Home Run King Faces Federal Perjury Charges in San Fransisco

Barry Bonds
Associated Press

Barry Bonds, formerly of the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Fransisco Giants, is the defendant in a federal perjury case that began today; the case was charged back in 2007.

Bonds holds several major league baseball records, including most home runs in a career (762), and in a single season (73).  He is the son of former all-star Bobby Bonds.  Son Barry has been named league MVP more than any other player, taking that award 4 straight years at the height of his career.

Unfortunately, he ended his career under the cloud of the federal indictment that is now unfolding in a San Fransisco trial.  The charges allege Bonds testified falsely to a federal grand jury on the subject of his use and sources of steroids.

Earlier, Bonds had been offered immunity in exchange for truthful testimony.  Bonds insisted he was unsure of what the substance(s) were, claiming he was "juicing" with flaxseed oil and arthritis cream for all he knew.

It's in the hands of the attorneys and jurors now.  On the first day of trial, however, Bonds received a bit of good news when his former trainer, Greg Anderson, chose a holding cell over live trial testimony.

This does not have the makings of a quick trial. 

Not the best lead into Opening Day.  Let's just hope its all done by the playoffs.

Planning conflicts in Pittsburgh

The 2008 Hill District CBA, which covers the new Penguins arena (the Consol Energy Center) in Pittsburgh, included a provision funding the creation of a master plan for the Hill District. The Penguins were supposed to hold off on further development plans so long as the master plan was finished by February, 2010, but the community coalition missed that deadline because of delays in hiring a consultant.

At a community meeting earlier this month, Penguins officials presented preliminary plans for 1,200 units of housing, nearly 100,000 square feet of retail space, and a 150-room hotel. The team's representatives say that their plans are consistent with development principles adopted by the Hill Planning Forum, a group made up of community stakeholders. Nevertheless, Penguins officials are reluctant to give the community a larger role in the development process, and they stated at the meeting that community representatives would not have a role in drafting RFPs (requests for proposals). The Penguins are still planning on delaying submission of their plans until after the Hill District's master plan is completed, but whether this is a sincere attempt to involve the community in the development process isn't clear. As one of the Penguins' officials explained during the meeting, the team doesn't want to involve the community in the RFP process in part because it doesn't want to "impose requirements" on developers.

Work begins on the Hill District master plan

One of the key provisions of the Penguins arena/One Hill CBA was funding for a community master plan. The plan was supposed to be finished by now, but was delayed because of funding issues. Now planning consultants have been hired and the process is finally starting. That raises the question of whether the Penguins will hold off on submitting additional development plans for the old Mellon arena until the Hill District plan is finished. The CBA only required the Penguins to wait until February, 2010, but Penguins representatives have said that they want to work with the community.

The master plan will be guided a set of principles developed by the Hill District Consensus Group.

Minority and local hiring numbers for the Consol Center (Penguins Arena) CBA

The Penguins Arena One Hill CBA doesn't contain specific minority and local hiring targets, but it does include a lot of provisions intended to foster minority and local involvement in the project. (See here for more info on the One Hill Coalition.) According to numbers released last week, "African-Americans make up about 3 percent of those employed on the Consol Energy Arena development project. Of that number, 1 percent live in the Hill District. Women also make up about 1 percent."

Carl Redwood, co-chair of the Hill Consensus Group, is disappointed in the numbers, but is focusing on achieving higher minority hiring rates for permanent jobs.

Mixed news from Pittsburgh

The good news in Pittsburgh is that construction has begun on a hotel that will complement the new Penguins arena, and because of the CBA's local hiring provisions, Hill District residents will have an advantage in getting the some 200 temporary and 100 permanent jobs.

The city council also introduced prevailing wage legislation this week. If passed, the wage requirement will apply to city contractors and some private developments receiving city subsidies. The proposal is facing typical criticisms that it's anti-business, and getting typical support from labor, environmental and faith-based groups that want to see an end to poverty wage jobs.

