We’ve often written about the deleterious effects that organized labor too often has on public policy. It might as well be called organized extortion. And the latest example in Pittsburgh truly takes the cake.
As KDKA-TV has been reporting, the same SEIU Healthcare union that spent more than $350,000 to help elect Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey also appears to be running a major part of the administration’s public policy.
As the allegation goes, a deal that would have seen nonprofit UPMC pay $40 million to the city in lieu of taxes was scuttled when the mayor demanded that SEIU Healthcare be allowed to represent UPMC employees.
For the record, a mayoral spokesperson denies the allegation. But sources told the TV station that’s exactly what happened.
Perhaps future references to Mayor Gainey should be changed to “Pittsburgh Mayor SEIU Healthcare.”
We’ve also often written about how too many officials spending public dollars on public missions believe they don’t have a responsibility to full transparency.
The latest official to tout such a delusion is Jerad Bachar, the president and CEO of VisitPittsburgh, the county’s tourism bureau.
He’s generally upset over the findings of a county audit that pans the organization on a number of fronts, from its accounting practices to what facilities in promotes or, in this case, does not.
Bachar likens the audit to a political hatchet job.
But what appears to really rankle Bachar is that Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor wanted – GASP! – detailed compensation information on VisitPittsburgh staffers.
From the Post-Gazette story on the audit:
“[The audit] stated that VisitPittsburgh refused to provide detailed compensation for all staff, a lack of transparency it described as a ‘major issue’ that can ‘inhibit the free flow of information and lead to fraud and mismanagement of resources.’
“Mr. Bachar said VisitPittsburgh opted not to provide the information on the advice of legal counsel, arguing that the agency is a private nonprofit and that there is an expectation of privacy. He stated that he offered to provide the information if the county solicitor guaranteed that it would remain private, but he never got a response.”
But VisitPittsburgh receives millions of dollars annually in taxpayer subsidies. There can be absolutely no “expectation of privacy” when your agency is using public money to, in reality, conduct the very public business of promoting tourism in the region.
That Bachar has the temerity to believe otherwise more than affirms the need for the county audit. And it also raises a red flag that should lead to greater oversight of VisitPittsburgh.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
