Marty Griffin Show Hour 04 050126

You've heard of a mystery meat, right? Remember when your mom, well, I do, because we were always, we were poor growing up. We had nothing, honestly. If we had meat, we always say, what is this, mom, the mystery meat? And why am I telling this? Because that's what happens with Pittsburgh and money. They have this mystery budget. And we come to find out that. Without this Rescue Act money, which was about $330 million, we'd be done, buried, fried, screwed. But what it did was it kept us alive when maybe we should have accepted reality several years ago and made some changes. And now here we are in a deficit situation, which the city controller Rachel Heisler, which is why I love her, pointed out with really facts. And the numbers don't lie, do they, Rachel? Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Marty. Thanks for having me here today. The truth is the truth, right? The numbers are the numbers, right? Yeah, the city spent more than it brought in last year. And as I've said for the last two years, this is my third annual comprehensive financial report. You know, thank goodness for the American Rescue Plan. It kept us afloat and buoyed revenue in the aftermath of the pandemic. Unfortunately, it masked a problem. And we are spending more than we are bringing in. And that is what the Actford told us. For 2025, we spent $44 million more than we brought in. And that's dangerous, is it not, Rachel? It is not a great place to be in. It cannot be a trend that continues. We have always known that 2025 and 26 were going to be very tight years. And we knew that this was going to be a really delicate position in the aftermath of the pandemic. These COVID relief dollars were going to run out. We had two really big... debt service payments of 25 and 26. And the 2025 annual comprehensive financial report gives us a picture of where we are. It lets us know how bad the problem is. And, you know, hopefully we'll, the budget will give us a path to get out of it. How do you get out of it, Rachel Heisler? How? Well, in the short term, I mean, the revenue increase that the millage increase that city council passed at the end of the year does solve part of the problem. Revenue for in the real estate taxes is up in 2026. The growth in downtown, the arts landing and market square changes show promise for our changing downtown landscape. And we need to talk about growth regionally and growth in the city. We need to be very focused on how to. get people to come and stay here. Our population in the city has stabilized compared to what it had been in 2010 and, you know, looking further back before I lived here. But we need to be focused on growth and we need to focus on development and inclusive development and making sure we're doing everything we can to get people to live here, to work here and to stay here. Wait. Without growth, you have two options. Raise taxes or cut spending, right? Or both.

We are limited. I'm really pleased that the O'Connor administration has pursued relationships with our nonprofit partners. We brought in money from UPMC, the University of Pittsburgh and the PNC Foundation. Hopefully those will yield long-term voluntary payment agreements with those three institutions, perhaps, and hopefully others. But we need to continue to focus on growth. And we can, you know, right now we have the resources to continue to deliver those core city services, right? Public safety and public works. We have, you know, it'd be great if we had a few more vehicles to do that. Public safety and public works. And we need to focus on core city services and those essential services. And that's what the city needs to just continue to do. Hey, Rachel, hi, so the city controller. Hey, Rachel, where we... Ms. Ledden, was the previous administration a tad disingenuous about the health and revenue of the city of Pittsburgh? What I'll tell you is what I've been telling the public since I started in this job is that we need to be really honest with the public about where things are headed with city finances so that people understand if there's a delay in getting their street paved or if they see changes in hours to pools or rec centers out. it's my perspective that we just need to be as honest and forthcoming with information as it relates to city finances with the public so that we understand what we're working we're all working from the same set of information um and from my perspective that's what the act for does is it gets everybody a roadmap we're all working from the same set of facts and this gives city council and the administration the tools to set the 2027 budget priorities for the remainder of this year. And hopefully, you know, we'll continue to figure our way out of the situation that we're in. Rachel Heisler, hey, Rachel, the apocalyptic folks say, here we go. Act 47, bankrupt. Is it that scary? I do not believe we are on the verge of Act 47. The pension is very, very healthy. That is a distinguishing characteristic from where we were in 2004, rather. The pension is 78% funded. Oh, nice. That's 35% healthier than it was, I think, probably even more than that. In 2004, we have to continue making our annual contributions to the comprehensive municipal pension fund and make sure we can honor our commitment to workers and retirees. And the other thing that's really unique about what we're going through right now is a municipality is this is happening across the country. Every single municipality and county that had COVID dollars run out at the end of 2024 is figuring their way out of a similar situation right now. So even places that you and I think of as fast growing, Atlanta, Austin, Phoenix. They're also dealing with budget shortfalls.

