has some very serious problems."
He notes that a typical major U.S. city spends 12 percent of its budget to pay off long-term debt. Pittsburgh spends about double that.
"The debt and liabilities are really off the scale," he said. "Unless it's addressed right now, directly, on a grand scale, it will overwhelm this city. It will overwhelm our ability to take care of ourselves. And to me that's a big deal."
Shrinking the size of government to bring it more in line with the city's declining population, and combining city and Allegheny County services, are some of the issues he plans to discuss during his campaign.
DeSantis intends to rely on his deep background in business and politics, which Ravenstahl, 27, of Summer Hill, lacks.
DeSantis worked under President George H.W. Bush as a senior policy analyst in The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Commerce, and served as an aide to the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz. He worked as a management consultant with a technology consulting firm in Virginia.
Ravenstahl, a one-term city councilman who inherited his job in September when Mayor Bob O'Connor died, said he would take any Republican challenger seriously.
"I think if a good enough candidate came forward with good ideas, I think anybody can win," Ravenstahl said yesterday.
He said he decided not to wage a campaign to capture the majority of GOP write-in votes in the May 15 primary in an attempt to run unopposed in the general election.
"I'm a Democrat," Ravenstahl said. "I didn't feel I wanted to pursue that at this time."
Party pride didn't deter another Democrat, county Chief Executive Dan Onorato, from pursuing Republican voters. Onorato, who will run unopposed in November, used an automated phone bank to woo Republicans. They rewarded him with 1,844 write-in votes, nearly triple the 623 netted by Matthew Drozd Jr., the son of County Councilman Matt Drozd.
A preliminary tally gave DeSantis 910 write-in votes, compared to 294 for Ravenstahl and well more than the 250 DeSantis needed to get on the ballot.
Ravenstahl said he would debate his opponent.
"Sure, I'm willing to talk about the issues," he said. "If I feel he's serious enough about his candidacy, it's something I'd be open to doing."
City and county Republicans must get serious about DeSantis' candidacy to pull off what many consider an improbable -- if not impossible -- victory, said Jerry Shuster, a University of Pittsburgh political communications professor.
"All of the Republicans have to coalesce around him," Shuster said. "They have to be able to put together the nucleus of a campaign team that handles everything from low-level door knocking to high-profile fundraising."
Ravenstahl has a big head start, with $695,905 in his campaign account. DeSantis has zero.
But he has been involved in winning Republican causes before, as a volunteer with Jim Roddey's successful 1999 campaign for county chief executive. He worked for Roddey's transition team.
Roddey said DeSantis is intelligent and articulate, understands politics, and loves Pittsburgh.
He believes DeSantis is running in order to highlight the city's serious financial woes, which "have been swept under the rug."
"I think Mark would favor cutting the size of city government, combining city services with county government and cutting the size of the fire department," Roddey said. "He has a lot of ideas that are sound, but are not going to be popular with the labor unions."
Mark F. DeSantis
Political party: Republican
Age: 47
Background: Born in Oakland and reared in Sharpsville, Mercer County.
Family: Single
Occupation: President of Formation3, a technology consulting firm.
Education: Graduate of Kennedy Christian High School in Hermitage; bachelor's degree in American studies and master's degree in business administration, from the University of Dayton; master's degree in technology management from American University, Washington; doctorate in public policy from George Mason University, Fairfax, Va.
Background: Was a senior policy analyst in The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Commerce under President George H.W. Bush; served as aide to the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz; worked as a management consultant with Booz, Allen and Hamilton, a technology consulting firm in McClean, Va.
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or (412) 765-2312.
GOP mayoral candidate DeSantis unfazed by obstacles
Mark DeSantis
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Mark DeSantis sat in his sparse South Side office Wednesday, cradling his company's latest investment -- a plastic sphere of tiny wireless cameras called a "MobileFusion Ball."
The prototype might one day help soldiers or police officers safely survey a room filled with gunmen and hostages.
But DeSantis, soon to mobilize a political campaign, knows it will take a lot more than stealth technology to unseat Democratic Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.
A day after learning he captured enough Republican write-in votes to challenge Ravenstahl in November, DeSantis said he is undaunted by the young mayor's enormous popularity and fundraising advantage, the Democrats' voter registration dominance in Pittsburgh, or the fact that a Republican hasn't been mayor since 1933.
story continues below
<a href="http://ads.pittsburghlive.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/pittsburghlive.com/pittsburghtrib/s_510260.html/811917349/Position1/OasDefault/dollarbankP1R3_June07/DB_nothing_300x250.txt/34363131626538613436356662363430?http://dollarads.h2media.com/dollarads/nothingtohide/"><IMG SRC="http://ads.pittsburghlive.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/dollarbankP1R3_June07/http://ads.pittsburghlive.com/richads/dollarbank/nothingtohide/300x250_PL.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0></a>
"We need profound reform, and that really crosses any party affiliation or party lines," said DeSantis, 47, of Downtown, who founded the technology consulting firm Formation3. "Pittsburgh has some very serious problems."
