Moral Authority and the Ravenstahl Family Sewer Authority

In the always-excellent 2 Political Junkies we see a letter from Pittsburgh City Councilor Bill Peduto to the chair of Pittsburgh's Ethics Hearing Board, Sister Patrice Hughes. (also here).

Councilman Peduto objects to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (30 years old) appointing his little brother (Adam Ravenstahl, 25 years old) to the Board of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (Alcosan), and Peduto asks Sister Hughes to conduct an investigation. Excerpts from Peduto's letter:

Dear Sister Hughes:

I am requesting that the Ethics Hearing Board rule on the decision of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to nominate his brother State Representative-elect Adam Ravenstahl to the Board of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority. The City Code has rules for appointing, hiring and promoting direct family members of elected officials and employees. As the code states, the only time a direct family member can be appointed is through a waiver from the Ethics Hearing Board.

.....

I am formally requesting that the Ethics Hearing Board investigate this nomination to determine the legitimacy of any elected City official appointing, hiring, advancing or advocating the appointing, hiring or advancing of direct family members.

The city's Ethics Hearing Board consists of five members — two appointed by the mayor and three appointed by the mayor from a list of nominees submitted by City Council. Sister Patrice Hughes (photo, right) was appointed by Mayor Bob O'Connor.

To me, this is a serendipitous reminder of the moral authority of nuns, and perhaps also of the arrested development of Pittsburgh politics - Luke gives Adam something he's not supposed to, and so Bill tells Sister. Only in Pittsburgh (OIP™).

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I know I shouldn't, but I can't resist.
Perhaps it says something about my own arrested development.


(Source: Pittsburgh Pist-Gazette)