Letters to the Editor
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

‘The Next Philadelphia?’
Seth Gitell’s oped, “The Next Philadelphia?” focuses on Pittsburgh and its upcoming mayoral election, which pits the 27-year-old incumbent Democrat, Luke Ravenstahl, and a first-time candidate, Mark DeSantis, a business owner and Republican [Oped, “The Next Philadelphia?”October2,2007]. In citing Mr. Ravenstahl’s vulnerabilities, the Sun article omits a critical point.
The article references criticism of Mr. Ravenstahl for traveling to New York City on a plane owned by the proprietor of the Pittsburgh Penguins and participating in a sports event when a major community meeting was occurring.
I do not fault the mayor so much for doing these things, but for the pattern of deception in which he has engaged when questions have been raised about his whereabouts.
In the New York incident, press questions about whether the mayor took such a trip were initially met with stonewalling.
He responded to a reporter’s question by stating that he had not taken this trip, only owning up to it after it became evident that the press had the goods. He also stated that he did not recall where he had dined or where he had spent the night.
In an instance in which the mayor was golfing during an important meeting, reporters were told that the mayor was engaging in “important city business.”
Later, to the mayor’s embarrassment, this “important city business” was disclosed to be a golf outing.
The mayor has demonstrated a pattern of deception when he is cornered. This is what I find most troubling about him.
Pittsburgh’s many problems have been brought about by corrupt one-party rule, which has extended from the 1930s through the present.
OREN SPIEGLER
Upper Saint Clair, Pa.
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