In less encouraging news, the grocery store deal put together with the help of $2 million from the Penguins CBA has fallen apart, apparently because of the store owner's health problems. While Pittsburgh United and city officials are optimistic that they will find another grocer, Hill District residents, who haven't had a grocery store in decades, may find themselves waiting that much longer.

Protesters seeking CBA arrested in Pittsburgh

At a Northside United protest yesterday, four people were arrested. Northside United has been seeking community benefits in relation to a proposed hotel project for two years, without much progress.

Pittsburgh's North Side United gives a bus tour, presses for CBA

North Side United and other Pittsburgh community groups held a bus tour of the North Side on Thursday, pointing out the needs of the community and the possibilities of a CBA for the development of the land between Heinz Field and PNC Park. The developer, Continental Real Estate, has to this point refused to negotiate any sort of CBA, and its master plan for the site was approved about two weeks ago without any presssure from the city to negotiate with the community.

Pittsburgh Planning Commission approves North Shore plan, no CBA

The Pittsburgh City Planning Commission yesterday approved an update to the North Shore Master Plan, without pressuring the developer the negotiate a CBA. The vote relied on advice from the city's legal department, which determined that "[w]hile [CBAs] could provide benefits to the community, they are simply not a part of what the Planning Commission may consider when reviewing master-development plans and project-development plans."

Northside United, which believes that the developer is not responsive to the community's needs, plans to appeal the decision to the City Council. It has also scheduled a bus tour of the area, to show the impacts of development on the community and rouse media attention.

PIttsburgh mayoral candidate promises to support CBAs

In an article about the effects of the recession on development in Pittsburgh, mayoral candidate Carmen Robinson, a Hill District attorney, stated that she would support CBAs for subsidized development projects.

North Side United asks the governor for community benefits

In Pittsburgh, North Side United continues to seek community benefits in relation to development projects. Today, the group presented hundreds of letters from community members to the governor's office; they want to be assured that a developer that already received a big discount on some city land won't get any additional (direct) subsidies without a guarantee of community benefits.

(HT John Goldstein, PWF)

CBA Coalition commences litigation in Pittsburgh.

On Friday, CBA coalition members in Pittsburgh initiated litigation to stop the development of a hotel. The suit claims that the Stadium Authority sold the land to the hotel developer at "substantially below market value" and that the sale violated the open meetings laws.

The groups have indicated that they will likely drop the litigation if the developers agree to a community benefits agreement. If that turns out to be the case, the CBA will take the form of a settlement agreement (similar to the recently finalized Dearborn Street CBA).

News coverage of the lawsuit is available from the Post-Gazette, the Tribune Review, and KDKA TV.

One Hill Coalition signs CBA

While the One Hill CBA was approved a while back, it was formally signed yesterday.

Check out the video on the Post-Gazette website.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:

Hill to get $2 million aid for grocery, more

Hill District residents will get $2 million for a grocery store, first dibs on jobs at the new Uptown arena and a chance to lay out their vision for the neighborhood under a community benefits agreement to be finalized this morning.

The contract among One Hill Neighborhood Coalition, the Penguins and government agencies means the arena will provide benefits for its most immediate neighbors, negotiators said.

"It's very positive," said Carl Redwood, One Hill's chairman. "If there's any downside, some people feel it should be more positive, but it's still positive."

Politicians, Penguins officials and community leaders are scheduled to attend a signing ceremony for the agreement at Freedom Corner in the Hill District, a neighborhood of about 17,000 people.

Negotiations took place for more than a year, beginning after the Penguins' March 2007 deal to stay in Pittsburgh. Construction on the arena between Fifth and Centre avenues began with a groundbreaking ceremony last week.

Penguins officials have said they want to correct mistakes made by public agencies a half-century ago when residential blocks were leveled to make way for Mellon Arena.

