Rauterkus.com
Read the ideas in Pittsburgh's Parks, Recreation & Pools -- a position paper.
The city is broken and under the control of two recovery plans. Employee pay checks can be frozen, but that is NOT an option for our children. Surf to Play.CLOH.Org for more insights.
Welcome to Rauterkus.Com
This site is hosted by Mark Rauterkus, Pittsburgher, swim coach, experienced stay-at-home dad, author, activists, retired publisher, 2001 candidate for Mayor, 2005 candidate for PA Senate, 2006 candidate for Pittsburgh City Council, former NCAA Division I swimming coach (five years), past resident of six different states and one who is always hoping to live free, travel and coach.
The label, unemployed is never used as a self-description, nor should that tag be used by others to describe Mark Rauterkus, as it is not true.Citizenship is a serious responsibility. The cost of freedom is not free.
The current events blog accepts your comments and is getting many updates each day.
For few, voting is the ultimate hinge for civilization's future. I count myself in this minority. I lean to Green, Libertarian, Georgist, and principles of vigilant dissent, while being Unitarian Universalist and a Free Market Republican.
The Commons are important. The concept of the commons includes technology, economy, society. Sports, politics, parenting, religion, learning and communication are more universal pursuits. These are the domains of a multi-dimensional generalist. An affinity label, spiritual humanist.
CLOH.Org is a project launched by Mark Rauterkus. The Rauterkus family legacy includes a number of other, educational, start-up ventures. Joseph A. Rauterkus, Ph.D., Mark's grandfather, started the Duquense University School of Music.
Our family, Mark Rauterkus, Catherine V. Palmer, Ph.D., live on Pittsburgh's South Side. From April 28, 2007 to June 9, 2007, our family (and two graduate students), lived, worked, taught, played, swam and enjoyed New Zealand. See another photo, suitable for press reuse.
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. Thomas Paine
China Trip Slides
The GOP mascot is an elephant, but here, it guards a tomb in China. Grant, 6, Erik, 9, and I are part of Erik's 125 slide presentation given at his school upon our return.Enjoy the PDF or HTML version."Values are not just words; values are what we live by. They're about the causes that we champion and the people we fight for. And it is time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families. You don't value families by kicking kids out of after-school programs and taking cops off the streets. We believe in the family value of caring for our children and protecting the neighborhoods where they walk and play."
Acceptance speech at DNC, Boston, 2004, Presidential nominee, John Kerry, Dem.Mayor Tom Murphy was in Boston with the Dems. Wonder if he heard and understood those words?
Friends of the Pittsburgh Big League program were back to the chambers of City Council on August 4, 2004. The PNC Park experience included a rain out, sadly. But, why should that be a "once in a lifetime experience?" Why can't that be a regular experience, say monthly? The Big League program needs to be not only protected, but it needs to be merged into a real PARK DISTRICT solution. Much needs to be done in these areas.
Wiki to the Wescue
Opened on October 21, 2004, thanks to Adam.
Pan-Partisan event details, 2004, are at the blogs (Rauterkus & Sunnyhill) and soon to S6.CLOH.Org
Wonderful Concert and pan-political coffee house was Thursday, October 21, 2004 at Sunnyhill
Nike calls for more PE (Physical Education) and Rauterkus boys endorse the concepts too, Washington, D.C.
Click for larger image:
Chidren in Pittsburgh, PA, USA don't have access to all their swim pools, rec centers, ice rink, and countless other services. These boys go to D.C., play in the summertime heat -- and hope to fire up national leaders to the fumbles from current city leaders. Mark, Erik and Grant are working with others to create good examples and make fun for ourselves. Hopefully the present course of miss-management can end soon. Act 47 does little in these regards.
Houston Comet’s Cynthia Cooper, 4-time WNBA Chamption, center in photo, hosted an interactive PE2GO demonstration of the new P.E., a combination of constant movement, fun and skills development for kids. PE2GO is a national, standards-based program designed by Nike and SPARK to help increase the quality and quantity of physical education in schools where P.E. classes have been drastically reduced or eliminated. Nike and SPARK deliver the curriculum, training and equipment to classroom teachers to prepare them to teach P.E. to fourth and fifth grade kids. In the fall of 2003, PE2GO launched in six U.S. cities, reaching over 6,400 fourth and fifth graders in 43 elementary schools.
