Mt. Lebanon continues to be defiant

Every year, our public officials and public employees are required to file a Statement of Financial Interests with the Municipality or School District, as well as with the PA Ethics Commission. Here are the Municipal Statements of Financial Interests May 2017.

According to the Guide to the PA Public Official and Employee Ethics Act,  The State defines public officials as :

Any person elected by the public or elected or appointed by a governmental body or an appointed official in the executive, legislative or judicial branch of this Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, provided that it shall not include members of advisory boards that have no authority to expend public funds other than reimbursement for personal expense or to otherwise exercise the power of the State or any political subdivision thereof.

Former manager Steve Feller was a stickler when it came to filing SFI's. Our new manager Keith McGill, not so much. We already know that Andrew McCreery and Susan Morgans made critical errors on their SFI's. At one time, members of these boards submitted SFI's. http://mtlebanon.org/63/Agendas-Minutes What I am noticing now is the number of SFI's which are no longer filed. Missing in action include:

Mark Quealy, Mt. Lebanon Parking Enforcement Supervisor

Blaise Larotonda

Members of the Historic Preservation Board who have spent $25,000 on Virginia Manor remodeling guides, and brick road recommendations.

Sports Advisory Board, the most powerful board in the Municipality, now are MIA. Their meetings are constantly being canceled. The latest posted minutes are from January 5, 2017.

Mt. Lebanon continues to become more and more defiant. Just ask the Allegheny County Health Department concerning baiting and toxic dust emissions, Scott Township about killing in Twin Hills, PA Office of Open Records, and now the PA Ethics Commission.

Oops, there goes $25K

Our commission is out of control. Why did they give $25,000 to the Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board for a preservation guide, and then decide to scrap the whole idea? Mt. Lebanon opts to forgo mandatory homeowner restrictions 

Let me begin by saying the Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board is a farce, This is the group who wanted Rae Avenue to be restored with brick. Mt. Lebanon sewer project should solve neighborhood flooding

The vote was 4-1, with Commissioner John Bendel dissenting.
He said his preference would be to restore one of the streets affected by the project, Rae Avenue, with brick, as it currently is paved. That option, though, would have cost some $343,000 more than restoring Rae with asphalt.
“I believe that there’s value in preserving our brick streets,” Mr. Bendel explained. He acknowledged the additional expense but added, “I think it’s important for us to begin a process to preserve the character of our community as much as we can.”

I went to the Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board in 2014 prior to Wildcat Field destruction, highlighting the fact that putting down artificial turf on a historic field, located in the Historic District, and described in the Historic District application as one of the last green spaces in Mt. Lebanon, is not preserving the character of the field. I was ignored. John Bendel was the commission liaison to both the Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board, as well as the commission liaison to the Mt. Lebanon Sports Advisory Board.

Virginia Manor is in Ward 1, John Bendel's ward. Rae Avenue is in Ward 1, John Bendel's ward. Twin Hills is in Ward 1, John Bendel's ward. John Bendel is considering spending over $80,000 to hunt down the remaining deer in Mt. Lebanon. Does anyone see a pattern here?

Ha! Yeah, right John Bendel

"Commissioner John Bendel said officials want to know residents' opinions. “If you find an ordinance you disagree with, that's what we need to hear,” he said, adding small group meetings will be held in the neighborhood." That line of crap was fed to the Trib's Rick Wills in Residents in Mt. Lebanon neighborhood oppose historic district status.
The Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board spent $25,000 that our commissioners allocated on a preservation design guide for Virginia Manor. You may recall how this same board wanted to spend $140,000 more for bricks on Rae Avenue, in order to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood, while looking the other way while the Commission spent $800,000 to destroy the integrity of our historic fields, one of the last green spaces in Mt. Lebanon. Bendel on historic preservation

Staying informed about the turf project UPDATED

Talk about staying informed, you won't read anything about this from the Public Information Office. Since I was getting nowhere at the last commission meeting, I filed a Right To Know with a different government agency concerning the status of the artificial turf project at Middle and Wildcat Fields.

A letter was sent to David Donnellan on August 27, 2014 with a list of significant deficiencies concerning the Wildcat Turf Project application plan submission.

I do not understand the stormwater technicalities mentioned, but I do understand that the turf project may require more permits to be filed.

I am especially interested in the additional information requested in number 6. In my August 21, 2014 blog post Bendel on historic preservation, and my June 26, 2014 blog post Dear Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board, I had divulged that these fields are specifically mentioned in Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board's National Register of Historic Places application. According to the letter sent to David Donnellan, a Cultural Resource Notice must be sent to the PA Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). Mt. Lebanon resident and member of the Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board, Bill Callahan, represents the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s Bureau for Historic Preservation in the westernmost 26 counties of the Commonwealth. I don't understand how this was overlooked by the Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board. As commission liaison to the Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board, John Bendel, shame on you.

I am encouraged that there are still government agencies outside of Mt. Lebanon protecting our historical and environmental resources.

Update September 4, 2014 11:44 AM

This is an important notice from LeboALERT. 

The Mt. Lebanon Sports Advisory Board meeting scheduled for September 4, 2014 is canceled. For the complete meeting schedule please view our website.

Big surprise. If there is no turf project, there is nothing else to talk about.

Update September 6, 2014 4:20 PM Funny how Andrew McNitt never talked about this when he was pushing artificial turf for Mt. Lebanon's historic fields.

