Background[]
- tossed a party in December 2007 as Luke Ravenstahl took the oath of office for a 2-year term for mayor
Insights[]
Inaugural collection from http://www.post-gazette.com/earlyreturns/ on January 15, 2008[]
Who paid how much for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's Dec. 20, 2007, inauguration party at the Carnegie Music Hall? We probably won't know the "how much" part until spring 2009, at best.
The P-G first asked on Dec. 28, 2007, for a list of the donors and amounts donated to the Friends of Luke Ravenstahl Inaugural Committee, Inc., which is a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) organization under the federal tax code. Today, the campaign told us that the committee will not be releasing its financials until it's required to do so under federal law.
Since some of the contributions came in last year and some this year, we won't see a full rundown until sometime around the next Democratic mayoral primary, at best -- assuming the committee uses a calendar year for its accounting, and doesn't seek an extension.
Until then, we're left with the following list of the generous, sans numbers, courtesy of the Ravenstahl campaign.
Platinum Sponsors: Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, West Penn Allegheny Health System, Duquesne Light, Highmark, CDM & Associates, Chester Engineers, McTish Kunkle & Associates and the Bank of New York Mellon.
Gold Sponsors: Babst Calland, Greenlee Partners, K&L Gates, Michael Baker Corp., Millcraft Industries, GAI Consultants, Citizens Bank, Pugliese Associates, Zelenkofske Axelrod LLC and Federated Industries.
Silver Sponsors: GEPAC, TriState Capital Bank, PB Americas, Tetra Tech, Wilbur Smith Associates, and HDR Engineering Inc.
That's right, no University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. We're told the city's biggest employer and the lead donor to the Pittsburgh Promise for college tuition aid helped with some logistical support, but decided a cash donation might not look right.