George Matta's tantrum
Let's face it: for whatever reason, the Democratic race for Allegheny County Controller has been more interesting and more bitterly fought than the race for county executive. The latest proof is the cranky letter from George Matta printed in the Post-Gazette today.
The letter is in response to the P-G editorial board's endorsement of Valerie McDonald Roberts
over Matta and Chelsa Wagner in the race. Across six bristly paragraphs Matta defends his record, rips Roberts and Wagner for using their family ties to get elected, and makes witty reference to the P-G's slogan.
Matta has had dustups with Roberts (who brought up the racially-tinged suit against Matta right before the Democratic committee endorsement vote) and Wagner, who -- in trying to get her tossed from the ballot -- he claimed could not be in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh the same day.
But Matta -- who was allowed to campaign in this race while being an executive at Rivers Casino -- takes his biggest shot at Wagner, in the letter's last paragraph:
Finally, it was stunning to see the PG refer to Ms. Wagner in a positive manner given that in the last legislative session she missed more than twice as many votes as any other Allegheny County legislator, and that she's fifth on the list of legislators who missed the most votes. Among the other four, two had gone to war to fight for our country; one had a personal crisis and the other was hospitalized. What's her excuse? I might also point out that when she did vote, she voted against a measure to give the public access to e-mail records, a decision derided by newspapers across Pennsylvania.
I asked Wagner's husband Khari Mosley if there was anything keeping his wife from work during the 2009-2010 session. The excuse?
Son Thaddeus Mosley, born two weeks late on June 14, 2009. You may recall the year he was born. It was marked by the disastrous budget impasse that closed child care centers, led to layoffs and other cuts, and took more than 100 days to resolve.
UPDATE: You can peruse Wagner's 2009-2010 voting record here at PennsylvaniaVotes.
The boy stars in the commercial below, running on local cable: