Public Hearing on Privatizating City Mechanics Gets a Full House
Over 120 Pittsburgh city employees crowded into city council chambers on Thursday the 17^th of February to speak out against the turning over of the city garage to First America. First America’s fleet maintenance division First Vehicle is slated to take over all aspects of city fleet management and repair should the Mayor and some city council members have their way.

Those attending the public hearing Thursday night had to first endure close to 45 minutes of droning from City Dept. of General Services head Dale Perrett. Using a power point presentation he told city council that the mechanics had to be privatized because they do a poor job. He said that right now too many city vehicles are in the shop on any given day. Turn around is slow and First Vehicle has promised to remedy that situation. He then mentioned that of course getting rid of the approximately 60 fleet management workers (mechanics, helpers, parts people, & clerks) would save the city money. Mr. Perrett’s power point said nothing about how his $92,285 a year salary contributes to the city fiscal mess.

First Vehicle has promised to interview laid off city mechanics and helpers but has made no promise to hire any. Those city workers hired by First Vehicle have been promised pay equal to or better than what they get now but they will be required to pay more out of pocket for health care. First Vehicle has promised to renegotiate a contract with the union representing the mechanics. (That is when the other shoe will fall.)

When the regular people at this hearing were given their 3 minutes each to comment on the privatization bid all condemned the plan. Workers from the city garage said that they have been set up for slow turn around on repairs by policies that keep parts inventory so low that vehicles must sit in the shop waiting for parts. They mentioned that the city fleet is older than fleets in other cities. Some city trash trucks are 17 years old and the mechanics keep them running. City paramedics and police officers rose to praise the city mechanics for their excellent work. It must also be mentioned that city residents who are not employed by the city also rose to speak against this privatization plan.

City Council members Shields, Motznik and Bodack were strong in their questioning of this plan. Council member Peduto suggested that those who are always against privatization should keep an open mind. Council member Hertzberg sat through the lengthy proceedings with a smug face. How will City Council eventually vote on this? It is hard to say. The pressure to privatize is strong, very strong.

- Stephen Donahue

New Person Awards 2004
The theme for this year's New Person Awards is "Change Through Faith." This year we will seek to recognize those within the religious communities of Pittsburgh that are actively working for social change. The event will take place during the first week of May.

The Center is seeking volunteers who would be interested in serving on the New Person Award committee. Committee members will select awardees as well as organize the event. The New Person Award is always an energizing event for the membership as well as the awardees. We hope that you will join us in creating a fabulous event to recognize local leaders. If you are interested in joining the committee contact Nia at nia@thomasmertoncenter.org or 412-361-3022 or check the TMC calendar for meeting dates.

- Nia Edmondson

Lysistrata Project Co-Founder Kathryn Blume Brings One-Woman Show to Pittsburgh
What do you do if you’re one of 40,000 actors in New York, you’re struggling with your career, physical problems prevent you from working at your day job, and you’re worried about possible war on Iraq? This is the situation actor Kathryn Blume found herself in during the fall of 2002.

The story of how Blume transcended her own problems to create the Lysistrata Project, the first-ever worldwide theater event for peace, is recounted in her one-woman show, "The Accidental Activist." Blume is bringing her show to The Andy Warhol Museum on the anniversary of the Lysistrata Project - March 3, 2004 at 8pm. She will also talk briefly with the audience after the show on her reflections looking back at the movement a year later. She will engage the audience in a discussion of the role that artists can play in the current political climate. Local theatre artists Heather Arnet and Tonia Steed are co-producing the event in partnership with The Andy Warhol Museum, The Thomas Merton Center and the Center for Arts and Society at Carnegie Mellon University.

After only two months of Internet organizing, Blume and actor friend Sharron Bower inspired theater companies and numerous individuals to stage 1,049 readings of "Lysistrata," the Ancient Greek anti-war comedy, in 59 different countries on 6 continents on the same day, March 3, 2003. The international event raised more than $100,000 for peace-oriented charities. In Pittsburgh, the local "Lysistrata" reading last year, organized by Arnet and starring a cast of theatre performers from throughout the Pittsburgh performing community, attracted over 275 people to The Quiet Storm Café.

In a show that's part fact, part fantasy, part caffeine-induced madness, Blume recounts the story of her astonishing inability to save the world. Laced with self-deprecating wit, impossibly optimistic socio-political observations, and deft sketches of determined, defiant women from around the world, "The Accidental Activist" is one lone person's on-going search for a good reason to get out of bed.

Reviewing the show in www.in-nyc.com, Wendy R. Williams wrote, "Watching Kathryn Blume perform her one person show… is like spending a charming evening with an old college chum, the one who never stopped being a hippie and is still true to her ideals."

Tickets for "The Accidental Activist" cost $15 for general admission, $12 for students and seniors. For reservations call 412-720-4280 or email venusdirector@aol.com. For more info and promotional photos of the show go to www.accidentalactivist.com.

- Heather Arnet

International Women's Day
International Women’s Day (IWD) commemorates the struggle of the many women who came before us, celebrates the progress we have made in achieving equality, recognizes the challenges before us and calls us into action as we continue to fight for social, economic and political equality.  Women around the world celebrate IWD in early March every year. 

This year the Women's Resource Center brings you another great celebration.  In the past the WRC has had a diverse group of performers, food and other activities as part of a celebration and our annual fundraiser.  The WRC has more in store this year! The event will take place on Saturday, March 6th from 6 to 10 pm at the Waldorf School (old Victoria Hall) on 201 S. Winebiddle Street (in Bloomfield near Penn Avenue).

