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Ravenstahl's Schedule Questioned During Debate

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Apr 20, 2009 11:02 pm US/Eastern

Ravenstahl's Schedule Questioned During Debate

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― With the primary election one month away, the three Democratic candidates for Pittsburgh mayor clashed in their first televised debate.

One area of conflict was how many debates there will be.

When KDKA postponed a forum set for last week in light of the Stanton Heights police tragedy, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said he had no time to re-schedule.

On WTAE, he was asked to prove it by releasing his daily schedule.

"We've received over a dozen requests to participate in debates, both from broadcast television like we're participating in tonight, from neighborhood forums to unions, etcetera," Ravenstahl said. "We will participate in at least a half a dozen of those. I can tell you that I was the first candidate to ask for debates, I said we needed three televised debates.

"Of course the tragic situation that took place in Stanton Heights required KDKA to choose to cancel their debate. I'm confident and comfortable that the opportunity we have tonight, we have over the next four weeks, will be adequate to have the voters understand where we stand on the issues," he added.

"That's absolutely not true. KDKA did not cancel the debate, they postponed - the mayor's schedule says he's too busy," said Mayoral candidate Patrick Dowd.

"I don't think that it's a good idea to be an elected leader at this time, national economic crisis, rising gun violence, and be able to say, 'You know what, I'm too busy to talk to you and talk to the public about these important issues and the future of this city.'

"We've got to position this city for the future, we've got to hear from this mayor and each of the candidates," Dowd added.

"He said that he's agreeing to participate in these forums, he must have agreed today, because this week he hasn't committed to most of the forums that we're participating in, and he came late to the last one by an hour and a half," Mayoral candidate Carmen Robinson said.

During the debate, Mayor Ravenstahl did not answer whether he would release his schedule.

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