Bendel on historic preservation

At the last commission meeting, John Bendel was the only commissioner opposed to replacing bricks with asphalt on Rae Avenue. His reason? He was concerned about preserving the integrity of that neighborhood.

In the Trib's article Mt. Lebanon residents opposed to loss of brick roads, Bendel was quoted as saying, “The brick streets, they give our neighborhoods character, and preserving them is key to preserving the historical nature of those neighborhoods.” What a hypocrite.

A few months ago, I contacted the Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board regarding the fields in the historic district of Mt. Lebanon. See Dear Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board.

Recently, I had sent this to the Historic Preservation Board. 

My frustration is that you are speaking to the Commission and asking them to spend $140,000 more for bricks on Rae Avenue, in order to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood, while looking the other way while the Commission spends $800,000 to destroy the integrity of our historic fields, one of the last green spaces in Mt. Lebanon, as you described in your application. You could have had a portion of the unassigned funds for bricks, had you gotten involved. Do you even know how Wildcat got its name? I lived in Mt. Lebanon most of my life and have a passion for preserving the integrity of our community. Where's your passion?

After further communication from Historic Preservation Board member Bill Callahan, I questioned their silence concerning preserving the historic fields on Cedar Blvd.

Your commission liaison, Mr. Bendel, has not informed you of these plans. Why is that?

The Parks Advisory Board and the Environmental Sustainability Board has weighed in on the artificial turf, yet the Historic Preservation Board has been silent. Your chair person has gone to the podium on several occasions concerning bricks, yet never once commented on the removal of one of our last green spaces in Mt. Lebanon. Surely, you have seen the signs all over Mt. Lebanon about artificial turf. Have you even questioned your municipal liaison, Susan Morgans or your commission liaison, John Bendel about this project? Why is that?

I have sat at Commission Discussion Sessions where you and the Board Chair have discussed the application for the National Register. I have seen your picture with Dan Miller, but never once has the subject of artificial turf changing the integrity of our historical fields been brought up. Why is that?

Again, I ask you folks, where is your passion to preserve the integrity of these historical grass fields on Cedar Blvd.?

This is another example of commissioners' friends staying quiet on the artificial turf project. We have a bunch of "sheeple" on our Boards now.

Update August 21, 2014 7:58 AM Meanwhile, players are threatening legal action over artificial turf at the 2015 Women's World Cup.

Players threaten legal action over artificial turf at Women's World Cup “Consigning women to a second-class surface is gender discrimination that violates European charters and numerous provisions of Canadian law.”

Players retain legal counsel in fight against artificial turf at 2015 Women's World Cup
“We’ve worked so hard as female athletes – not only here in the United States, but internationally – to grow the game and in my opinion I think this is taking a step back. All of the men’s international players around the world would argue the same point. A lot of these guys will not play on an artificial surface because it is an injury-prone surface and I don’t blame them.”

Sports Illustrated: Top women's stars mobilizing for legal bout vs. FIFA over World Cup turf

Update August 21, 2014 10:48 AM A Lebo Citizens reader sent me this photo and note:

These injuries are from playing soccer on turf. This women is a World Cup player. Men World Cup players won't play soccer on turf because of this type of injury. Can you imagine if kids came home with these types of injuries from Lebo turf? 






Update August 24, 2014 4:20 PM 
Alex Morgan upset about 159 degrees temps on turf field

From Twitter: 159 degrees on soccer field 

Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13)

8/23/14, 6:22 PM The temperature of the Turf field today. How is this healthy for us??? #Grass2015#GrassNotTurf pic.twitter.com/YEnnVApra3

Dear Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board UPDATED

Dear Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board,

It appears that your Commission liaison, John Bendel has not informed you of plans to remove natural grass from two fields in The Mt. Lebanon Historic District and replace it with artificial turf. Your board chair expressed a concern over preserving the integrity of a brick road in Mt. Lebanon at the June 23, 2014 Commission meeting, and said nothing about preserving the integrity of two historical ball fields. I questioned the Commission during Citizen Comments if the Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board had been informed of the plan to artificially turf Middle and Wildcat Fields. Commissioner Bendel confirmed that your Board had not been consulted.

You may not be aware of this, Board members, but in 2002, $20,000 from a state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) grant was spent on improving facilities at Mt. Lebanon Park, including the replacement of an outdoor basketball court system and improvements to Wildcat Field. Municipality to seek funds for ice rink 

In addition, Board members, I posted this on my Lebo Citizens blog,  Hey! These fields are in the Historic District! On Page 10 of the National Register of Historic Places application, you note that Main Park is considered as a contributing site to the Mt. Lebanon Historic District.

I want to thank you for your polite June 18, 2014 response to my previous email to several of your Board members.

Thank you for your message, Elaine. As chair of the HPB, I am responding on behalf of the several members of the board you contacted. We appreciate your input.
Yvette

I hope your passion for preserving brick roads in Mt. Lebanon will also carry over to maintaining the integrity of Middle and Wildcat Fields located in Mt. Lebanon's Historic District by keeping those fields natural grass.

Respectfully,
Elaine Gillen

June 30, 2014 4:28 PM From State Rep. Dan Miller's newsletter:

Mt. Lebanon Historic District Hearing

This month, I was able to speak at the State Historical and Museum Commission in support of the Mt. Lebanon Historic Preservation Board's application for listing a large part of Mt. Lebanon in the National Register of Historic Places. I was joined by Bill Callahan, Michelle Zmijanac, and Senator Smith who were also there to voice their support.