He notes that a typical major U.S. city spends 12 percent of its budget to pay off long-term debt. Pittsburgh spends about double that.
"The debt and liabilities are really off the scale," he said. "Unless it's addressed right now, directly, on a grand scale, it will overwhelm this city. It will overwhelm our ability to take care of ourselves. And to me that's a big deal."
Shrinking the size of government to bring it more in line with the city's declining population, and combining city and Allegheny County services, are some of the issues he plans to discuss during his campaign.
DeSantis intends to rely on his deep background in business and politics, which Ravenstahl, 27, of Summer Hill, lacks.
DeSantis worked under President George H.W. Bush as a senior policy analyst in The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Commerce, and served as an aide to the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz. He worked as a management consultant with a technology consulting firm in Virginia.
Ravenstahl, a one-term city councilman who inherited his job in September when Mayor Bob O'Connor died, said he would take any Republican challenger seriously.
"I think if a good enough candidate came forward with good ideas, I think anybody can win," Ravenstahl said yesterday.
He said he decided not to wage a campaign to capture the majority of GOP write-in votes in the May 15 primary in an attempt to run unopposed in the general election.
"I'm a Democrat," Ravenstahl said. "I didn't feel I wanted to pursue that at this time."
Party pride didn't deter another Democrat, county Chief Executive Dan Onorato, from pursuing Republican voters. Onorato, who will run unopposed in November, used an automated phone bank to woo Republicans. They rewarded him with 1,844 write-in votes, nearly triple the 623 netted by Matthew Drozd Jr., the son of County Councilman Matt Drozd.
A preliminary tally gave DeSantis 910 write-in votes, compared to 294 for Ravenstahl and well more than the 250 DeSantis needed to get on the ballot.
Ravenstahl said he would debate his opponent.
"Sure, I'm willing to talk about the issues," he said. "If I feel he's serious enough about his candidacy, it's something I'd be open to doing."
City and county Republicans must get serious about DeSantis' candidacy to pull off what many consider an improbable -- if not impossible -- victory, said Jerry Shuster, a University of Pittsburgh political communications professor.
"All of the Republicans have to coalesce around him," Shuster said. "They have to be able to put together the nucleus of a campaign team that handles everything from low-level door knocking to high-profile fundraising."
Ravenstahl has a big head start, with $695,905 in his campaign account. DeSantis has zero.
But he has been involved in winning Republican causes before, as a volunteer with Jim Roddey's successful 1999 campaign for county chief executive. He worked for Roddey's transition team.
Roddey said DeSantis is intelligent and articulate, understands politics, and loves Pittsburgh.
He believes DeSantis is running in order to highlight the city's serious financial woes, which "have been swept under the rug."
"I think Mark would favor cutting the size of city government, combining city services with county government and cutting the size of the fire department," Roddey said. "He has a lot of ideas that are sound, but are not going to be popular with the labor unions."
Mark F. DeSantis
Political party: Republican
Age: 47
Background: Born in Oakland and reared in Sharpsville, Mercer County.
Family: Single
Occupation: President of Formation3, a technology consulting firm.
Education: Graduate of Kennedy Christian High School in Hermitage; bachelor's degree in American studies and master's degree in business administration, from the University of Dayton; master's degree in technology management from American University, Washington; doctorate in public policy from George Mason University, Fairfax, Va.
Background: Was a senior policy analyst in The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Commerce under President George H.W. Bush; served as aide to the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz; worked as a management consultant with Booz, Allen and Hamilton, a technology consulting firm in McClean, Va.
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or (412) 765-2312.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Democracy?
The Pittsburgh mayoral election makes a sad statement for democracy. The incumbent, Luke Ravenstahl is running uncontested in the primary on Tuesday. Personally, I'd vote for almost ANYBODY, just to have another option! It almost reminds me of the good ole' days in Iraq (see above image)...
Anyway, there's one guy who is making a stand. His name is Mark Desantis and he is trying to get the Republican nomination for mayor. Now in a a city that is 5:1 Democrat it's pretty much a losing battle, but, that having been said I appeal to everyone out there to do the right thing in the name of democracy and allow an opponent to run on the ballot. Even if you are not a Republican, you should write in "MARK DESANTIS" for mayor. Spread the word to your friends, neigbors and family. He needs 250 Republican write ins to be placed on the ballot in November.
VOTE FOR DEMOCRACY - VOTE FOR DESANTIS!
[NOTE: Maybe he should change his name to "Dissent-is"!]
I am including directions for those that are unfamiliar with how to do a write in electronically:
1. Touch voting screen to start.
2. In the upper right of the 2nd screen, you will see a colored box that says "Mayor" at the top. Immediately below it will be the words "Write-in."
3. Touch the screen with the words "Write-in."
4. A keyboard screen will appear.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
5. Using the screen keyboard, type "MARK DESANTIS."
6. Press button marked "Accept."
7. Go home and pat yourself on the back for supporting the democratic process!
More can be found about Mr. Desantis on this blog site: http://burghreport.blogspot.com/2007/05/city-republicans-push-write-in-for.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
