An open letter from Charlotte Stephenson UPDATED

Time for a New Chapter!

To friends of all party affiliations who helped with my campaign, thank you! To the few voters who considered the person rather than the party and responded to my invitation to “interview” me and make an informed choice, kudos to you! From recycling questions to property taxes we had important dialogue. I ran for office to understand our needs and potentially serve our residents to the best of my ability. In spite of my outreach efforts, as one of our witty community members says “Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up!”

According to the Allegheny County Elections Bureau report, 72.86% of Democrats and 26.14% of Republicans voted the straight party line. (I believe this is county-wide, no data on municipal voting.)

According to the data I received in the spring, there were 37% Republican and 51% Democrat registered voters in Ward 2. This probably changed over the past several months since people move, change party affiliations and register. Election results showed that I received 31.4% and my opponent received 68.6% of the votes.

Competition in elections is important. Unfortunately, here in Mt. Lebanon there is no real competition other than within the Democrat Committee, and there will not be any anytime soon. Yes, the local Republican Committee has been completely ineffective for some time and I attempted to change that, but our predominantly Democrat community would not shift if the RCML arose from the ashes and worked to recruit Republican registrations until the cows came home. 

When a stand up guy like Bob Fischer can’t get elected it’s clear that we have lost our way putting party labels above what is best for our community. By the way, to those who are criticizing Bob for not publicizing his opponent’s indiscretions, why didn’t you chip in and send a letter? Elaine’s blog brought candidate Grella’s citations to light but that didn’t matter, so how would Bob’s stooping have made a difference? Could you have? I don’t believe so.

From Mr. Grella’s website:

 “Our nation’s political environment has fueled hatred at local levels and we have not been immune. But the true test of resilience is how a community handles such challenges, and the residents of Mt. Lebanon have proved time and time again what real community is all about. Last year, we came together in an open forum – in the extreme cold – to denounce hate and violence in all its forms, and to show our children that love and acceptance trumps exclusion and bigotry.” 

So what about our stellar firefighter citizen who stood out in the freezing cold all day on Tuesday? Was his loss due to exclusion or bigotry? I’ll call it exclusion. The elimination of Bob’s potential leadership on the Commission was truly a disservice to our community, so to the Democrat Committee of Mt. Lebanon, shame on you! You are so drunk with power that winning an election is more important than electing winning leadership for our community. You have sold out. Lebo prides itself on celebrating diversity and welcomes everyone? – yep.

Now, it’s my turn. I am not a political statistician. Obviously, far less than the number of registered Republican voters came out and supported me. Have they given up? A thousand Republican phone banks times the Democrat Committee of Mt. Lebanon’s actual amount could never have produced the necessary number of votes for me to win. I do not blame the Republican Committee for that. My race wasn’t even close.

Additionally, Republican “pro-artificial turf on Cedar Blvd.” voters supported my opponent since he is pro-artificial turf. Republican David Franklin lobbied against me on Facebook because I opposed the installation of artificial turf. He praised my opponent’s community service record and support of artificial turf. Well done, Dave. My outstanding community service record wasn’t worth mentioning, huh? To the residents on Vee Lynn, you may want to invest in the special blinds that completely block out light when the $500,000.00+ lighting goes in. Don’t forget to purchase earplugs for the additional traffic from the 50+ added parking spaces and the loudspeaker amplifying day and night. As you are lying in bed with a pillow over your head remember, Mt. Lebanon is a community that cares!

To those who won’t support anyone unless they are a “D”, I have been a life-long Republican and registered to vote when Jimmy Carter was in office. At that time we were in a recession, gas lines/rationing and unaffordable interest rates (21%), inflation (18%),  70% marginal tax rates, and 11% unemployment limited our way of life. My father was out of work for most of my high school years due to the recession and his age. I watched him type letters every day for two years to find a job. He was a World War II vet who completed his degree at Pitt on the G.I. bill while working at J&L Steel. To this day I have remained a Republican because that is where I started. I think there are good apples and bad in every political party. My roots result from my personal experience, something that I hold dear. Can you respect that?

In many ways, I am more “Democrat” than my opponent was in the areas of environment and keeping taxes affordable to maintain diversity here – economic, racial and intergenerational. On Election Day, I chatted with an environmental activist who thought adding artificial turf to Mt. Lebanon was the best decision. Huh??