So we all as cities are dealing with this right now. And I think it was a flaw of the American Rescue Plan Act, right? We should have had longer to spend the money to have less of a cliff at the end of 2024. But here we are. And what will distinguish Pittsburgh is how we get out of it and how we navigate our way out of the financial situation that we're in. Rachel, you know the numbers and you know the city. This is your town like it's my town. Give me your best view. Hope, you hopeful, we can turn it around and grow, or are you a little bit nervous? Yes. I feel very confident about the trajectory of city finances. I feel confident with the administration being transparent, reopening the budget to accurately account for the expenditures that we're going to have in 2026. As I mentioned earlier in this conversation, the best thing that we can do is to be honest with the public about the true cost of government. And reopening the budget earlier this. earlier in April is a step in the right direction with that, accounting for the fact that we're going to have to pay the water bill, accounting for the fact that, you know, fuel is rising rapidly, accounting for the fact that we're going to have higher expenses than we had budgeted for at the end of last year. That is a step in the right direction. and continuing to do things and to meet with businesses and encourage growth and investment in Pittsburgh. That is the best thing we can do is the city right now. And we need to continue to do that. I'm feeling the same thing she is. Rachel Heisler, truth to power. You're the best. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate you. Thanks, Marty. Happy Marathon weekend. Have a good one. She's a rock star, ma'am.

I love her. Numbers don't lie. She's very honest. It's been very pragmatic, very responsive, impartial, fair-minded, doesn't go after people, just tells the damn truth, does her damn job. I respect and admire that. I got a couple notes about arts landing because I had mentioned my concern and Max's concern and Patrick's and everyone else that has been. to Arts Landing. And by the way, we praised them. We had the, we had their chairman and president on basically saying it's wonderful. It's beautiful. That's Pittsburgh's version of Central Park. Fine. But the issue I raised is the issue that some folks expressed consternation that I should, how dare that I would say this. My issue is that you worry about the cockroaches. coming back into the arts landing area as soon as they bring the fences down um wow wow i'm getting texts about market square in this new plan and i'm texting the owner of mose who's my friend and i want to see what he thinks about this new plan. I apologize. I'm doing this as we speak. And so a woman got testy with me that I even suggested that that could happen because she said they're going to have their own security and they have cameras, by the way, we laid all this out. There are 66 cameras. Those cameras have the ability to actually talk back to you. In other words, get up and move. And they're going to have private security. That's fine. Here's what often happens, even with cops, because I saw it in Market Square, and I know they own the property themselves. What do you do when five drug addicts come in and lay on the ground? I'm being blunt. What do you do with your private security cops? I'm being, what do you do when 30 teens come in and start breaking stuff? with your silly. And honestly, these kids are going to think it's silly. We're a silly little speaker asset in the move. They're going to tell you to screw off. We just stole 100 cars and our mommy told us to go out and steal some more. What are you going to do? I apologize of I'm a tad cynical because I've seen this movie before. How are you going to monitor to the idiot that runs through there with spray paint? And I'm not being the hater that you think I am. I've lived this. I've watched this. And so for the folks that's saying I'm being critical, I'm being skeptical and cynical and wary. Okay? So I'm getting this idea that... Patrick, this is kind of interesting. So they are fencing off market square. And I'm getting this information as I'm talking to you. So give me time. So they're fencing off. By the way, I love this idea. They're fencing off market square. They're fencing off market square.