"The Penguins organization and the Mario Lemieux Foundation always have believed in giving back to our community," team President David Morehouse said. "And we believe that the new arena project will be a catalyst for growth and development in this very important section of the city -- impacting not only the Hill but also our neighbors in Uptown and Downtown."

The agreement includes:

• $1 million each from the Penguins and the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority for a Hill District grocery store. Kuhn's, a locally owned chain of eight supermarkets, has proposed a full-service grocery at Centre Avenue and Dinwiddie Street, and Save-A-Lot, based in St. Louis, has proposed a smaller discount operation at the same location.

• A First Source Employment Center that will give neighborhood residents the first chance to apply for jobs created at the arena and through redevelopment of the 28-acre Mellon Arena site. The city and Allegheny County agreed to provide $150,000 a year for at least two years to start the program. The Penguins agreed to create jobs that pay wages of $12 to $30 an hour plus benefits.

• The creation of a master planning committee that has until Feb. 19, 2010, to come up with guidelines for development of the Hill District and Uptown. The committee would include four people appointed by One Hill and five by local officials, although no decision would take effect if more than two people vote against it. The Penguins agreed not to submit development plans for the Mellon Arena site until after this process ends, although the team could build a hotel near the arena.

• The city, county and URA agreed to work with Pittsburgh YMCA to build a community center in the neighborhood.

• The Penguins agreed to pay $500,000 a year for six to 12 years for a Neighborhood Partnership Program, focused on development and social services such as treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. The county would conduct a two-year review of social services.

Separately, backers of the planned North Shore casino have agreed to invest $3 million over five years for development projects in the Hill District. Redwood said casino operators likely would control that money and it would go directly to the recipients, rather than to a neighborhood development agency.

The negotiating process itself might be the greatest lasting impact of having the agreement, said Evan Frazier, president and CEO of Hill House Association, a lead negotiator for One Hill.

"We didn't get everything in every category, but there were elements of each," Frazier said.

The agreement goes a long way toward helping the community rebuild -- in physical structure, as well as jobs and social services, said negotiator Gabe Morgan, president of the Pennsylvania State Council of Service Employees International Union.

"You can always have a conversation about what's enough," Morgan said. "They certainly got much more of a commitment to building that community and to making sure that development positively impacts the community."

Pittsburgh is becoming a CBA town

Continental Real Estate Cos., a developer hoping to build a hotel and entertainment complex between Heinz Field (the structure on the left in the picture) and PNC Park (on the right), is struggling with local authorities in a dispute over an option agreement involving the land (see here for another account of the story). The Stadium Authority, which owns the land, believes that the option has expired, but Continental has stated that it's going to press on with the project. "Well, we're going to sue them" (meaning the Stadium Authority), Continental's chairman said.

But the Mayor and Stadium Authority Executive Director are much more interested in negotiating than going to court. There will certainly be much wrangling about the price--Continental wants to pay about $1.3 million, the price it claims was set in the option agreement, even though the property may be worth much more. But Pittsburgh wants the development to happen, especially because the city expects that the project will generate a good bit of tax revenue.

It looks like a CBA will be part of the negotiations too though. Community groups in Pittsburgh have been rallying for a CBA concerning the project, and organizations like One Hill, Pittsburgh United and North Side United have shown their strength and tenacity in negotiating to get community benefits. The dispute over the option agreement also gives the community a fair bit of leverage to get the developer on board to negotiate a CBA.

One Hill Coalition ratifies the first CBA in Pittsburgh

After months of negotiations, a CBA has finally been agreed upon for the new Penguins arena. Of One Hill's 97 member groups, 42 voted in favor of the CBA, 13 opposed it, and one formally abstained. See here for more details.

One Hill says it has a tentative CBA

One Hill representatives announced yesterday that a CBA involving the construction of a new arena for the Pittsburgh Penguins is nearly complete--it just needs to be approved by the 100+ members of the broad based community coalition. It also still needs to be approved by the mayor and county executive, both of whom have refrained from stating that they have a "tentative agreement."

