Sunday, August 14, 2011

Question From Null Space: If A Drip-Drip-Drip Occurs In InsolvenCity, Does Anyone Fix It?

The ostensible bewilderment at Null Space concerning numbers that do not add up at the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority seems likely to be feigned wonder.

We not only
believe that there exists within Null Space a working theory that would explain the devastating bond debacles, remarkably one-sided Iron City Brewing dealings, unlawful insider confidence schemes, and -- most important at the moment -- inexplicable lack of curiosity (and signatures on courtroom complaints) from the principals of that authority, but we will also state that theory: The current decision-makers have no desire to investigate or illuminate these transactions and revenue streams because disclosure of facts would (1) embarrasse people -- including themselves --they wish to protect and (2) expose those people to criminal prosecution or civil claims.

These circumstances generate a need for new decision-makers, and in a context of functional government would invoke the local prosecutor. The local district attorney, however, is beholden (and, as has become familiar, related) to likely suspects.

This directs the spotlight toward the relatively new United States Attorney, David Hickton, whose early record suggests he is either not interested or too interested in the denizens of the sewers at which local politics, public money, and profiteers intersect.

Many months have passed since federal agents interviewed a series of local elected officials and other witnesses with respect to the conduct of other local elected officials and associated cream-skimmers. Iron City Brewing took millions of taxpayer dollars to preserve jobs, destroyed those jobs, and moved brewing operations from New York to Wisconsin to Latrobe in less time than it has taken the appropriate officials to impose some accountability at the Water and Sewer Authority. Maybe the public should hire the Iron City operators -- who are available, having sucked the last of the marrow from local taxpayers' bones -- to go after the Water and Sewer Authority again, except this time they'd be working on behalf of the citizens of InsolvenCity and Allegheny County.

Infytune: Beer Bottle Boogie, Koko Taylor
Infytune: Bring Me Some Water, Koko Taylor

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

you are right to stay on this one, Infy - and ALCOSAN is pretty bad too

can't you find some newer music for the tunes? some people under 50 can play too

Anonymous said...

The PWSA is a corrupt organization engaged in ongoing criminal conspiracies to steer contracts to friends and coverups of that criminal conduct. Amazingly, it has yet to attract the interest of the PA Attorney General, The U.S. attorney's office or the local District Attorney.

Why RICO is not applied here is disturbing. The PWSA board is packed with compliant no-nothings (St. Rep, Dan Deasy, Hank Blum, Union local President, Bob Jablonowski, retired), select Mayoral appointees (Kunka Budget director, ringmaster & Lanier, City Treasuer a bureaucrat who would like to remain emplolyed at her job) and a so called "progressive reformer" Council Member, Pat Dowd, who has little to say as to the long list of screw-ups at the PWSA. Notably, the $60K "investigation" (cover-up) into the former director's (Kinney) conflict of interest has never been made public.

The agenda is controlled by the Mayor's back room cronies (Dodaro, Hohman, Cambest Lieberman, Verbanec, C. Zappala). The same winning formula in play at the Parking, URA and Housing Authorities.

The board, as a whole, blindly follows the instructions from the Mayor's office to ensure profit for the Mayor's back room boys (see Rich Lord's "The Network http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10262/1088384-192.stm and

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10255/1086909-454.stm