Even though he was absent from the African American Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum, District 9 Pittsburgh Councilman Rev. Ricky Burgess’ presence was felt—especially by the three challengers seeking to unseat him.
Former councilwoman Twanda Carlisle, developer and real estate firm owner Judith Ginyard and businessman Andre Young all tried to make the case that Burgess is as invisible in the district as he was from the April 30 forum, held Downtown at the Rivers Club.
Young called him an “absentee councilman.” Ginyard said Burgess makes deals “behind closed doors without community input.”
Carlisle said she would not attack Burgess when he was not there to defend himself, and then proceeded to attack him “for not listening to the community.”
When moderator and New Pittsburgh Courier Editor & Publisher Rod Doss asked how they would challenge Burgess’ arguably successful record of development and public safety initiatives, both Ginyard and Carlisle said much of his development success is illusory because he is benefiting from work begun years earlier.
“He keeps claiming (Black developer) Keith B. Key’s work (throughout the district), but I was the one who made sure he got the contract to rebuild the Garfield (public housing community),” said Carlisle. “I gave him his start here.”
Ginyard said Burgess shouldn’t claim credit for the $30 million in housing work Key is currently doing in Larimer either.
“That is all part of work people like Jim Ferlo, Ora Lee Carroll and (East Liberty Development Inc.) began on the Larimer Plan 20 years ago,” she said. “He was just sitting in the chair when it happened.”
Young was even less charitable.
“He’s building on the backs of the community,” he said. “There’s a pool of skilled talent in the community that needs opportunity. Ricky hasn’t included them in the East End development.”
On stemming community violence, all agreed police Chief Cameron McLay is a welcome breath of fresh air, but as far as police-community relations go, more needs to be done.
“He’s walking the walk, but until there are more Black faces on the force, nothing is going to change,” said Carlisle.
As for the ShotSpotter program, and the move to get cameras in all police cars—both initiatives championed by Burgess—Ginyard said ShotSpotter doesn’t work and neither do the cameras.
“What good does it do if the officer can simply not turn it on and there are no penalties,” she said.
Young simply asked, “Has ShotSpotter saved one life?”
On development issues all three agreed they had to find a balance between revitalizing neighborhoods and making the taxes too high for longtime residents to stay.
Naturally, Carlisle addressed her conviction on 17 counts of diverting government funds during her previous term on council, which landed her in state prison for eight months. She said she is working on redemption.
“I don’t ignore it, it happened. I never in a million years thought I’d go to jail for that,” she said. “You have to be careful who you ask for help.”
Young did not comment on Carlisle’s situation, but Ginyard almost ignited some fireworks with her response.
“I understand you wanting your job back, but I think doing work out in the community would be more redemptive,” she said.
Carlisle replied calmly, if tersely, that running the Pittsburgh office of the NAACP, the oldest Black rights group in the country is “pretty redemptive,” as is the volunteer work she said she is doing.
Overall, Carlisle appeared the most at ease, speaking extemporaneously, deftly deflecting criticism, and making her points without hesitation. Both Ginyard and Young seemed at times to be trying to remember lines from prepared scripts, and faltering over certain phrases now and then.
Still, both were effective in making their cases as the best candidate to serve the district: Ginyard with her years of real estate development, housing construction workforce readiness training in the community, and Young with experience in various businesses over the years.
“I’ve brought in businesses to the community—Jackson Hewitt tax services, I’ve put together development projects and I’ve built housing—on time and under budget,” said Ginyard. “And I will make sure government is inclusive, transparent, accountable and loyal.”
“I would sell the community to investors, businesses. I have the experience to bring that to the table—a business engine for the East End,” said Young. “We need to hear the voice of the district and I need to take it downtown.”
And Carlisle closed, saying, “I’m not running against any of these people, I’m running for the district. You think I did this to see my name in the news in a negative way all over again? No. I served on council from 2002-2007 and that experience is valuable. I want to make sure everyone in the district gets a slice of the pie and not crumbs.”
City council representatives serve four-year terms at an annual salary of $63,505. There are no Republican candidates on the ballot. So barring an independent challenge, the May 19 Democratic Primary will determine the race.
In addition to the District 9 candidates, Chamber President Doris Carson Williams gave the candidates running for District Justice in nearly the same area—Pittsburgh’s 12th and 13th Wards—an opportunity to introduce themselves and their campaigns. Two of the three, Kevin E. Cooper Jr., son of the retiring district magistrate, and Leah Kirkland, daughter of 12th Ward Democratic Chair Jacque Fielder, did so.
Candidate Sam Gibson could not attend. District justices serve six-year terms and are paid $88,290 per year.
(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
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