And last night was the first run. This is actually, wow. You're not allowed in at night unless you're 18 or older. This is actually fascinating. Or accompanied by an adult. Wow. That is interesting. Now, is that a permanent thing or is this just for a marathon weekend now? I was told they're trying this. This is the first run last night. Let me check. And how's I going to work with no cops at night? They have cops. I mean, overnight. They have cops. That's part of this new plan. Wow. No, no. I'm kind of blown away by this. And I'm texting someone who's on an airplane and providing me this information. Forgive me. Forgive me, this sounds crazy, Marty. But that's just like becoming an outdoor mall. I mean, think about it. It's like an outdoor mall. You have it fenced off. You have security. So what? And you can't go in unless you're 18 or over at night. If I own the restaurant and everyone's afraid to come to my restaurant or someone's overdosed and dead in the bathroom because they shot up. Okay, now I'm hearing it's being tested. They have barriers. Oh, I see. Okay, this makes sense, Patrick. And Trevin. So Trevin, they're saying it's not completely fenced off. There are barriers at entry points, which I guess you could argue is fenced off. Yeah. And they're monitoring the entry points. Yeah. And they're making sure that here's, by the way, they did this at Kennywood because they had all these idiots acting like idiots. And so you had to come in, you had to someone who's 18. My man, if they do this enough and ruin that massive investment, then what do we end up with? You've got to do something to control the flow of drug addicts, alcoholics, from my business owner. Friend, I love it. Just that the fact that the attempt is being made, I agree. To Trevin's point. Here's my thing, Trevin. Do you want to create a prison? It's not a prison. Do you want to put bar war? I'm not trying to be a jerk, but to Trevin's point, right? Yeah, I mean, you're making it a sort of a public private space. You are. You're restricting access. You are. You are. I mean, if it's full of riffraff that's damaging the businesses that are there and no one wants to go there, then you got to do something. Thus the doorman at a bar a restaurant. Exactly. This becomes that, Trevin, except they're standing outside. Right, but there's so many different issues there. There's so many variables that you can deal with when you're talking about people who are maybe on drugs or people who are drunk or whatever. It is. The people that you don't want to have in that area, I get it. And I don't want to put anybody down because I'm just like all of you, period. And I'm just looking at this as, you know, maybe I have some innocence when I'm looking at it. But I'm looking at it as being an outdoor mall because it's going to increase business. It makes the businesses feel secure. And then actually the city is applying, taking care of the responsibility it has to monitor. I mean, it doesn't sound outrageous to me. It doesn't sound crazy. I love your perspective. And he's saying, Trevor, they're trying several iterations. So this is kind of a work. I love that they didn't just blow it off and say, all right, good luck.

I love it. I love that they're paying attention. But now provide services to the people that need the services. Don't just kick them to the curb. By the way, that's a magnificent point. True. And now that they've pretty much taken the, there's no driving traffic through Market Square anymore because the way they've reconfigured it, they can now do this. Yeah. So. Trevin, they're going to have to try something similar at the Arts Landing because it's a bigger space. It's more wide open. What I learned about Arts Landing when I was there and speaking to someone who was working there, they're putting pickleball courts there. Oh, really? I wouldn't doubt it as well. So it'll be interesting to see what the concept is. Well, it'll be interesting to see what the final plan is for Arts Landing. And if they have pickleball courts there, that means fences are going to stay up. I would think. No, she told me they're taking them down. Yeah, the plan for now is not to have fences. Yeah. But I don't... Trevin, I think it's a work... You know what I mean? I think they're learning every day, right? I agree. My man, that was $30 million. I ain't flushing that down. No toilet. What I would stand upon, Pittsburgh, is the fact that people are now paying attention. The money has been spent. Are you going to take care of it? Are you going to use an excuse and lose it based on the excuse that you use? Well, I wouldn't go down there with my kids if there's guys getting high and beating the hell out of people and people are getting stabbed and shot and robbed. Yeah. Groups of teens running around assaulting people. I don't necessarily agree with the picture that you guys paint sometimes. Well, you haven't been down there. I have. I live down there. What are you talking about? No, you don't. You don't live in the area. I'm in the area, Marty. So what? Hey, my man, I've been in there when people were stabbed and Rob. I interview people were knocked out cold. I'm not saying that anything that you said or present is wrong. You know I support you. I don't need you to understand what you guys do. I don't need you to understand what you guys. I understand what's going on. I understand what's going on. And I know you don't need my support, but I'm going to give it to you anyway. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that I've been in the area and I don't agree. with the picture that's being painted all the time. There has to be hope. People have to have hope. You have to stand up and say, okay. There's hope, my man. If someone's rob, there's always hope, no, there isn't. You don't own the CVS. You can't yell over me, man. You don't own the CVS that was getting robbed seven times a day. Got you. You don't own the coffee shop. Agreed. It's been there 100 years, and they're talking about closing down. Agree. You don't own, you don't own the restaurant that had to shut down because 20 people were smoking. crack in front of it yesterday. Agreed. I totally agree with all that. Yes, sir. I agree with that. I'm not disputing anything that you do. Because as I said to you before, I appreciate that you give. Mike Fleck fell off. You put eyes on people who are invisible and people who can't be heard. You give them a voice. All right, my man. I love the fact that they're trying something and not giving up. Got to take a break. Great back.