Throughout the evening, an exciting array of groups will perform. The Renaissance Wimmins Drumming Circle is a group of diverse wimmin who love drumming. They will experiment with a wide variety of drumming techniques. Laugh along with local comedian, Gab Bonesso. The Renaissance City Women's Choir is a diverse group of women joining voices to support the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The Pittsburgh Black Theater Dance Ensemble is a local African Dance troupe and The Spanish Immersion Preschool, La Escuelita Arcoiris (The Little Rainbow School) will sing traditional children's songs in Spanish. Amarillis is a folk-baroque trio who plays lively, sweeping, bouncy, lush, plaintive, and romantic jigs, reels, tangos, hornpipes, and waltzes written anytime from 1651 (well, not the tangos) through yesterday.

The event will also include a Silent Auction. Sip on coffee from Kiva Han while sampling other great refreshments. Watch independent films by women filmmakers or on women's issues. Join in discussions, networking and more. Visit local women vendors at the event. Children's Activities and childcare will be provided.

Proceeds benefit the collection, distribution and promotion of the Pittsburgh Women's Resource Directory and other projects of the Women's Resource Center. For $13, you can get a copy of the Directory and $22 is the couples rate. We are asking $5 for students, senior citizens and people in transition. For more info, contact (412) 247-9639 x4.

Student Global AIDS Project
If there are no changes to this and other countries’ current policies regarding the global AIDS crisis, by the year 2010, there will be over 40 million orphans in Africa who have lost their parents to AIDS. One in five of those orphans will carry HIV themselves since many children are born with the virus. Africa is not alone in suffering from the pandemic: the crisis is growing in Asia, which contains 40% of people living with HIV/AIDS. HIV cases in Eastern Europe, particularly Russia, are increasing at such a remarkable pace that the situation there will soon have gone beyond a crisis. The epidemic even stretches well into the Caribbean and South and Central America. In the United States, the crisis is still making its way into many communities, despite precautionary measures that are never one hundred percent effective.

The Student Global AIDS Project (SGAP) is devoted to making more people aware of the global AIDS crisis. There are many things that the average person can do that take only a matter of minutes. President Bush in 2003 put forth the initiative to increase the budget for the Global Fund to prevent the pandemic from growing. This promise has not come into fruition. Writing or calling the White House (or both!) is only one measure an individual can take in the fight against AIDS. Call your representatives – tell them to increase the budget. Poverty (and the social problems that arise from poverty) is one of the leading contributing factors in the spread of HIV/AIDS. Tell President Bush and Congress to lift the burden of debt on these impoverished countries. These small, but very powerful, actions will make the difference if the word and work is spread.

SGAP is sponsoring various opportunities to get involved in this fight in the Pittsburgh area. There is so much that can and needs to be done. If you are interested in finding out how you can make a difference in this fight, please contact the Thomas Merton Center, or tmcSGAP@hotmail.com. If you are interested in learning more about SGAP’s upcoming events and projects, would like to receive a weekly email update on SGAP’s work, would like to be directly involved or simply want to spread the word, please don’t hesitate to contact us! Awareness can make such a difference. Action can change the world.

- Alison Roth

PBORDC Needs Your Help
The Pittsburgh Bill of Rights Defense Campaign needs your help. We are currently stalled in City Council, being just one vote short of the majority needed to pass a strong civil liberties resolution. Please write a letter to City Council members Ravenstahl, Bodack, and Ricciardi. The text from a letter sent to Council President Ricciardi is below. Portions of the letter can be used as a template for your own letter.

The address for City Council members is:
City Clerk's Office
510 City-County Building
414 Grant St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Sample Letter
February 15, 2004

Council President Ricciardi
City Clerk's Office
510 City-County Building
414 Grant St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

RE: New York City Council Civil Liberties Resolution

Council President Ricciardi,

Pursuant to our brief conversation of February 12^th, I am forwarding a copy of the New York City Civil Liberties resolution that was passed on February 4^th. 35 of the 50 New York City Council members signed on as co-sponsors. We at PBORDC believe that Pittsburgh City Council should be able to support a similar resolution.

We also believe that US Attorney General Mary Beth Buchanan is misrepresenting the USA PATRIOT Act. Recent federal court rulings and the groundswell of public outcry against provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act make this clear.

It is obvious to us that she has approached Pittsburgh City Council and misrepresented the efforts of hundreds of groups like PBORDC across the country who are working so hard to preserve the Constitution of the United States of America. Please see the highlighted portion of the enclosed article from the Christian Science Monitor. If she had told you that the civil liberties resolutions "...do not stop law enforcement from doing what they need to do to protect the public", then City Council would have already passed the resolution proposed by PBORDC. The justice department seems to be saying one thing to the public, and another to government. Surely their misrepresentation is a clear indication that something is very wrong with their position on this issue.

It is a well-known fact that the US government has historically over-reached its Constitutional bounds during times of war. The USA PATRIOT Act is just the latest of these over-reaches. We are fighting to reverse this not only for our sake, but for the sake of generations to come.

In times like these, average citizens sit on the sidelines, while great citizens take the lead. We are asking you to join us in becoming a great citizen.

Sincerely,

Dean Gerber
for: Pittsburgh Bill of Rights Defense Campaign

Save the Date for Thrifty
The East End Community Thrift Shop hosts its 11th annual "Affordable Chic" Fashion show on Saturday, April 3 from 11am to 2pm at the East Liberty Presbyterian Church. The cost is $15, or $5 for low income - it all benefits the Thomas Merton Center and Sojourner House. Expect good food, exciting models, great Silent Auction deals, entertainment and lots of fun. Contact Shawna or Shirely if you want to help 412-361-6010.