ACKLIN INTRODUCES BUDGET PLAN TO PROTECT CITY SERVICES
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Tuesday, October 6, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
CONTACT:
Andy Gastmeyer, Press Secretary 412.327.6951 | 412.481.3150
ACKLIN INTRODUCES BUDGET PLAN TO PROTECT CITY SERVICES
Independent mayoral candidate’s plan re-focuses city’s budget on public safety and neighborhood investment
PITTSBURGH -- Kevin Acklin, the Independent candidate for Mayor of Pittsburgh, today unveiled his plan to re-focus the city’s budget priorities on public safety and neighborhood investment. Describing his budget proposal as one that reflects a far different set of priorities from Mayor Ravenstahl’s proposed 2010 budget, Acklin said his plan balances the budget while making city government more efficient and responsive for Pittsburghers.
“Under my plan, we will put 200 more police officers on our streets, make substantial investments in our neighborhoods, provide a million dollars to the Carnegie Libraries over the next four years, and save the pension fund from state takeover. And we’ll do it all without cutting a single city job or service, and without raising taxes on a single working Pittsburgher,” Acklin said.
Acklin took special note of “misguided priorities” in the Mayor’s proposed 2010 budget, including more money for car washes than for cement to repair sidewalks, more for phone bills than for salt to plow the city’s roads, more for the Mayor’s office than for community center repairs, and twice as much for dog food as for libraries.
Acklin’s plan streamlines city operations and identifies cost savings by modernizing outmoded operations, eliminating wasteful spending, rethinking privatization, and increasing energy efficiencies. Over a four-year term, the savings add up to more than $35 million that Acklin says will be invested in public safety and “back into the neighborhoods.”
Acklin’s budget announcement, delivered in a press conference at his South Side campaign headquarters, follows after a series of substantive policy announcements in which the candidate outlined his priorities for the city.
"This is making good on our promises," Acklin said, "People should know that we aren't just making promise after promise. We’re laying real plans to make, and to be able to pay for, real change in Pittsburgh."
[Read Kevin's Remarks on his Budget Proposal.]
[Read Kevin's Budget Proposal.]
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