Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said his office has been fully cooperative with an ongoing federal investigation into city financial dealings, and that there have been no subpoenas from investigators in more than a month.
Ravenstahl maintained that he’s done nothing wrong and said he wished the truth could come out now, as opposed to a long investigation.
At an event in Mt. Washington Wednesday morning to launch a program to increase energy efficiency at city-owned buildings, he took issue with questions from the media about his lack of public appearances of late.
“Just because I’m not interacting with the media doesn’t mean I’m not with the public,” Ravenstahl said.
Ravenstahl said he was at a public event just last night, though it was an event that was closed to the media. The mayor denied that the investigation is impeding his ability to govern the city.
“Obviously, as is well-documented, (I) don’t make as many public appearances as I once did, and that’s a choice that I made,” Ravenstahl said. “But this notion or suggestion that I’m not working or doing a job is just flat-out wrong and not true. My staff knows that; I’m comfortable with that.”
The mayor said he’s been spending just as much time on the job now as he was before he announced he would not seek re-election.
“Every day I’ve been in town, I haven’t taken any vacations or gone out of town, and I continue to work and continue to do what I feel is necessary to move the city forward,” he said.
Ravenstahl said he will support City Councilman Bill Peduto in his mayoral bid and plans to meet with him next week to discuss transition plans.