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the tentative CBA contains the following provisions:

• A "Neighborhood Partnership Program" that would aim to generate $500,000 a year for six years from corporations willing to sponsor economic development in the Hill District in exchange for tax credits;
• Guarantees from the Penguins that the team will not block the formation of labor unions and that businesses that open in the neighborhood will pay employee wages between $12 and $30-plus an hour with benefits;
• Requirement that residents of the Hill District are included in approving a master plan for development in the neighborhood;
• A career resource center modeled on Milwaukee's "Big Step" program. The city and county will provide $90,000 a year for at least two years to build the center.

Pittsburgh's Northside community group criticizes developer over stall in CBA talks

About a month ago, Pittsburgh officials delayed a vote over a proposed Hyatt hotel in the North Side for 45 days so that the developers could meet with community representatives.

Yesterday, the Northside United community group criticized the developer, Continental, because it has so far failed to meet with them, purportedly ignoring more than 100 phone calls and emails. In response, a Continental representative stated that "we are not a company that is disrespectful of a community."

Continental has about two weeks left to begin negotiations before 45 day postponement of the vote on its development elapses. A spokesperson for Continental stated that the community coalition would be contacted on Monday to set up a meeting.

Penguins update... getting closer...

It seems that the One Hill Coalition is getting very close to signing a CBA. As reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this weekend:

Hill District leaders, determined to redevelop their neighborhood in conjunction with the construction of a new arena, last night said they had reached "a framework for a tentative agreement."

...

The Hill District group has spent more than a year negotiating with city and county leaders toward a seven-point blueprint for "A Livable Hill" that spells out the issues to be resolved.

...

The breakthrough, Mr. Redwood said, occurred in the past week as the Penguins joined the talks. "The Penguins have been negotiating in good faith," he said.

Yarone Zober, the mayor's chief of staff, characterized the keys to yesterday's announcement as a corporate-backed Hill development push and the creation of a job and social services center near the Hill House.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, county Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Penguins officials have begun approaching corporate leaders about their participation in a Neighborhood Partnership Program that would provide state tax credits to companies in return for development aid to the Hill.

Mr. Zober said the reception among corporate leaders has been very positive.

The Hill Resource Center will be "a way to connect people to existing services, located right in the Hill," Mr. Zober said. It will tie into the existing CareerLink job-finding system and other services.

Negotiations between the parties at the Downtown headquarters of the Sports & Exhibition Authority that ended around 5:30 p.m. nailed down the key planks of the agreement, which now goes back to the One Hill Community Benefits Coalition for approval and likely modifications.

Then it would go to the SEA board, and possibly the Urban Redevelopment Authority and county agencies.

In related news, it looks like the Hill District is definitely getting a grocery store.

CBA legislation to be discussed in Pittsburgh

A public hearing will be held on Tuesday to allow the public to comment on two bills pending in Allegany County, Pennsylvania (read the official notice here).

The first bill would create a Community Benefits Program that would require developers of subsidized projects to meet with community represetatives at least three times prior to receiving any approvals. The bill does not explain how the community representatives would be chosen (except that individuals unaffiliated with any community group would not be eligible), nor does it actually require that a CBA be completed.

The other bill would require economic and social impact analysis reviews for any development over 50,000 square feet that receives subsidies or needs government approval. Completed reports would be made available to the public at least 90 days before any county approval.
After the report is issued, a public hearing would then be held at which the county council would review the report. Contents of the report would include, in plain language, the following:

