Commentary: SEIU Resorts to More Influence Peddling in Pittsburgh

Two years ago, hell-bent on getting its hooks into the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) –  the largest private workforce in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania –  SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania effectively bought the Pittsburgh mayor’s office.

In November, the union intends to pay more than twice as much to consolidate its monopoly over the region’s chief executives by adding the Allegheny County executive’s office to its collection. And it’s employing the same winning strategy to do so: spending bucketloads of someone else’s money.

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Pittsburgh Mayor Gainey’s Office Pressed on Violence, Damage in Mellon Square Park

Pittsburgh Democratic Mayor Ed Gainey’s record on crime and city-property oversight are receiving heightened scrutiny in light of conditions at Mellon Square Park. 

In an email shared via Twitter by KDKA radio host Marty Griffin and Allegheny Councilman Sam DeMarco (R-At-Large) on Wednesday, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Chief Executive Officer Catherine Qureshi urged city officials to address violence and damage at the park. Located in Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle business district, the modernist plaza that sits atop a parking garage has existed since the mid-20th century and regional leaders have deemed it a major feature of their open-space preservation efforts. It reopened for the season about two weeks ago, Qureshi noted, and already problems abound. 

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