Welcome intrepid Internet itinerants. My name is Tony Oliva and I am running for Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh as the Libertarian candidate. I have decided to set up this blog in order to give everyone an opportunity to learn about me and also take this journey with me, in a sense. From the first sentence you may have realized my love of alliteration...a literary device that a very good professor got me hooked on in my youth. Of course, you may think that I am some wordsmith bookworm. While I do enjoy reading a good book my life and times have covered the globe and the experiences I have garnered from them have left me with the feeling that I can save the City of Pittsburgh from the dangerous precipice it now teeters on. If you think that the city is not in need of saving then I am sorry to burst your bubble. With taxes growing ever higher and jobs getting ever scarcer and a city budget getting ever fatter and a city debt sinking ever deeper, the city is indeed in need of saving.
"But Tony", you may ask, "what can YOU do....why are YOU different?" To that I simply say that I am not a politician. I am a military man. I don't mince words, I don't set a goal I don't intend to keep. I am a straight shooter and I have ideas for this city that will once again make it the jewel of the three rivers. I am beholden to no special interests, save for the people of Pittsburgh. In my heart and in my actions, it is in their best interest that will guide my time as Mayor.
A bit about myself, though I have all ready alluded to some. I am a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and a former Airborne Paratrooper in the Army. I was going to make a career out of the military until an accident on one of my jumps made it impossible to continue as a infantryman. Though I could have went to any other city in the country I decided to return home to Pittsburgh because it is where my heart is. What I have found though is unsettling at best. The city is going in the wrong direction and I plan on stopping the slide and turning the city around. It is time I did something for the city instead of just complain about the problems.
Throughout my blog, from now until November, I will keep you updated on my travels, the different people that I meet and how, specifically, I intend on helping the city recover. I know I have an uphill battle ahead of me but heed not the naysayers who say that I won't win. The city is in its hour of need...and I cannot lose. The time is now.