on Sundays and he was becoming a little embarrassed by it as well. He wasn't able to drink water without it dribbling out of the side of his mouth. And so we've been working really hard over the past couple of weeks. And now he's able to have facial symmetry. He just lights up whenever he comes in now. I do a lot of mirror work where I have him watch himself in the mirror to make sure that his facial movements are symmetrical or he's on both sides. And his smile is symmetrical and he's getting much better at everything. honestly wow so a man couldn't do his job and now he can And now he can. And now he has the confidence again. That's the biggest thing that I will say is that he wasn't confident and he was feeling embarrassed whenever he was preaching, whenever he would drink. Whenever he came in, I always offer my patient's water because hydration is very important. He would decline the water every single time because he was embarrassed because the water would leak out of the corner of his mouth because he didn't have the strength in his muscles. So now he... accepts the water he's feeling more confident speaking and preaching and he's traveling a lot more too because he has that confidence up which kind of this is dr jess at physical 412 457 80 200 412 457 8200 it's the same discussion we have about neuropathy if you give up then you give up and you get depressed but there is always hope and you got to find it or you end up quitting and that's disastrous isn't it It is, Marty. We have a lot of patients that come in because they've lost hope. And our job is to give them back that hope because hope is not lost. I had a patient who came in just this week where she was in tears because she's tried working with chiropractor. She's tried going to the neuropathy clinics. And she's just in constant pain. And excuse me. I took a moment and I sat there with her and I just listened with her and I let her cry and I held her hand and I told her about the amazing therapist that we have here, the amazing technology that we have here that is truly going to make a difference in her life. And she is beyond excited to start therapy now, Marty. A lot of times we just need to take a moment and listen and connect with people and that makes a world of a difference. Dr. Jess with physical. So. With the Bell's palsy, how did you get past it? Because the problem with my buddy is he thought, ah, this will last a month. Now we're into a year. How do you get past it? How did you get past it? I got past it fairly quickly. I was in high school when it happened, as I said. And I did some physical therapy myself, so I was able to come back fairly quickly. However, I will say my patient right now, who's a reverend, he thought it was going to come back in a month as well. He's now on month three out. However, like I said, he's now having facial symmetry because he's putting in the work and he's using the technology that we have here at our clinic. If you don't work with it and if you don't do the stimulation to the...

nerves that you need it's not going to come back hey um we haven't mentioned his name and i'm not going to but did he text you yet i got to make sure he did not oh my gosh he did not hold on no no this is why i get irritated as hell and she knows this he was freaking out last night what time was i what time was i bothering you let me let me see what time was annoying her it was kind of late And she was answering because I love her and she's always available. 7.20 last night. I literally texted him and said she's up right now. Text her. So he blew it off. Not being critical, but this is a big issue. Is it not, Jess? It definitely is because it takes a lot of effort and you have to have the right mindset to take that next step. Yeah. And a certain amount of courage. You definitely have to have courage because it's not just courage to go into a new place and meet new people. It's courage admitting that what you're currently doing isn't working. It's courage to admit that you want to go beyond where you're currently at. Now I'm aggravated. I'm going to be texting him as soon as we hang up. Dr. Jess at physical. Apparently you got to make the call and set up the therapy to actually get help. Is that true, Jess? Apparently you do. That's the best results that we found, Marty, is when you not only called make the appointment, but show up for it too. 457-8200. 4-1-2-457-8200. Thanks, my friend. Thank you, Marty. Have a great weekend. She's amazing. And I'm texting my boy right now.

