I have been pretty quiet this primary season about candidates, predominately because I usually write about issues or state-wide issues/candidates, but today I want to share why I’m supporting Patrick Dowd for Pittsburgh City Council.

I’ve written about Dowd before- last time he was running for Mayor, and at that time, I expressed that I hoped he would remain our councilman and benefit the City from his role on Council. Today, I can say that I believe he has done just that. Today, my neighborhood (and the rest of our district) as wells the city as a whole is a better place to live and work because Patrick Dowd has been a part of City Council.

1) His Effectiveness as a Councilman

There are a number of things he has been a part of that demonstrate his effectiveness as a councilman.

• Patrick instituted a project called, Council to go” to help him  connect with neighbors and residents of his district. He meets with constituents where they already are – in their neighborhood coffee shop, their library, their farmers’ market – and addresses the concerns they bring to him. This makes it easy for anyone to bring an issue to him and talk about it in a comfortable atmosphere.

   

   

• Near and dear to me, is his commitment and work for bicycle-pedestrian initiatives that add to the greening of the city as well as making it a great recreational city as well

   

   

• As a board member at Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority he has worked to protect our water, improve infrastructure, and help the PSWA achieve a more solid debt structure.

   

   

• A co-worked told me he first met Patrick at a library event, and was surprised he was there. But Patrick has been a leader in protecting our public resources like the library system. He has constantly fought to privatization of city assets where the residents would lose out.

   

   

• Patrick was one of the co-founders of CONNECT, which is a new organization that brings together the City of Pittsburgh and its adjacent 35 municipalities to work on issues of joint interest.

   

   

2) Coalition Builder Rather than a Game Player

In my opinion, it is an unfortunate situation that the Pittsburgh City Council and the Mayor always seem to be at odds against each other. Other bloggers have written at length about this and have dealt out the blame, so I won’t go there, but suffice to say both sides seem to keep the skirmish going. Council seems to divide too, amongst itself into various factions that seem most interested in the battle with the mayor instead of focusing on effective legislation. In my opinion, Patrick doesn’t play these games. His focus is always on what is best for the City, rather than worrying about who is on what side of which position and how it affects something else. This may have placed him at odds with some of the other Council members, but I think we need more council member like him, not less.

3) Commitment to

Public Safety for

All Residents, Including LGBT Residents.

I’m proud to say I’ve had direct interactions with Patrick over issues of Public Safety. While it started over an issue of gay bashing in Highland Park, what I saw was Patrick’s commitment to adequately support the Police Department, while at the same time work with the community so that all community members feel supported by the police including gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans persons.  In my opinion, Patrick adequately researches an issue, talks to all involved, explores solutions, and brings different people together so that a common goal can be reached.