Suburban Sprawl

As I drive up McKnight road, I see a lot of empty spaces. Across from Ross Park Mall is an old Chi Chi's, Sam's Club, Ford car dealership, Damon's and Don Parmesian. These stores all closed and have been sitting vacant for quite some time. A little further up is the closed Famous Dave's BBQ.

Further up the road is a sign for new commercial development at McKnight and Duncan. Up in Wexford a huge new shopping center is currently being built. Rather than building all this new development from scratch, what can we do to reuse the land that has already been developed on?

I am not suggesting that we build the WalMart across from Ross Park Mall. That would have been a traffic nightmare. However, this land already has the utilities available that these new developments do not. They are an eyesore that we drive past every day that we should be rebuilding on rather than adding to the sprawl we already have.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think part of the problem is that every township does their own planning. McCandless where I live would never give up their developments (and the tax revenue) at McKnight and Duncan even though a better location might be the car dealership in Ross in conjunction with the existing shopping center next to it. A better location in McCandless might be the area around Trader Horn and Showcase Cinema, anyway.

Is there some master plan for McKnight Road that I just don't know about or is it really just every Township for themselves?

Election Day on the North Side

I spent the afternoon of Election Day on the North Side. The pride and excitement in the communities I visited was incredible. We had a hard time finding anyone who had not voted as just everyone we met loudly and proudly proclaimed they went to the polls to vote for Barack Obama.

We stopped by a polling location in Manchester around 6:30 to make sure the people we expected to be waiting in line didn't leave without voting. Except that there was no one in line, because just about everyone had already voted. They usually get at most 200, but at that time over 800 had voted.

Living in the suburbs, I didn't get a sense of what Barack Obama really means to people. On the North Side, people had a sense of pride in him that I know I have never felt for anyone in my life.

I think President Obama will make a huge difference in the African American communities as a role model. Parental involvement in a child's education is assumed here in the burbs, but no some much in the city where I grew up. Obama's story about his mother getting him up at 4:30 to study is a powerful example.

Country First

"Country First" was John McCain's catch phrase, but his actions didn't match it. Barack Obama's message really was "Country First", and it needs to be how he runs his presidency. President-elect Obama and the rest of the Democratic Party need to take "County First" to heart when they govern if they want to be successful.

I hope the Democrats learn the lessons from 6-8 years ago when the Republicans held the Presidency and both houses of Congress like the Democrats are about to. The Republicans were drunk with power. Do you remember "You are either with me or with the terrorists" when anyone questioned just about anything George Bush did? How about Bush's "I have political capital and I intend to spend it" comment after his re-election? They were "Party First," and didn't care what anyone thought about it.

My own Congressman, Jason Altmire, is a great example of what a "Country First" and "Western Pennsylvania First" term in office can get you politically. It got him a comfortable win against Melissa Hart. She had nothing real to attack him on while she still had her "Party First" record from her time in office hanging around her neck. I hope he continues to represent our views and continue his "Country First" governance in his second and subsequent terms in office.

Governing "Country First" is kind of like something I learned from my father. When you focus on the customers and the people that work for you, your career can take care of itself. It is much easier having your customers and employees push you up the corporate ladder rather than you having to climb it yourself. I have found this to be true throughout my professional career.

If the Democrats take Barack Obama's "Country First" message to heart and focus on their customers, the American people, the country, the world and the Democratic Party will go a long way.

Where can he go?

Sign seen in a front yard near my house:


RIP
America
11-4-2008


When Bush and the Republicans were in charge, they told Liberals they could move to Canada if they didn't like it.

Where can this guy go? Albania? The Republic of Georgia?

YES WE CAN!

General Colin Powell Endorses Obama

A lot of my friends were big supporters of Barack Obama early on. I wasn't convinced. I thought he could be president some day, but he wasn't ready and it was too soon. As I saw how he handled himself through the primary, the general election, the financial crisis and the debates, I came to realize that he was indeed ready.

I saw this interview with Colin Powell on Meet the Press today and he echoed my feelings about this election in way that I could not hope to come close to saying.

Barack Obama’s Executive Experience

Much has been made of Barack Obama’s supposed lack of executive experience, but we have seen his abilities as an executive for the past two years. He has run an impressive campaign that has had few setbacks. He has been incredibly organized and his advisors are top notch.

This is probably the most organized campaign in history. He has staff throughout the country and has given them all the tools to be successful.

His advisors were selected because of their knowledge and not their political connections. The first major personnel decision a Presidential candidate gets to make is the selection of a running mate. He picked Joe Biden based on his experience and what he would bring to the administration and not because it would appeal to some particular constituency. I would expect that he would find the best and brightest for his administration irrespective of party.

He has been calm and cool under pressure. When John McCain took the lead after the conventions, Democrats everywhere were panicking. He never did. Barack Obama’s demeanor isn’t much different now than it was then. Americans look to their President for reassurance and leadership. Through this financial crisis, he has been a calming influence.

When the financial sectored tanked, he also knew what his role should be. It shows how he would likely handle future crises He gave direction, and allowed the experts to do their jobs without getting in their way.

His campaign has done an excellent job at applying today’s technologies to his campaign in novel ways. I am hoping that his administration will be able to continue to apply technology in our government to streamline processes and cut costs.

His campaign has shown remarkable adaptability. He has been able to respond to John McCain’s attacks before McCain has even been able to unleash them.