Controversy Surrounds Mayor's Campaign Web SitePOSTED: 5:04 pm EDT March 15,
2007 PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is responding to controversy over his campaign's Web site.Did his political team tap into photos from the city's taxpayer-funded Web site to promote his candidacy? Ravenstahl For Mayor Peduto For Mayor Bob Mayor's Blog: The Busman's Holiday Ravenstahl said when he was made aware of the issue, he made sure that any questionable photos were removed by his campaign.The city's Web site is filled with photos of Ravenstahl. When some of them turned up on his political campaign's site, local bloggers blasted what they allege is an abuse of taxpayer resources."I share that frustration, and I share that concern," said Ravenstahl. "Government should not mix with campaigns, and by no means will I ever condone that and made sure that any appearance of impropriety, as was the case here, is addressed quickly, and it was."The mayor's campaign has responded by stripping most of those images away. They remain on the city's site.The mayor's primary opponent, Councilman Bill Peduto said this is something the state Ethics Board could judge."Well, this is something they're mandated to look at if there's a complaint brought up," said Peduto. "Our campaign won't be bringing up the complaint. It's clear cut -- they've crossed the line."Ravenstahl's spokesman, Dick Skrinjar, said he takes most of the official photos but none for the campaign."They get photos that are quite similar, but not identical," said Skrinjar. "I never submitted photos to anything other than the mayor's official pages on the city' s Web site."The biggest buzz is about this hands-on-the-hips photo that remains on the city's and the campaign's sites, as well as city Redd-Up fliers and billboards."Those were private photos that were generated and given to me personally from a photographer in the South Side," said Ravenstahl. "So that was a file that was given to me. The city never paid anything for those photos, so that's my personal photo."Some Ravenstahl supporters question the ethics of Peduto's campaign Web site linking to his City Council Web page."I think it would be inappropriate if it went the other way around," said Peduto. "If my City Council Web site linked to my political Web site."The professional photographer who took that hands-on-the-hips photo of the mayor confirmed that he gave the mayor the photo for free.It's from a photo session that would normally cost $1,500.Ravenstahl provided that photo to both the city and the campaign. Related Links: More County NewsGet RSS | E-Mail Alerts Copyright 2007 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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