In February, I attended a “Ready to Run” workshop at the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics at Chatham University, of which a Mt. Lebanon woman and past Commissioner is a sponsor. However, this individual is listed on my opponent’s website as a “Friend” (supporter) and offered me nothing, zippo, zilch as I ran for office. So, I guess the hypocritical center will promote women in politics – as long as they are a D. I can hardly wait until the next Mt. Lebanon diversity celebration!

This campaign has had many peaks and valleys. Peaks, hands down, were watching my opponent’s sign being removed from a lawn once the property owner took the time to know the facts, and the positive feedback from others. Valleys were being thrown under the bus because of my friendship with Kelly Fraasch, voters’ snarky questions about how I voted in the last presidential election on their way into the polls, and seeing that some people are so entrenched in their political leanings they feel it’s OK to be rude. One neighbor said that anyone in this day who is a Republican is…..(readers can fill in that blank). I am so feeling that diversity vibe, how about you?

So, what’s next? I am pleased to have recently been elected to a talented board for a fantastic organization in Pittsburgh. That may sound like sour grapes, but it is actually true. I look forward to working with our county treasurer and other dedicated members who only want what is best for our Pittsburgh community and the organization. I’ve hitched my wagon to that star and I will also continue to work on local projects that matter to me with people who have stood by me – R’s and D’s. So, this R is not going away.

As for Mt. Lebanon politics, C’est la vie! The voters will be rewarded according to their choices. As you have sown you really will reap. I can’t wait to see how this turns out.

To quote Will Rodgers: “On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does.”

Good Luck, Mt. Lebanon!

-Charlotte Stephenson

Update November 11, 2017 6:01 AM Charlotte sent this to me last night, November 10, 2017 at 10:42 PM. The comment box provides a limited amount of space, so at Charlotte's request, I am posting it here.

9:23 I probably will not banter too much in the blog because it’s not an even playing field when people will not identify themselves. We all know that sitting at a keyboard anonymously often exacerbates poor behavior since there is no accountability involved. However, you asked an important question and I would like to respond.

In my letter, I stated “Yes, the local Republican Committee has been completely ineffective for some time…”

So, to answer your question “What did the LeboGOP do in this election to convince voters- R, D or I that it was the vehicle or had the drivers to get us on a road to successful, principled government?”

Answer - nothing.

Do I think that Democrat Mt. Lebanon voters will listen and shift their support to Republican candidates if the LeboGOP works to show them the Republican Tenants in action? – Nope.

Regarding the “Republican pro-artificial turf on Cedar Blvd.” voters running things around here as you stated, I was pointing out that Republicans throw other Republicans under the bus to protect their special interests as in the case of David Franklin. His Facebook post stated:

 “In WARD 2, please support incumbent STEVE SILVERMAN for COMMISSIONER.  Steve was a strong advocate IN FAVOR of the field renovation project on Cedar Blvd and has always been very helpful on other issues involving our parks and recreation facilities.  

His opponent lobbied against the installation of the new fields on Cedar.”

Regardless of communicating Republican tenants in action, I do not think any anti-artificial turf candidate would get anywhere with that lobby.

I believe we have an imbalance of representation due to our organizational structure. I would like to see the Sports Advisory Board be reorganized as part of a “Recreation Board”. When you look at the budget allocation for recreation and recreational facilities it really doesn’t make sense to only have representation from sports. The new Board should include residents with varied interests e.g. sports, swimming, skating, walking trails, dog park, fitness enthusiasts, etc. so there would be diversity.

Since I will not be posting after this, I would like to share some of the comments that I have received from others:

-“ Charlotte you did not lose the election the 2nd  ward

lost out on a hard working commissioner.”

-“ Thank you for sending this heartfelt letter.  I hadn’t known you long before the election and I pegged you as a class act; someone totally authentic and dedicated.”

-“ Mt. Lebanon has lost two dedicated public servants and will pay the price. So sad.”

Finally, yes, if Elaine had not posted the information about the Century of Excellence Campaign we never would have known of the school district funding and subsequent unsuccessful result. She is Mt. Lebanon’s investigative reporter!