PR Firm Contact: Jamie F. Meredith, APCO Worldwide, apcoworldwide.com, 1615 L Street, N.W., Suite 900, Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: 202.659.7904 -- Fax: 202.466.6002Big photo from Max Taylor Tighter photo Mark Rauterkus, community activist, coach, and parent of Erik, 9, and Grant, 6, (photo shown above) visited Washington, D.C. on June 16 and 17, 2004, to see US Senator Arlen Specter, R, Pennsylvania, US Senator Rick Santorum, R, Pennsylvania, Congresswoman Melissa Hart, R, PA's 4th District, and Congressman Tim Murphy, R, PA's 18th District. Our city closed many of its outdoor swim pools, nearly all the Recreation Centers. The plans for the future are fleeting. We need the leaders in D.C. to show an interest in these problems and insure that the right outcomes occur as the city faces its cooperative and financial crisis.
An the mall, Grant and Erik were part of a fitness expo and interacted with the Harlem Globetrotters as well as a 4-time WNBA Champion and Nike's Get Fit program, http://www.getfitus.net.
"We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility.
It's easy to say 'It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my
problem.'
Then there are those who see the need and respond. I
consider those people my heroes."
Fred Rogers (1928 - 2003)
Thanks for playing. Peaceful partenting tour promotes playing well with others. See our journal and learn of the father-to-father efforts for peace and nonviolence at Global Coalition For Peace.
A copy of the first Oversight Board report, April 12, 2004, with notes from Mark Rauterkus. - PDF, 21 pages, 169k.
The Mayor has toured the city speaking to neighborhood groups with a slide show. Everything the Mayor says is two steps away from the truth.
Snip of article printed in the March 30, 2004 newspaper:
South Side resident Mark Rauterkaus is a community activist, seeking ways to bring back many of the recreation programs that were cut last year. Rauterkaus questioned Murphy on why the mayor did not get the State Legislature to change its tax-exempt policies 10 years ago.
Murphy admitted he should have acted sooner. The mayor said his efforts toward change in the tax structure began more than two years ago. He said it took him four to five years in office to completely grasp the financial problems facing city government. When Murphy finally sought these changes, he believed the state would do the right thing for the city, claiming he is an idealist.
With the exception of a few state senators and representatives with constituents in the city, the mayor's plea to state government for tax relief has mostly fallen on deaf ears.
Patriot News - Fill out the three questions on the form to see the article.
A candidate for PRESIDENT of the United States, visited and shared some ideas on volunteerism, recreation and youth opportunities.
Presentation to the South Side Planning Forum, March 9, 2004, is online at Play.CLOH.Org..
If your congregation or community group wants to have a presentation, email or call.
Weekly News (March 16, 2004) snip from the front page of the South Pittsburgh Reporter:
During the evening's only guest presentation, South Side resident Mark Rauterkus told forum member organization representatives he is interested in opening some closed recreation centers and swimming pools in time for the summer season.
He wants forum member organizations to join in taking over facilities in one comprehensive plan. "I think reasonable people now have to act," he said. "The kids are getting hit hard in this crisis."
Rauterkus asked everyone to attend a meeting on the topic March 24 at 6 p.m. at the Duquesne Heights Community Center in Mount Washington.
The speaker said he not only wants to obtain keys for the facilities, but also would gladly assume, with the various groups and agencies that sign on, all inherent rights and responsibilities, including liability and dealing with unions.
He said the presence of unions could make the openings easier, since the employees hired would be professionals who know the children, neighborhood, grounds and facilities.
Insurance would be purchased. Rauterkus compared the arrangement to PNC Park, which is owned by the city but run by the Pirates. "They can figure out creative deals for those facilities [sports parks], but what about places our little children play?" he asked.
Lola O'Dea, the director of services at Brashear Association, said groups could petition for a lease, but it wouldn't be easy to get one. Besides the union and liability problems, another obstacle is the city's Department of General Services, which fears potential damages to facilities, she said.
Currently, no city recreation centers are slated to open. The only sites in the South Pittsburgh area earmarked for the summer lunch program are Armstrong Field in South Side, McKinley Park in Beltzhoover and Phillips Park, Carrick.
