Finance-plank

Category:Platform Planks from Mark Rauterkus Category:Finance
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===Fixing Pittsburgh's and Pennsylvania's finance quagmires need serious, mighty approaches without denial. ===
====Departing from the same course.====
Pittsburgh has to face its finance quagmire and get on the right track (to use Bob O'Connor's words). The first step for getting onto the right track must be a departure from the current track. Pittsburgh must stop doing what it used to do. Charting a new course means a sharp departure for the same course. Pittsburgh must lay the shovel down.
Year after year, Pennsylvania misses budget deadlines. Missing these deadlines is nothing new. 
 In a nutshell, past politicians in Pittsburgh embraced corporate welfare.
 New priorities must benefit the people of the city and build a foundation for true prosperity.
:The priorities within the Platform.For-Pgh.org and the campaign of Mark Rauterkus are constructed so as to benefit the people of the city, our constitutional elements and result in true propsperity.
===Prosperity for Pittsburghers. ===
Pittsburgh should strive to be a city of prosperity. We can and should aim much higher. We can lift our attitudes and expectations. 
 Pittsburgh's past politicians have been craving bail-outs. 
 The key to the futre of the city of Pittsburgh must be forged from within, not from Harrisburg. 
===Band-aids are not going to fix the problems of Pittsburgh.===
If Pittsburgh tries to apply another band-aid as a way to heal, then the best hopes are for a band-aid cure. 
 Pittsburgh has done too many one-time quick fixes.
: Mayor Tom Murphy made a career out of doing magic with the city's budget with one-time only, quick fixes. He sold the water and sewer lines to the Water & Sewer Authority and got a windfall of incomes -- once. 
:The city's assets, such as the public owned swim pools and recreation centers, have been starved from capital improvements. There has been very little investment for maintance. Up-keep has not happened. The city didn't have any capital budget in recent years. The wear and tear on equipment used daily by the firefighters, police and refuse workers is causing many major breakdowns.
 We need to elect, employ and associate with the people who have driving determinations to fix system-wide problems within Pittsburgh. 
:A step-by-step approach is needed in a long-journey. However, let's search for sincere goals of greatness. Let's assess the capacity and willingness to do the heavy lifting that we all know is necessary.
 If we have the devoted people with excellent goals matched with modern skills -- then Pittsburgh can soar again.
===Strive for the best solutions.===
 Being just good enough isn't going to cut it in a global, competitive world. To plod along stinks. 
 Being average isn't enough for my family, my children and my childrens' children. The kids in all the neighborhoods need to have brushes with greatness. Coaches teach about excellence, perfection and groove performances. Nobody wins an Olympic Gold Medal or a First Place prize in any endeavor without charting a course for that destination. Someone on city council needs to stand up to insist that we find, craft and devote all the necessary attention that allows an opportunity to win the day.
== Platform of Mark Rauterkus includes: ==
* A Pitt FINANCE Major working on a masters in Business Administration at Duquesne, Daniel Repovz, was hired to be the media coordinator with the campaign. 
* Be truthful, open and honest about the budget with the city's residents, voters, workers, supporters, media and other elected peers within government.
* Build and insist upon the building of clear, open, simple accounting and performance benchmarks within projects, departments and annual budgets.
* End corporate welfare.
* End, or work to the ending, all of those big spending projects. All the past projects have had questionable outcomes in terms of building local prosperity. Boneheaded big-ticket spending must stop, even if it feels good or goes to power-brokers.
* Stewardship, seriously. Give care for what's ours now. Put new emphasis on the care of what we already have. Review, inventory and caluculate the on-going costs of upkeep, maintence, replenishment of supplies, labor's overhead, and other factors -- such as security and utilities. We don't know the numbers for various costs. We don't measure the benefits of various services. We need long-term plans for the preservation of our assets, from hillsides to lights for ballfields. 
* Simplify! We must get rid of the smoke and mirrors within the city's operations. We must untangle the various grants, line-items, budget year expenses, and other pass-throughs that plague and complicate the operation of the city. 
* Put the budget online, weekly. 
: Show the various income streams on the web.
: Show the various expenses.
: Show the budgets for all the authorities.
* Cuts that have already been made need to be visible, obvious, and evident. Past gains need to be put on a scorecard for others to see. Long-term views of the budget need to be published. The city's employees are NOT getting the operational support that they had in the past.
* "True economic development is an increased quality of life, wherein people prosper not only in financial terms, but also in aesthetic and spiritual terms, sustained by natural beauty, wildlife, and healthy ecosystems." (Rod Fujita, Heal the Ocean) I'm interested in true economic development.