• Amount of projected financial cost to the County and other governmental entities,
  including subsidies and infrastructure improvements;
• Amount of tax revenue anticipated to be generated by the Proposed Project, and any
  anticipated restrictions on or dedications of that tax revenue;
• Number and type of construction and permanent jobs that will be generated by the
  project, and the wages and benefits likely to be provided for such jobs;
• Any anticipated positive or negative impacts on existing businesses and employment
  patterns in the vicinity of the Proposed Project;
• Number and size of housing units to be created; the affordability levels thereof; and the
  proportion of rental and ownership units;
• Whether or not LEED certification will be attained for the Proposed Project, and, if so,
  what type of LEED certification;
• Current land uses and ownership;
• Proposed uses by size and land ownership;
• Intended timeline for construction and completion;
• Estimated cost of construction;
• A visual depiction of the Proposed Project, such as drawings, photographs of models,
  or photographs of similar, completed projects; and
• A breakdown, by category, of the numbers of anticipated displacements of existing
  residents, businesses, or services to make way for the Proposed Project, as well as the
  name, address, and type of business for each business or service anticipated to be
  displaced.

2 Political Junkies reports that Pittsburgh UNITED is supporting the impact analysis bill.

Pittsburgh editorial on CBAs

Possibly taking some cues from the CBA spin book, there was a nicely written editorial in yesterday's Post-Gazette about CBAs in general and in Pittsburgh. Here are some excerpts:

Whereas past debates focused singularly on how to attract development, we have finally begun to consider issues such as development standards and community benefits. Some have argued that this broader discussion is an impediment to much-needed economic growth. Some seem to view development standards and community benefits as being mutually exclusive from or diametrically opposed to economic growth. But around the country experts now see these issues as bound together and mutually reinforcing.

Community benefits agreements are in fact pro-development, pro-business and pro-community, and the recent alliance of government and members of the community to work one out for the Hill is an example of Pittsburgh leaders recognizing this.

CBAs are win-win-win. They ensure redevelopment of urban areas and create multiuse, equitable and sustainable growth. They encourage good development by linking people of mixed incomes with affordable housing and good-paying jobs, which stimulates equitable economic growth that is, by discouraging sprawl, environmentally friendly.

Still, some economists ring alarm bells, suggesting that community input discourages investment. They should read a recent New York Times op-ed piece by economist and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, who says the best way to remedy economic downturns in weak market cities such as Pittsburgh is "to increase the wages of the bottom two-thirds of Americans."

Community benefits agreements often assemble powerful community-labor coalitions. These coalitions are as essential to lifting the living standards of working families and their communities at the beginning of the 21st century as they were at the beginning of the 20th century.

The truth is, in strong and weak markets alike, development standards and community benefits have proven to be good for business. If we do not include them in the development process, research shows that inequality is likely to grow. And inequality not only damages the quality of life of residents, it also hinders economic growth.

Real economic growth comes from equitable development. Development standards and community benefits ensure that development is equitable and raises the quality of life of all residents -- not just for developers.

...

Community benefits agreements and development standards are the only way to ensure that the greater community reaps the benefits of its huge investment in this private enterprise. This is not an either/or proposition; it is a both/and proposition, and the future of our region's economy depends on it.

The editorial was written by Gabe Morgan, director of the Service Employees International Union Local 3 and co-chair of Pittsburgh United, and Sam Williamson, Western District director of the PA Joint Board of UNITEHERE (a combination of the former Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union).

Another CBA in Pittsburgh?

The Tribune Review is reporting that the Pittsburgh Stadium Authority delayed its approval of a $27.5 hotel by 45 days so that the developer can "have a dialogue" with North Side UNITED, which is seeking a CBA (North Side UNITED is affiliated with One Hill, I believe).

Bill Peduto, the city councilman who proposed the delay said that the land at issue is some of the most valuable land in western Pennsylvania, and the developer's exclusive right to develop it is analogous to a public subsidy. Mr. Peduto also stated that "it's not just about the hotel development, it's about the future development that occurs between the stadiums as well and making sure that it connects back into the neighborhood."

Does this mean that Pittsburgh is changing its tune about CBAs? Maybe. The mayor hasn't commented on the possible hotel CBA yet, though.