Rauterkus' next step is to stitch together a plan with various groups and agencies. If enough interested parties sign on, he plans to present the plan to the mayor, and beyond, including the recently appointed oversight boards.
March 14, 2004
Enjoy Pi Day, 3.14, the birthday of Einstein, and a celebration of all things round and of mathamatics.
Quotes of Albert Einstein:
It you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently than the axioms of science. Truth is what stands the test of experience. Our separation from each other is an optical illusion of consciousness. Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius--and a lot of courage--to move in the opposite direction. Education is what's left after you've forgotten everything you learned in school. It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs.
A print reporter and two broadcasters covered our Feb. 27, 2004, meeting at Duquesne Heights Community Center, Mt. Washington to talk about the closed swim pools and recreation centers. A few dozen attended and offered great advice and conversation. Thanks. We'll build for more meetings and larger forums in the dates ahead -- March 24, 2004.
News Headline: Heinz Field To Get More Escalators
PITTSBURGH -- The Sports and Exhibition Authority has awarded a $760,000 contract to Massaro Construction Co. to oversee the installation of escalators at the north end of Heinz Field.
Work on the project is expected to begin in January, 2004. The Steelers hope to have the escalators running in time for next season. The project's total cost is estimated at several million dollars.
The city has lost its freedom. The leaders are feeling the heavy hand of oppression and a sense of slavery. The ongoing actions of both the mayor and city council have been punished with two oversight boards.
At the March and Feb 2004, meetings of the the Libertarian Party of Allegheny County at Ritters in Oakland, discussions were held concerning the $384-million light-rail extension to the stadiums and the convention center. The discussion will continue.
My interview on KQV helped to advance the discussions on the liquidation of the authority.
HTML article better for on line reading 2 page PDF, 29k better for printing.
Got ink in the Tribune Review.
FWIW, I'm a Bobcat, BSJ, '82, grad of Ohio University. My wife is Catherine V. Palmer, Ph.D.
Letter to the editor, August 19, 2003, Post-Gazette (scroll down)
In Europe, when leaders are unable to advance political agendas, they resign. Mayor Murphy is spent, useless and must resign soon.
CBS, Viacom, MTV, NFL and the entertainers failed countless Americans and fumbled their duties by injecting "shocking moments" and obscene matter that cannot be tolerated.
Pittsburgh's health requires mature and creative candidates, not redundant and inmature ones. Wouldn't it be nice if we were older and we'd do run run run run.
Urban Republicans and Free Market Republicans are not with the style and messages, nor nicknames like Shark-boy.
The decision to abandon the Munhall move was based on market realityies, said Thomas Flower, president of the Churhuill-based Stationary Fuel Cells division of Siemens.
The blame of market realities was printed on the front page of the Post Gazette.
To build a market will take several years later than originally hoped.
The URA boss, Dr. M. B. was shocked with the news. All the wine, dine and financial incentives from public agencies can't over-power the marketplace.
(KQV Editorial) Lord & Taylor's renovation crumbles historic building, Lord & Taylor's retail business tanks, Lazurus-Macy's closing, Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and then came Philadelplhia-based Kravco, for a while, but they punted too. Recreaction Centers close, swim pools go empty, parking tax climb, parking rates soar. Pittsburgh's Murphy's Law is tragic.
More info at PPS.CLOH.Org.
Elsie and company want to examine City finances and remedies. To bad those meetings can't be put on WQED 16 for all to see. That would be real entertainment. But, QED is spent, in part because of past leadership from Elsie and company. Anyway, with this new, closed-door group now in their bunker, is unlikely that there will be any impetus for City leaders -- the elected kind -- to seriously consider meaningful budget remedies.
Ken Heiss, Party Chairman of Pittsburgh's District 2, hosted a number of Mayoral Search Committee meeting in the fall and winter of 2003-04. He encouraged invites for experts and public leaders for fielding questions and offering input. The plan is now all in his head.
The Free State Project overlooked Pittsburgh, an authority heavy area where hand-picked cronies issue task force papers following closed-door meetings.
A report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) has indicated that kids in China who use the Internet do not turn into dissidents. The report also found that 40 percent of adolescents access the Net. Of those, four in ten said that their Net use had "no influence on their studies"; while three in ten said the Net was actually useful for their education.
| A trip to China is expected in May, 2004. |  |
