Editorial: Free tickets questionable for city officials

‘ ‘ ‘ In a story reminiscent of many of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s early days in office, he and… ‘ ‘ ‘ In a story reminiscent of many of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s early days in office, he and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said that they’ll both be sitting in the Sports and Exhibition Authority’s luxury box for the Steelers playoff game this weekend. The game is fetching ticket prices of more than $200 just for upper-deck seats, but Onorato and Ravenstahl will be attending for free. ‘ ‘ ‘ According to the Tribune-Review, the SEA reserves the luxury box for ‘economic development purposes.’ Although Ravenstahl refused to comment on the tickets, Onorato said that at last week’s game, he ‘talked to half a dozen CEOs who do business in the county.’ He added, ‘My economic development director … will wine and dine companies here or show them the area.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ This isn’t the first time that Ravenstahl has run up against the difference between private and public duties. In 2007, he took an SUV owned by the county and purchased with federal Homeland Security money to a Toby Keith concert and later reimbursed the county for $145.50 for its use, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. ‘ ‘ ‘ He also flew to Manhattan in March 2007 for drinks with Ron Burkle, the co-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, on Burkle’s private jet mere hours after signing a deal to build a new stadium to replace Mellon Arena, a trip worth an estimated $1,400 later reimbursed by Ravenstahl’s campaign donations, the Post-Gazette reported. ‘ ‘ ‘ And his much-publicized golf outing with Mario Lemieux at the latter’s celebrity invitational was paid for by UPMC, something for which then-mayoral candidate Mark DeSantis criticized him heavily. UPMC spent approximately $27,000 for Ravenstahl and two executives to play in the tournament at Laurel Valley Golf Club. ‘ ‘ ‘ Admittedly, it is the job of the SEA to publicize Pittsburgh and attract businesses, investors and tourists to the area. But that goal shouldn’t be accomplished by giving tickets to public officials so they can participate in economic development meetings that could potentially affect the whole county. ‘ ‘ ‘ If city officials want to ‘wine and dine’ CEOs and investors, they certainly shouldn’t be doing it on the tab of a private company that owns and operates some of the largest facilities and infrastructure projects in the city. And accepting tickets to a privately owned sports franchise, like the Steelers, is the same as accepting any other gift on behalf of the city. ‘ ‘ ‘ Ravenstahl has already tried to pull a Marie Antoinette-style excuse with regard to some of his earlier ethical dilemmas, claiming he was ignorant of regulations or county involvement or that he simply didn’t see any problem with his actions. But surely he should have learned by now. And if he hasn’t, then that might be indicative of a problem with Ravenstahl’s ethics in general. ‘ ‘ ‘ Both Ravenstahl and Onorato should at the very least reimburse SEA for the cost of the tickets to the Steelers game, the same as Ravenstahl has paid for his other lapses in judgment. And it goes without saying that they shouldn’t accept any more, unless they’re paying for them like every other game attendee does.