A glimpse of Murphy, the man



Retiring Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy is donating various papers from his 12 years in office to the Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center. The documents are expected to provide fascinating insights into how Murphy ran the city. Thomas Murphy, Jr., Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh, PA , served as a Peace Corps Volunteers in Paraguay in the 1970's.

A glimpse of Murphy, the man

Memoirs: A glimpse of Murphy, the man

By Eric Heyl
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, October 9, 2005

NEWS ITEM: Retiring Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy is donating various papers from his 12 years in office to the Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center. The documents are expected to provide fascinating insights into how Murphy ran the city.

Personal journal entry, Jan. 3, 1994:

Can you believe it? My first full day in office and a blizzard shuts down Pittsburgh, rendering my administration completely impotent. I hope this isn't a harbinger of things to come, ha ha!

Partial transcript, mayoral meeting with city development officials, Sept. 29, 1999:


Murphy: Once they see how tremendous our Downtown revitalization plans are, I'm sure all the center city real estate owners won't be upset that we'll have to acquire their properties through eminent domain!

Development officials: (Extremely long pause)

Prepared remarks for PNC Park opening, April 2001 (early draft):

People think I'm not a big baseball fan. But I vividly recall that thrilling moment when Roberto Clemente hit the home run at Fjords Field to win the ninth game of the 1962 World Series.

Personal note, Murphy to himself, May (date smudged) 2001:

Must do today:

# Get car washed
# Order personal checks
# Cut surreptitious deal with Pittsburgh Firefighters Union to award firefighters a sweetheart contract the city can't afford. Union then will support me so I can narrowly defeat Bob O'Connor in the upcoming Democratic primary. (IMPORTANT!)

Partial transcript, mayoral meeting with city budget and finance officials, Oct. 12, 2002:

Murphy: Jiminy Cricket, the city's broke! How the heck did that happen? Budget and finance officials: (Extremely long pause).

Bruce Springsteen note to Murphy, obtained at PNC Park concert, Aug. 7, 2003:

To Mayor Ted Murphy, Glad you weren't so bummed out over laying off hundreds of city workers earlier today that you didn't feel like coming to tonight's show. Hope you enjoyed, Ted!

Personal note, Murphy to himself, jotted on napkin, Dec. 20, 2004:

Reminder: When announcing you aren't running for re-election tomorrow, emphasize that your decision has nothing to do with the federal investigation into that deal with the firefighters union (IMPORTANT!).

Eric Heyl is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review staff writer. He can be reached at eheyl@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7857.

When this story was posted in October 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

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'Celebration of Service' a major success The Peace Corps Fund's 'Celebration of Service' on September 29 in New York City was a major success raising approximately $100,000 for third goal activities. In the photo are Maureen Orth (Colombia); John Coyne (Ethiopia) Co-founder of the Peace Corps Fund; Caroline Kennedy; Barbara Anne Ferris (Morocco) Co-founder; Former Senator Harris Wofford, member of the Advisory Board. Read the story here.

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PC apologizes for the "Kasama incident" The District Commissioner for the Kasama District in Zambia issued a statement banning Peace Corps activities for ‘grave’ social misconduct and unruly behavior for an incident that occurred on September 24 involving 13 PCVs. Peace Corps said that some of the information put out about the incident was "inflammatory and false." On October 12, Country Director Davy Morris met with community leaders and apologized for the incident. All PCVs involved have been reprimanded, three are returning home, and a ban in the district has since been lifted.

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Military Option sparks concerns The U.S. military is allowing recruits to meet part of their reserve military obligations after active duty by serving in the Peace Corps. Read why there is opposition to the program among RPCVs. Director Vasquez says the agency has a long history of accepting qualified applicants who are in inactive military status. John Coyne says "Not only no, but hell no!" and RPCV Chris Matthews leads the debate on "Hardball." Avi Spiegel says Peace Corps is not the place for soldiers while Coleman McCarthy says to Welcome Soldiers to the Peace Corps. Read the results of our poll among RPCVs. Latest: Congressman John Kline introduces legislation to alter the program to remove the Peace Corps as an option for completing an individual’s military enlistment requirement.

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Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger.

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Top Stories: October 10, 2005 Carl Pope says the looting of America has only begun 2 Oct Report of PCV Misconduct in Zambia 7 Oct Chic Dambach speaks in Oklahoma 6 Oct Murphy to give papers to Heinz museum 6 Oct Mike Honda speaks out on Katrina 5 Oct Kinky Friedman could be the next governor of Texas 5 Oct Peter McPherson urges new nuclear weapon designs 5 Oct Doyle and Green in dead heat for Wisconsin Governor 5 Oct NPCA Membership Directory ready in late November 5 Oct GOP hopefuls avoiding Taft 4 Oct Ask not 4 Oct Russell Carollo wins journalism prize for "The Toll of War" 4 Oct Mark Gearan says provision was a mistake 4 Oct Mike Tidwell says Bayou has been sinking for years 3 Oct Carl Pope writes: Preparing for Global Warming 3 Oct Director Vasquez Meets with Volunteers in Gulf Coast 3 Oct John McCain's call to service 3 Oct Joshua Berman wins Lowell Thomas Travel Writing Award 2 Oct Operation Offset proposes freeze in Peace Corps Funding 1 Oct

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Returned Volunteers respond to Hurricane Katrina First and foremost, Give. Then volunteer with the Crisis Corps. Carol Bellamy says "In situations such as this one, money is needed the most" and added that Hurricane Katrina's impact on New Orleans is comparable to last year's tsunami. Thailand RPCV Thomas Tighe's Direct Relief International has committed an initial $250,000 in cash to assist hurricane victims. Mayor Tom Murphy (RPCV Paraguay) says Pittsburgh is ready to embrace refugees from devastated areas. Brazil RPCV Robert Backus is among the first Vermont doctors to volunteer to travel to Louisiana to treat victims. Latest: FEMA requests RPCVs to assist in recovery efforts through the Crisis Corps and the Peace Corps hopes to send 400 RPCVs to the Gulf Coast for short term assignments to assist victims with their applications for federal aid.

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The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today.

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Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.

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