EDITORIAL – Ravenstahl incident exaggerated

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl spent an unfortunate amount of time yesterday dispelling rumors of a… Mayor Luke Ravenstahl spent an unfortunate amount of time yesterday dispelling rumors of a drunken arrest at a 2005 Steelers game.

The rumors, which were initially circulated through Internet blogs before attracting the attention of the mainstream media, suggested that the mayor was singled out by police at the Oct. 31, 2005, game and then used his political clout to avoid arrest.

Like most rumors, the accusations against Ravenstahl did stem from a small amount of truth but have been wildly exaggerated.

When the reports surfaced, Ravenstahl set the story straight, explaining that while waiting in line to enter Heinz Field the night of the game, he approached a police officer who he believed was managing the crowd poorly.

“Myself and other individuals in the front [of the line] were really not even in control of ourselves,” Ravenstahl told the Post-Gazette. “We couldn’t control ourselves because of the force from behind. It was at that point that an officer went charging into the crowd, a crowd that included men, women and children, at which time he was very aggressive and authoritative. At which time I, verbally, expressed my objections to the manner in which he was treating the crowd at Heinz Field that evening.”

The officer then handcuffed Ravenstahl and took him into custody, but after a discussion with the officer, no formal charges were filed.

Ravenstahl admitted to consuming “some alcoholic beverages” on the night of the incident but denied that he was intoxicated.

The media storm created by these exaggerated, potentially politically motivated claims, coupled with Ravenstahl’s honest and straightforward explanation of the incident, have given us even more reasons to cheer for our young mayor.

Ravenstahl’s actions, which occurred while he was still a Pittsburgh city councilman, were carried out in the defense of his constituents. He disagreed with the manner in which fellow Pittsburghers were being handled by the police and gave them a voice.

As a politician, it would have been easy – if not expected – for Ravenstahl to avoid any type of confrontation that could potentially injure a future political career. Yet he was able put his own career and personal interests on the line to help some fellow Steelers fans out.

In the four months since Ravenstahl replaced the late Mayor Bob O’Connor, becoming the youngest mayor of a major city in history, he has proven that a young mayor can do more than what skeptics expected of a 26-year-old. Ravenstahl’s youth gives him a fresh vision that some of our former leaders lacked.

Even as City Council president, he had the youth’s interests in mind. Last year, after Pitt students protested when the District 3 special election was scheduled to occur during Pitt’s spring break, Ravenstahl rescheduled so that Pitt students, who comprise a large part of District 3, would be able to vote.

Most importantly, Ravenstahl is a tried-and-true black-and-gold-bleeding Pittsburgher at heart. And just as Steelers fans want to keep a Pittsburgh man running the show for their team, we would like to keep Ravenstahl running our city.

Who knows, maybe he could do both.