Apr 14, 2008 8:02 pm US/Eastern
City Planning Czar Fights Against Allegations
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
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City Planning Czar Pat Ford is speaking out on allegations that he used his power to give special favors to certain city vendors and developers and accepting gifts.
KDKA
Five days after his wife was fired as the mayor's press secretary and he was placed on administrative leave, City Planning Czar Pat Ford is speaking out.
He's accused of using his power to give special favors to certain city vendors and developers and accepting gifts.
Ford is battling back against the accusations, wanting to clear his name and says he wants his job back.
Ford says his wife, Alecia Sirk, accepted a $215 from a Lamar Advertising executive but it had nothing to do with him or his approval of a sign on Grant Street.
"This isn't a trip to Aruba. This isn't a car, this isn't money in a Swiss bank account, this is a $200 nominal gift for Christmas from a friend to my wife," Ford said.
Nearly a week after his wife's ouster, he doesn't quite understand why a gift from advertising executive Jim Vlasach has caused him so much trouble.
City Council members accuse Ford of cutting Lamar a special deal to put an electronic sign on Grant Street.
Sheehan: "You do not believe that it was an error in judgement for you to take these gifts from Jim Vlasach."
Ford: "Absolutely not."
Sheehan: "And why not?"
Ford: "Because I did nothing wrong."
But some council members allege that Ford engaged in a pattern of favoritism, ruling that another friend and developer Joe Edelstein didn't need sprinklers in a building in Lawrenceville.
They also say that contributors to the mayor, Walnut Capital, got special tax breaks on their Bakery Square project in East Liberty.
Sheehan: "Are certain people getting favors in the administration because they're either friends of you or contributors to the mayor?"
Ford: "These people for whatever reason - and I can't identify why these three people are getting picked out - but no law was broken, and there was no creative interpretation. These projects followed the law."
But in fact Ford says the events of last week were set in motion because he blew the whistle on corruption at the city Housing Authority, bringing those concerns to District Attorney Stephen Zappala.
"I was sent over there to do my job and I did it," Ford said. "And as a result of that, now I'm being discredited, discarded and smeared."
And Ford says he expects to be back at work after the State Ethics Commission investigates.
"Now if I am cleared, I want my job back because I have not done anything wrong," Ford said.
Last week, Ford was removed from the Housing Authority Board but Executive Director Fulton Meacham says this was not in retaliation for going to the DA.
Meacham says Ford was removed because his role on the board and the Urban Redevelopment Authority conflicted.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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