Joseph Sabino Mistick: Progressivism killing the party, the city

My late friend Jim Roddey always said that he moved to Pittsburgh because most big things arrive here years after they arrived everyplace else. That being the case, Jim joked, “I figure that I can live at least 10 years longer in Pittsburgh.”

And it has been that way with the wave of so-called progressivism that became dominant in some of America’s cities well before it landed in Pittsburgh. When it finally got here, it took hold with the election of Summer Lee to Congress, Ed Gainey as mayor of Pittsburgh and Sara Innamorato as Allegheny County executive.

But by that time, the movement had already begun waning in those places that were early adopters and where it had become clear that some of those self-described progressive leaders are simply incapable of running things. And if a public gathering in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield neighborhood on Feb. 17 is any indication, people are now fed up here, too.

At what was billed as a community meeting being held by City Council member Barb Warwick — part of Gainey’s wing of the Democratic Party — a standing-room-only crowd of Greenfield residents confronted the mayor and Warwick on their inability to deliver basic city services.

Michael Bartley, a lifelong Greenfielder and 15th Ward Democratic chairman, said, “I’ve never seen a neighborhood meeting like this. I had to circle the block three times to find a parking place. People are mad.”

For Gainey, who rode the progressive wave to victory over an incumbent mayor four years ago, it was not a good night. As he faces reelection, Gainey struggles to defend closed bridges with no prospect of reopening, a snow removal program that fails too often and a diminished and dangerously overworked police department that he has defunded.

In the face of a staggering decline in Downtown real estate tax revenue, Gainey spent precious post-covid relief dollars on neighborhood organizations with no accountability. He claims that the city cannot afford new ambulances, police cars and snowplows, but he has more than tripled the budgeted full-time staff in the mayor’s office.

As usual, Gainey put a sunny spin on the city’s problems, until the crowd let him know that they see things differently. When finally cornered about his inability to plow the streets, he tried to blame his predecessor for not purchasing new equipment. Then, someone in the crowd shut him down, shouting, “You’ve had three years!”

Joe Pegher, the former president of the Greenfield Community Association, said it quickly became clear that the mayor is facing deeper problems than his inability to deliver basic city services.

Pegher, who lives in the Greenfield house in which he was born and raised, said, “There’s a growing tension between the longtime moderate Democrats in the neighborhood and the new progressives. They were welcomed here, but they have not returned the kindness.

“This was the first time that the longtime Greenfield residents pushed back against the newcomers. And the newcomers looked stunned.”

According to Bartley, who also lives in the house in which he grew up, “Greenfield has always been a neighborhood of hardworking people with traditional Democratic values. They are pro-family and pro-union, and they believe that everybody deserves a break.

“What is happening in Greenfield is just a microcosm of a problem that is growing throughout the city. The progressives have a ‘we know better attitude’ that is turning off traditional Democrats in Pittsburgh just as it has in other cities. And it’s killing our party and our city.”