Wow, we've had this conversation before about these. In fact, how ironic we were having a conversation about some death threats directed towards me and how caustic everything's become. We had David Urban talking about it. Now we find out that this, Patrick found his great job, Patrick. The video of the Scott of Wilkinsburg, Raymond Chandler, who the FBI arrested, it looks like this morning. House raided by the FBI, running for Senate. He had some goofy slogan, Patrick. What is it? Better than John Fetterman? He's got a couple of others, too. Threatened John Fetterman and his family. And it says Trump to charge a threatening John Fetterman and his family. There's also an affidavit of this voicemail threat that's posted on WTAE site. Do you mind reading that, Patrick? This is kind of chilling. Sure. Let's see. Let me... This is why these men and women don't want to run for office. Why there's so many calls for them to have more security. This is going on right now. No wonder his wife. We had Giselle John Fetterman. Was it Monday? Yes. And this is following that frigging shooting at the correspondence dinner Saturday night. Go ahead, Patrick. Wow. It's a little disturbing here. Yes, this is disturbing. This is a voicemail left, I guess, for Mr. John Fetterman. Sir, I'm calling this morning, because I want you to imagine a scenario. I want you to imagine a scenario where all the 1,200 billionaires in this country, all their properties are surrounded simultaneously by 1,000 people. Uh, imagine your house, your daughter's house, everyone you know and love who's also rich and every one of those homes being surrounded by people. Then imagine them all getting a text and then those people come in with pocket knives. Uh. And cut their throats essentially. Uh. Awful. And then he goes on, uh, so during that same voicemail. Chandler told John Fetterman, he wanted him to walk to the Oval Office with a gun and assassinate the president. Oh, no. Yeah. It's very disturbing. He's sitting there. Good work, Patrick. You found him in, what is he saying in this YouTube? He's got a YouTube channel where he's got several videos. This is one of them where he introduces himself and he starts talking about it. Can we hear any of it? No. It's a three-minute long. Oh, is it? Yeah. No, I don't have a snippet of it pulled. Okay. Sorry. He talks about himself and essentially when it attacks the rich out of existence. Not that we should know, but I, have you ever heard of his name? No, me neither. Me neither. By the way, they had last year threats to Congress, to senators and reps, more than 25,000 of them. You know what I said? More than 25,000 of them. It's way beyond anyone's imagination, how dangerous this has become. This guy is local. It looks younger.

I mean, just looking at the video, he's sitting there drinking water or a cup of coffee talking about himself from it looks like his home in Wilkinsburg. But it got very ugly. And let me say this. And I mean this. I hope they arrest him and bury him under the damn jail. I hope they make a public display of this. And I hope he goes to federal prison for five years. We had Giselle John Fetterman on here live, and I love the woman. We had her live Monday. This is following that craziness. They were there. Her and John were in Washington. We're at the correspondence dinner with this. We've all seen it now, tried the storm in there and wanted to hurt people, and how difficult this life is, and how she hates it, this anger and this rhetoric. And why wouldn't she? Honestly. And I've, this wonderful woman does nothing but make a difference in her community. She has a free store for God's sakes. Everything's free. She's raising three kids. Yeah. Her husband had a pretty bad stroke. Her husband. is one of the most threatened men on earth. And she's laying under a table at a hotel in D.C. Saturday night thinking someone's coming here to kill all of us. And now they have to face this at home. I know John knows this, because I've talked to him about this, he walks, and I would never say wherever he walks by himself. And that's public knowledge. A lot of people I know have seen him out. He shouldn't do that. ever again. But Giselle has had graffiti sprayed in her business, has had people yell things, threats to her and her kids in front of them. This is not a life I would choose. This is why we talk about this all the time. This is why a lot of folks say, I ain't running for office. I'm not doing that. Once again, and Patrick, thanks, man, found that, read through these chilling charges, this 40-year-old. Pittsburgh, I thank you to my man who sent me this info. I love you. Every single day. It's just, mm. I am very nervous about the future in this violence and these outbursts from various people and the... insanity of the madness of it. This man calling John Fetterman's, I guess he called his cell phone or his home phone and pretty much threatened to kill his family and the President of the United States. And anyone else in authority with power or money. Good job to the feds. Hope he spends five years in prison. Colin Dunlap is next.